Cupid

by Julius Lester

  "The god will mete out punishment on us all."

  "Am I never to have a choice? Is my life always to be governed by what my father or a god deems best?"

  The king had never seen anger on the face of his daughter or heard rebellion in her voice. He wondered if he really knew this child of his. Ashamed, he realized he had never sat and talked with her about what she wanted her life to be. She was a princess, the daughter of the king and queen. She was born to carry out the duties of her station. But what if she did not want to? What then?

  Not knowing what to say, the king muttered, "I must go. I will return after sunset to tell you of the god's decree. I hope his words will gladden your heart."

  "I, too, Father. I, too."

  Psyche was convinced it was the longest day that had ever been. The sun seemed to take a week to climb to the top of the sky, only to stay there another week before beginning its slide downward to the bed of night.

  Finally, evening came. Psyche heard, or thought she did, the hoofbeats of the king's horse and those of his counselors. She waited anxiously for her father to come and reveal her fate as Apollo had decreed it.

  But the king did not come that night.

  From Olympus, Cupid had seen the king return, his head slumped to his chest as if he were grieving. Something was wrong! "What in Juno's name did Apollo tell him?" Cupid wondered aloud. Obviously it was not what Cupid had asked him to say.

  Cupid flew quickly down to the palace and to the roof above Psyche's chambers. He waited eagerly for the king to come and tell Psyche what Apollo had said. But the hours passed without any sign of the king.

  Wondering what was wrong, Cupid flew around the palace until he saw the king and queen sitting alone before the large fireplace in the Great Hall. They were staring into the low-burning fire as if someone had died.

  Had Apollo decreed Psyche's death? If he had, Cupid would have Apollo reciting love poetry to his toenails with all the gods and goddesses for an audience!

  Another day passed, and still the king did not come to Psyche. After yet another day went by without a visit from the king, Psyche knew Apollo had decreed what she feared most, that she belonged to all those who needed her beauty. She would spare her father the pain of telling her that which he knew would lead her to take her life.

  She opened the doors to the balcony and walked to the railing. From the roof above, Cupid watched, horrified, as she sat on the railing, then pulled her legs over. She was going to kill herself! He was just about to spread his wings and fly down to catch her as she fell, but just then the door of her chamber opened.

  "Psyche!" the king called out. "Psyche!"

  She turned around. "Father?"

  "Psyche, please come inside. It is not as you feared."

  "It isn't?"

  "No. Please. Come inside."

  Psyche swung her legs around and went back into the room. Outside, Cupid breathed a sigh of relief. Then he alighted quietly on the balcony, hid next to the doors, and listened.

  "What did Apollo say?" Psyche asked eagerly.

  "The god said that I am to take you to the highest mountain, where your husband—." The king faltered and stopped.

  "My husband? Please, Father. Go on. What about my husband?"

  "Your husband," the king continued in a broken voice, "an evil and destructive monster, will take you for his wife."

  Father and daughter were silent for a moment. Then Psyche started crying softly.

  "I am sorry I did not come to you at once and tell you," the king apologized. "But I was devastated and could scarcely speak."

  He put his arms around her and they both wept.

  Outside, Cupid fumed. "An evil and destructive monster. Is that what you think I am, Apollo? I'll show you what evil and destruction are!" But he stopped when he realized that Apollo had merely put his own little twist on what Cupid had asked him to say. It did not matter how Apollo described him as long as Psyche was going to be his and his alone!

  Immediately, Cupid flew from the palace. He had a lot to do.

  Psyche's Wedding Day

  When Sun awoke the following morning, he knew immediately: something was wrong. Earth was not singing and welcoming him back to the land where Psyche lived, something Earth had done since the day of her birth. But on this morning, as Sun rose over Earth's eastern edge, she was not singing but weeping:

  "Brother Sun! Brother Sun!" Earth called out as Sun's first rays began pushing darkness to its lair on the other side of the world. "Do not lend your light to this horrible day! Our Psyche, beloved Psyche, is being sent away to become the bride of an evil and destructive monster, and we will never see her again."

  Sun stopped rising. How was he supposed to live if he could not gaze upon Psyche each day? Unlike people who only saw her for a few minutes one afternoon each month, Sun saw her every day from the moment she awoke. Only the sight of her beauty at the beginning of each day gave him the strength to climb the sky. People did not understand how hard Sun had to work to make his way up to the very top of the sky without a ladder to walk on, or rope to climb with. Some days Sun was so out of breath and tired by the time he got over to the western part of the world, he went to bed wondering if he could get up the next morning. Many days he would not have except for the fact that he wanted to see Psyche.

  Sun knew there was nothing he could do to save Psyche, but that did not mean he had to watch. But how could he not? He saw everything that happened on Earth. He needed something between him and Earth, something big enough and thick enough that he could not see through it.

  The answer came immediately. He needed the help of Aeolus, the mortal who controlled the Four Winds. Sun aimed a strong beam into the cave where Aeolus lived with his wife, Cyane, and the Four Winds.

  "Greetings, my friend," Sun began when Aeolus came outside. "I don't know if you have heard the news, but this is a sad day. Psyche is to be married to an evil monster, and I can't bear to witness such a sad event."

  "That is sad indeed," Aeolus commiserated. "Her beauty brings joy to so many. Is there nothing we can do?"

  "For her, no. For me, perhaps. Because of where you live, you will be spared the sight of her leaving the kingdom. I need your help so I will be spared the sight, also."

  "I will do anything I can," Aeolus offered.

  "I am grateful. I was wondering if the Four Winds could bring together all the clouds and blow them over the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea? In that way I will be hidden behind the clouds and will not see what happens to Psyche."

  Aeolus hesitated. "I don't know. I'll have to talk to the Winds, because they are the ones who will have to do all the work. You are asking a lot."

  "I understand."

  "And Favonius, West Wind, had a big argument a while back with Aquilo, North Wind, and moved out."

  Aeolus went back inside the cave and told Aquilo, Auster (South Wind), and Eurus (East Wind), what Sun wanted of them. The Winds were saddened by the news of Psyche's fate. She had danced and played in the palace garden with them. Each of them had blown through her hair, stroked her arms, and been rewarded with a smile of such sweetness that when any of the Winds thought of blowing through the kingdom as a storm, they went to another kingdom instead. They could not do anything that would turn her smile to sorrow. Understanding how Sun felt, they went quickly to work.

  From his new home at the western edge of the world, Favonius saw his siblings blowing the clouds. When they told him what had happened and what they were doing, he began blowing the clouds in his western sphere toward the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea.

  Soon the sky over the kingdom was filled with dark clouds so thick and heavy that Sister Moon, thinking she had overslept, started to get out of bed. But then she noticed that Evening Star was still snoring quietly, and she was always up before Sister Moon.

  "Why is it so dark?" Sister Moon asked aloud.

  "That's Brother Sun's doing," answered North Star, who never slept. "The Four Winds have covered him with e
very cloud in the heavens, and he's hiding behind them, bawling like he's never going to shine again. I believe he's having a nervous breakdown."

  "Serves him right!" Sister Moon mumbled and got back under the covers. She and Brother Sun had a long courtship once, and it looked like they were going to get married. But then Brother Sun saw Psyche for the first time. After that, he didn't have eyes for anybody else. But if the truth be known, Sister Moon had never understood how she and Brother Sun would have stayed married since she liked to be out and about when he was sleeping, and he was raring to go when she was getting ready for bed. It would not have been much of a marriage.

  In the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea word spread that Psyche was going to be married to a monster! It would have been devastating enough to learn that Psyche was going to marry, but that her husband was a monster? This was more than the people could bear. Each of them had a picture in his and her mind of what the monster looked like. For some he was a dragon whose every exhalation was smoke and fire. For others he was a giant with a single eye in his forehead. Still others imagined a wizened old man with a large nose, and warts the size of dinosaur eggs all over his face.

  Whatever the monster looked like, all agreed that Psyche was being consigned to a life of misery and suffering, and the people wailed and sobbed. Their grief was so great that flowers wilted, and though it was spring, trees dropped their green leaves. Birds refused to sing; fish stopped swimming; and lions and lambs wept on each other's shoulders.

  Alone in her chambers, Psyche could hear the outpouring of grief and was moved by it. We only grieve the loss of those we love. Had she been mistaken? Had the people genuinely loved her, or were they grieving because they would never gaze on her beauty again? Perhaps it was a little of both.

  She had always felt unworthy of such ardent attention, because she had done nothing to merit it. Her beauty was a gift bestowed on her in the womb. Perhaps that did not matter. As her father had said: The experience of her beauty brought a transcendent pleasure to their spirits and softened their hearts as nothing else ever had or would. Beauty had been put into her keeping as if it were a child she was to care for. Tears came to her eyes as she understood: she had failed in not accepting the gift of beauty.

  And she wept.

  Meanwhile Cupid was flying to the home of Favonius, that most gentle of winds, West Wind. It took him all morning and into the early afternoon to fly to the forest of tall trees on the rim of the western horizon where Favonius now lived. Cupid arrived just as Favonius was getting ready to take a nap on the tops of the trees.

  "Greetings, Favonius."

  Favonius's eyes opened wide as he recognized Cupid. "Greetings, god. To what do I owe the honor of a visit from one such as you?"

  "I have a favor to ask."

  "Not you, too," Favonius replied.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I'm about to take a nap because I'm tired out from doing a favor for Brother Sun. He had me and my three siblings busy this morning."

  "Doing what?"

  "Blowing every cloud in the world over the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea."

  "Ah! That explains it. When I went to the cave of Aeolus, looking for you, I wondered why your siblings were lying on the floor panting for breath. What did Sun want with so many clouds?"

  "They are blocking his view so he doesn't have to see Psyche get married to a monster."

  Cupid smiled to himself. "Is that so? Well, I hope you aren't too tired that you can't carry out my request."

  "What is it you want me to do?"

  After Cupid told him, Favonius smiled. "That will be a pleasure! A pleasure, indeed!"

  "Thank you," Cupid responded. "Now I must go and make preparations."

  Psyche scarcely noticed as her servants bathed her and rubbed her body with oils so she would smell like a field of flowers for her husband. Her servants brushed her long hair until it glowed like deepest night. Finally, they dressed her in a long white gown. Then they left, tears in their eyes, suppressed sobs in their throats.

  "Your tears are too late," Psyche said quietly. "You should have cried when the people were calling me the new Venus. You should have cried when they abandoned the goddess's temples to look upon me. My marriage to a monster is the goddess punishing me. But if this is my fate, I will try to meet it as bravely as I can."

  On Olympus, Venus was growing angry. She had been waiting and waiting for Cupid to return and tell her that she no longer had to be concerned about Psyche. But she had not seen him, and nobody knew where he was. Venus remembered Cupid's smile when he came back from where she'd sent him to make Psyche's existence a horror. How could she have been so obtuse as not to have realized what that smile was about? But no. It was unthinkable that her son would have betrayed her and fallen in love with the mortal she hated more than anyone. However, if he had, it was only because Psyche had cast a spell on him.

  If only she could see Earth, she might find out where Psyche was and what she was doing. But the clouds over the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea were as thick as illness and prevented her from seeing anything. As if that were not bad enough, someone had been crying most of the day. No one ever cried on Olympus, but the sound was unmistakable.

  Everything combined had put Venus in as bad a mood as she had ever been in. Someone was going to suffer, and since she could not find Psyche, she could at least find whoever was doing all that crying.

  Venus followed the sound of the weeping to the backside of Olympus. There she saw Brother Sun sitting, his legs hanging over the side, his head bowed. He was crying so hard, his tears were putting out his light. If he kept crying, he would drown his light, and gods and mortals would be left with nothing but moonlight, starshine, and nightglow.

  "Brother Sun? What is your problem?" Venus asked, none too politely.

  "Psyche is leaving us, to marry a monster."

  Venus's face broke into the first smile she'd had all day. "Is that so?" she asked, making no attempt to hide the pleasure in her voice.

  "I don't think I'll ever shine again," Sun went on.

  Venus kicked Sun in his rear. "You best get on your way. And stop all that crying! If you're not careful, you will put your light out, and we'll really be in a mess then. Go do your job!"

  Reluctantly, Brother Sun resumed his arduous climb to the top of the sky.

  Venus was pleased to learn that this was Psyche's wedding day, but she wanted to see the ceremony for herself. She had to do something about all the clouds blocking her view of Earth.

  She sent for Aeolus. Several hours passed before he came to her palace. His clothes were disheveled, his hair uncombed, and he was so tired he could scarcely keep his eyes open.

  "What's going on, Aeolus? You look a mess!"

  "I'm having problems with my children. My son Aquilo, North Wind, has turned out to be evil."

  "What does he do?"

  "He waits until the weather is cold and there's snow and ice on the ground. Then he blows as hard as he can. I don't know how many times I told him that people need a cool breeze when the weather is hot, not when it's cold. He said he likes to see people shiver. And my youngest boy, Favonius, he moved out. Went to live with some trees. Said he was tired of living in a cave with the rest of us. And if that wasn't bad enough, Sun woke me up first thing this morning and told me to have my children bring all the clouds in the sky to hang over the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea. I tried to tell him that some of the clouds were just about ready to drop rain on the crops of folks on the other side of the world, who need rain bad. He said he didn't care about that. And now, just as me and my wife were finally good and asleep, here comes one of your servants saying you want to see me in a hurry. Well, here I am. What do you want? And it better be good, because Cyane does not like to have her beauty sleep interrupted."

  "I want you to take the clouds away."

  "What! I can't do that. Not after Brother Sun had me bring them over here."

  "Can't one of your children blow enou
gh away so I can see what's going on down there?"

  Aeolus shook his head. "I'm sorry. My children are tired and all out of breath. People will be lucky if they get their breath back in time to blow summer up from the southern climes."

  Venus frowned. She did not like anyone refusing to do what she wanted.

  Aeolus looked at her. "You can make faces all you want, but I'll tell you the truth. If I go back down there and wake my boys up and tell them you want the clouds blown away, I'm afraid they will up and leave me. And I could not handle that right now. But I can tell you that—"

  "Men!" Venus sneered, interrupting him. "Get out! You're worthless to me!"

  Aeolus opened his mouth to finish the sentence, but Venus interrupted him again. "I said, get out! I don't want to hear any more lame excuses!"

  Aeolus shrugged. He thought the goddess would have wanted to hear that Favonius was going to play an important role in the marriage of Cupid to Psyche, something Favonius had been so proud of, he had made a special visit to the cave to tell Aeolus. But if Venus didn't want to hear what he had to say, he'd keep his mouth shut. Aeolus called for a playful breeze and was taken back to his cave.

  The Wedding Processional

  It was early afternoon, around the time of day when Psyche used to walk from the palace to the village and back. This afternoon, though, she would walk through the village and into the unknown.

  Clouds more dense than anyone had ever seen blocked Sun's light, submerging the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea into a gravelike gloom.

  Outside the palace, people lined both sides of the road. They held torches so they could see Psyche for the last time. No one spoke. There was the occasional sound of weeping and sniffling, and then the silence returned as thick and heavy as unshed tears.

  This reminds me of my weddings. At all six of them, the bride cried; her mother and her sisters cried; and, in fact, every woman there cried. The first couple of times, I got mad because I thought they were crying because the bride was marrying me! But I eventually understood; marriage is different for women. No matter how much a woman loves the man she is going to marry, a part of her is terrified. For a woman, marriage is a journey into the dark unknown, and she doesn't know what might be hiding in the darkness. Maybe more couples would stay together if men accompanied their brides into the unknown and, once there, began again.