Chapter 15: The Trials

Psyche drew near the temple of Venus, endeavoring to fortify her mind while ruminating on her fate. The end was doubtful and perhaps fatal.

At the door, she saw the goddess's priestesses, who did not have to be chaste, although they were required to be fairly attractive and shall often settle down with someone they believe to be their One True Love, to whom they shall be faithful unless a stronger True Love comes along.

Before she could utter a word, the priestess named Consueto confronted her, crying in disgust.

"Most wicked of all women, have you at last begun to realize that you have upset Venus? Or are you still pretending to be unaware of the exhausting efforts we have endured in search of you?"

"Here I am now, priestess," Psyche said. "I wish to put an end to this misunderstanding."

"How appropriate it is that you have fallen into my arms for you are now caught fast in the claws of hell, and believe me, you will suffer under Venus's wrath for your gross behavior."

Then Consueto laid a presumptuous hand on Psyche's beautiful hair and dragged the girl into the temple. As soon as she was ushered in, the other priestesses gathered around her like it was a trial. In no time at all, Venus appeared before her. Psyche trembled under her unkind gaze.

"Oh, so you have finally condescended to greet your mother-in-law, have you? Or is the purpose of this visit rather see my daughter, whose heart is still broken by your wicked deed?"

"I humbly apologize for my wrongdoing, great goddess," Psyche spoke and bowed her head to the floor. "I shall do whatever you ask if you allow me to see my wife again."

"You can rest assured that I shall welcome you as a good mother-in-law should," Venus sneered. "Where are my maids Sollicito and Tristie, my favorite Melancholy and Sorrow?"

They came in and bowed.

"Yes, my lady."

"Lock this vain girl out of my sight until I come back with the most suitable punishment to give her," Venus said.

They obeyed and each took the arm of the princess.

"No, please, let me see and speak to my Cupid, please!" Psyche cried, but the two maids began to drag her away. "I am pregnant with her child!"

Everyone stopped at those words. Venus turned her head back to her.

"What did you just say?" she growled.

"I...I am...pregnant..."

The goddess looked as if she was about to set the temple in a fire. She roared the sort of explosive cackle typical of people in a furious madness. Venus wagged her head.

"I suppose you intend to make me a happy grandmother to your famed offspring with my girl?" she cried. "How lucky I am, in the bloom of my young days, at the prospect of being hailed a grandmother! But unfortunately, Cupid will never accept this child. The offspring will, therefore, be born a bastard...if I allow you to reach full term with it at all!"

After saying this, she flew at Psyche like a madwoman and ripped her dress to shreds then slapped her across the face, making her brain rattle. The poor maiden wept in greater misery.

"Now lock her away!" the goddess growled. And the maids obeyed her.

~*~

Olympus was descending into chaos when Venus and her golden daughter did not settle in harmony regarding the issue of Psyche.

"How dare you torment my wife like that?" Cupid cried to her mother in a fury. "You know she bears my child, and I love her still. You must bring her to our home not locking her away in the dungeon of your hatred!"

"She deserves this punishment!" Venus cried and threw her wine glass to the floor. The crystal shell broke with a sharp noise that rang in Cupid's ears. "You were head over heels in love with a cheap maiden below your status. What am I to do, now that I'm becoming a laughing stock? How shall I curb this scandal? The prospect of letting you go back to embrace that hideous woman gives me the creeps!"

Cupid bit her lip from shedding her tears. She had never been so disgusted by her mother's behavior until now. The goddess balled her fists and tossed her chin as a sign of defense.

"So long as you keep her locked up, I will do no business of love for you. I will shoot no one with my arrows. Your praises will not be sung. No flowers or sacrifice shall be brought to your altar. And without that, you will dry up like an exhausted well and become a vicious old harpy! Your beauty, which you cherish above all, will leave you just like I do!"

With that said, Cupid left the hall, leaving her mother to grumble even more. Venus waved her hand and the broken wine glass reformed itself before floating back onto the table. The glass was then refilled with thick red wine, and the goddess took a big gulp and sighed.

Ever since Cupid was a baby, she had been badly brought up, too eager with her chubby hands. She hardly showed any respect for the elders, overpowering them with her arrows time after time. Even Venus, as her own mother, she stripped her naked almost every day. Surely, the winged maiden grew into a rebellious goddess, capable of stirring up a sour situation like this. Now, she even threatened to deprive her of her fame and glory!

"I must impose the harshest discipline on this stupid daughter of mine," Venus muttered bitterly. "Maybe I should shear off her locks...how often have I brushed them shinning like gold with my own hands!"

But she knew lashing out at Cupid would only make things worse and the other gods would think of her household as all unkempt and uncouth. Indeed, the only person whom she should blame the most was Psyche.

As soon as the brilliant chariot of Aurora, the dawn goddess, appeared over the skyline, Venus returned to see her captive. The priestesses restored Psyche to their mistress's presence. Venus renewed her laughter.

"Just look at this woman," she said. "With that swelling in her belly, she makes me feel quite sorry for her."

Psyche looked up at the goddess with sunken eyes. She put a hand over her stomach and willed her tears back. Venus went out with a venomous smile.

"Do you want to see my daughter?" she asked. Psyche's hopeless face lighted up again.

"Yes, my lady," she whispered.

Then Venus clapped her hands and the maids brought in some wheat, barley, millet, poppyseed, chickpeas, lentils, and beans. They mingled them together in a single heap.

"Very well then," the goddess said. "You are such an ugly girl that I think the only way you win your lover is by your devoted attendance, so I shall see myself how good you are. Now separate out this mixed heap of seeds, and arrange the different kinds in their proper piles. Finish the work before tonight, and show it to me. If it is to my satisfaction, you might get to see your wife."

Having set before her this enormous task, Venus went off to a wedding dinner. As Psyche looked at the confused heap, which was impossible to sort, her heart felt like a rock tumbling down the hillside. For a while, she stood in stupefied silence. But the thought of seeing her Cupid again fueled her and the princess set out to work, picking one grain at a time from the others.

She worked tirelessly until the evening drew close. Her eyes became blurry, her back arched and her fingers were blistered from pinching the grains. But the heap was still far from being divided. Psyche was dismayed by this massive task before her, and she laid her head down and began to cry.

Then the little country-ant took pity on the maiden and cursed the vindictive behavior of her mother-in-law. The insect scurried about energetically summoning and assembling a whole army of resident ants.

"Have pity, noble believers of Terra, our universal mother, have pity," the leader of the anthill said to his six-legged subjects. "With spirited haste lend your hand to this refined girl, who is Cupid's beloved. Come, come, we must all get rid of her great problem."

Wave after wave of the crawling tribe swept in, and with the utmost joy, each and all divided the heap grain by grain, carrying the seeds over their heads. When the heap got sorted into their different kinds, the ants swiftly vanished from sight.

Psyche awoke again, surprised and overjoyed to see the task done, and when night fell, Venus returned from the wedding feast. Her face flushed with wine and perfumed with flowers, her whole body wreathed with glowing roses. When she found Psyche sitting beside her piles of seeds, which had been rearranged with astonishing care, she frowned.

"This is not your work, you foul creature! The hands that accomplished it are not yours, but one whose favor you gained, but little good it's done you!" The goddess said then threw Psyche a crust of bread and cleared off.

Meanwhile, Cupid was alone, closely guarded, and confined in her chamber. This was partly to ensure that she did not worsen her wound by wanton behavior and that she would not meet her dear one. But as Venus was swaying after a great feast and fell asleep, the winged goddess slipped out in her invisible form to see her wife.

When she found Psyche sleeping on the floor, dressing in rags, she wept in silence. The goddess brushed her lips on her smudged cheek without waking her and tended each blistered fingertip with ointment.

"Love of my life, I'm in great despair seeing you in this state," Cupid whispered. "Forgive me for leaving you. This shall not last long. Stay strong, my girl, I will help you best my mother's wits and free you from her wrath. Stay strong."

She planted another kiss on her maiden's belly before flying back to Olympus again.