带来厄运的美貌

美为全世界人所珍视，但是，美也可能带来厄运。

从前有一位国王和王后，他们有三个漂亮的女儿。最小的女儿普绪喀(Psyche)是最漂亮的，人们都说她是阿弗洛蒂狄——美神下凡。临国的男人也为了欣赏她的美蜂拥而至，但却没人把她当作可以追求的女孩。因此，普绪喀一直独身一人。她开始感到难过，并憎恨自己的美貌。

同时，美神阿弗洛蒂狄对此也很是不满，所以她命令儿子——爱神爱洛斯把他的箭射向这个女孩，让她爱上人间最差的一种人——他没有高贵的出身，没有钱财和智慧，既没个性也不英俊，甚至没有勇气。

阿波罗的神谕

在古希腊，当人们对未来感到迷茫的时候，会觉得应该请示阿波罗的神谕。于是普绪喀的父王动身去了德尔斐请示神谕，问自己最漂亮的女儿将嫁给什么样的丈夫，神谕宣称普绪喀将在一座山峰上嫁给一个可怕的怪物。

而爱洛斯也奉其母亲的命令来到了普绪喀的家。但是，他被女孩的美貌深深吸引，以至于在匆忙完成使命时，不小心让金箭划伤了自己，因而他无可救药地爱上了普绪喀。

当普绪喀和父亲决定遵循神谕的指示，来到一座山脚下时，突然西风之神平地而起，把普绪喀带到了山谷中，又轻轻地把她放在缀满鲜花的床上。这时，她陷入了沉睡中。醒来后，她走向附近的一片树林，发现了一座富丽堂皇的宫殿。

普绪喀生活在山顶

当普绪喀徜徉在这座富丽宫殿的种种奇幻中时，不知从何处传来一个声音，告诉她说，这座城堡将为她所有，并温柔地邀请她到卧室休息，等待沐浴更衣以及婚宴。

婚宴结束，她听到了从未谋面的丈夫轻声的呼唤，他来到了她的床上。但天亮之前，丈夫就离开了。就这样夜复一夜，丈夫来了又去，却从未以真面目示人。

与此同时，普绪喀的姐姐们开始寻找她。普绪喀知道后，哭着对丈夫说：如果见不到姐姐们，她就会死掉的。她丈夫尽管知道她的姐姐们是邪恶的女人，但最终还是很不情愿地同意了。

第二天，西风之神把普绪喀的两个姐姐带到了城堡中。她们看到普绪喀美丽的家之后，立刻开始异常嫉妒起她来。

她们开始密谋骗她，催促她看一眼她的丈夫，说她的丈夫实际上是嘶嘶吐信的大毒蛇。普绪喀出于好奇，决定听从姐姐们的建议，回到房间后，趁爱洛斯熟睡之际，她举起了灯……

但并没有什么毒蛇，那里沉睡的正是甜美的爱神。

在查看他的武器时，普绪喀抽出一支箭，但却不小心刺破了皮肤，从此爱上了丈夫。慌乱间，她将一滴灯油溅落到了爱洛斯的肩头，他痛得从窗户飞走了。

而普绪喀发现自己怀孕了，而且深爱着爱洛斯，因此非常后悔自己的所作所为，于是她找到阿弗洛蒂狄请求帮助。阿弗洛蒂狄给了普绪喀很多难以完成的任务。但是，在诸神的帮助下，普绪喀顺利完成了所有任务。

于是，阿弗洛蒂狄给了普绪喀最后一项任务：去地狱冥后那里把“美之盒”带回来给她。

如果不是爱洛斯及时出现，也许普绪喀会一直沉睡。爱洛斯这时已经痊愈了，他把睡神重新关回盒子里，用他的箭尖轻轻戳醒了她。宙斯被他们之间的爱感动，赐予普绪喀永生，美神也原谅了她，他们自此幸福地生活在奥林匹斯山上。

Beauty that brings misfortune

Beauty is universally treasured, yet beauty might also bring great misfortune.

Once there were a king and his queen, who had three beautiful daughters. The youngest one, Psyche, is the most beautiful of the three daughters, and people see she were Aphrodite on earth — the goddess of beauty. Men from neighboring countries swarmed to enjoy the sight of her, but none treated her as someone to court1). Therefore, Psyche remains single, started feeling miserable, and began to hate her beauty.

Meanwhile, the goddess of beauty — Aphrodite disliked this at all, so she instructed her son — the god of love Eros to shoot his lead arrows against the girl, and thus make her fall in love with a worst specimen2) of the human race, who was not born in a noble family, with no wealth, intelligence, character, handsomeness, or courage.

Apollo’s Oracle3)

In ancient Greece, people felt it necessary to consult the Oracle of Apollo when they were puzzled at their future. Therefore Psyche’s father went to Delphi4), and there he asked where he was to find a husband for his most beautiful daughter, and it declared that Psyche was to marry a horrible monster on the top of a mountain.

Then Eros came to Psyche’s home with his mother’s instructions. However, he was so attracted by her beauty that in a haste of fulfilling his task, he hurt himself with his golden arrow and fell hopelessly in love with her.

When the girl and her father determined to do as the Oracle instructed, and went to the foot a mountain, Zephyrus suddenly springing up, lifted her into a valley, and laid her gently on a bed starred with flowers. There she fell asleep, and when she awoke she walked into a nearby wood, and found a wonderfully built palace.

Psyche’s Life on the Mountain

When Psyche had walked among the many wonders treasured in this fabulous castle, a voice coming from nowhere told her that the castle was hers, and gently invited her to rest in the bedroom while she waited for her bath and the wedding banquet5).

When the banquet was over, she heard the gentle whisper of her unknown husband, as he was climbing into bed with her. But her husband left her, just before daybreak. And in this way night after night her husband paid her visit, without ever showing himself.

Meanwhile, Psyche's sisters started searching for her. When Psyche knew this, she cried to his husband that she would die unless she were allowed to see her sisters, her husband reluctantly6) agreed, though he knew that her sisters were wicked women.

Next day the Zephyrus brought Psyche's sisters to the castle. They started to feel miserably jealous as soon as they arrived and saw the wonderful home of Psyche.

And they conspired7) to trick Psyche and urged her to look at her husband, saying that her husband was really a hissing8) serpent9). Psyche, out of curiosity, determined to follow her sisters’ instructions, went back to her room, and when Eros was in his sound sleep, she raised the lamp…

The Truth is Discovered

But there was no poisonous snake; the sweet and beautiful god of love was gently sleeping.

Examining his weapons, Psyche pulled an arrow, but carelessly pierced the skin. She fell in love with her husband. In a hurry she dropped a drop of oil on Eros’ shoulder and out of pain he flew away from the window.

Finding that she was already pregnant and deeply in love with Eros, Psyche regretted about her doings, so she came to Aphrodite for help. Aphrodite gave Psyche some impossible tasks. However, with the help of several gods, Psyche accomplished all the tasks.

Then Aphrodite gave Psyche the final task: to go to Queen Persephone in the Underworld and bring the beauty box back to Aphrodite.

Persephone gave her the beauty box but warned her not to open it. But as before Psyche could not retain her curiosity, also she wanted to take a tiny touch of the beauty, she opened the box, but out crept not beauty but truly Stygian10) sleep, and she falling to the ground, she lay like a corpse11).

Now Psyche would have slept for ever, had not Eros, now recovered from his sickness, come to shut the cloud of sleep up again in the box and roused Psyche with the harmless prick of an arrow . Zeus was moved by the love between them and granted Psyche immortality, Aphrodite also forgave her, so they lived happily on Olympus.

文化链接：

熟悉神话中的名字

1. Eros, 爱洛斯，希腊爱神。罗马艺术作品中一般把他描绘成长翅膀的小男孩，并把他作为生命的象征，雕刻在石棺上，英语文化中他常以此形象出现；而希腊人把他当成最英俊、最可爱的青年男子，他的雕塑则往往被放在体育馆作为男子汉完美形体的象征。爱洛斯的箭分两种，一种是锋利的金箭，尾部饰白鸽翎，此箭能激发男女爱欲；一种为蠢钝的铅箭，尾部装乌鸦翎，此箭则令人彼此漠视。如果是小写的eros，则一般强调爱的欲念的一面；由此衍生的词有：erotic 。罗马人从希腊神话中借鉴了这个人物，并叫他“Cupid”。

2. Psyche：普绪喀。古希腊神话中，她的形象是一只蝴蝶。在古典神话中，该词的意思是“Soul”；在日常生活中，引申为“人类的灵魂，精神，心志”；由此派生出的词有“Psychology, Psychoanalysis”。

3. Zephyrus：西风之神。希腊神话中，四个方向的风分别由四位神人掌管，其他三个方向的风神分别是：Boreas北风之神；Eurus东风之神；Notus南风之神。西方文学中，出现的比较多的是西风之神和北风之神。

4. Muse：缪斯，九位分管文艺和科学的女神的通称，都是主神宙斯的女儿。她们出生在奥林匹斯山麓的庇厄里亚斯，因此又称为庇厄里亚斯的女神。她们把阿波罗奉为自己的保护神和领袖。今天的音乐一词即来源于此。

5. Styx：冥河。希腊神话中通往冥间的黑色的河，具有神奇的魔力。希腊神话中的Achilles正是因为在此河中洗澡，才获得了刀枪不入的魔力。而由于脚踝没有洗到，脚踝就变成了他的致命弱点。

1. court [kC:t] v. 追求，求爱

2. specimen [5spesimin, -mEn] n.【非正式用语】个人；一个人

3. Oracle [5CrEkl] n. 神谕

4. Delphi [5delfai] n. 特尔斐，希腊古都，因Apollo的神殿而著称

5. banquet [5bANkwit] n. 宴会

6. reluctantly [ri5lQktEntli] adv. 不情愿地

7. conspire [kEn5spaiE] v. 共谋，阴谋

8. hissing [`hIsIN] n. 发嘶嘶声

9. serpent [5sE:pEnt] n. 大毒蛇，阴险的人

10. Stygian [5stIdVIEn] adj. 地狱的, 阴暗的

11. corpse [kC:ps] n. 尸体