The Golden Ass

Apuleius was born about 125 A.D., at Madaura, in Africa.

After studying at Athens, he practised as an advocate at Rome,

and then wandered about Northern Africa, lecturing on

philosophy and rhetoric. At Tripoli he was charged with having

won by witchcraft the love of a rich widow who had left him

her wealth. But he was acquitted after delivering an

interesting defence, included among his extant works. He then

settled in Carthage, where he died at an advanced age. Poor

Apuleius! His good fame was darkened by the success of an

amusing romance, "The Golden Ass," which he wrote, by way of

recreation, at Rome. He related the story of the adventures

which befell a young Greek nobleman who, by an extreme

curiosity in regard to witchcraft, got changed into a donkey.

It was an age of wild superstition and foolish credulity; and

his readers confused the author of "The Golden Ass" with the

hero of it. Apuleius was credited with a series of impossible

exploits, which he had not even invented. For his work is

merely a Latin adaptation of a lost Greek romance by Lucius of

Patras. But Apuleius deserves our gratitude for preserving a

unique specimen of the lighter literature of the ancient

Greeks, together with the beautiful folk-tale of Cupid and

Psyche.

_I.--Lucius Sets Out on His Wonderful Adventures_

I set out from Corinth in a fever of excitement and expectation, riding

my horse so hard that it fell lame; so I had to do the remainder of the

journey on foot. My heart was filled with joy and terror as I entered

the town of Hypata.

"Here I am, at last," I cried, "in Thessaly! Thessaly, the land of magic

and witchcraft, famous through the world for its marvels and

enchantments!"

Carried away by my desire after strange and mystic knowledge, I gazed

around with wonder and disquietude. Nothing in this marvellous city, I

thought to myself, is really what it seems to be. The stones I stumbled

over appeared to be living creatures petrified by magic. I fancied that

the trees in the gardens and the birds that sang in their branches were

men that had been transformed by Thessalian witches. The very statues

seemed as if they were about to walk; every wall had ears; and I looked

up into the blue, cloudless sky, expecting to hear oracles.

Entering the market place, I passed close to a noble lady who was

walking with a crowd of servants in her train.

"By Hercules!" she cried. "It's Lucius!" I hung back, confused and

blushing, and Byrrhena, for it was she, said to one of her companions:

"It's Salvia's boy! Isn't he the image of his modest, beautiful mother?

Young, tall and fair, with just her bright, grey-blue eyes, and her

alert glance. A Plutarch every bit of him! Lucius, don't you remember

your kinswoman, Byrrhena? Why, I brought you up with my own hands!"

I remembered Byrrhena very well, and loved her. But I did not want to

meet her just then. However, I went with her to her house, a beautiful

building of fine marble, containing some exquisite statuary.

"You will stay here, my dear Lucius, won't you?" she said.

I then told her that I had come to Hypata to see Milo and his wife

Pamphila. My friend Demeas of Corinth had given me a letter of

introduction.

"Don't you know that Pamphila is a witch?" she cried. "Do not go near

her, my child, or she will practise her wicked arts on you. It is just

handsome young men like you that she enchants and destroys."

Far from being terrified by Byrrhena's warning, I was delighted with it.

I longed to become an apprentice to a witch as powerful as Pamphila.

With a hasty excuse I left the house and set out to find Milo. Neither

he nor Pamphila was in when I called. But their maid who opened the

door, was such a pretty wench that I did not regret their absence.

Fotis, as she was called, was a graceful, sprightly little thing, with

the loveliest hair I ever saw. I liked the way it fell in soft puffs on

her neck, and rested on her neat linen tunic.

It was a case of love at first sight with both of us. But before I began

to ask her about Pamphila, Milo returned. He welcomed me very warmly,

and put the best room in his house at my disposal, and desired me to

stay to dinner. But in spite of my ardent curiosity, I was, I must

confess, rather afraid of meeting his wife. So I said that my kinswoman

Byrrhena had already engaged me to dine with her.

On arriving at Byrrhena's mansion I was surprised to find that a

splendid banquet had been prepared, and that all the best people in

Hypata were present. We reclined on couches of ivory, covered with

golden drapery, and a throng of lovely girls served us with exquisite

dishes; while pretty curly-headed boys brought the wine round in goblets

of gold and amber.

When the lights were brought in, the talk became freer and gayer;

everybody was bent on laughing and making his neighbours laugh.

"We are, you see, preparing for the great festival to-morrow," Byrrhena

said to me. "Hypata is the only city that keeps the feast of the god of

laughter. You must come, and invent some pleasantry to propitiate the

merriest of all deities."

"By Hercules!" I replied. "If the laughing god will only lend me

inspiration to-night, I will do my best to entertain the townspeople

to-morrow."

_II.--The Feast of the God of Laughter_

It was the jolliest banquet I was ever at. Even in Corinth we did not do

the thing so well. It was not until I got into the open air, and set out

for Milo's house, that I knew how much wine I had taken. But though I

was rather unsteady on my feet, I retained my presence of mind. I

reached the house, and suddenly three great burly fellows sprang up, and

battered furiously at the door. They were clearly robbers of the most

desperate type, and I drew my sword, and, as they came at me one by one,

I plunged it swiftly into their bodies. Fotis was aroused, and opened

the door, and I entered, utterly worn out by the struggle, and went at

once to bed and to sleep.

Early in the morning I was awakened by a great clamour. A throng of

people burst into my bedroom, and two lictors arrested me, and dragged

me to the forum. But as they took me through the streets and squares,

everybody turned out to see me, and the crowd grew so great that the

forum was not large enough to hold the people, and I was led to the

theatre.

There the lictors pushed me down through the proscenium, as though I

were a victim for sacrifice, and put me in the centre of the orchestra.

"Citizens," said the prefect of the watch, "as I was going on my rounds

late last night, I saw this ferocious young foreigner, sword in hand,

slashing and stabbing three inoffensive creatures. When I arrived they

were lying dead upon the ground. Their murderer, overwhelmed by his

terrible crime, fled into a house, and hid there, hoping, no doubt, to

escape in the morning. Men of Hypata, you do not allow your own

fellow-townsmen to commit murder with impunity. Shall, then, this

savage, brutal alien avoid the consequences of his fearful crime?"

For some time I could not reply. The suddenness of the whole thing

terrified me, and it was with a voice broken with sobs that I at last

managed to make my defence.

"They were robbers," I cried, "robbers of the most desperate and vilest

character! I caught them breaking into the house of my friend Milo, your

esteemed fellowtownsman, oh, citizens of Hypata! There were three of

them--three great, rough, burly rascals, each more than a match for a

mere boy like myself. Yet I managed to kill them; and I think I deserve

praise at your hands, and not censure, for my public-spirited action."

Here I stopped, for I saw that all the vast multitude of people was

laughing at me. And what grieved me most was to see my kinswoman

Byrrhena and my host Milo among my mockers. The senior magistrate

ordered the wheel and other instruments of torture to be brought forth.

"I cannot believe a mere boy like this could have slain three great

strong men single-handed," he said. "He must have had accomplices, and

we must torture him until he reveals the names of his partners in this

most dastardly crime. But, first of all, let him look upon the bodies of

the men he has foully murdered. Perhaps that will melt his hard, savage

nature."

The lictors then led me to the bier, and forced me to uncover the

bodies. Ye gods! The corpses were merely three inflated wine-skins, and

I observed that they were cut in the very spots in which I thought I had

wounded the robbers. I had, indeed, invented a pleasantry for the

festival of the god of laughter! The townspeople laughed with the

inextinguishable laughter of the Olympian deities. They climbed up to

the roof to get a good look at me; they swarmed up the pillars; they

clung to the statues; they hung from the windows at the risk of their

lives; all shouting at me in wild jollity.

"Sir Lucius," the magistrate then said to me, "we are not ignorant of

your dignity and your rank. The noble family to which you belong is

famous throughout Greece. So do not take this pleasantry in honour of

the joyful god of laughter as an insult. In return for your excellent

services at this great festival, the city of Hypata has decreed that

your statue shall be cast in bronze and erected in a place of honour."

By this time I had recovered somewhat of my good humour. But knowing how

mercilessly I should be teased at the banquet Byrrhena wished to give in

celebration of my exploits, I went quickly home with Milo, and after

supping with him, retired at a very early hour to my bed-chamber.

_III.--Lucius Becomes an Ass_

In the middle of the night I heard a knock at my door. I opened it, and

in came pretty Fotis, looking a picture of misery.

"I can't sleep without telling you everything," she said. "I was the

cause of all the trouble that befell you to-day. As my mistress was

coming from the baths yesterday, she saw a handsome young gentleman

having his hair cut by a barber. Seized with a wild passion for him, she

ordered me to get some of his hair. But the barber saw me and drove me

away. I knew I should get a cruel whipping if I returned empty-handed.

Close by was a man shaving some wine-bags of goat-skin; the hair was

soft and yellow like the young gentleman's, so I took some of it to

Pamphila. You know my mistress is a terrible witch, so you can guess

what happened. She rose up in the night, and burnt the hair in her magic

cauldron. As it burnt, the wine-bags from which it was taken felt the

compulsion of the spell. They became like human beings. Rushing out into

the street, they hurled themselves against the door of our house, as

Pamphila expected the young gentleman would do. You came up--just a

little intoxicated, eh?--and committed the horrible crime of

bag-slaughter."

"Now, don't make fun of me, Fotis," I said. "This is a serious matter,

this witchcraft. What is Pamphila doing to-night? I have come here to

learn magic, and I am very anxious to see her practising her strange

arts."

"Come, then, and look," said Fotis.

We crept to the room where Pamphila was, and peeped through a chink in

the door. The witch undressed herself, and then took some boxes of

ointment out of a casket, and opened one box and smeared herself with

the stuff it contained. In the twinkling of an eye, feathers sprouted

out of her skin, and she changed into an owl, and flew out of the

window.

"She has gone after that handsome young gentleman," said Fotis. "I have

to wait here all night until she returns, and then give her a lotion of

aniseed and laurel-leaves to restore her to her proper shape."

"Why, my dear Fotis," I exclaimed, in intense admiration, "you know as

much about witchcraft as your mistress! Come, practise on me! Get me

some of that ointment and change me into a bird. Oh, how I should like

to fly!"

After some hesitation she entered the room, and took a box out of the

casket. I stripped myself and smeared the ointment over my body. But

never a feather appeared! Every hair on me changed into a bristle; my

hands turned into hoofed forefeet; a tail grew out of my backbone; my

face lengthened; and I found, to my horror, that I had become an ass.

"Oh, ye gods," said Fotis, "I've taken the wrong box! But no great

harm's done, dear Lucius. I know the antidote. I'll get you some roses

to crunch, and you will be restored to your proper shape."

Fotis, however, dared not go at once into the garden, lest Pamphila

should suddenly return and find me. So she told me to go and wait in the

stable until daybreak, and then she would gather some roses for me. But

when I got into the stable I wished I had waited outside. My own horse

and an ass belonging to Milo conceived a strange dislike to me. They

fell upon me with great fury, and bit me and kicked me, and made such a

clamour that the groom came to see whatever was the matter. He found me

standing on my hind legs trying to reach the garland of roses which he

had placed on the shrine of the goddess Epona in the middle of the

stable.

"What a sacrilegious brute!" he cried, falling upon me savagely.

"Attacking the shrine of the divinity who guards over horses! I'll lame

you, that I will!"

As he was belabouring me with a great cudgel, a band of fierce men armed

with swords and carrying lighted torches appeared. At the sight of them

the groom fled in terror.

"Help! Help! Robbers!" I heard Milo and Fotis cry.

But before the groom was able to fetch the watch, the robbers forced

their way into the house, and broke open Milo's strongbox. Then they

loaded me and the horse and the ass with the stolen wealth, and drove us

out into the mountains. Unused to the heavy burden laid on me, I went

rather slowly. This enraged the robbers, and they beat me until I was

well-nigh dead. But at last I saw a sight which filled me with the

wildest joy. We passed a noble country house, surrounded by a garden of

sweet-smelling roses. I rushed open-mouthed upon the flowers. But just

as I strained my curling lips towards them, I stopped. If I changed

myself into a man the robbers would kill me, either as a wizard, or out

of fear that I would inform against them! So I left the roses untouched,

and in the evening we came to the cave in the mountains where the

robbers dwelt, and there, to my delight, I was relieved of my grievous

load.

Soon afterwards another band of robbers arrived, carrying a young and

lovely maid arrayed as a bride. Her beautiful features were pale, and

wet with tears, and she tore her hair and her garments. "Take this

girl," said the robbers to the old woman who waited upon them, "and

comfort her. Tell her she's in no danger. Her people are rich, and will

soon ransom her."

Charite, for such was the name of the beautiful bride, fell weeping into

one of the old women's arms.

"They tore me away from Tlepolemus," she said, "when he was about to

enter my bridal chamber. Our house was decked with laurel, and the

bridal-song was being sung, when a band of swordsmen entered with drawn

swords, and carried me off. Now I shall never see my bridegroom again."

"Yes, you will, dearie," said the old woman. "But don't let us talk

about it now. After all, you are not in so evil a plight as Psyche was

when she lost her husband, Cupid. Now, listen, while I tell you that

marvellous tale."

And here is the tale of Cupid and Psyche as the old woman related it to

Charite:

_IV.--The Marvellous Story of Cupid and Psyche_

"There was once a king of a certain city who had three daughters. All of

them were very beautiful, but Psyche, the youngest, was lovelier even

than Venus. The people worshipped her as she walked the streets, and

strewed her path with flowers. Strangers from all parts of the world

thronged to see her and to adore her. The temples of Venus were

deserted, and no garlands were laid at her shrines. Thereupon, the

goddess of love and beauty grew angry. She tossed her head with a cry of

rage, and called to her son, Cupid, and showed him Psyche walking the

streets of the city.

"'Avenge me!' she said. 'Fill this maiden with burning love for the

ugliest, wretchedest creature that lives on earth.'

"The king was thereupon commanded by an oracle to array his daughter in

bridal robes, and set her upon a high mountain, so that she might be

wedded to a horrible monster. All the city was filled with grief and

lamentation when Psyche was led out to her doom, and placed upon the

lonely peak. Then a mighty wind arose, and carried the maiden to an

enchanted palace, where she was waited on by unseen spirits who played

sweet music for her delight, and fed her with delicious food. But in the

darkness of night someone came to her couch and wooed her tenderly, and

she fell in love with him and became his wife. And he said: 'Psyche, you

may do what you will in the palace I have built for you. But one thing

you must not do--you must not attempt to see my face.'

"Her husband was very sweet and kind, but he came only in the night

time; and in the daytime Psyche felt very lonesome. So she begged her

husband to let her sisters come and stay with her, and her husband had

them brought on a mighty wind. When they saw how delightfully Psyche

lived in the enchanted palace they grew jealous of her strange

happiness.

"'Yes, this is a very pleasant place,' they exclaimed, 'but you know

what the oracle said, Psyche. You are married to a monster! That is the

reason why he will not let you see his face.'

"In the night, when they had departed, Psyche lighted a lamp and looked

at her bedfellow. Oh, joy! It was Cupid, the radiant young god of love,

reposing in his beauty. In her excitement Psyche let a drop of burning

oil fall from the lamp upon his right shoulder. The god leaped up and

spread out his wings, and flew away, saying:

"'Instead of marrying you to a monster, in obedience to my mother's

commands, I wedded you myself. And this is how you serve me! Farewell,

Psyche! Farewell!'

"But Psyche set out to follow him, and after a long and toilsome journey

she reached the court of Venus, where Cupid was now imprisoned. Venus

seized her and beat her, and then set her on dangerous tasks, and tried

to bring about her death. But Psyche was so lovely and gentle that every

living creature wished to help her and save her. Then Venus, fearing

that Cupid would escape and rescue his wife, said:

"'Psyche, take this casket to Proserpine, in the Kingdom of the Dead,

and ask her to fill it with beauty.'

"Psyche was in despair. No mortal had ever returned from the Kingdom of

the Dead. She climbed a high tower, and prepared to throw herself down,

and die. But the very stones took pity upon her.

"'Go to Tænarus,' they said, 'and there you will find a way to the

Underworld. Take two copper coins in your mouth, and two honey-cakes in

your hands.'

"Psyche travelled to Tænarus, near Lacedæmon, and there she found a hole

leading to the Underworld. A ghostly ferryman rowed her over the River

of Death, and took one of her copper coins. Then a monstrous dog with

three heads sprang out, but Psyche fed him with one of her honey-cakes,

and entered the hall of Proserpine, the queen of the dead. Proserpine

filled the casket, and by means of the last honey-cake and the last

copper coin, Psyche returned to the green, bright earth.

"But, alas! she was over-curious, and opened the casket to see the

divine beauty it contained. A deadly vapour came out and overpowered

her, and she fell to the ground. But Cupid, who had now escaped from his

prison, found her lying on the grass, and wiped the vapour from her

face. Taking her in his arms, he spread out his wings, and carried her

to Olympus; and there they live together in unending bliss, with their

little child, whose name is Joy."

_V.--The Further Strange Adventures of the Ass_

While the old woman was entertaining the beautiful captive with this

charming tale, a tall, fierce young man in ragged clothes stalked boldly

in among the robbers.

"Long life to you, brave comrades!" he said. "Don't judge me by these

rags, my boys. They're a disguise. Have you heard of Hæmus, the famous

Thracian brigand? If so, you've heard of me. My band has been cut up,

but I'm bringing what men I still have to you. Shall we join forces?"

The robbers had just lost their own captain, so they received Hæmus with

great joy, and made him their leader. Soon afterwards ten of his men

came in, loaded with swollen wine-bags.

"Here's enough wine," he said, "to last us a fortnight if we use it

temperately. Let us celebrate this glorious day by finishing it at one

sitting!"

The robbers at once fell furiously to drinking, and their new captain

forced Charite to come and sit beside him. After a little wooing, she

began to cling to him, and return his kisses.

"Oh, what a frail, fickle, faithless race are women!" I said to myself.

"Scarcely two hours ago she was crying her eyes out for her bridegroom;

now here she is, fondling a wretched assassin."

What an ass I was! It was some time before I noticed that the new

captain did not drink himself, and that the men he brought with him were

only pretending to drink, while forcing the wine on the other robbers,

who soon became too drunk to drink, and rolled over in a deep sleep.

"Up, boys, and disarm and bind these ruffians!" said the new captain,

who was none other than Tlepolemus, the bridegroom of the fair Charite.

And leaving his servants to perform this task, he put Charite on my

back, and led me to his native town. All the inhabitants poured out into

the street to see us pass, and they loudly acclaimed Tlepolemus for his

valour and ingenuity in rescuing his lovely bride, and capturing the

robbers.

Charite did not forget me in the scenes of rejoicing. She patted my head

and kissed my rough face, and bade the groom of the stud feed me well,

and let me have the run of the fields.

"Now I shall at last be able to get a mouthful of roses," I thought,

"and recover my human shape."

But, alas! the groom was an avaricious, disobedient slave, and he at

once sold me to a troupe of those infamous beggarly priests of Cybele,

who cart the Syrian goddess about the public squares to the sound of

cymbals and rattles.

The next morning my new owners smeared their faces with rouge, and

painted their eyes with black grease; then they dressed themselves in

white tunics, and set their wretched goddess on my back, and marched

out, leaping and brandishing great swords and axes. On coming to the

mansion of a wealthy man, they raised a wild din, and whirled about, and

cut themselves and scourged themselves until they were covered with

blood. The master of the mansion was so impressed with this savage and

degrading spectacle that he gave the priests a good sum of money, and

invited them into his house. They took the goddess with them, and I

scampered out into the fields searching for some roses.

But I was quickly brought back by the cook. His master had given him a

fat haunch from an enormous stag to roast for the priests' dinner, and a

dog had run off with it. In order to avoid being whipped for his

carelessness, the slave resolved to let the priests dine off a haunch of

their own ass. He locked the door of the kitchen, so that I could not

escape, and then took a long knife and came to kill me. But I had no

mind to perish in this way; and I dashed upstairs into the room where

the master was busy worshipping the goddess in the company of the

priests, and knocked the table over, and the goddess and many of the

worshippers.

"Kill the wretched thing," said the master. "It has gone mad."

But the priests did not care to lose their salable property, and they

locked me in their bedroom, and sold me to the first man they met the

next morning. It was a poor gardener who needed an ass to cart his stuff

to market. But as the gardener was taking me home a soldier came

tramping along the road. He, too, wanted an ass to carry his heavy kit.

So he struck the gardener down with his sword and seized me by right of

conquest; then, loading me with his armour and shield and baggage, he

took me to the town to which he was travelling. There he was ordered by

his tribune to take some letters to Rome, so he disposed of me for a

small sum to two confectioners.

By this time I had grown very feeble and thin. Though I was changed into

an ass, L could not relish hay and grass and food of that sort, and I

derived scarcely any nourishment from it. I still had human tastes, as

well as human thoughts and feelings. Happily, I was very well off with

my new masters. Every evening, they brought home the remains of the

banquets they had served--bits of chicken, pork, fish and meat, and

various cakes; and these they put in their room while they went for a

bath before dinner. I used then to creep in and take all the best bits,

and when my two masters returned they began to reproach each other with

having filched the choicest pieces. In the meantime, I grew plump and

glossy and broad-backed, and as my masters observed I ate no hay, they

spied on me one evening.

They forgot their quarrel when they saw their ass picking out the best

bits with the taste of an epicure: and, bursting open the door, they

cried: "Let us try him with wine!" Naturally, I drank it very readily.

"We have got a treasure here," they said. They soon found that I was

intelligent, and understood human language. And after training me they

took me to Corinth, and exhibited me there, and made a great deal of

money. In a short time I became famous throughout Greece as the "Golden

Ass," and I was bought by the town for use in the public show. Nobody

thought that any watch need be kept over an animal as thoroughly

civilised as I was; and one evening I succeeded in escaping, and fled to

a lonely spot on the seashore.

_VI.--The Miracle of Isis and the Fate of Lucius_

As I nestled down on the soft sand, the full-orbed moon rose above the

eastern waves, and shone with a glorious radiance. My heart opened to

the mysteries of the sacred night, and I sprang up, and bathed seven

times in the cleansing water of the sea. Then, with tears upon my

cheeks, I prayed to Isis, the mighty saviour goddess:

"O Queen of Heaven, who dost enlighten the world with thy lovely beams

as thou goest on thy lonely way, hear me now and help me, in my peril

and misery and misfortune! Restore me, O mighty goddess, to my rightful

shape, and let Lucius return to the bosom of his family."

Sleep fell swiftly upon my eyes, and in my sleep the goddess visited me.

She rose up, a vision of light, from the waters. On her head was a crown

of radiant flowers, shaped like the moon, and serpents coiled about her

temples, and her divine body was arrayed in a robe of shining darkness

embroidered with innumerable stars.

"See, Lucius," she said, with a voice that breathed a great sweetness

over me, "Isis appears in answer to your prayer. Cease now to weep and

mourn, for I am come in pity of your lot to show favour to you.

To-morrow my priest will descend to the seashore to celebrate my

festival, and in his left hand he will carry a crown of roses. Go forth

without fear, and take the crown of roses, and then put off the shape of

a beast, and put on the form of a man. Serve me well all the days of

your life, and when you go down to the grave you shall see me as a light

amid the darkness--as a queen in the palace of hell. By my favour you

shall be lifted up into the fields of Paradise, and there you shall

worship and adore me for all eternity."

The saviour goddess then vanished, and I awoke, and the dawn was in the

sky, and the waves of the sea were dancing in the golden light. A long

procession was winding down from the city to the shore to the sound of

flutes and pipes.

First came a great multitude of people carrying lamps and torches and

tapers in honour of the constellations of heaven; then a choir of

sweet-voiced boys and girls in snowy garments; and next a train of men

and women luminous in robes of pure white linen; these were the

initiates; and they were followed by the prelates of the sacred

mysteries; and behind them all walked the high priest, bearing in his

right hand the mystic rattle of Isis, and in his left hand the crown of

roses. By divine intervention, the crowd parted and made a way for me;

and when I came to the priest he held out the roses, and I ate them, and

was changed into a man. The people raised their hands to heaven,

wonder-stricken by the miracle, and the fame of it went out over all the

world. The priest initiated me into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris,

and I shaved my head, and entered the College of Pastors, and became a

servant of the high gods.

* * * * *