Chapter 3: The Prophecy

In the palace chamber, the voices echoed in panic as maids ran hither and thither. There was a great stir in the belly of the Queen just before dawn. The high priestess lit a candle and went to a second and a third around the grand bed of the laboring mother. The midwife pulled out the washing stand so that she could wring the wet cloth in the basin and clean the sweats and tears off the Queen's brows. The maids poured some more lukewarm water from their jugs. After another hour passed, a piercing cry of a healthy baby released everyone from the gripping tension.

"How is the baby?" the King's voice came from behind the curtains. He had been pacing back and forth for hours. At last, the midwife reappeared with the newborn in her arms, and her face glowed with amazement.

"Your Majesty, you have the most beautiful baby girl!" the midwife spoke with tears of delight.

The King's chest lightened with relief. He looked down at his daughter and gasped as his heart filled to the brim with joy and pride.

The high priestess anointed the baby the next hour.

"She shall grow up and possess the greatest beauty like no others," the priestess said. "The fame of her shall sweep through the neighboring islands, through tracts of the mainland and numerous kingdoms. Many will make long journeys and travel over the deepest courses of the sea just to set eyes upon her."

The morning sun had risen past the horizon, casting the golden light through the arched windows. The royal parents brought their newborn child to the balcony of their dome-roofed tower. Below the city was rejoicing with the arrival of the new princess.

Once the infant was brought to the public, it seemed as if the sky had opened up and the light shone upon her alone. The baby stirred and opened her eyes for the first time. They were like brilliant gems on ivory. Her lips curved like the bow of a goddess. The birds chirped their welcoming songs. That day, they announced her name as Psyche.

Psyche grew up with soft polished form as if pearls had been crushed to a fine powder and smeared over her skin. A thick mass of silken hair shrouded her slender frame like a golden cloak.

The King and Queen had two older graceful daughters, and they were also regarded as the most beautiful princesses of their time. But the beauty of the youngest was so exquisite and distinguished that the poverty of human language was unable to describe or express its due praise.

Ever since she was born, the palace had never been quiet. There were always welcoming feasts for the crowd of guests who came to enjoy her sight. They brought with them many gifts of jewelry and fine silk and sweet, paying her the homage which was due only to a goddess.

As she passed along the palace halls, she could hear people singing her praises from the city below. Through the street, people would crowd around her chariot and strewed her way with chaplets and flowers.

Tonight, another feast was held. Psyche exited from her room and stood at one of the lattice-windows overlooking the pleasure grounds. The sky had drawn its black veil over the city, but there were still many of hordes of foreigners gathered about by the palace gates. They all heard the rumor of her peerless beauty and wished to witness it with their own eyes.

By now words of her comeliness and perfection had already spread through the nearest cities and bordering kingdoms. People thought that either Venus, who was sprung from the dark-blue depths of the sea and sent to heaven by the frothing waves, had bestowed the favor of divinity to Psyche, or the earth rather than the sea was newly impregnated by heavenly seed, and had sprouted forth the second Venus with the bloom of virginity.

Once they had laid eyes upon her, they would press their hands to their lips and reverse her with devoted worship as if she were none other than Venus herself.

But the youngest daughter of the King was so radiantly fair that no suitor seemed worthy of her. Meanwhile, Psyche for all her striking beauty gained no pleasure in her ravishing looks. She was the object of all eyes. The praising hymn from everyone's lips was as good as the wind to her. No king or prince or even commoner courted her or sought her hand. Her two elder sisters had been betrothed to royal suitors and had planned splendid marriages even though their modest beauty had won no widespread fame.

Psyche remained at home, lamenting her isolated existence and loneliness. Sick of the body and wounded at heart, she secretly loathed her beauty which the whole world admired.

The melancholy autumn days made the princess spirit low, burning sighs issued from her empty breast.

"Your Highness, the bath is ready," the palace maid informed her. She turned away and continued to another corner of the palace, which was carefully kept private.

The doors swung open, and she walked inside with no less than twenty maidens surrounding her. They went under the very lattice and advanced a little further into the indoor garden until they came to a jetting fountain overflowed with crystal-clear water.

Psyche paced with the grace of a rising dawn. The young princess's form was so wondrous and fair, an epitome of symmetry and loveliness, that even the palace maids who accompanied her every day looked on in admiration.

Once they reached the pool, the maids helped her take off her clothes and eased her into the perfumed water.

After she had bathed, they dressed her in beautiful silk, clasped her arms with gold bracelets, and crowned her head a small gem-studded tiara.

They brought her to the hall, which was only silent the moment she appeared. She sat down beside her two beautiful sisters, but her charms undoubtedly surpassed theirs. The night always went like this without fail.

All admired her godlike appearance, but she felt as if she was more of a statue than a living person.

No one had seen such grace and elegance in all their lives. People no longer traveled to the temples of Venus. Sacrifices on her altars were postponed, her shrines grew unsightly, couches became threadbare, rites went unperformed, the statues wore no garlands, and the hearths were bare and grimy with cold ashes.

One by one, the guests went up to the dais and knelt before Psyche with wreaths and flowers to address their prayers. They gazed upon her human face while appeasing the divine will of the mighty goddess Venus.

For this reason, the King of that ill-starred girl pitied his beloved child. He suspected that the gods were hostile and he feared their curse and anger.

He rose from his throne and spoke to the guests.

"I thank you for your enthusiasm to visit my kingdom," he said. "But I have to confess my true feeling with you. My mind is overwhelmed with worries as my darling daughter is still unwed. Though fair as she is, no one dares to take her hand. Therefore, I have decided to seek the advice of the most ancient oracle of Apollo, begging with prayers and sacrifices for a marriage and a suitable partner for my beloved girl."

The court was silent, none appeared to disagree with his decision. It was true that even the noblest of them deemed themselves unworthy of the marriage to Psyche.

The next morning, the King arose early and ordered his men to prepare carriages for a journey to the oracle.

They reached a mountain cave where the oracle of Apollo resided. The oracle wore the face of an aged crone. The King gifted a splendid box encased in gold and diamonds. He also sacrificed an ox for the prediction. The Oracle tossed a handful of herbs into the flames that burned in her brazier, and a shower of orange-hued sparks shot upward along with the smoke.

The smoke enveloped the cave, stinging the eyes of everyone but the oracle.

"O king of the ill-fated daughter," the oracle spoke. "Adorn this girl, for wedlock dread, and set her on a lofty mountain-rock. Forget all hope that a mortal can be your son-in-law, for she shall wed a fierce, barbaric, snake-like monster. Her lover, flitting on wings, makes all things miserable, plaguing each being with torch and arrows. Even Jupiter himself must fearful be. The other gods avoid this terror, and rivers shudder from the earth into the dark realms below."

The King's eyes widened. His jaw slackened in disbelief. For a long moment, he was rendered speechless by the prophecy. The King had formerly enjoyed a happy life, but not until this day, had he understood true sorrows.