The following morning he woke his daughter and told her to dress in simply. Confused, but willing to obey, she did as she was told. In the cool, crisp hours of the morning, the two set off for the mountain. The farmer was sullen and the daughter knew not what to say to cheer him up. They made it to the base of the mountain as the sun began to set back into the horizon and the moon began to peak out.
"Now my dear Anima, you are to stay here until I return for you. Don't leave or you might be crushed by falling rocks or attacked by murderous robbers. I will be back in a few days. This satchel has enough food for you until I return. I love you dearly my child, as you have always known." He placed a gentle kiss upon her forehead, embraced her in one last hug, and then departed. Three days passed and she began to feel her father wouldn't return to her. As the sun of the fifth day began to rise into the sky, Anima simply laid on the cold damp floor of the cave. She had disobeyed her father the previous day to search for food. The mountain was empty of all life though and all she had managed was fresh water. The hottest part of the day reached her and she could feel the life slowly ebbing from her bones. Sounds of a horse reached her ears but she paid it no attention. She closed her eyes, and waited for the sweet salvation of death.
The prince of the nearby city trotted by on his horse. He stopped when he spotted young Anima laying still in the cave.
"Madame, are you alright?" He called softly into the cave. He could see that, though she was covered in dirt, she was very beautiful. "Madame, are you alright? Do you need any assistance? I am Prince Erinos of Caelum, and will not harm you m'lady." He crept closer, quickly realizing that she was unconscious and in need of care. Erinos rushed over and picked her up, amazed at how incredibly light and fragile she was. He mounted his horse and gently cradled her in his arms. Erinos raced back to his castle and quickly delivered Anima to his doctors.
Erinos's mother was always the jealous type. When she saw the beautiful girl cradled in her son's arms, she scowled, "Take this creature back to where you found it and leave it to die. It does not belong with us!" She turned her back and left her son. Erinos knew he couldn't disobey his mother, but he also couldn't leave this girl to die. He took Anima to his secret hut he'd built in the nearby forest. Erinos nursed Anima back to health, visiting her every day for several months. He soon realized he was falling in love with her. One day, he begged Anima to marry him. When she agreed and they held their ceremony in secret, Erinos became very happy.
Anima's two eldest sisters were walking in the woods one day when they stumbled across the hut. Erinos recognized them from Anima's many detailed descriptions. He gave Anima several warnings about them, to not let them fill her head with silly notion of him. However, Anima was still young and naive. When she took her sisters in and showed them all of the glorious things Erinos had brought her, the sisters became jealous and told her to follow him when he left the hut. They knew who he was, but they wanted their sister to suffer. Their marriages weren't happy, so their sister shouldn't be allowed to have one either.
Anima did as she was told and followed Erinos one night as he traveled back home. She finally realized that he was not a merchant of fine goods, as he had told her, but the prince! He caught her staring at him around the corner and grasped her as she tried to run. "I warned you! I always told you to never follow me after I depart! If you are found it will mean both of our heads! You did not listen to my warnings and those nasty harpies filled your head with muck! Leave me and do not return!" Anima left, heart burning with pain. She didn't return to the hut but to the mountain instead.
The wicked sisters went to the queen and told her of her son's disobedience. The queen grew furious and sought out Anima. Finally she found the girl, "If you wish to live and remain by my son's side, there are four tasks I ask of you." Anima listened closely as the queen instructed her of the treacherous trials. Meanwhile, Erinos searched for his dear bride, agonizing with a broken heart. He found Anima in tatters as she attempted to complete her fourth and final task.
"Finish your task with my mother, I will take care of the rest." Anima obeyed and brought the last requested prize to the queen while Erinos went to his father, the king, to beg forgiveness and to allow Anima to remain his wife at the castle. The king always had a soft spot for his son, so he obliged. An official wedding ceremony was held and though the queen was still bitter towards Anima, she eventually forgave her son and they all lived happily ever after.
Author's note: This story is inspired by the story of Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline. I chose this style of writing because it was easier to jump from plot point to plot point quickly while still maintaining the fairy tale like quality of the original story. The original story is about the beautiful young sister, Psyche, being compared to Venus (Aphrodite). People stopped worshiping the goddess to worship Psyche and that made Venus very angry. She sent her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with the most hideous man alive. But Cupid fell in love and married her himself. He kept his identity hidden from Psyche and warned her to not try to find out who he was. Psyche's sisters put wicked thoughts into her head and caused her to find out who her husband was. Eventually, her sisters die because they are harpies and only wanted Cupid for themselves. Venus finds Psyche and make her perform four horrible tasks. Cupid finds Psyche as she is trying to complete the fourth one and tell her he is going to make everything right. He does, they have an official marriage, and they live happily ever after. I changed the names, setting, and social rank of the characters and made the gods mortal but I kept true to the basic plot of it because I really liked it. Anima means 'soul' in Latin and Psyche became the Goddess of the Soul in the Greek myth, so I tried to tied the names together. Another name for Cupid was Eros, which sounded like Erin to me and then I just made it sound like a royal name.
Bibliography: Original story source: Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).
Hey Sage. I am really impressed that you did the entire story! I also did Cupid and Psyche as my reading for this week. I could line up everything you talked about within your storytelling with the original story, which is good. I liked how you made the Cupid equivalent a prince and Venus a jealous queen. I thought those were really good comparisons to the original characters.
ReplyDeleteI did not read this unit, but after reading your story and the Author's Note, I felt like I have a great understanding of the plot. As I was reading I was actually curious how you had chosen the name Anima and was so intrigued by your explanation. I think it was really creative to use simplified names for Cupid and Psyche that still held meaning to their Greek names. The sisters almost reminded me of the evil stepsisters in Cinderella who try to ruin her chances with the prince and steal him for themselves. I really enjoyed your take on the story. Great job!
ReplyDeleteSage, good job on your storytelling! I also did Cupid and Psyche for this week. In my storytelling for this unit, I tried to do something similar to you, but I couldn't finish it because I blanked out on what to do. However, you did a spectacular job. You stayed true to the original story line. The names you chose are also very creative. I like how you related it to the original characters. Keep up the good work.
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