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"Beauty is a curse," Psyche thought

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as she looked over the cliff's edge
where she'd been abandoned by her father.

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She'd been born with the physical
perfection so complete

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that she was worshipped as a new
incarnation of Venus, the goddess of love.

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But real-life human lovers were
too intimidated even to approach her.

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When her father asked for guidance
from the Oracle of Apollo,

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the god of light, reason, and prophecy.

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He was told to abandon his daughter
on a rocky crag

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where she would marry a cruel
and savage serpent-like winged evil.

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Alone on the crag, Psyche felt
Zephyr the West Wind

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gently lifting her into the air.

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It set her down before a palace.

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"You are home," she heard 
an unseen voice say.

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"Your husband awaits you
in the bedroom, if you dare to meet him."

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She was brave enough, Psyche told herself.

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The bedroom was so dark that she
couldn't see her husband.

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But he didn't feel serpent-like at all.

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His skin was soft,
and his voice and manner were gentle.

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She asked him who he was,

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but he told her this was the one question
he could never answer.

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If she loved him, 
she would not need to know.

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His visits continued night after night.

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Before long, Psyche was pregnant.

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She rejoiced, but was also conflicted.

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How could she raise her baby
with a man she'd never seen?

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That night, Psyche approached
her sleeping husband holding an oil lamp.

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What she found was the god Cupid

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who sent gods and humans 
lusting after each other

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with the pinpricks of his arrows.

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Psyche dropped her lamp,
burning Cupid with hot oil.

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He said he'd been in love with Psyche
ever since his jealous mother, Venus,

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asked him to embarrass the young woman
by pricking her with an arrow.

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But taken with Psyche's beauty, Cupid
used the arrow on himself.

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He didn't believe, however, that gods
and humans could love as equals.

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Now that she knew his true form,
their hopes for happiness were dashed,

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so he flew away.

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Psyche was left in despair until
the unseen voice returned

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and told her that it was indeed possible

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for her and Cupid 
to love each other as equals.

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Encouraged, she set out to find him.

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But Venus intercepted Psyche and said
she and Cupid could only wed

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if she completed a series 
of impossible tasks.

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First, Psyche was told to sort a huge,
messy pile of seeds in a single night.

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Just as she was abandoning hope,

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an ant colony took pity on her
and helped with the work.

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Successfully passing the first trial,

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Psyche next had to bring Venus
the fleece of the golden sheep,

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who had a reputation for 
disemboweling stray adventurers,

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but a river god showed her how to collect

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the fleece the sheep 
had snagged on briars,

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and she succeeded.

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Finally, Psyche had to travel
to the Underworld

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and convince Proserpina, 
queen of the dead,

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to put a drop of her beauty in a box
for Venus.

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Once again, the unseen voice came
to Psyche's aide.

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It told her to bring barley cakes for
Cerberus, the guard dog to the Underworld

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and coins to pay the boatman, Charon
to ferry her across the river Styx.

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With her third and final task complete,

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Psyche returned to the land of the living.

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Just outside Venus's palace, she opened
the box of Proserpina's beauty,

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hoping to keep some for herself.

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But the box was filled with sleep,
not beauty,

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and Psyche collapsed in the road.

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Cupid, now recovered from his wounds,
flew to his sleeping bride.

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He told her he'd been wrong and foolish.

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Her fearlessness in the face
of the unknown

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proved that she was more than his equal.

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Cupid gave Psyche ambrosia, the nectar
of the gods, making her immortal.

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Shortly after, Psyche bore their daughter.

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They named her Pleasure,

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and she, Cupid, and Psyche, 
whose name means soul,

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have been complicating people's
love lives ever since.