ied, "nimble scholars of the Earth,
Mother of all things!--have pity upon the wife of Love, and hasten to
help her in her perilous effort." Then, one upon the other, the hosts
of the insect people hurried together; and they sorted asunder the
whole heap of seed, separating every grain after its kind, and so
departed quickly out of sight.

And at nightfall Venus returned, and seeing that task finished with so
wonderful diligence, she cried, "The work is not thine, thou naughty
maid, but his in whose eyes thou hast found favour." And calling her
again in the morning, "See now the grove," she said, "beyond yonder
torrent. Certain sheep feed there, whose fleeces shine with gold.
Fetch me straightway a lock of that precious stuff, having gotten it as
thou mayst."

And Psyche went forth willingly, not to obey the command of Venus, but
even to seek a rest from her labour in the depths of the river. But
from the river, the green reed, lowly mother of music, spake to her: "O
Psyche! pollute not these waters by self-destruction, nor approach that
terrible flock; for, as the heat groweth, they wax fierce. Lie down
under yon plane-tree, till the [85] quiet of the river's breath have
soothed them. Thereafter thou mayst shake down the fleecy gold from
the trees of the grove, for it holdeth by the leaves."

And Psyche, instructed thus by the simple reed, in the humanity of its
heart, filled her bosom with the soft golden stuff, and returned to
Venus. But the goddess smiled bitterly, and said to her, "Well know I
who was the author of this thing also. I will make further trial of
thy discretion, and the boldness of thy heart. Seest thou the utmost
peak of yonder steep mountain? The dark stream which flows down thence
waters the Stygian fields, and swells the flood of Cocytus. Bring me
now, in this little urn, a draught from its innermost source." And
therewith she put into her hands a vessel of wrought crystal.

And Psyche set forth in haste on her way to the mountain, looking there
at last to find the end of her hapless life. But when she came to the
region which borders on the cliff that was showed to her, she
understood the deadly nature of her task. From a great rock, steep and
slippery, a horrible river of water poured forth, falling straightway
by a channel exceeding narrow into the unseen gulf below. And lo!
creeping from the rocks on either hand, angry serpents, with their long
necks and sleepless eyes. The ve