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

她朝崖邊往下看，在這兒她被父親拋棄

She'd been born with the physical perfection so complete

她出生就擁有完美的外表

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

被視為是愛神維納斯的化身，受到崇拜

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

但凡人則因膽怯而無人追求她

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

他的父親祈求太陽神阿波羅求賜予神諭

the god of light, reason, and prophecy.

阿波羅是光明與理性的神，有預言能力

He was told to abandon his daughter on a rocky crag

神告訴他將女兒丟在峭壁

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

在她會在那和一個殘忍又野蠻的像蛇一樣有翅膀的惡人結婚

Alone on the crag, Psyche felt Zephyr the West Wind

待在峭壁在時 Psyche 感到西風徐徐吹來

gently lifting her into the air.

輕輕地將她高舉至空中旅行

It set her down before a palace.

直到到達一處宮殿

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

她只聽一個聲音向她說：「你到家了」，但她看不見人影

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

「你的丈夫在臥室等著你，如果你敢去見他」

She was brave enough, Psyche told herself.

她告訴自己她很勇敢

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

臥室很暗，她看不見她的丈夫

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

她覺得丈夫一點也不像是蛇

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

他的皮膚細緻，聲音及行為都很文雅

She asked him who he was,

她問他是何人

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

但丈夫告訴她他不能回答她這個問題

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

如果她愛他，她就不需要知道他是誰

His visits continued night after night.

他每晚都和她在一起

Before long, Psyche was pregnant.

不久，Psyche 懷孕了

She rejoiced, but was also conflicted.

她感到欣喜但同時又很矛盾

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

她怎麼能和一個她不知道是誰的男人一起扶養孩子

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

當晚，Psyche 拿著油燈走向她睡著的丈夫

What she found was the god Cupid

結果她發現丈夫是丘比特神

who sent gods and humans lusting after each other

愛神使神和人相愛

with the pinpricks of his arrows.

愛神配有一把箭可將箭尖刺向人或神

Psyche dropped her lamp, burning Cupid with hot oil.

Psyche 把油燈打翻了，熱油燙傷丘比特

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

丘比特說她一直以來都愛慕著Psyche ，從他的善妒的母親維納斯

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

要求他將箭刺向她時，他就愛上她了

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

丘比特因為Psyche 的美，而將箭刺向自己

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

但他不相信神和凡人可以相等地相愛

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

但現在在 Psyche 知道他是誰後，他們兩無法再快樂地相愛了

so he flew away.

於是他就飛離開了

Psyche was left in despair until the unseen voice returned

她很失望，直到看不見的聲音又至

and told her that it was indeed possible

聲音告訴她確實有可能

for her and Cupid to love each other as equals.

她和丘比特能相等地深愛對方

Encouraged, she set out to find him.

受到鼓勵後她決定啟程去找他

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

然而維納斯妨礙 Psyche 說，如果想和丘比特結合

if she completed a series of impossible tasks.

必須完全一些不可能的任務

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

首先，她必須要在一個晚上將一大堆的種子分類

Just as she was abandoning hope,

就在她想要放棄希望時

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

螞蟻雄兵可憐她，幫她完成了任務

Successfully passing the first trial,

成功地完成第一個考驗

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

她的另一項任是要將金羊的羊毛送給維納斯

who had a reputation for disemboweling stray adventurers,

金羊因為會吃流浪的旅人腸子而聞名

but a river god showed her how to collect

但河神教 Psyche 如何

the fleece the sheep had snagged on briars,

利用野薔薇的枝來取得羊毛

and she succeeded.

結果她成功了

Finally, Psyche had to travel to the Underworld

最後，她必須到地底下去

and convince Proserpina, queen of the dead,

去說服死亡女神 Proserpina

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

將死亡女神的一點美麗裝進盒子裡給維納斯

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

再一次，看不見的聲音來到Psyche身邊

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

告訴她要帶著大麥做的糕餅給冥府門狗 Cerberus

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

還有要付錢給船夫 Charon，帶她過冥川

With her third and final task complete,

完成了第三項及最後一項任務後

Psyche returned to the land of the living.

Psyche 回到凡間

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

就在維納斯的宮殿外，她打開裝著 Proserpina 美麗的盒子

hoping to keep some for herself.

希望她保留點給自己

But the box was filled with sleep, not beauty,

但盒子只有睡眠，不是美麗

and Psyche collapsed in the road.

Psyche 跌在路上睡著

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

丘比特的傷好了之後飛回來找他睡著的新娘

He told her he'd been wrong and foolish.

他告訴她他錯了，自己太愚笨

Her fearlessness in the face of the unknown

因為害怕面對未知

proved that she was more than his equal.

現在知道她更愛他

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

丘比特給 Psych 喝下瓊漿，神的飲料，使她成為不死

Shortly after, Psyche bore their daughter.

沒有多久， Psyche 生下女兒

They named her Pleasure,

他們給她取名叫愉悅

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

Psyche 的名字意思是靈魂，她和丘比特和愉悅

have been complicating people's love lives ever since.

從此使世人的愛情生活變得複雜