Lucius Apuleius the Golden
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Lucius Apuleius The Golden Ass Translated by A. S. Kline © 2013 All Rights Reserved. This work may be freely reproduced, stored, and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose. 2 Contents Book I:1 Apuleius’ address to the reader Book I:2-5 Aristomenes begins his tale Book I:6-10 Socrates’ misfortune Book I:11-17 Aristomenes’ Nightmare Book I:18-20 Socrates’ death Book I:21-26 Milo’s House Book II:1-3 Aunt Byrrhena Book II:4-5 At Byrrhena’s House Book II:6-10 The charms of Photis Book II:11-14 Diophanes the Chaldaean Book II:15-18 A night with Photis Book II:19-20 The supper party Book II:21-24 Thelyphron’s tale: guarding the body Book II:25-28 Thelyphron’s tale: conjuring the dead Book II:29-30 Thelyphron’s tale: what the corpse said Book II:31-32 An encounter with thieves Book III:1-3 On trial Book III:4-8 Lucius states his defence Book III:9-11 Justice is served Book III:12-18 Photis confesses Book III:19-23 Spying on the mistress Book III:24-29 Lucius transformed! Book IV:1-3 Encounter with the market-gardener Book IV:4-5 Feigned exhaustion Book IV:6-9 The robber’s cave Book IV:10-12 Thieving in Thebes – Lamachus and Alcimus Book IV:13-15 Thieving in Plataea – the bear’s skin Book IV:16-21 Thrasyleon’s fate Book IV:22-25 The captive Book IV:26-27 Her dream Book IV:28-31 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: fatal beauty Book IV:32-33 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the oracle Book V:1-3 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the palace Book V:4-6 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the mysterious husband Book V:7-10 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the wicked sisters 3 Book V:11-13 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: Cupid’s warning Book V:14-21 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the sisters’ scheme Book V:22-24 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: revelation Book V:25-27 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the sisters’ fate Book V:28-31 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: Venus is angered Book VI:1-4 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: Ceres and Juno Book VI:5-8 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: brought to account Book VI:9-10 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the first task Book VI:11-13 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the second task Book VI:14-15 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the third task Book VI:16-20 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the underworld Book VI:21-22 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the jar of sleep Book VI:23-24 The tale of Cupid and Psyche: the marriage Book VI:25-29 An escape attempt Book VI:30-32 Re-capture Book VII:1-4 Back at the cave Book VII:5-8 The new recruit Book VII:9-12 Escape from the robbers Book VII:13-15 In clover, and the opposite Book VII:16-21 Hard times Book VII:22-24 Exit pursued by a bear Book VII:25-28 The eve of execution Book VIII:1-3 The tale of Thrasyllus and Charite – mad desire Book VIII:4-6 The tale of Thrasyllus and Charite – the murder Book VIII:7-10 The tale of Thrasyllus and Charite – the vision in sleep Book VIII:11-14 The tale of Thrasyllus and Charite – vengeance Book VIII:15-18 New travels, fresh troubles Book VIII:19-22 Eaten alive Book VIII:23-25 Auctioned Book VIII:26-29 With the wandering Eunuchs Book VIII:30-31 Imminent death Book IX:1-4 The rabid dog Book IX:5-7 The lover in the jar Book IX:8-10 Sold again Book IX:11-13 At the mill Book IX:14-16 The miller’s wife Book IX:17-19 The tale of Arete and Philesitherus: Myrmex 4 Book IX:20-21 The tale of Arete and Philesitherus: A narrow escape Book IX:22-25 The tale of the fuller’s wife Book IX:26-28 Exposure Book IX:29-31 Revenge Book IX:32-34 Signs and portents Book IX:35-38 The three brothers Book IX:39-42 Encounter with a soldier Book X:1-5 The tale of the wicked stepmother – poisoning Book X:6-9 The tale of the wicked stepmother – truth Book X:10-12 The tale of the wicked stepmother – resurrection Book X:13-16 Gluttony Book X:17-22 Happy days, and nights! Book X:23-25 The condemned woman – the first murder Book X:26-28 The condemned woman – and the rest Book X:29-32 The entertainment Book X:33-35 Escape once more! Book XI:1-4 The vision of Isis Book XI:5-6 The Goddess commands Book XI:7-11 The festival begins Book XI:12-15 The ass transformed Book XI:16-19 Lucius regained Book XI:20-23 Preparations for initiation Book XI:24-27 The initiate of Isis Book XI:28-30 And of Osiris 5 Book I:1 Apuleius’ address to the reader Now! I’d like to string together various tales in the Milesian style, and charm your kindly ear with seductive murmurs, so long as you’re ready to be amazed at human forms and fortunes changed radically and then restored in turn in mutual exchange, and don’t object to reading Egyptian papyri, inscribed by a sly reed from the Nile. I’ll begin. Who am I? I’ll tell you briefly. Hymettus near Athens; the Isthmus of Corinth; and Spartan Mount Taenarus, happy soil more happily buried forever in other books, that’s my lineage. There as a lad I served in my first campaigns with the Greek tongue. Later, in Rome, freshly come to Latin studies I assumed and cultivated the native language, without a teacher, and with a heap of pains. So there! I beg your indulgence in advance if as a crude performer in the exotic speech of the Forum I offend. And in truth the very fact of a change of voice will answer like a circus rider’s skill when needed. We’re about to embark on a Greek tale. Reader, attend: and find delight. Book I:2-5 Aristomenes begins his tale Thessaly – where the roots of my mother’s family add to my glory, in the famous form of Plutarch, and later his nephew, Sextus the philosopher – Thessaly is where I was off to on business. Emerging from perilous mountain tracks, and slithery valley ones, and damp meadows and muddy fields, riding a pure-white local nag, he being fairly tired and to chase away my own fatigue from endless sitting with the labour of walking, I dismounted. I rubbed the sweat from his forehead, carefully, stroked his ears, loosed his bridle, and led him slowly along at a gentle pace, till the usual and natural remedy of grazing eliminated the inconvenience of his lassitude. While he was at his mobile breakfast, the grass he passed, contorting his head from side to side, I made a third to two travellers who chanced to be a little way ahead. As I tried to hear what they were saying, one of them burst out laughing: “Stop telling such absurd and monstrous lies!” Hearing this, and my thirst for anything new being what it is, I said: “Oh do let me share your conversation. I’m not inquisitive but I love to 6 know everything, or at least most things. Besides, the charm of a pleasant tale will lighten the pain of this hill we’re climbing.” But the one who’d laughed merely went on: “Now that story was about as true as if you’d said magic spells can make rivers flow backwards, chain the sea, paralyze the wind, halt the sun, squeeze dew from the moon, disperse the stars, banish day, and lengthen night!” Here I spoke out more boldly: “Don’t be annoyed, you who began the tale; don’t weary of spinning out the rest.” And to the other “You with your stubborn mind and cloth ears might be rejecting something true. By Hercules, it’s not too clever if wrong opinion makes you judge as false what seems new to the ear, or strange to the eye, or too hard for the intellect to grasp, but which on closer investigation proves not only true, but even obvious. I last night, competing with friends at dinner, took too large a mouthful of cheese polenta. That soft and glutinous food stuck in my throat, blocked my windpipe, and I almost died. Yet at Athens, not long ago, in front of the Painted Porch, I saw a juggler swallow a sharp-edged cavalry sword with its lethal blade, and later I saw the same fellow, after a little donation, ingest a spear, death-dealing end downwards, right to the depth of his guts: and all of a sudden a beautiful boy swarmed up the wooden bit of the upside-down weapon, where it rose from throat to brow, and danced a dance, all twists and turns, as if he’d no muscle or spine, astounding everyone there. You’d have said he was that noble snake that clings with its slippery knots to Asclepius’ staff, the knotty one he carries with the half sawn-off branches.