Psyche | Page 3

unreturned.
CUP. In the world nothing is heard but complaints of Cupid;
everywhere a thousand freaks are laid to my charge, and you could not
believe the evil and the foolish things which are daily said of me. If, to
assist your wrath....
VEN. Be gone; no longer resist your mother's wishes; use reasoning
only to find the shortest method of offering a sacrifice to my outraged
glory. Let your departure be your only answer to my entreaties, and do
not see my face again until you have avenged me.
CUPID _flies off, and_ VENUS withdraws with the two GRACES.
_The scenery changes to a large town, with palaces and houses of
different architecture on both sides of the stage_.

ACT I
SCENE I.--AGALAURA, CIDIPPE.
AGL. My sister, there are sorrows which are rendered greater by
keeping them to ourselves; let us speak freely of our joint distress, and
give vent in our conversations to the poignant grief which fills our
hearts. We are sisters in misfortune, and your heart and mine have so
much in common that we can unite them, and in our just complaints
murmur, with a common lament, against the cruelty of our fate. My
sister, what secret fatality makes the whole world bow before our
younger sister's charms? and how is it that, amongst so many different
princes who are brought by fortune to this place, not one has any love
for us? What! must we see them on all sides pressing forward to lay

their hearts at her feet, whilst they pass our charms slightingly by?
What spell has heaven cast over our eyes? What have they done to the
gods that they are thus left without homage amidst all the glorious
tribute of which others proudly boast? Can there be for us, my sister,
any greater trial than to see how all hearts disdain our beauty, and how
the fortunate Psyche insolently reigns with full sway over the crowd of
lovers who ever attend her?
CID. Ah! my sister, our fate is enough to bereave one of reason, and all
the ills of nature are nothing in comparison.
AGL. At times I can almost shed tears over it; it takes away my
happiness and my rest; my constancy finds itself powerless against
such a misfortune; my mind is for ever dwelling over it, and the ill
success of our charms and the triumph of Psyche are ever before my
eyes. At night, unceasingly, comes to me the remembrance of it, and
nothing can banish the cruel picture. As soon as sweet slumber comes
to deliver me from it, it is immediately recalled to my memory by some
dream which startles me from my sleep.
CID. That is just what I suffer from, my sister. All that you say, I see
myself, and you depict everything that I experience.
AGL. Well, let us discuss the matter. What all-powerful charms have
been bestowed upon her? Tell me how, by the least of her looks, she
has acquired honour in the great art of pleasing? What is there in her
person that can inspire such passion? What right of sway over all hearts
has her beauty given her? She has some comeliness, some of the
brilliancy of youth; we are all agreed upon that, and I do not gainsay it.
But must we yield to her because we are her seniors by a few years?
Must we, therefore, consider ourselves quite commonplace? Are we
made so as to excite derision? Have we no charms, no power of
pleasing, no complexion, no good eyes, no dignity and bearing, by
which we may win hearts? Do me the favour, sister, to speak to me
frankly. Am I, in your opinion, so fashioned that my merit is below
hers? And do you think that she surpasses me in her attire?
CID. You, my sister? By no means. Yesterday, at the hunt, I compared
you and her for a long time, and, without flattery, you appeared to me
the more beautiful. But tell me truly, sister, without blandishment, am I
deceiving myself when I think that I am so framed as to deserve the
glory of a conquest?

AGL. You, my sister? You possess, without disguise, everything that
can excite a loving passion. Your least actions are full of a charm
which moves my soul. And I would be your lover if I were not a
woman.
CID. Whence comes it, then, that she bears off the palm from us; that,
at the first glance, all hearts give up the struggle, and that no tribute of
sighs and vows is paid to our loveliness?
AGL. All the women, with one voice, find her attractions but small;
and, sister, I have discovered the cause of the number of lovers she
holds in