The Wedding Feast

It was evening when Psyche awoke.

"Your bath awaits you, my lady," came Cinxia's now familiar voice.

Across the hallway was a room with walls covered in marble and a floor made of wood from the tall cedars of Lebanon. At the center was a large rectangular pool filled with hot water from which vapors rose.

Invisible hands undressed Psyche, then escorted her into the pool. She lay back and closed her eyes. The water warmed not only her body but, as if it had hands, it smoothed away her lingering fears and anxieties. She could not believe that harm could come to her in a place of such beauty.

When she came out of the pool, the invisible ones were waiting with a large towel to dry her. They anointed her body with oil, then dressed her in a gown of white silk.

Psyche could not remember ever feeling so cared for. Was this what it was like to feel loved? Whoever her husband was, it seemed he wanted nothing of her except her pleasure.

The invisible hands guided her toward the Great Hall where a long table stood. Psyche sat down and immediately a goblet of wine shimmering with the reds of sunset appeared before her eyes and settled gently on the table next to her right hand. Smiling, she sipped. Although her father had the finest wine cellar in the kingdom, no wine in it came close to the complex flavors of this one.

Dishes of fruit, greens, soups, and meats floated through the air and silently alit on the table. As she started to eat, a melody of exquisite sweetness came from an invisible lyre. It was joined by a chorus of voices. Still, Psyche saw no one.

When she finished eating, the dishes vanished as mysteriously as they had arrived. The music stopped.

"Thank you," Psyche said.

"It is an honor to serve you who are about to become a bride," returned the familiar voice. "Is there anything else you desire?"

"No. Thank you."

Psyche returned to her bedroom, feeling alive in every part of her body. Now, for the first time in her life, she understood: eating began not with putting food into one's mouth but with the eyes luxuriating in the many reds in one goblet of wine, with the shades of green in just one salad leaf. Eating included the aromas that rose from the food. Eating was chewing slowly in order not only to taste but to know the textures of greens, bread, meat, and vegetables.

Psyche took off her gown, pulled the sheet over her warm and expectant body, and waited eagerly for her husband's arrival. Though the god Apollo was incapable of telling an untruth, she could no longer believe that the man coming to her that night was a monster. Or if he was, perhaps every man should be a monster like him.

Chapter end