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laid by Antonius: and willed also that her two women should have honourable burial. Cleopatra died being eight and thirty years old, after she had reigned two and twenty years, and governed above fourteen of them with Antonius. And for Antonius, some say that he lived three and fifty years: and others say, six and fifty.

VENU

WILLIAM ADLINGTON

...

STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE

ENUS . . . would not yet be appeased, but menacing more and more, said . . . thou shalt do one thing

more.

Take this boxe and goe to hell to Proserpina, and desire her to sende me a litle of her beautie, as muche as will serve me the space of one day, and say that suche as I had is consumed away since my sonne fell seike, but returne againe quickely, for I must dresse my self therewithall, and goe to the theatre of the gods. Then poore Psyches perceaved the ende of al her fortune, thinking verely that she shoulde never returne, and not without cause, when as she was compelled to goe to the Goulfe and furies of Hell. Wherfore without any further delay, she went up to a high tower to throwe her selfe downe headlong (thinkinge that it was the beste and rediest waye to Hell) but the tower (as inspired) spake unto her, saiynge: O poore miser, why goest thou about to slay thy selfe? Why doest thou rashly yeelde unto thy laste perill and daunger? Know thou that if thy spirite be once seperate from thy bodie, thou shalt surely goe to Hell, but never to returne againe, wherefore herken to me: Lacedemon a Citie of Grece is not farre hense. Goe thou thither and enquire for the hill Tenarus, whereas thou shalte finde a hole leadinge to Hell, even to the pallaice of Pluto, but take heede that thou goe not with emptie handes to that place of darkenesse :

but carry twoo soppes sodden in the flower of barley and hony in thy handes, and twoo halfpense in thy mouth, and when thou haste passed a good parte of that way, thou shalt see a lame asse carriyng of woodde, and a lame fellowe drivinge him, who will desire thee to give him up the stickes that fall downe, but passe thou on and doo nothinge, by and by thou shalt came unto the river of Hell, whereas Charon is ferriman, who will first have his fare paide him, before he will carry the soules over the river in his boate, whereby you may see that avarice raigneth emongst the dead, neyther Charon nor Pluto will doo any thinge for nought: For if it be a poore man that woulde passe over, and lacketh money he shalbe compelled to die in his journey before they will showe him any reliefe, wherefore deliver to carraine Charon one of the halfepense (whiche thou bearest) for thy passage, and lette him receave it out of thy mouth. And it shall come to passe as thou sittest in the boate, thou shalte see an olde man swimminge on the toppe of the river holdinge up his deadly handes, and desiringe thee to receave him into the barke, but have no regarde to his piteous crie: when thou arte passed over the floudde thou shalt espie old women spinninge who will desire thee to helpe them, but beware thou doo not consent unto them in any case, for these and like baites and trappes wil Venus sette, to make thee lette fall one of thy soppes: and thinke not that the keepinge of thy soppes is a light matter, for if thou lose one of them thou shalt be assured never to retorne againe to this world. Then thou shalt see a great and mervelous dogge with three heades barkinge continually at the soules of such as enter in, by reason he can doo them no other harme, he lieth day and night before the gate of Proserpina, and keepeth the house of Pluto with great diligence, to whome if thou lost one of thy soppes, thou maist have accesse to Proserpina without all daunger: She will make thee good cheere, and entertaine thee with delicate meate and drinke, but sitte thou upon the ground and desire browne bread, and then declare thy message unto her, and when thou hast receaved such beautie

as she giveth in thy retorne appease the rage of the dogge with thy other soppe, and give thy other halfepeny to covetous Charon, and come the same way againe into the world as thou wentest: but above all thinges have a regarde that thou looke not in the boxe, neither be not too curious about the treasure of the divine beautie.

In this manner the towre spake unto Psyches, and advertised her what she should doo.

THE ROBBERS AMAZED

As soon as the day appeared, and that the sun began to shine on the tops of the hills, men, whose custom was to live by rapine and violence, ran to the top of a hill that stretched toward the mouth of Nilus, called Heracliot: where standing a while they viewed the sea underneath them: and when they had looked a good season afar off into the same, and could see nothing that might put them in hope of prey, they cast their eyes somewhat near the shore: where a ship, tied with cables to the mainland, lay at road, without sailors and full fraughted: which thing, they who were afar off, might easily conjecture: for the burden caused the ship to draw water within the boards of the deck, but on the shore every place was full of men, some quite dead, some half dead, some whose bodies yet panted, and plainly declared that there had been a battle fought of late. But there could be seen no signs or tokens of any just quarrel: but there seemed to be an ill and unlucky banquet, and those that remained obtained such end. For the tables were furnished with delicate dishes, some whereof lay in the hands of those that were slain, being instead of weapons to some of them in the battle so suddenly begun. Other covered such as crope under them to hide themselves as they thought. Besides, the cups were overthrown, and fell out of the hands either of them that drank, or those who had instead of stones used them. For that sudden mischief wrought new devices, and taught them, instead of weapons to use their pots. Of those

who lay there, one was wounded with an axe, another was hurt with the shells of fishes, whereof on the shore there was great plenty, another was all to-crushed with a lever, many burnt with fire, and the rest by divers other means, but most of all were slain with arrows. To be brief, God shewed a wonderful sight in so short time, brewing blood with wine, joining battle with banqueting, mingling indifferently slaughters with drinkings, and killing with quaffings, providing such a sight for the thieves of Egypt to gaze at. For they, when they had given these things the looking on a good while from the hill, could not understand what that sight meant, for as much as they saw some slain there, but the conquerors could they see no-where: a manifest victory, but no spoils taken away, a ship without mariners only, but as concerning other things untouched, as if she had been kept with a guard of many men, and lay at road in a safe harbour. But for all that, they knew not what that thing meant, yet they had respect to their lucre and gain.

When therefore they had determined that themselves were the victors, they drew near unto the same: and not being now far from the ship and those that were slain, they saw a sight more perplexed than the rest a great deal. A maid endued with excellent beauty, which also might be supposed a goddess, sat upon a rock, who seemed not a little to be grieved with that present mischance, but for all that of excellent courage: she had a garland of laurel on her head, a quiver on her back, and in her left hand a bow, leaning upon her thigh with her other hand, and looking downward, without moving of her head, beholding a certain young man a good way off, the which was sore wounded, and seemed to lift up himself, as if he had been wakened out of a dead sleep almost of death itself: yet was he in this case, of singular beauty, and for all that his cheeks were sprinkled with blood, his whiteness did appear so much the more. He was constrained for grief to close his eyes, yet caused he the maid to ook steadfastly upon him: and these things must they need see, because they saw her. But as soon as he came to him

self a little he uttered these words very faintly: And art thou safe indeed, my sweet heart, quoth he, or else hast thou with thy death by any mischance augmented this slaughter? thou canst not, no, not by death be separated from me. But of the fruition of thy sight and thy life doth all mine estate depend. Yea, in you, answered the maid, doth my whole fortune consist whether I shall live or die, and for this cause you see (showing a knife in her hand) this was hitherto ready, but only for your recovery was restrained. And as soon as she had said thus she leaped from the stone: and they who were on the hill, as well for wonder as also for the fear they had, as if they had been stricken with lightning, ran every man to hide them in the bushes there beside. For she seemed to them a thing of greater price and more heavenly when she stood upright, and her arrows with the sudden moving of her body, gave a clash on her shoulders, her apparel wrought with gold, glistened against the sun, and her hair under her garland, blown about with the wind, covered a great part of her back. The thieves were greatly afraid of these things, the rather for that they understood not what that should mean which they saw. Some of them said indeed, that it was a goddess and Diana: others said it was Isis, which was honoured there: but some of them said it was some priest of the gods, that, replenished with divine fury, hath made the great slaughter which there appeared. And thus every man gave his verdict.

JOHN FLORIO

OF TORMENTS

EIPCHARIS, having glutted and wearied the moody

cruelty of Nero's satellites or officers and stoutly endured their fire, their beatings and their engines a whole day long, without any one voice, or word of revealing her conspiracy,

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