The Tale of Amor and Psyche

The story of Amor and Psyche is an ancient fairy tale, which was written by Apuleius in 170 AD.

Psyche is the daughter of an unknown king. She is so beautiful that everyone stops worshipping Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. Venus angrily calls her son Amor and orders him to make Psyche fall in love with a bad man. The father sends his daughter, wearing a wedding dress, to a lonely mountain top, where she has to marry a terrible demon. But instead of marrying the demon, Psyche is brought to his castle by Amor. In this castle her husband visits her night after night, but during the day he disappears without her ever seeing him. But Psyche becomes curious and one night she waits for her husband with an oil lamp and a knife. Psyche - overwhelmed by his beauty and by her love for her divine husband - does not notice how a drop of the hot oil falls on Amor's shoulders. The god feels betrayed, flies away and leaves Psyche inconsolable. Venus, furious that her son has disobeyed her orders, sets out to find the girl. Psyche has to perform various life-threatening tasks for the goddess. But in the last task she lets herself be overwhelmed by the desire to reclaim her beloved and falls into a death-like sleep. Amor, who has meanwhile recovered from his burn, hurries to her rescue. Since he still loves Psyche, he shooed her sleep back into the box with his wings. While Psyche delivers the box, Amor flies to Jupiter and gains permission to marry Psyche. The supreme God is lenient and makes Psyche immortal.

Das Märchen von Amor und Psyche. Hardcover in a slipcase, 288 pages, 38 x 53 mm, Miniaturbuchverlag Leipzig 2010. German edition.