174 TRUE TALES OF THE INSECTS. 



by-and-by, a daughter was born to Cupid and Psyche, 

 whom we call Pleasure. 



The Origin. 



While Apuleius cannot be credited with the invention 

 of this poetically beautiful fable, his taste and feeling 

 can hardly be too highly commended for this recognition 

 of the capabilities of a wild flower of folk-lore. Doubt- 

 less the story is adapted from an ancient popular legend, 

 of which traces are found in most lands. Everywhere 

 the central situations in the tales are the same. The 

 beloved may not be seen unveiled, his or her name may 

 not be uttered ; but the several taboos are always broken, 

 and the pair are severed, sometimes for ever, or a 

 reconciliation is effected, after protracted searchings and 

 wanderings. We may believe, with Mr. Andrew Lang, 

 that the myth arose out of a nuptial custom and law 

 now forgotten — probably among some savages such a 

 custom actually exists — the story being evolved to 

 illustrate and enforce the law ; and since these sinsfular 

 rules of etiquette appear to have been widely prevalent, 

 there is nothing remarkable in the distribution of the 

 myth among the most diverse races. The stories may 

 have been separately invented in different lands, or may 

 have been transmitted from people to people. 



Into the myth Apuleius infuses an allegorical purport, 



