and had the overfed dead but listened to that high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom

If you know me, you probably know that I love stories...I'm sort of obsessed with fairytales and folktales-- I own a few volumes of them and they are some of my favorite reads. I took a Greek and Roman mythology class this semester and I acquired dozens of completely enchanting stories (and also many off-putting stories of rape and incest and murder that gave me weird feelings in my stomach, but you know, what can you do). I thought I'd share one with you, kind of a sad one, but I like it, so. The story of Cephalus and Procris.

Cephalus was this great hunter, a man's man and a total catch. He fell in love with and married the beautiful princess Procris. They were happily married for a few months before tragedy struck. The goddess of dawn, Aurora, caught sight of Cephalus one morning and determined that he would be hers. She swooped down and stole him away to be her lover. But he didn't want to cooperate--all he could talk about was Procris, the vows he'd made to her, how much he loved his wife, and so on. Not very sexy. Aurora was annoyed and said, "Okay, whatever Cephalus. Go back to your bride, although something tells me you'll soon regret ever even meeting her."

Cephalus set back on his way home, wondering what Aurora could have meant by that. He decided that she must have meant that Procris had cheated on him while he was away. He went back to Aurora and asked her to disguise him so that he could test his wife's faithfulness, and the spurned goddess was all too eager to help. She changed his facial features and sent him back home. He gathered gifts and prepared to woo his wife. When he came back to his kingdom he found Procris in total despair, pining away for the husband she thought deserted her. He decided he still wanted to go through with his plan and attempted to seduce her. She refused his advances time and time again, saying that she could only ever be with her one true love. One day though she hesitated, and Cephalus exclaimed, "You wicked woman! I am your husband, and now I know the kind of wife you are."

In shame Procris ran away without a word. She developed a grudge and mistrust of men and decided to devote her life to the virgin goddess Diana. She roamed the mountains, hunting and worshiping Diana. Meanwhile, Cephalus was devastated and knew he had been wrong. He sought her and once he found her, he begged her to return, and after a time she did. To show that she had fully forgiven him, she presented to him two gifts that Diana had given her: a hunting dog that could outrun any prey, and a javelin that never missed its target. Now, Cephalus lost the dog soon after in a chase with a fox--I don't know, the dog was turned to stone or something by Zeus, that's a whole other story--but he carried the javelin with him everywhere. And he and Procris lived happily together for many years.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. As I said, Cephalus was a great hunter and he went out every day with his javelin. Sometimes he would get tired of hunting and he would rest in the shade, grateful for the cool zephyr that blew in from the valley. He would sing praises to the little breeze, hymns of gratitude. Someone overheard Cephalus saying sweet words to the zephyr, and they interpreted these to be the words of a man in love, presumably with a nymph named "Zephyr." The rumor reached Procris, and her deep-seated anxieties with her husband caused her to believe and to be filled with jealousy. She decided to follow Cephalus the next morning.

After a successful hunt, Cephalus commenced his usual routine of resting in the shade for awhile and singing a little song of praise to the zephyr. He heard a sound of distress and rustling coming from the nearby bushes and hurled his javelin at them. He recognized the cry of pain as his wife's and rushed over, confused and horrified. He tried to tend her wound, but the javelin was destined to never miss a prey and she was doomed. She begged him to not marry this nymph "Zephyr" and he realized the misunderstanding, but it was too late, and she died in his arms.

The end.