Now is there any reason to believe that this incident was once part of
the myth of Pururavas and Urvasi? Was the fairy-love, Urvasi, originally
caught and held by Pururavas among her naked and struggling companions?
Though this does not appear to have been much noticed, it seems to follow
from a speech of Pururavas in the Vedic dialogue {83b} (x. 95, 8, 9). Mr.
Max Muller translates thus: 'When I, the mortal, threw my arms round
those flighty immortals, they trembled away from me like a trembling doe,
like horses that kick against the cart.' {84a} Ludwig's rendering suits
our view--that Pururavas is telling how he first caught Urvasi--still
better: 'When I, the mortal, held converse with the immortals who had
laid aside their raiment, like slippery serpents they glided from me,
like horses yoked to the car.' These words would well express the
adventure of a lover among the naked flying swan-maidens, an adventure
familiar to the Red Men as to Persian legends of the Peris.

To end our comparison of myths like the tale of 'Cupid and Psyche,' we
find an example among the Zulus. Here {84b} the mystic lover came in
when all was dark, and felt the damsel's face. After certain rites, 'in
the morning he went away, he speaking continually, the girl not seeing
him. During all those days he would not allow the girl (sic), when she
said she would light a fire. Finally, after a magical ceremony, he said,
"Light the fire!" and stood before her revealed, a shining shape.' This
has a curious resemblance to the myth of Cupid and Psyche; but a more
curious detail remains. In the Zulu story of Ukcombekcansini, the
friends of a bride break a taboo and kill a tabooed animal. Instantly,
like Urvasi and her companions in the Yajur Veda, the bride and her
maidens disappear _and are turned into birds_! {84c} They are afterwards
surprised in human shape, and the bride is restored to her lover.

Here we conclude, having traced parallels to Cupid and Psyche in many non-