If I Had Words

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In a kingdom not far from here, there lived a king and queen and their three beautiful daughters. The king and queen were fair and kind, and they loved their daughters equally. 

Among the princesses, however, it was a bit of a competition. 

Aglaura, the eldest, was said to be the most radiant beauty. Having entered the world first, one could argue the competition was never exactly fair. But fair or not, everyone admired the eldest princess as the best. 

Cydippe, the second born, might not have surpassed Aglaura in beauty, but she was certainly her equal. To Cydippe, if a princess was to be the best, she needed to not only be beautiful, but have talents as well. Cydippe, therefore, developed a flair for the arts. She excelled in dancing and reciting poetry. Cydippe expressed herself in the most inspiring of ways. It was then agreed throughout the kingdom that this second-born princess, who possessed both beauty AND talents, was the best. 

Well.

Aglaura was so much more than just beautiful. She had a powerful mind and a keen intellect. Aglaura dedicated herself to the study of science and philosophy. Any public dispute, any perplexing problem, would find clarity when brought before Aglaura. People would flock to her, in awe of her beauty and wisdom. They began to say that her beauty, combined with the power of her mind, could outshine any performance. 

It was clear that Aglaura was the best. 

Cydippe eyed her better sister and noticed that with so much attention given to learning, she was letting herself go. Wisdom and weight loss were not an automatic pairing. Cydippe therefore found the perfect diet of fig leaves and pomegranates. Rigorous exercise brought her joy and, being free from the stress of solving the world’s problems, her figure almost rivaled her grace and beauty. As Cydippe began to bloom, everyone could see her loveliness really coming together.

So, actually, Cydippe was clearly the best.  

Ah but wait! Aglaura, in all of her study, discovered the mind-body bond, which was said to help even the most stressed and pudgy souls find balance. She dedicated herself to the study of mindful eating and regular – not rigorous – exercise. She would meditate before every meal, clearing her mind and body of any excess. Then she would eat only the items her body truly needed. She grew perfectly toned, her skin soft and supple. 

Aglaura was the epitome of triumph! 

Which is to say, she was the best. 

Ha! Cydippe wasn’t so easily fooled by the assumed superiority of Aglaura. She had a skill Aglaura would never have –  the ability to make things fun and exciting. She could make people laugh. She knew the real victory was in popularity. 

And Cydippe had Aglaura there. 

As if!

Cydippe knew nothing about ruling and being in charge. She might win a little popularity contest, but when it came to important things, like leading, she was definitely lacking. It was clear that Aglaura —

Um, what about Psyche?

Who?

Psyche. 

The youngest daughter. 

Oh. 

Psyche. 

The sisters had given no thought to their little sister. She was usually hiding away somewhere in a quiet corner or making her escape to the market. Psyche seemed oddly interested in the mediocre and mundane. 

And, anyway, Psyche was hardly competition. She was constantly embarrassing herself. Like the time she interrupted an important ceremony to help a sniffling attendant. 

All that commotion for a runny nose? 

Her lack of decorum and skills made it fairly safe to say that Psyche was in third place. 

Which is to say, she was in last place. 

But Psyche didn’t seem to care for the competition. 

Which pleased her sisters very well. 

As time passed, the three princesses continued to grow in grace and beauty. The older two, motivated by their competition, and Psyche, well, naturally growing in her own unique way. 

And then, something rather unusual started to happen in the kingdom. 

It was subtle at first. 

Baby “Psyches” started popping up among the villagers, and then among the nobles. They somehow thought it would bring their daughters luck. 

Psyche’s sisters couldn’t understand it. A baby by any other name — like Cydippe or Aglaura — would be just as lucky. 

Then the king and queen noticed a sporadic trickle of tokens and payments of gratitude arriving at the palace for the youngest princess. And then, rather oddly, during a reception organized for visitors from a distant kingdom, the palace musicians performed a song of Psyche’s beauty and kindness. 

Psyche’s beauty and kindness?? 

Her sisters were confused. 

Hadn’t Aglaura been kind in giving of her time and attention to the problems and complexities of the world? Did the people care nothing for her work?

And let’s not forget Cydippe. She tirelessly entertained the kingdom, bringing people laughter to help lighten their load. 

What did Psyche do?? 

Nothing her sisters could see.  

Whatever it was that Psyche did, that slow trickle of gifts and tokens soon became a steady flow. The king and queen were running out of room for the barrels of wine, bunches of grapes, and baskets of olives. Food was starting to spoil as the palace fought to keep up. Well, and, the stench and noise of the livestock alone was enough to make the palace “intolerable” (the king’s word). 

Under the direction of Aglaura, the kingdom developed a system for processing all of these gestures of thanks. “Visiting hours” were posted to reduce the interruptions and people were directed to various parts of the palace compound depending on the gift they brought. 

Livestock this way, flowers that way, food over there, everything else here. 

It was quite a good system and the king and queen were notably impressed with Aglaura’s skills. 

But it wasn’t enough. 

Neighboring kingdoms began bringing their own gifts for Psyche and their donations were considerably bigger. Then travelers from various parts of the world made their way to the humble kingdom in the hopes of seeing this Princess they had heard so much about. 

The kingdom was soon scrambling to provide lodging and food for the inflow of visitors. The more opportunistically-minded villagers wasted no time in building inns and restaurants. Some were even clever in their offerings. 

Psyche’s Inn, for example, offered a special room where people could feel Psyche’s presence. Psyche’s Favorite Restaurant offered all of Psyche’s favorite foods — or so they claimed. 

At last, a visiting dignitary made the brilliant suggestion that, given the size and scale of Psyche’s popularity, perhaps it was time to erect a shrine and create an entire “worship” complex.

What a splendid idea!

Under Cydippe’s direction, of course, for she had a better sense of marketing and customer flow, a large shrine was built, complete with lodging and restaurants. Donations and visiting hours were transferred from the palace to the shrine and a full-time staff were brought on to manage everything.  

Well done Cydippe! 

At last, things were running smoothly, the economy doing quite well. 

Except. 

Unbeknownst to the kingdom, the competition among the sisters had grown to greater heights. 

Much more dangerous heights. 

Like, really dangerous.

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