--Keats.
CHAPTER VIII
PYGMALION--DRYOPE-VENUS AND ADONIS--APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS
Pygmalion saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to
abhor the sex, and resolved to live unmarried. He was a sculptor,
and had made with wonderful skill a statue of ivory, so beautiful
that no living woman came anywhere near it. It was indeed the
perfect semblance of a maiden that seemed to be alive, and only
prevented from moving by modesty. His art was so perfect that it
concealed itself and its product looked like the workmanship of
nature. Pygmalion admired his own work, and at last fell in love
with the counterfeit creation. Oftentimes he laid his hand upon it
as if to assure himself whether it were living or not, and could
not even then believe that it was only ivory. He caressed it, and
gave it presents such as young girls love,--bright shells and
polished stones, little birds and flowers of various hues, beads
and amber. He put raiment on its limbs, and jewels on its fingers,
and a necklace about its neck. To the ears he hung earrings and
strings of pearls upon the breast. Her dress became her, and she
looked not less charming than when unattired. He laid her on a
couch spread with cloths of Tyrian dye, and called her his wife,
and put her head upon a pillow of the softest feathers, as if she
could enjoy their softness.
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