During the book festival at Venky, my college, I had bought five books at Rs.50/- per piece. I have completed two of them. The first one I completed was The Lady In Blue by Javier Sierra. A paranormal thriller, it gave me couple of sleepless nights. About three days back I started with Cupid and Psyche, one in those five grabs I had made. It is the smallest book of all, running to a mere ninety-one pages. The book contains chapters drawn from an old Latin novel, The Golden Ass by Apuleius. It's publication date is supposed to be around second century A.D. The first story given was that of Cupid and Psyche. A simple and interesting narrative.
The modern edition I read had been printed by Penguin Epics. The publishers had also bothered to include couple of more chapters or Books from the novel. It talks about a man named Lucius and his journey guided by Curiosity. One aspect of the narrative that caught my attention was the language in which it is written. Translated from Latin, the English language has done as much justice as possible to the story, I hope. Secondly, the story itself is quite amusing. Since the book doesn't have the novel in it's entirety and I am so eager to complete the story, I recently checked Flipkart. The copy published by OUP under Oxford Classics comes for Rs.245/-. Not bad yet could have been cheaper.
So, the moral of my story is Curiosity is indeed an evil master. The protagonist in the novel is so desperate to learn magic. And I am so curious to get my hands on the unabridged edition, so that I could complete the novel. Sitting in my room in the twenty-first century I can readily empathise with Lucius of second-century. Curiosity is indeed a driving force, probably the intellectual parallel of physical motivation. The curious mind takes leaps and bounds in understanding. The restless heart creates horizons so far and wide that you couldn't even have dreamed about it. At times it lands you in trouble too. Well, then, as they say, No Pain, No Gain. Couch-potatoes turn heroes as they explore the endless possibilities their mental faculties offer. Even in troubled circumstances the curious mind learns; it understands the reason for his being in the trouble, it's nature and at the end, the solution. It is where the curious mind evolves and matures to become wise and astucious. The curious mind works with a motivated body to survive. As they work in tandem, it is just a matter of time before deliverance arrives. Help yourself. Thus, I can understand what Lucius was up to in his strange wanting to learn magical arts and his willingness to take on that extra mile. Consequences, whatever they may be, have to be faced. The vitality, motivated and curious never let you down. So, my dear brother Lucius, you never walk alone in the path of unexplored!
