The Metamorphosis of Pamphile
Walpurgisnacht 2022. A mirror-story to Lucius’ metamorphosis.
“[Photis and I] spent a few nights in pleasure like this, until the day she ran to me, excited and trembling, to tell me that, because her mistress had not made any progress with her lovers by other means, she would turn herself into a bird at the first watch of the night and fly down to the object of her desire. I meanwhile was to get ready to observe such an event.
“After we had waited for the first watch of the night, Photis led me silent-footed to the upper bedchamber and suggested I look through the crack of the door to see what was happening.
“First, Pamphile completely undressed herself. Then, she opened a chest and took out a few small boxes. She removed the lid from one of them and poured out some perfume. She worked it for a while between her palms. Then she rubbed herself all over from the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair, and after whispering to her lamp a while in secret, her limbs began to tremble, quivering and shaking. As they began to swell, soft plumage and powerful wings burst out and took shape. Her nose hardened and curved, her toenails thickened into talons, and Pamphile became an owl. She let out screech, and after a few small attempts, she sprung from the ground and flew, her wings wide, out into sublime heights.”
Ad hunc modum transactis voluptarie paucis noctibus, quadam die percita Fotis ac satis trepida me accurrit indicatque dominam suam, quod nihil etiam tunc in suos amores ceteris artibus promoveret nocte proxima in avem sese plumaturam atque ad suum cupitum sic devolaturam; proin memet ad rei tantae speculam caute praepararem.
Iamque circa primam noctis vigiliam ad illud superius cubiculum suspenso et insono vestigio me perducit ipsa, perque rimam ostiorum quampiam iubet arbitrari quae sic gesta sunt.
Iam primum omnibus laciniis se devestit Pamphile et arcula quadam reclusa pyxides plusculas inde depromit, de quis unius operculo remoto atque indidem egesta unguedine diuque palmulis sui affricta ab imis unguibus sese totam adusque summos capillos perlinit, multumque cum lucerna secreto collocuta membra tremulo succussu quatit: quis leniter fluctuantibus promicant molles plumulae crescunt et fortes pinnulae, duratur nasus incurvus coguntur ungues adunci, fit bubo Pamphile. Sic edito stridore querulo, iam sui periclitabunda paulatini terra resultat, mox in altum sublimata forinsecus totis alis evolat.