5.21
[1] Tālī verbōrum incendiō flammāta vīscera sorōris prōrsus ardentis. Dēserentēs ipsam prōtinus tantī malī cōnfīnium sibi etiam eximiē metuentēs [2] flātūs ālitis impulsū solitō porrēctae super scopulum īlicō pernīcī sē fugā prōripiunt statimque cōnscēnsīs nāvibus abeunt. [3] At Psȳchē relicta sōla—nisi quod īnfēstīs Fūriīs agitāta sola nōn est—aestū pelagī simile maerendō fluctuat, et quamvīs statūtō cōnsiliō et obstinātō animō iam tamen facinorī manus admovēns adhūc incerta cōnsiliī titubat multīsque calamitātis suae distrahitur affectibus. [4] Festīnat differt, audet trepidat, diffīdit īrāscitur et, quod est ultimum, in eōdem corpore ōdit bēstiam, dīligit marītum. Vesperā tamen iam noctem trahente praecipitī festīnātiōne nefāriī sceleris īnstruit apparātum. Nox aderat et marītus aderat prīmīsque Veneris proeliīs velitātus in altum sopōrem dēscenderat.
Psyche agonizes about whether to follow her sisters’ advice to kill her monstrous husband.
tālī…ipsam: The manuscripts differ here (F: ipsa; φ: ipsam; ς: ipsae), and editors have emended in various ways. Printing the φ text and punctuating after ardentis is the “attractive and simple” solution of Hildebrand (GCA).
flammata: treat as flammata (sunt).
On this reading, ipsam = D.O. of dēserentēs, cōnfīnium of metuentēs.
nisi quod: Quod here is the conjunction, not aliquod.
simile: adverbial
cōnsiliī: objective gen. with incerta
marītus aderat: This is the MS reading, retained by GCA, instead of emending to advenerat, as Helm and Kenney do on merely stylistic grounds.
Veneris: Kenney accepts Rohde’s emendation to Veneriīs, but the MS text is consistent with other Apuleian euphemisms for sex (Veneris fructū [2.17], rudīmenta Veneris [7.14]).
cōnfīnium, -ī n.: common boundary, proximity
āles, -itis: winged
impulsus, -us m.: (a) pushing, propulsion
pernīx, -īcis: swift
prōripiō, -ripere, -ripuī, -reptum: to dash forward, hurry away
fluctuō, -āre: to move like waves, waver
obstinō, -āre: to set one’s mind firmly on, be resolved
titubō, -āre: to hesitate, waver
differō, -ferre, -stulī, -lātus: (of time) to defer, delay
diffīdō, -fidere, -fīsus sum: to distrust, despair
festīnātĭo, -ōnis f.: haste
vēlĭtor, -ārī: to skirmish