This is the story of the god of springtime, Vertumnus, who falls in love with a wood nymph, Pamona. Vertumnus has this weird habit of dressing up for fun and uses this to see Pamona more often. He disguised himself as a farmer, soldier, and a fisherman but this didn't get him laid. So he went to the extremes: cross dressing. He dresses up as an old woman and tells Pamona that she isn't a true woman without having sex. Then, he starts telling her how awesome he is while speaking in third person trying to keep his disguise. This is all null so he decides to tell her about the story of Myrrha.
Myrrha is a girl who is in love with here father and wishes to have the freedom of animals. She tries to ignore this desire but can't. She then waits for a time where her mother is away and her father has been drinking. She tricks him into thinking that she is a normal woman who wants to sleep with him and he accepts but he had to be blindfolded to not realize he was sleeping with his daughter. He falls for this a couple of times but at the end takes of the blindfold and sees his daughter. Myrrha, ashamed, wishes to change and is dissolves. There is also another ending where she turns into a tree. When the story is over, Pamona realizes Vertumnus's true identity but accepts him.
Firs of all I'd like to remention why are trees such a reoccuring theme in these stories? Anyways, this story was really weird and brought me flashbacks of Cien Anos de Soledad with all the incest and weird acts for love. This Vertumnus must really have the hots for Pamona for
him to cross dress. Something I noticed while reading is this quote: "You'd have many choices, I think. As many as Helen." I think this is referring to Helen of Troy from the Iliad who is known for her beauty and causing a war because of it. This might be just a bunch of crap but it is worth noticing. I don't understand how the story of Myrrha was supposed to help Vertumnus get laid but in some strange way it worked.
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