Greek Mythology

Echos and Daffodills

Echo was a forest nymph, beautiful and kind. Artemis, goddess of the moon, loved her dearly. When Artemis came to the forest to hunt, she called Echo to join her.
Echo, however, had one fault. She wouldn't shut up. She talked without stopping. It did not bother her one bit that nobody listened to anything she said.
Hera, queen of the gods, once came to visit Artemis. Echo kept interrupting the two as they spoke. Artemis warned Echo to be silent, but she paid no attention. She chattered on and on until Hera lost her patience. She turned to Echo and said,
"You love to talk, and so you shall. You will never begin a conversation. You will reply when someone else speaks. Since you love to have the last word, I will give it to you. Never again will you speak words of your own. You may only repeat words that someone else has spoken."
"Spoken," said Echo. "... someone else has spoken."
Now the words of others were all that she could say.

Echo left the nymphs and went to live by herself in a corner of the forest where people seldom came. For a long time she did not speak at all.
One day, a young hunter wandered by. Narcissus was his name, and he was extremely handsome. Echo watched him from behind the trees. She desperately wanted to speak to him, but she could not say one word until he spoke to her first.
Echo followed the handsome young man through the forest. After awhile Narcissus noticed her. He smiled and called,
"Hello! Who are you? What is your name?"
"What is your name.. your name... your name...," said Echo.
"My name is Narcissus," he answered. "I came to the forest to hunt deer. Now it's your turn to tell me your name."
"Tell me your name... name... name...," Echo said.
"I've already told you. It's Narcissus. Didn't you hear me?"
"Hear me... hear me... hear me...," Echo answered. Narcissus grew angry.
"Are you playing a joke? I don't like it when people make fun of me. If you want to talk, answer properly when I speak to you. If not, go away."
"Go away... go away... go away...," Echo repeated. The poor nymph did not know what to do. How could she explain to Narcissus that she could only repeat the words he said?
Echo came out from behind the trees. She walked towards Narcissus, holding out her arms. She hoped he would understand that she wanted to be his friend.
Narcissus did not understand at all. He thought that Echo was laughing at him.
"Don't tell me to go away. Go away yourself!" He pushed Echo hard. She fell down. Echo began to cry. Tears ran down her cheeks, but not a single sound came from her lips. Narcissus cared not one bit about her tears. "Cry all you want. I don't care. You made fun of me. You got what you deserved." He pulled out his bow and shot her.
No just kidding! That would be awful.
He slung his bow and arrows over his shoulder and walked away. Echo tried to make him come back. She called to Narcissus, but the only words she could say were,
"Got what you deserved... you deserved... you deserved..."
Echo, heartbroken, began to fade. Slowly she disappeared until she was no more than a shadow among the forest leaves. Then the the shadow disappeared too. Nothing remained of Echo except for her voice.
Echo's voice still lingers in the hills and mountains. If you hear a voice repeating your words, you'll know that she is there.
We call that voice an Echo.

But what about Narcissus? What happened to that jerk? Well, he fell in love with his face. I'm serious.
...
...
Okay, here's what happened:
Artemis was angry with him for his cruelty to Echo. She made a spring of water appear in the forest where Narcissus would go to hunt. The spring's waters flowed like liquid silver. It's sparkling surface shown like a mirror.
Artemis dipped one of her arrows into the spring. She placed her magic in it's waters. Whatever the spring reflected would appear to be ten times more beautiful than it really was.
Narcissus came upon the spring on afternoon. Hunting all day had left him tired and thirsty. He kneeled beside the spring to drink. What was this? He saw a face in the water. It was his own face, but Narcissus didn't realize that. It seemed so lovely, so full of life. Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection.
"Beautiful person, speak to me. Tell me your name."
The image in the water moved it's lips, but it did not speak. Narcissus tried to kiss it. The image disappeared the moment his lips touched the spring. Narcissus sighed.
"Although you will not allow me to touch you, you cannot stop me from looking at you." Narcissus sat by the spring, day after day, staring at his own beautiful reflection. He did not eat. He did not sleep. He grew weak and pale. His body wasted away. He felt himself dying, but he could not tear himself away from the spring. "Alas!" He cried to his reflection. "If only you could see how much I love you." Saying that, he died. Echo repeated his last words over and over again.
"How much I love you... how much I love you..."
The nymphs gathered to bury Narcissus. They could not find him. On the spot where he lay they saw a flower growing- a beautiful flower- like a golden trumpet surrounded by yellow petals.
The Greeks call this flower the Narcissus after the poor young man who fell in love with himself. We see it in gardens every spring. We call it the daffodil.

Moral of the story: 'Quit interrupting me and shut your mouth or else you'll turn invisible.'