The Reflection On The Pool

The story of Echo and Narcissus

WHEN Jupiter came to the mountains,  the wood nymphs rushed to embrace the jovial god.
They played with him in the icy waterfalls and laughed with him in lush green glades.

Jupiter's wife,  Juno,  was very jealous,  and often she searched the mountain side,  trying to catch her husband with the nymphs.

But whenever Juno came close to finding Jupiter,  a nymph named Echo stepped across her path.
Echo chatted with June in lively fashion and did whatever she could to stall the goddess until Jupiter and the other nymphs had escaped.

Eventually Juno discovered Echo had been tricking​ her, and she got mad.

"Your tongue has made a fool of me! Henceforth, your voice will be more brief,  you will always have the last word but never the first !"

From that day on, poor Echo could only repeat the last words of what others said.

One day Echo spied a golden-haired youth man hunting deer in the woods.

The boy's  name was Narcissus, and he was the most attractive young man in the forest.

When Echo first laid eyes on Narcissus,  her heart burned like the flame of a torch.  She secretly followed him through the woods. Loving him more with each step.

She got closer and closers until finally
Narcissus heard the leaves rustling.  He whirled around and cried out,  "who's here? "

From behind  a tree, Echo repeated his last word,  "Here!"

Narcissus looked about in wonder.
"Who are you? Come to me! "

"Come to me! " said Echo

Narcissus searched The woods,  but couldn't  find the nymph.

"Stop hiding!  Let us meet! " he shouted.

"Let us meet! " Echo cried.  Then she steeped from behind the tree and rushed to embrace Narcissus.

But the boy panicked when the nymph flung her arms around his neck. He pushed her away and shouted,  "leave me alone! I'd rather die than let you love me! "

"Love me! " was all poor Echo could say.

Narcissus run run from her through the woods.

Humiliated and filled with sorrow,  Echo wandered the mountains until she found a lonely cave to live in.
She was sad.

Meanwhile Narcissus hunted in the woods, tending only to himself, until one day he discovered a hidden pool of water. The pool had slivery-smooth surface. No shepherds ever disturbed its waters-no goats or cattle,  no birds or fallen leaves.  Only the sun danced upon the still pool.
Tired from hunting and eager to quench his thirst,  Narcissus lay on his stomach and leaned over the water.  But when he looked at the glassy surface,  he saw someone starting back at him.

Narcissus was spell bound.
Gazing up at him from the pool were eyes like twin stars and cheeks as smooth as ivory
But when he leaned down and tried to kiss the perfect lips,  he kissed only spring  water.  When he reached out and tried to to embrace this vision of beauty,  he found no one there.

"What love could be more cruel then this? " he cried "when my lips kiss my beloved,  they touch only water,  when I reach for my beloved,  I hold only water! "

Narcissus began to cry. When he wiped away his tears,  the person in the water also wiped away tears.  "Oh, no" he sobbed "I see the truth now"

As Narcissus cried harder,  his tears broke the glassy surface of the pool and caused his reflection to disappear.

"Come back! "

Day after day,  Narcissus started at the water,  in love with his own reflection. He began to waste away from grief,  until one sad morning,  he felt himself dying.  "Good-bye, my love" he shouted to his reflection.

"Good-bye, my love !" Echo cried to Narcissus from her cave deep in the woods. 

Then Narcissus took his last breath.

After he died, the water nymphs and wood nymphs searched for his body. But all they found was a magnificently beautiful flower beside the pool where the boy had once yearned for his own reflection. The flower had white petals and a yellow center, and from time on,  it was called Narcissus.

And alas, poor Echo,  desolate after Narcissus death,  did not eat or sleep. As she lay forlornly in her cave, all her beauty faded away  and she became very thin until her voice was all that was left. Thereafter the lonely voice of Echo was heard in the mountains, repeating the last words anyone said.

    🌿🍀🍁🍂🌿🍀🍁🍂🌿🍀🍁🍂🌿

Thanks for reading! I hope you like it.  Read my other Greek stories, you might like them. I know they are short but I didn't  want to change how they have been told for centuries.