23 lines
1.4 KiB
Plaintext
23 lines
1.4 KiB
Plaintext
NARClSSUS
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Once upon a time . . . in Ancient Greece lived a young man called
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Narcissus, who was greatly admired, for he was very handsome. Narcissus was
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very proud of his perfect face and graceful body, and never lost the chance to
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look at hls reflection in any sheet of water he happened to pass. He would lie
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for hours admiring his gleaming dark eyes, slender nose, slim hips and the mop
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of curly hair that crowned the perfect oval of his face. You would think a
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sculptor had come down from heaven to carve such a faultless body as a llvlng
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image of mankind's love of beauty.
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One day, Narcissus was walking close to a precipice where the clear waters
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of a cold mountain pool mirrored hls beautiful face.
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"You are handsome, Narcissus!" he told himself as he bent down to admire
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his reflection. "There's nobody so handsome in the whole world! I'd love to
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kiss you."
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Narcissus was suddenly seized by the desire to kiss his own reflection and
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he leant closer to the water. But he lost his balance and toppled into the
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pool. Narcissus could not swim and so he drowned. But when the gods discovered
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that the most beautiful being on earth had died, they decided that such beauty
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could not be forgotten.
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The gods turned Narcissus into a scented flower which, to this day,
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blossoms in the mountains in spring, and which is still called Narcissus.
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