Suddenly, Narcissus heard a rustle in the bushes and found Echo hiding behind the tree. Overwhelmed by his look, she jumped into Narcissus' arms and tried to hold him. Disgusted by Echo's immediate affection, Narcissus pushed Echo away and ran for his life.
"Ugh she was disgusting! How dare she tried to touch me!" shouted Narcissus angrily. "If only one day I could find someone to love that is worthy of my beauty." He shook his head with disgust and continued on with his journey.
After a long walk, Narcissus was feeling parched. Luckily, he found a cool, gentle stream underneath an orchid. Ah! The gods have saved me with their sweet nectar! thought Narcissus as he approached the stream. Upon taking a sip of the water, he noticed a gorgeous man staring back at him. Narcissus became absolutely infatuated with his reflection.
"Whoa...I look good. I mean I look really good." Narcissus began admiring his body and facial features with all sorts of poses.
"Hello, sir. Don't you look mighty fine today," whispered Narcissus as he winked at his own reflection. For the rest of afternoon, Narcissus cooed flirty comments to his reflection.
"Look at my cheekbones! Absolute perfection. And my hair! It's to die for! Aren't you a pretty little thing? What's a handsome man like you doing in a place like this? Oh stop it you! I can be lost in your eyes for days. You mean these biceps? Oh it's all natural. I'm the real deal."
Walking aimlessly in the woods, the rejected Echo was wiping the tears from her eyes when she heard Narcissus talking. Her curiosity won the best of her so she climbed the nearby orchid to eavesdrop on the conversation. To her surprise, it was Narcissus talking to the water! Echo watched Narcissus tease himself over and over again. Echo let out a disappointed sigh and thought I never knew that a beautiful man could have such an ugly soul.
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| Narcissus gazing at his reflection. Source. |
Author's Note: I decided to write about Narcissus's story from Ovid's Metamorphoses by Tony Kline. In the original story, he rejects Echo because she continued to repeat everything that he said due to Juno's curse. Narcissus became frustrated that he would never find someone to love. He sees his reflection in a pool of water and falls in love with himself. However, Narcissus becomes so tormented with the fact that he could never be with the love of his life so he destroyed himself and became a flower. Echo watched everything but stood idly in silence.
I decided to put a modern twist in the story with some dialogue. It was interesting for me to write the story. I also decided to give Echo an epiphany that love is more than just a pretty face.
Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses English Translation by Tony Kline.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great adaptation you chose to do with this story! I too wrote from the books of Ovid in my storytelling post for week 2. I enjoyed the moral of the story you created by showing the reader that looks are not everything in life; it is more about inner beauty. The greatest works of art and most influential words could come from anyone, regardless of their outer appearance. This can sometimes go overlooked and people can forget this simple lesson in life. Do not judge a book by its cover! Great job with this post. :)
Alex
I want to say first that I love the picture. I also found the story funny. "I never knew that a beautiful man could have such an ugly soul"--was my favorite. I definitely would've made fun of anyone who was acting like Narcissus. I really hope there isn't anyone in the world who's as vain as Narcissus. I like the fact that the story ends with pity. I generally tend to pity people who are really self obsessed because I agree with the moral of this story, you kind of have to have more going on than outer beauty.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story Nicole! I loved the dialog and descriptive words that you used. It created great detail to the story, and made it captivating and enjoyable to read. The ending was my favorite part, I love the quote by Echo “I never knew that a beautiful man could have such an ugly soul.” It really sums up the whole story in just a few words. I’m sure that Echo was so surprised to Narcissus talking to himself in the way that he was, I cant imagine what I would think if I saw something like that. I wonder what the story would be like with a few other characters, perhaps someone else sees Narcissus’s behavior by the river. Perhaps Echo ends up finding someone to love in the end after all. Just a few suggestions for if you ever extended your story! Overall great story, keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi, Nicole! First, that picture is great. I can definitely imagine some people who would be more than happy to look at themselves in admiration all day! haha Like you so eloquently conveyed through your use of dialogue, it's okay (and important!) to love yourself, but beauty is much more about who you are instead of how you appear. I loved this interpretation of that!
ReplyDeleteHey Nicole! I really enjoyed reading your modern version of Narcissus’s story. I’ve actually never read the original version but I can already tell I like yours better! I liked the dialogue you included between Narcissus and himself when he finally sees his reflection. I thought your choice of wording was really funny and did a good job at showing how much Narcissus was into himself! You also formatted your story really well by including a lot of breaks between paragraphs. Many times when I’m reading a story I get bored or lost in long paragraphs and forget what the story is about so I have to reread the paragraph. The picture you used related perfectly to the story and helped me to picture what that scene might have looked like. The only thing I might suggest is that you make the picture a little smaller since it goes off into your background. Other than that I thought your story was great and can’t wait to read more of your stories in the upcoming weeks!
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