Hera, queen of the gods, was on the edge of her throne. A mountain nymph named Echo, renowned for her charm and chatter, was regaling her with a sensational story. But what Hera didn’t know was that Echo was merely distracting her while her husband, Zeus, was frolicking about with the other nymphs. Unfortunately for Echo, Zeus got sloppy, and Hera realized what was going on. Enraged by Echo’s duplicity— and powerless to stop her husband’s adultery— Hera decided to silence the nymph for good. From then on, Echo could no longer enrapture listeners with her stories; she could only repeat the last words another said.
眾神之后赫拉站在她的王座邊。 山之仙女艾可(Echo,迴聲) 因魅力和多話出名, 而她正在用美妙的故事取悅赫拉。 但赫拉不知道艾可只是想以此絆住她, 因為她的丈夫宙斯 正在和其他仙女一同嬉戲。 但對艾可來說,不幸的事情發生了: 宙斯變得粗心,赫拉發現了真相。 她因艾可欺騙自己憤怒不已, 也因為無力阻止她丈夫通姦而憤怒, 因此赫拉決定永遠剝奪艾可的聲音。 之後,艾可再也無法用故事吸引聽眾, 她只能複誦其他人講的最後幾個字。
As her conversations became dull and her company undesirable, Echo grew dispirited. One day, while Echo was drifting through the woods, she spotted a young man hunting deer. It was Narcissus, the stunningly beautiful son of a river god and water nymph. After his birth, a seer had given his mother a cryptic prophecy: Narcissus would live a long life— but only if he never really knew himself. No one was sure exactly what to make of this. And, in the meantime, Narcissus grew into a proud youth. His good looks attracted many admirers. But he preferred to amble through life on his own and left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.
在她的應答變得沉悶, 她的陪伴讓人討厭後, 艾可變得毫無生氣。 某一天,當艾可正在森林中漫遊時, 她看見一個正在獵鹿的年輕人。 那是英俊絕倫的納西瑟斯, 河神與水之仙女的兒子。 在他誕生後,一位先知告訴他母親 一個曖昧的預言: 如果納西瑟斯永遠不瞭解真正的自己, 那他就能安享晚年。 但沒人知道應該怎麼解讀這個預言。 而這時的納西瑟斯, 已經成了驕傲的年輕人。 他的英俊外貌吸引了無數追求者。 但他卻想過獨身生活, 走到哪兒,就讓人的心碎到哪兒。
Seeing Narcissus there, Echo was filled with longing. Unable to initiate a conversation, she walked after him. Soon, Narcissus heard a rustle, and called out, “Who goes there? Who are you?” Echo revealed herself, but only repeated the word “you,” making her tone as endearing as possible as she went to hold him. Agitated, Narcissus said, “Let me go, I can’t stay.” Echo could only counter with a plea for him to do so. Freeing himself from her embrace, Narcissus snapped, “I’d rather die than have you love me!” To which Echo could only cry, “Love me... love me.” Narcissus told Echo once more to leave him alone, then faded from her gaze.
看見納西瑟斯後,艾可心中充滿渴望。 因為無法開啟對話, 她只能默默跟在他後面。 但沒過多久,納西瑟斯就聽見 一陣沙沙聲,因此叫道: 「誰在那裏?你是誰?」 艾可乖乖現形, 但只複誦「你」當作回答。 她盡可能讓語氣甜美, 同時走過去抱住他。 納西瑟斯不自在地說: 「放開我,我不能留在這裡。」 艾可只能以手勢請求他留下。 但納西瑟斯掙脫她的懷抱,厲聲說: 「我寧願去死也不要妳的愛!」 艾可只能哭著回答:「愛我,愛我。」 納西瑟斯又說了一遍「別再跟著我」, 就消失在她的視線之外。
Echo wandered to a cave. And gradually, her heart grew heavy and her body frail until all that was left of her was her voice, which the wind carried to vast, empty places. Forever after, it could be heard reverberating through hollow caves and rebounding across lonely clearings.
艾可走進一座山洞。 她的心逐漸沉重,而身體日漸虛弱, 最後只剩下她的聲音, 被風帶到空曠無人的地方。 之後,在空曠的山洞中 或是空無一人的空地, 都能聽見微小的回聲。
But this wasn’t even the first time heartbreak over Narcissus had proven fatal. A young man named Ameinias had also been cruelly rejected by Narcissus. Before his death, he prayed to Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, that Narcissus would also one day know the pain of love. She heard Ameinias’ pleas and, upon witnessing Echo’s fate, decided that it would be the final affront. It was time for retribution. So, Nemesis set Narcissus towards a clear, glassy pool.
但這不是第一個因納西瑟斯的拒絕 而發生的悲慘結局。 一個名為亞美尼亞的青年, 也被納西瑟斯冷酷回絕。 在死前,他向復仇女神涅墨西斯祈禱, 希望納西瑟斯有一天會明白愛的痛苦。 復仇女神聽見了他的禱告, 也看見了艾可的結局, 決定讓艾可成為最後一個犧牲者。 到了納西瑟斯還債的時候了。 所以,復仇女神引導納西瑟斯來到 清澈如鏡的水池邊,
As he bent towards the water to drink, he caught sight of a hauntingly beautiful young man. Never before had Narcissus seen himself with such clarity. He spent the day acquainting himself with every glinting angle and glowing curl then passed the evening gazing at his reflection by moonlight and sleeping with his fingers grazing the water. Days wore on, and Narcissus never parted from his one true love. When he reached out, his double reached for him; and when he leaned in to bestow a kiss, he also tilted his face. But when he tried to hold the bewitching figure, it disappeared. At last, Narcissus knew the agony of unrequited love.
在他彎身喝水時, 他看見一個美貌絕倫的年輕人。 在此之前,納西瑟斯從未 這麼清楚地看過自己的臉。 他花了一整天,以各種角度 看自己的臉龐及捲髮, 用整個晚上在月光下看自己的倒影, 睡覺時也用手指碰觸水面。 日子一天天地過去, 納西瑟斯從未離開他心愛的倒影。 當他伸出手,他的倒影也會伸手碰他; 在他俯身親吻倒影時, 倒影也會偏過臉去。 但在他想抱住他迷人的身影時, 倒影就會消失。 最後納西瑟斯明白了愛而不得的痛苦。
Eating and drinking nothing, Narcissus too wasted away. His neck ached from bending over the lake, and his legs became rooted to the grass. When the wood nymphs finally passed by, all that was left of him was a white and yellow flower bending towards its reflection. From then on, it was known as narcissus.
他不吃不喝,最後也離開人世。 他的脖子因長久低頭看著湖面而酸痛, 他的腳生根在草地上。 在森之仙女經過時, 他已成了一朵外白內黃的花, 彎身看著自己水面的倒影。 從那時開始,這種花就被 稱為納西瑟斯(水仙)。