Narcissus2 was the son of a river god and a water nymph (居于山林水澤的仙女). He was distinguished3 for his beauty. Teiresias， the blind seer(先知) and the greatest of the prophets (預(yù)言家) of Greek mythology， prophesied (預(yù)言) to his mother that this beautiful child would live to a great age， provided that \"he didn't know himself\"--the meaning of which was not quite understood.

When Narcissus grew up， many pretty maidens(美麗的少女) including Echo fell in love with him. Echo was a mountain nymph. In punishment on her talkativeness4， Hera deprived5 her of speech， except for the power to repeat the last words of others.

The nymph Echo saw Narcissus when he was in search of his companion， who was separated from him while hunting. He shouted aloud， \"Hello! Are you here?\" \"Come!\" \"Why do you hide from me? \" Echo loved him， followed him footsteps(腳步) and repeated his words. When he came within her reach， she was ready to embrace(擁抱) him. He was startled (吃驚的) and stood back， saying: \"Stand still!\" \" I'd rather die than join you!\" his cold remarks quenched (撲滅，熄滅) the flame of love inside her. She was overwhelmed by shame and she changed herself into rocks. Nemesis， the goddess of retribution(懲罰)， decided to punish him for his arrogance6 and vanity7. She made him fall in love with his own image reflected in a pond (池塘). He gazed at his own reflection until he pined(消瘦，衰弱) away， becoming a flower of the same name， thus the prophecy was fulfilled (使應(yīng)驗(yàn)) and its meaning was understood.

\"Narcissistic (personality) disorder(病，不適)\" or \"narcissis\" ， means the indulgence8 in self-admiration.

注釋：

1．narcissistica.自我陶醉的，孤芳自賞的，自戀的

2．narcissusn．[植]水仙，水仙花；[N—][希神]那喀索斯

3．distinguisheda．杰出的，著名的(常與for或by搭配)

4．takativeness n．愛說話，饒舌

5．deprive vt．奪去，剝奪，使喪失

6．a(chǎn)rrogance n．傲慢，自大

7．vanity n. 自負(fù)，自大，虛榮

8．indulgencen．沉溺，沉迷，放縱

那喀索斯是一位河神與一位水澤仙女的兒子，他異?？∶?。希臘神話中最偉大的預(yù)言家、盲人先知泰瑞西斯曾對(duì)那喀索斯的母親預(yù)言說，如果“這個(gè)英俊男孩沒有認(rèn)識(shí)到自己”的話，他就可以長(zhǎng)命長(zhǎng)壽。先知此言當(dāng)時(shí)頗令人費(fèi)解。

那喀索斯長(zhǎng)大后，包括厄科在內(nèi)的許多美女都愛上了他。厄科是位山林仙女，她生性饒舌，喋喋不休。作為懲罰，赫拉(天后)剝奪了她說話的權(quán)利，使她只能重復(fù)他人言語(yǔ)的最后幾個(gè)字。

仙女厄科看到那喀索斯時(shí)，他正在尋找狩獵時(shí)走散的伙伴。他大聲喊：“喂!你在這兒?jiǎn)?”“來！”“你為什么躲著我?”厄科深愛著他，追隨他的足跡，重復(fù)他的話語(yǔ)。當(dāng)他走近時(shí)，她正欲張開雙臂擁抱他，少年一驚，后退幾步說：“站著別動(dòng)!我寧愿死也不愿和你在一起!”他冷冷的話語(yǔ)熄滅了少女心中的愛情火焰，羞恥之感將她壓倒，她把自己變成了石頭。復(fù)仇女神尼米西斯決定懲罰這個(gè)傲慢而自負(fù)的年輕人，她使他愛上了水塘中自己的倒影。那喀索斯天天凝望他自己的水中倒影，日漸憔悴，最后變成了一種與他同名的花 (水仙花)。先知的預(yù)言應(yīng)驗(yàn)了，先知預(yù)言的內(nèi)涵此時(shí)才為人們理解。

“那喀索斯（個(gè)性）癥”，或稱“那喀索斯情結(jié)”，意為沉迷于自我欣賞之中。