Narcissus

Narcissus; or Self-love
Narcissus is said to have been a young man of wonderful beauty, but
intolerably proud, fastidious, and disdainful. Pleased with himself and
despising all others, he led a solitary life in the woods and hunting
grounds; with a few companions to whom he was all in all; followed also
wherever he went by a nymph called Echo. Living thus, he came by
chance one day to a clear fountain, and (being in the heart of noon) lay
down by it; when beholding in the water his own image, he fell into such
a study and then into such a rapturous admiration of himself, that he
could not be drawn away from gazing at the shadowy picture, but
remained rooted to the spot till sense left him; and at last he was changed
into the flower that bears his name; a flower which appears in the early
spring; and is sacred to the infernal deities, -----Pluto, Proserpine, and the
Furies.
In this fable are represented in the dispositions, and the fortunes too,
of those persons who from consciousness either of beauty or some other
gift with which nature unaided by any industry of their own has graced
them, fal in love as it were with themselves. For with this state of mind
there is commonly joined an indisposition to appear much in public or
engage in business; because business would expose them to many
neglects and scorns, by which their minds would be dejected and troubled.
Therefore they commonly live a solitary, private, and shadowed life; with
a small circle of chosen companions, all devoted admirers, who assent
like an echo to everything they say, and entertain them with
mouth-homage; till being by such habits gradually depraved and puffed
up, and besotted at last with self-admiration,they fall into such a sloth and
listlessness that they grow utterly stupid, and lose all vigour and alacrity.
And it was a beautiful thought to choose the flower of spring as an
emblem of characters like this: characters which in the opening of their
career flourish and are talked of, but disappoint in maturity the promise of
their youth. The fact too that this flower is sacred to the infernal deities
contains an allusion to the same thing. For men of this disposition turn
out utterly useless and good for nothing whatever; and anything that
anything that yields no fruit, but like the way of a ship in the sea passes
and liaves no trace, was by the ancients held sacred to the shades and
internal gods.
培根《那喀索斯---论自恋》
那喀索斯，人称风度翩翩美少年，惟心性高傲锱铢必较蔑视一切，
令人不堪。自我陶醉，目无余子，常年出没于林泉猎场，优游岁月，
与世人不相往来；有铸侣二 三，如鱼得水；行踪所至，仙女跬步不
离，芳名厄科。朝夕如此，一日偶至清泉一泓，时值晌午，天气炎热，
遂卧躺泉边；俯观水中倒影，始而不觉凝神观照，继而 自我恋慕，
如痴如狂，谛视自家面貌若隐若现，良久不去；出神入定，有如树木
扎根，直至感觉消失；终于变作水仙，名曰那喀索斯；水仙早春开花；
遂为冥府诸神 之祭品---普路托，普罗塞耳皮娜，复仇三女神。
尔辈自觉造化赋予美貌，或别具天赋，故不假自身勤奋，煞有介
事自恋自爱，此辈中人性情命运，寓言之中暴露无疑。如此心境者，
每每无意出现于大庭广众，或以营生为务；因营生未免多受冷落鄙夷，
怀抱如此心境则沮丧烦恼。故尔辈一生独来独往，与世睽离，黯然无
光；交游挑剔，门户狭隘，彼此五体投地，一呼众和，同声相应，口
角春风应酬同好；习性相染，久而久之，品性沦丧，趾高气扬，最终
沉迷于自我崇拜，坠入懒散萎靡之境地，从而变得绝顶愚蠢，活力锐
气丧失殆尽。以春天水仙为同类性格之标志，堪称妙想，事业开创之
际一帆风顺，为人称道，风华正茂时豪情满怀，盛年时则俱为泡影。
水仙成为冥府诸神之祭品，寓意亦在于斯。如此性情者，终于毫无用
处，一无所能；凡事无所结果，犹如沧海行舟，飘然而过，不留痕迹，
古人遂奉为阴魂与地狱神明。