英语故事：回声和那喀索斯 Echo and Narcissus

Narcissus was a handsome youth. His lovely face and graceful¹ form were the admiration² of all who looked upon him. And he knew it. He was proud that he thought no one but himself was worthy³ to see his youthful beauty. Thus given up to sweet thoughts of self, Narcissus avoided all company. He roamed the wooded little valleys every day,madly in love with himself.

那喀索斯是位英俊的青年，面容可爱，体形优美，每个见到他的人都羡慕不已。他骄傲地认为，除了自己之外，没有人配欣赏他那充满青春气息的美貌。因而，他沉溺于甜美的自我欣赏之中，远离所有人。每天他在苍翠蓊郁的小山谷中闲逛，疯狂地爱着自己。

When he was delightfully⁴ wandering through the woods one day, a wood fairy maiden⁵, Echo by name, caught sight of him. She was excited at once. Joyfully⁶ coming down towards Narcissus, she stretched out her loving arms. To her dismay, however, the young man roughly brushed her aside and went by without so much as a glance at her. The poor fairy maiden's face turned red and quickly withdrew to a shady spot, following the object of her love with her longing⁷ eyes.

一天，那喀索斯在树林中愉快地游荡。一位名叫回声的林中仙女看见了他，她立刻兴奋不已。她高兴地走向那喀索斯，伸出爱的双臂。然而，令她吃惊的是，这位青年粗暴地将她推开，连看都不看她一眼就走开了。可怜的仙女羞红了脸，迅速退到遮阴处，含情脉脉地凝望着心上人。

Presently Narcissus stopped to drink from a little stream. Kneeling down on the bank,he saw a lovely face in the clear water. His heart gave a beat. lie smiled and was smiled back to. Thinking that it must be a maiden in love with him, he bent⁸ down to kiss her. But as soon as he touched the clear surface the lovely face disappeared. The angry youth was
now desperate. Never had he been looked down upon like that before. Day and night,he stayed at the stream without drinking and eating. Before long he died, never suspecting that his maiden was just his own image in the stream. The gods took pity on the fair dead body and turned it into a flower bearing his name. This flower was the first narcissus. All the flowers of this family, when they grow by the side of a pond or a stream, still bend their beautiful heads and look at the reflection of their ovm faces in the water.

不久，那喀索斯在一条小溪边停下饮水。当他跪在岸边时，他发现清澈的溪水中有一张可爱的面庞。他的心扑通跳着，他对着水中的人微笑，水中人也给了他一个微笑。他认为，一定是一位仙女爱上了他。于是，他俯下身子去吻她。但是，当他的嘴唇一接触清澈的溪水，水中可爱的面容就消失了。这位恼怒的青年人此时变得绝望了，他从未受过如此的鄙视。他日夜待在溪边，不吃不喝，不久就死了，但他从未怀疑过水中的女子只是自已的影子罢了。众神非常怜悯他那优美的躯体，将之变成了一朵花，和青年同名，这朵花就是第一朵水仙花，当它们生长在池塘或溪流旁时，仍然低下它们美丽的头看着水里自已的影子。

The intoxicated⁹ Echo saw all this. Slowly she became weak, until at last nothing remained of her except her voice.

那位陶醉于爱河的回声亲眼日睹了这一切她日斩憔悴，最后，除了声音之外，她化为了乌有。

课堂笔记：
1."Narcissus”在这个神话中为人名，该词在英语中又有“水仙花”的含义。因为这个故事，"Narcissus”成为“孤芳自赏者’.“自我陶醉者”的代名词。
2."so much as”与“as much as”意思相同，前者常用于否定句中。此处的“without so much as a glance at her”表示“连看都不看她一眼”搭配“without so much as/with no so much as”表示“甚至连……都没……”。
3."as soon as”用作连词，表示“一……就……”，在句子中的位置比较灵活，而且可以用于各种时态。
4.英语中的否定副词(如“never,  rarely,  seldom,  barely,  scarcely”等)或具有否定作用的副词(如“little, on no account, by no means”等)置于句首时，句子部分倒装。

1 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

2 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

3 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

4 delightfully   

大喜，欣然

参考例句：

• The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

6 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

7 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

8 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

9 intoxicated   

喝醉的，极其兴奋的

参考例句：

• She was intoxicated with success. 她为成功所陶醉。
• They became deeply intoxicated and totally disoriented. 他们酩酊大醉，东南西北全然不辨。