Page 19 - Noss Magazine

Not so long after this curse, during one of his hunts, Narcissus sees
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a river and wants to quench his thirst. He leans towards the river to
drink from the water which will bring his death and ensure justice.

The moment he leans onto the water, he sees the only beauty his eyes

can see. He is charmed and fascinated and at last, falls in love with

this beauty which is no one other than himself. He thinks to himself
that he cannot leave this

appetite of gazing at his

lover, himself, and only
death could spare him

from this moment. And

the incident happens as

he wishes. He dies on
the very spot, gazing at

himself, his ultimate lover.

This ancient story took

a long journey through-
out the history of literary

motifs and reached the

shores of the Ottoman. The

Divan version is not much
different than its original:

Narcis (Narcissus) was a

very beautiful gentleman
who could not under-

stand what love really

was. Women who fell in

love with Narcissus and
got rejected, complain

him to Gods and they punish him with a deadly curse. Narcis

one day sees his face on the stream of a river and is astonished by
what he sees. Desiring to hug and be together with this beauty,

he jumps in the water and drowns to death. His body rots and a

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