I am a creature of habit. I reread Harry Potter, Fifty Shades, Twilight and Crazy Rich Asians novels. Not so long ago while running errands at Target, my feet led me to the Books aisle and carefully chose JUST four books as there were like nine items on my hands. Budget-conscious me!!!LOL!!!
I read The Alchemist of Paulo Coelho several years ago when I was still in Philippines. I left quite a number of his novels back in our abode. I wanna read Veronika Decides To Die again soon. I got The Alchemist's 25th anniversary edition and sharing with you its prologue that already made me shed tears.
Translated by Clifford E. Launders
The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.
The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.
But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.
He said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.
"Why do you weep?' the goddesses asked.
"I weep forNarcissus," the lake replied.
"Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus," they said, " for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty at hand."
" But... was Narcissus beautiful?' the lake asked.
" Who better than you to know that?' the goddesses said in wonder. " After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself."
The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:
" I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because , each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected."
" What a lovely story, " the alchemist thought.
Love.Timeless. Hearts.
