Introduction

Narcisus is preserved in four manuscripts, three of which are complete: (i) A: Paris, BNF, fr. 837; (ii) B: Paris, BNF, fr. 19152; (iii) C: Paris, BNF, fr. 2168; (iv) D: Berlin, Staatsbibliotek, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Hamilton 257 (owing to the loss of several folios, this version has only 432 lines). Our translation is based on C, edited by Penny Eley for the Liverpool Online Series. At 1,006 lines in our version, Narcisus is, with Haveloc, one of only two lays to exceed 1,000 lines.

A mother in Thebes consults a soothsayer who informs her that, if he ever sees himself, her young son Narcisus will die young. The boy grows up and is the most handsome youth ever fashioned by Nature. At the age of fifteen his only interest is hunting; love means nothing to him. Returning from hunting one day, he is observed from a window by Dané, the king's daughter. She immediately falls in love with him and passes a sleepless night in torment, torn between her duty to behave in a responsible manner and her desire for the youth. She looks for him the following morning as he on his way to hunt and her love intensifies. So the next day she resolves to wait for him in a nearby wood and approach him. When she tells him of her feelings, he rejects her scornfully, whereupon she prays that he will experience unrequited love. The gods hear her prayer. Narcisus is hot from the hunt and seeks water to slake his thirst. He comes upon a stream and when he bends to drink, he notices his reflection in the water. He thinks it is a water fairy and promptly falls in love with this beautiful creature. He then spends the remainder of that day and the following night wondering why the creature does not respond to him. Next day, he finally realises that it is his own reflection, but his feelings do not change. In his desperation he now thinks he might be able to love Dané instead, but he suffers a seizure and loses the power of speech.