Echo

Echo was a nymph who talked too much．She was very fond of having the last words．One day she sPoke rudely to the great Hera，who said that for this offence  Echo should never use her voice again，unless to repeat what she hadjust heard，but since she was very fond of last words，she might repeat the last words of others．This was almost as bad as if Hera had changed her into a parrot．Echo was very much ashamed，and hid herself in the forest．

Narcissus，a young man who had hair as yellow as gold an deyes as blue as the sky，——a very rare thing in Greece，where most people were very dark，——used to hunt in the forest where Echo was hiding．As she was looking out shyly from somecave or from behind a great tree，Echo often saw Narcissus，andshe admired him very much．

One say Narcissus became separated from his friends，andhearing something rustle among the leaves，he called out，“Who's here？”

“Here，” answered Echo．

“Here I am．Come！”said Narcissus.

“I am come，” said Echo；and，as she spoke，she came outfrom among the trees．

When Narcissus saw a stranger， instead of one of his friendsas he had expected，he looked surprised and walked quickly away.

After this， Echo never came out and allowed herself to be seen again ，and in time she disappeared till she became only a voice．

This voice was heard for many，many years in forests and among mountains，particularly in caves．In their lonely walks，hunters often heard it．Sometimes it repeated the barking of their dogs；sometimes it repeated their own last words．It  always had a strange and sad sound，and seemed to make lonely places more lonely still．