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"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." — From Ecclesiastes
(Stories can teach, heal, entertain, remind and bring home a message with laser-like accuracy and oftentimes, with latent comment. They appeal to all ages. I like the old ones best: the Greek and Roman classics, fables, legends and myths of every nation. Dusting them from the vault and mining them for meaning, I like to take a look at them with fresh eyes and newer understanding and see how ancient truths still apply in the way we live as human beings, still going through the same struggles and needing all the understanding we can get, despite advances we’ve made in a the last few thousand years. Like organic fruits and vegetables from an older gene pool, these stories come with little manipulation and artificial embellishments, and perhaps, are a good thing to chew on. Simple, organic, direct — these are the stories we remember. Here’s one of them on vanity, self-absorption and karma.)
LONG ago when enchanted creatures peopled the earth, there was a nymph called Echo. She probably rated a nine and a half on a 10 point-attractiveness scale, gorgeous, knowledgeable and perfect in every way except for one thing — she was a chatterbox nonpareil. She liked to hear herself talk far too much and perhaps, with a tinge of hubris, would insist on having the last word in every conversation.
Juno, the queen of the Gods, was so irked by Echo’s habit that she meted out a punishment just for her. Echo will no longer be able to talk, except for one tiny concession — she will be able to say only the last word.
In the same forest where the nymphs lived, there was a young man named Narcissus who was so classically handsome and perfectly proportioned that all the nymphs oohed and ahhed and fell in love with him at first sight. Picture Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of "David" in flesh and blood or a composite between diCaprio and Brad Pitt. If he were real person today, he would have made the cover of People Magazine’s "Sexiest Man of the Year." His fans became legion that all that adulation got into his head. He became extremely vain. No nymph was good enough for him.
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