Texte grec :
| [5] ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΤΟΥ ΝΑΡΚΙΣΣΟΥ ΑΓΑΛΜΑ.
Ἄλσος ἦν καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ κρήνη πάγκαλος ἐκ
μάλα καθαροῦ τε καὶ διαυγοῦς ὕδατος, εἱστήκει δὲ
ἐπ´ αὐτῇ Νάρκισσος ἐκ λίθου πεποιημένος. παῖς ἦν,
μᾶλλον δὲ ἠίθεος, ἡλικιώτης Ἐρώτων, ἀστραπὴν οἷον
ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος ἀπολάμπων κάλλους. ἦν δὲ
τοιόνδε τὸ σχῆμα· κόμαις ἐπιχρύσοις ἤστραπτεν κατὰ
μὲν τὸ μέτωπον τῆς τριχὸς ἑλισσομένης εἰς κύκλον,
κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐχένα κεχυμένης εἰς νῶτα, ἔβλεπε δὲ
οὐκ ἀκράτως γαῦρον οὐδὲ ἱλαρὸν καθαρῶς· ἐπιπεφύκει
γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ὄμμασιν ἐκ τῆς τέχνης καὶ λύπη, ἵνα
μετὰ τοῦ Ναρκίσσου καὶ τὴν τύχην ἡ εἰκὼν μιμῆται.
ἔσταλτο δὲ ὥσπερ οἱ Ἔρωτες, οἷς καὶ τῆς ὥρας
τὴν ἀκμὴν προσείκαστο. σχῆμα δὲ ἦν τὸ κοσμοῦν
τοιόνδε· πέπλος λευκανθὴς ὁμόχρως τῷ σώματι τοῦ
λίθου περιθέων εἰς κύκλον, κατὰ τὸν δεξιὸν ὦμον
περονηθεὶς ὑπὲρ γόνυ καταβαίνων ἐπαύετο μόνην ἀπὸ
τοῦ πορπήματος ἐλευθερῶν τὴν χεῖρα. οὕτω δὲ ἦν
ἁπαλὸς καὶ πρὸς πέπλου γεγονὼς μίμησιν, ὡς καὶ τὴν
τοῦ σώματος διαλάμπειν χρόαν τῆς ἐν τῇ περιβολῇ
λευκότητος τὴν ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν αὐγὴν ἐξιέναι
συγχωρούσης. ἔστη δὲ καθάπερ κατόπτρῳ τῇ πηγῇ χρώμενος
καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν περιχέων τοῦ προσώπου τὸ εἶδος,
ἡ δὲ τοὺς ἀπ´ αὐτοῦ δεχομένη χαρακτῆρας τὴν αὐτὴν
εἰδωλοποιίαν ἤνυεν, ὡς δοκεῖν ἀλλήλαις
ἀντιφιλοτιμεῖσθαι τὰς φύσεις. ἡ μὲν γὰρ λίθος ὅλη πρὸς
ἐκεῖνον μετηλλάττετο τὸν ὄντως παῖδα, ἡ δὲ πηγὴ πρὸς τὰ ἐν
τῇ λίθῳ μηχανήματα τῆς τέχνης ἀντηγωνίζετο ἐν
ἀσωμάτῳ σχήματι τὴν ἐκ σώματος ἀπεργαζομένη τοῦ
παραδείγματος ὁμοιότητα καὶ τῷ ἐκ τῆς εἰκόνος
κατερχομένῳ σκιάσματι, οἷον τινὰ σάρκα τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος
φύσιν περιθεῖσα. οὕτω δὲ ἦν ζωτικὸν καὶ ἔμπνουν τὸ
καθ´ ὑδάτων σχῆμα, ὡς αὐτὸν εἶναι δοξάσαι τὸν
Νάρκισσον, ὃν ἐπὶ πηγὴν ἐλθόντα τῆς μορφῆς αὐτῷ καθ´
ὑδάτων ὀφθείσης παρὰ Νύμφαις τελευτῆσαι λέγουσιν
ἐρασθέντα τῷ εἰδώλῳ συμμῖξαι καὶ νῦν ἐν λειμῶσι
φαντάζεσθαι ἐν ἠριναῖς ὥραις ἀνθοῦντα. εἶδες δ´ ἂν
ὡς εἷς ὢν ὁ λίθος τὴν χρόαν καὶ ὀμμάτων κατασκευὴν
ἥρμοζε καὶ ἠθῶν ἱστορίαν ἔσῳζεν καὶ αἰσθήσεις
ἐνεδείκνυτο καὶ πάθη ἐμήνυεν καὶ πρὸς τριχώματος
ἐξουσίαν ἠκολούθει εἰς τὴν τριχὸς καμπὴν λυόμενος. τὸ
δὲ οὐδὲ λόγῳ ῥητὸν λίθος εἰς ὑγρότητα κεχαλασμένος
καὶ ἐναντίον σῶμα τῇ οὐσίᾳ παρεχόμενος· στερεωτέρας
γὰρ τετυχηκὼς φύσεως τρυφερότητος ἀπέστελλεν
αἴσθησιν εἰς ἀραιόν τινα σώματος ὄγκον διαχεόμενος.
μετεχειρίζετο δὲ καὶ σύριγγα, ἧς νομίοις θεοῖς ἐκεῖνος
ἀπήρχετο καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν κατήχει τοῖς μέλεσιν, εἴποτε
μουσικοῖς ψαλτηρίοις προσομιλῆσαι ποθήσειεν. τοῦτον
θαυμάσας, ὦ νέοι, τὸν Νάρκισσον καὶ εἰς ὑμᾶς παρήγαγον
εἰς Μουσῶν αὐλὴν ἀποτυπωσάμενος.
{ἔχει δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὡς καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν εἶχεν.}
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Traduction française :
| [5] ON THE STATUE OF NARCISSUS.
There was a grove, and in it an exceedingly
beautiful spring of very pure clear water, and by
this stood a Narcissus made of marble. He was a
boy, or rather a youth, of the same age as the
Erotes ; and he gave out as it were ,
a radiance of lightning from the
very beauty of his body. The
appearance of the statue was as
follows :—lt was shining with
gilded hair, of which the locks
encircled the forehead in a curve
and hung free down the neck to
the back ; and its glance did not
express unmixed exultation nor yet
pure joy, for in the nature of the
eyes art had put an indication of
grief, that the image might represent not only both Narcissus
but also his fate. He was clothed like the Erotes,
and he resembled them also in that he was in
the prime of youth. The garb which adorned
him was as follows : a white mantle, of the same
colour as the marble of which he was made, encircled
him ; it was held by a clasp on the right
shoulder and reached down nearly to the knees,
where it ended, leaving free, from the clasp down,
only the hand. Moreover, it was so delicate and
imitated a mantle so closely that the colour of the
body shone through, the whiteness of the drapery
permitting the gleam of the limbs to come out. He
stood using the spring as a mirror and pouring into
it the beauty of his face, and the spring, receiving
the lineaments which came from him, reproduced
so perfectly the same image that the two beings
seemed to emulate each other. For whereas the
marble was in every part trying to change the real
boy so as to match the one in the water, the
spring was struggling to match the skilful efforts
of art in the marble, reproducing in an incorporeal
medium the likeness of the corporeal model and
enveloping the reflection which came from the
statue with the substance of water as though it
were the substance of flesh. And indeed the form
in the water was so instinct with life and breath
that it seemed to be Narcissus himself, who, as the
story goes, came to the spring, and when his form
was seen by him in the water he died among the
water-nymphs, because he desired to embrace his
own image, and now he appears as a flower in the
meadows in the spring-time. You could have seen
how the marble, uniform though it was in colour,
adapted itself to the expression of his eyes, preserved
the record of his character, showed the
perception of his senses, indicated his emotions and
conformed itself to the abondance of his hair as it
relaxed to make the curls of his locks. Indeed,
words cannot describe how the marble softened into
suppleness and provided a body at variance with
its own essence ; for though its own nature is very
hard, it yielded a sensation of softness, being dissolved
into a sort of porous matter. The image
was holding a syrinx, the instrument with which
Narcissus was wont to offer music to the gods of
the flock, and he would make the desert echo with
his songs whenever he desired to hold converse
with stringed musical instruments. In admiration
of this Narcissus, O youths, I have fashioned an
image of him and brought it before you also in
the halls of the Muses. And the description is
such as to agree with the statue.
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