Echo’s Story

Zeus was always being unfaithful to his wife Hera.
She became very jealous and suspicious,
but he still found ways to deceive her.

One day, when Zeus was with one of his lovers,
Hera came looking for him.
Echo stopped her outside the house and began to talk to her.
Echo loved to talk. She knew all the gossip.
By the time Hera got away from her,
Zeus’s lover had disappeared.

Hera was no fool.
She knew she’d been tricked.
She decided to punish Echo and make sure
she would never help Zeus again.
She wanted revenge and she got it.
She took away the thing Echo loved most, talking.
She still had her voice,
but she could only repeat what other people said.
Echo was so ashamed she hid herself in the forest.

But that is not the end of her story
because while she was hiding she saw Narcissus.

Narcissus was so good looking
that both boys and girls fell in love with him.
He was so proud that he rejected them all.
He wanted to be alone.
He went into the forest and sat down by a beautiful pool.
He thought no one would find him there.

For Echo it was love at first sight.
She longed to speak to him but could not say a word.
Narcissus could not see her,
but he sensed someone was watching him.
"Is anybody here?" he asked.
"Here," Echo answered.
"Come here and meet me," Narcissus said.
Echo couldn’t believe her luck.

She ran to him and threw her arms around him.
"Don’t touch me!" he shouted, pushing her away.
"Touch me!" Echo cried, her heart breaking.

If only she could speak, tell him how she felt!
She really loved him. She knew he was the one.
But he wouldn’t even look at her.
Tears poured from her eyes.

She hid herself in a cave.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him.
She couldn’t sleep or eat.
She became painfully thin.
First her beauty faded, then so did she.

In the end only her voice was left,
the echo we sometimes hear today.

Hazel Riley