The Fountain Of Salmacis

Hermaphrodite: a flower containing both male and female organs;

a person or animal of both sexes.

The child Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite,

the result of a secret love affair. For this reason he was

entrusted to the nymphs of the isolated Mount Ida,

who allowed him to grow up as a wild creature of the woods. After his

encounter with the water-nymph Salmacis, he laid a

curse upon the water. According to fable, all persons who bathed in the

water became hermaphrodites.

From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood,

Mount Ida rises like an island.

Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child;

Hermaphroditus, son of gods, so afraid of their love.

As the dawn creeps up the sky

The hunter caught sight of a doe.

In desire for conquest,

He found himself within a glade he'd not beheld before.

Hermaphroditus:

"Where are you, my father?

Give wisdom to your son"

Narrator:

"Then he could go no farther

Now lost, the boy was guided by the sun"

And as his strength began to fail

He saw a shimmering lake.

A shadow in the dark green depths

Disturbed the strange tranquility.

Salmacis:

"The waters are disturbed

Some creature has been stirred"

Narrator:

"The waters are disturbed

Naiad queen Salmacis has been stirred"

As he rushed to quench his thirst,

A fountain spring appeared before him

And as his heated breath brushed through the cool mist,

A liquid voice called, "Son of gods, drink from my spring".

The water tasted strangely sweet.

Behind him the voice called again.

He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone

And as he gazed, her eyes were filled with the darkness of the lake.

Salmacis:

"We shall be one

We shall be joined as one"

Narrator:

"She wanted them as one

Yet he had no desire to be one"

Hermaphroditus: "Away from me cold-blooded woman

Your thirst is not mine"

Salmacis: "Nothing will cause us to part

Hear me, O Gods"

Unearthly calm descended from the sky

And then their flesh and bones were strangely merged

Forever to be joined as one.

The creature crawled into the lake.

A fading voice was heard:

"And I beg, yes I beg that all who touch this spring

May share my fate"

Salmacis:

"We are the one

We are the one"

Narrator:

"The two are now made one,

Demi-god and nymph are now made one"

Both had given everything they had.

A lover's dream had been fulfilled at last,

Forever still beneath the lake.