The most mind-catching narrative in "The Alchemist" by Paul Coelho was in the prologue where he told how Narcissus came into being.  

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Legend has it that a youth knelt daily beside a lake to admire himself, and being so fascinated by his own beauty, he fell into the lake and drowned.  A narcissus sprung up from where he fell.  

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However, the goddesses who came to the lake found that the lake of water had transformed into a lake of salty tears. When asked by the goddesses as to why he was weeping, the lake replied that he was weeping for Narcissus.  The dialogue extracted from the book leaves some to muse and ponder.

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"Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus," they said, "for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand."

"But... was Narcissus beautiful?" the lake asked.

"Who better than you to know that?" the goddess said in wonder.  "After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!"

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The lake was silent for some time.  Finally, it said:

"I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful.  I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected." 

 

Happy reflections!