Most curious and interesting is the inclusion of "The Well" in the list of characters. We have here no mere stage property, or piece of scenery, but an actual personification of an inanimate object, closely resembling that of Wall and Moonshine in Peter Quince's company. Just as Moonshine carries a lantern to represent more vividly the actual moon, so the personage called The Well aids the imagination of his audience by the visible sign of a water-bucket. The fact of his being enumerated amongst the _dramatis personæ_ shows that the part was played by a separate artist, and not doubled with that of any other character. Of the Porter, Francis, more will be said in Section II. * * * * * The play of _Narcissus_, though it can boast of no artificial divisions, falls naturally into twelve different portions, which for want of a better term I will call scenes. Whilst using this word it is necessary to bear in mind that no change of _scenery_ is implied, and probably none was intended. _Scene I._ reveals Cephisus, Liriope, and Narcissus, awaiting the prophet Tiresias. It consists of 132 lines, amplified from _Met._ iii. 341, 346-348: "Prima fide vocisque ratæ tentamina sumsit Cærula Liriope ... ... De quo consultus, an esset Tempora maturæ visurus longa senectæ Fatidicus vates--'Si se non viderit' inquit." The introduction of Cephisus, the conversation between Narcissus and his parents, the telling of the youth's fate _by the aid of chiromancy_, and Liriope's scornful comment on the prophecy, are the materials used by the English writer to form an effective scene. _Scene II._ is wholly an interpolation. Dorastus and Clinias also try their fate with Tiresias; he prophesies their early death, and they jest upon the subject. _Scene III._, in which Dorastus and Clinias flatter Narcissus for his beauty, has no counterpart in Ovid. Probably, however, it was suggested by _Met._ iii. 353-355: "Multi illum juvenes, multæ cupiere puellæ; Sed fuit in tenera tam dira superbia forma; Nulli illum juvenes, nullæ tetigere puellæ." _Scene IV._ pursues a like theme; the nymphs Florida and Clois are in their turn repulsed by the scornful youth, and relate their woes to Dorastus and Clinias. The hint for this is given in _Met._ iii. 402: "Sic hanc, sic alias undis aut montibus ortas Luserat hic Nymphas." And likewise the suggestion of Florida's revengeful wish: "Inde manus aliquis despectus ad æthera tollens 'Sic amet ipse licet, sic non potiatur amato!' Dixerat." _Scene V._ Echo enters, and gives an account of herself, amplified--with a very free use of the English vernacular--from _Met._ iii. 356-368. _Scene VI._, which has no counterpart in Ovid, consists of a spirited hunting-song in five stanzas, sung (presumably) while Narcissus, Dorastus, and Clinias chase a supposed hare over the stage.