In the grand hall of a palatial estate, where the walls were adorned with the tapestries of

ancient glories and the floors polished to mirror the heavens, a common man, clothed in
the humble attire of his station, stood before a noble of such high birth that the air
around him seemed perfumed with the scent of superiority. This noble, Lord Narcissus,
sat upon a throne-like chair, his countenance marred by a smirk of disdain as he gazed
upon the commoner with barely concealed contempt.

Common Man: Good my lord, I beseech thee, lend me thine ear. For too long hast thou
dwelled within the confines of thine own grandeur, a prisoner to the belief that thou art
the sun around which all creation orbits. Yet, I implore thee to consider, mayhap, that
this vast tapestry of life holds more stars than thine own brilliant self.

Lord Narcissus: Ha! Thou darest to compare me to the celestial bodies, yet in the same
breath diminish my radiance? Pray, tell, how might a mere speck of dust such as thyself
enlighten one of my exalted position?

Common Man: It is not to diminish, but to illuminate the truth I strive. Consider the oak
in yonder field, mighty and vast; it thrives not for itself alone but provides shelter and
sustenance to those around. So too might a man, regardless of his station, contribute to
the tapestry of this world in ways manifold and marvelous.

Lord Narcissus: Shelter? Sustenance? Thou speak'st of trees as if they were kin to
nobility! A laughable notion! My contributions are of a higher order, shaping the very
fabric of our society. What couldst thou, a commoner, possibly offer that rivals the
brilliance of my being?

Common Man: My lord, every soul hath its own light to shine, its own verse to add to
the song of humanity. Thy brilliance, undoubted though it may be, is but a single note in
an endless symphony. Dost thou not see? In valuing others, not as lesser beings but as
fellow travelers on this journey, we enrich our own lives beyond measure.

Lord Narcissus: A quaint philosophy, yet utterly misplaced. My light outshines all, a
beacon of perfection in a sea of mediocrity. Why should I dim my brilliance to match the
flickering candles that surround me?

Common Man: Because, my lord, even the brightest star needs the darkness to be seen.
Acknowledging the worth of others does not dim your light but rather shows the depth
of its brilliance. True greatness, it is said, lies not in being unassailable, but in lifting
others so that they might reach the stars alongside thee.
Lord Narcissus: Lift others? A ludicrous notion! I am the epitome of excellence, a
pinnacle that none can hope to reach. Why should I stoop to elevate the unworthy?

Common Man: For in the end, my lord, what is a king without his people? A star
without a sky? It is through others that our deeds gain meaning, through community
that our lives find purpose. In recognizing this, we become not less, but infinitely more.

Lord Narcissus: Thou art persistent, I grant thee that. Yet thy words are but whispers
against the tempest of my grandeur. I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and end
of all that is worthy of admiration. Let the world bend to my will, for I am its zenith.

The common man, seeing the futility of his plea, bowed deeply, a gesture of respect not
to the noble's title, but to the humanity he hoped lay buried beneath layers of self-
adulation. With a heavy heart, he turned and departed, leaving Lord Narcissus more
convinced than ever of his singular place above all others, a beacon of self-regard in a
world he viewed through the narrow lens of his own grandiosity