Taken aback, I measured him, head (or rather, Panama hat) to toes (or rather a pair of lewd leathery Italian shoes). "Sire" - I insisted - "this is a publick domain. If you find my company so reprehensive, pray find another place to rest yourself".

And with these resolute words, I sat myself near him, though maintaining a proper distance between me and his cheap perfume.

He curled a thin moustache with a gloved hand and half turned around as though not decided whether to fully face what he surely must have regarded to be an insolence of the highest degree.

"I see that you are as opinionated as you are young and the desires or needs of others matter but little to you" - he said, his voice harsh.

"'Tis so" - I agreed with him, slumping in my seat, shutting my eyes and abandoning my face to a more agreeable dialogue with the sun rays.

"And to be so callous and impertinent" - he pressed ahead, disavowing my clear reluctance to pursue the matter - "one must be assured of some immunity and of one's own superiority".

"Sir" - I said, still half awake, but rather intoxicated with the nectar of the sun dripping through my eyelids - "you seem to have a penchant for the obvious and to be enamoured with the easily discernible."

His voice climbed an octave in his excitement: "And what, in heavens name, do you rest these outrageous suppositions on?"

"They haven't been disproved as yet" - I said, bored to the core.

"Perhaps they have not been tried sufficiently".

"Oh, they have and more" - I heartily disagreed knowing full well the rage this will provoke in him - "Simply I AM superior. I am cerebral and handsome to behold and not without means. I move in the right company of men and place women where they belong and where their wiles can have the least effect. I'm pretty content with myself".

"You are a narcissist" - he raged as I expected - "You are a selfish, heartless, blind narcissist."

"I bid you go to hell" - I said, as nonchalantly as I could - "no one dares talk to me like this and no one dares take his leave of me lest I permit it. So, here is my permission: go to hell".

"I am going" - said the man, to my surprise. The thunderous, echoing quality of his speech awoke me full. I gazed at him in daze, for he was brilliant and outshone the sun.

"I am going there, whence I came. You know not what you said. I am your guardian angel and I am waiting for you there among the cauldrons and the sulphur".

"Who are you?" - I exclaimed, suddenly alarmed but he has vanished. And on the bench he abandoned a fiery calling card, strange lettering that left a lot to be desired inasmuch as good taste is concerned.

"Samael" - I read his name - "Samael Van Knin"

10. The Pleasures of the Somatic Narcissist

The somatic narcissist derives his narcissistic supply from sexual exploits and conquests, OR from the cultivation of his body, OR from seductive acts (which do not culminate in sex and are not otherwise consummated), OR from any combination of the above. Thus, a celibate somatic narcissist is a possibility. Such a somatic will tend to be an hypochondriac, for instance, or a body builder. Additionally, many narcissists are fetishists, latent homosexuals (there is a strong auto-erotic element in HOMOsexuality) AND misogynists (or misnadrogenists if they are female narcissists). This is not very conducive to healthy, consistent patterns of sexual behaviour.

next: Excerpts from the Archives of the Narcissism List Part 21