Afternoon of a Faun

On a hot summer afternoon, a faun lazes on a rocky mound, playing his flute and eating grapes, when a group of nymphs enters to bathe nearby. He becomes fascinated by their leader, and as the other nymphs flee in alarm, he attempts a brief, hesitant courtship with her before she too breaks away and escapes, leaving behind a dropped veil. Alone, the faun picks up the veil, and in the ballet's famously controversial final image, carries it back to his mound and lies down upon it in a gesture of solitary desire.