Lofty and amazing were the seventeen tower-like temples of Sarnath, fashioned of a bright multi-coloured[49] stone not known elsewhere. A full thousand cubits high stood the greatest among them, wherein the high-priests dwelt with a magnificence scarce less than that of the kings. On the ground were halls as vast and splendid as those of the palaces; where gathered throngs in worship of Zo-Kalar and Tamash and Lobon,[50] the chief gods of Sarnath, whose incense-enveloped shrines were as the thrones of monarchs. Not like the eikons of other gods were those of Zo-Kalar and Tamash and Lobon, for[51] so close to life were they that one might swear the graceful bearded gods themselves sate on the ivory thrones. And up unending steps of shining[52] zircon was the tower-chamber, wherefrom the high-priests looked out over the city and the plains and the lake by day; and at the cryptic moon and significant stars and planets, and their reflections in the lake, by[53] night. Here was done the very secret and ancient rite in detestation of Bokrug, the water-lizard, and here rested the altar of chrysolite which bore the DOOM-scrawl[54] of Taran-Ish.
Wonderful likewise were the gardens made by Zokkar the olden king. In the centre[55] of Sarnath they lay, covering a great space and encircled by a high wall. And they were surmounted by a mighty dome of glass, through which shone the sun and moon and stars[56] and planets when it was clear, and from which were hung fulgent images of the sun and moon and stars and planets when it was not clear. In summer the gardens were cooled with fresh odorous breezes skilfully[57] wafted by fans, and in winter they were heated with concealed fires,[58] so that in those gardens it was always spring. There ran little streams over bright pebbles, dividing meads of green and gardens of many hues, and spanned by a multitude of bridges. Many were the waterfalls in their courses, and many were the lilied lakelets into which they expanded. Over the streams and lakelets rode white swans, whilst the music of rare birds chimed in with the melody of the waters. In ordered terraces rose the green banks, adorned here and there with bowers of vines and sweet blossoms, and seats and benches of marble and porphyry. And there were many small shrines and temples where one might rest or pray to small gods.
Each year there was celebrated in Sarnath the feast of the destroying of Ib, at which time wine, song, dancing,[59] and merriment of every kind abounded. Great honours[60] were then paid to the shades of those who had annihilated the odd ancient beings, and the memory of those beings and of their elder gods was derided by dancers and lutanists crowned with roses from the gardens of Zokkar. And the kings would look out over the lake and curse the bones of the dead that lay beneath it.[61] At first the high-priests liked not these festivals, for there had descended amongst[62] them queer tales of how the sea-green eikon had vanished, and how Taran-Ish had died from fear and left a warning. And they said that from their high tower they sometimes saw lights beneath the waters of the lake. But as many years passed without calamity[63] even the priests laughed and cursed[64] and joined in the orgies of the feasters. Indeed, had they not themselves, in their high tower, often performed the very ancient and secret rite in detestation of Bokrug, the water-lizard? And a thousand years of riches and delight passed over Sarnath,[65] wonder of the world and pride of all mankind.[66]
Gorgeous beyond thought was the feast of the thousandth year of the destroying of Ib. For a decade had it been talked of in the land of Mnar, and as it drew nigh there came to Sarnath on horses and camels and elephants men from Thraa, Ilarnek, and Kadatheron, and all the cities of Mnar and the lands beyond.[67] Before the marble walls on the appointed night were pitched the pavilions[68] of princes and the tents of travellers, and all the shore resounded with the song of happy revellers.[69] Within his banquet-hall reclined Nargis-Hei, the king, drunken with ancient wine from the vaults of conquered Pnoth, and surrounded by feasting nobles and hurrying slaves. There were eaten many strange delicacies at that feast; peacocks from the isles of Nariel in the Middle Ocean, young goats from the distant[70] hills of Implan, heels of camels from the Bnazic[71] desert, nuts and spices from Cydathrian[72] groves, and pearls from wave-washed Mtal[73] dissolved in the vinegar of Thraa. Of sauces there were an untold number, prepared by the subtlest cooks in all Mnar, and suited to the palate of every feaster. But most prized of all the viands were the great fishes from the lake, each of vast size, and served up on[74] golden platters set with rubies and diamonds.
Whilst the king and his nobles feasted within the palace, and viewed the crowning dish as it awaited them on golden platters, others feasted elsewhere. In the tower of the great temple the priests held revels,[75] and in pavilions without the walls the princes of neighbouring lands[76] made merry. And it was the high-priest Gnai-Kah who first saw the shadows that descended from the gibbous moon into the lake, and the damnable green mists that arose from the lake to meet the moon and to shroud in a sinister haze the towers and the domes of fated Sarnath. Thereafter those in the towers and without the walls beheld strange lights on the water, and saw that the grey[77] rock Akurion, which was wont to rear high above it near the shore, was almost submerged. And fear grew vaguely yet swiftly, so that the princes of Ilarnek and of far Rokol took down and folded their tents and pavilions and departed for the river Ai,[78] though they scarce knew the reason for their departing.
Then, close to the hour of midnight, all the bronze gates of Sarnath burst open and emptied forth a frenzied throng that blackened the plain, so that all the visiting princes and travellers[79] fled away in fright. For on the faces of this throng was writ a madness born of horror unendurable, and on their tongues were words so[80] terrible that no hearer[81] paused for proof. Men whose eyes were wild with fear shrieked aloud of the sight within the king’s banquet-hall, where through the windows were seen no longer the forms of Nargis-Hei and his nobles and slaves, but a horde of indescribable green voiceless things with bulging eyes, pouting,[82] flabby lips, and curious ears; things which danced horribly, bearing in their paws golden platters set with rubies and diamonds and containing uncouth flames.[83] And the princes and travellers,[84] as they fled from the doomed city of Sarnath on horses and camels and elephants, looked again upon the mist-begetting lake and saw the grey[85] rock Akurion was quite submerged.[86]
Through all the land of Mnar and the lands[87] adjacent spread the tales of those who had fled from Sarnath, and caravans sought that accursed city and its precious metals no more. It was long ere any traveller[88] went thither, and even then only the brave and adventurous young men of distant Falona dared make the journey; adventurous young men of yellow[89] hair and blue eyes, who are no kin to the men of Mnar. These men indeed went to the lake to view Sarnath; but though they found the vast still lake itself, and the grey[90] rock Akurion which rears high above it near the shore, they beheld not the wonder of the world and pride of all mankind. Where once had risen walls of three hundred cubits and towers yet higher, now stretched only the marshy shore, and where once had dwelt fifty millions[91] of men now crawled only[92] the detestable green[93] water-lizard. Not even the mines of precious metal remained, for[94] DOOM had come to Sarnath.
But half buried in the rushes was spied a curious green idol of stone;[95] an exceedingly[96] ancient idol coated with seaweed and chiselled[97] in the likeness of Bokrug, the great water-lizard. That idol, enshrined in the high temple at Ilarnek, was subsequently worshipped beneath the gibbous moon throughout the land of Mnar.
Notes
Editor’s Note: An A.Ms. of the story survives, but it is a fair copy that must date after the first appearance—Scot (June 1920)—as it incorporates some revisions from that text. The T.Ms. was prepared by R. H. Barlow (see OFF 21) and was sent to Marvel Tales, where the story appeared in the March–April 1935 issue. This text was the basis of the posthumous appearance in Weird Tales (June 1938), which in turn served as the basis of the Arkham House edition. Each appearance introduced its own errors, so that the Arkham House text was very poor.
Texts: A = Scot No. 44 (June 1920): 90–98; B = A.Ms. (JHL); C = T.Ms. (JHL); D = Marvel Tales of Science
and Fantasy 1, No. 4 (March–April 1935): 157–63; E = Weird Tales 31, No. 6 (June 1938): 742–46 (as “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”); F = Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (Arkham House, 1965), 34–40. Copy-text: B.
1. vast] vast, B
2. stream] stream, C, D, E, F
3. immemorial] memorial D
4. grey] gray E, F
5. grey] gray E, F
6. chiselled] chiseled E, F
7. water-lizard;] water lizard; A
8. aeons] eons E, F
9. Mnar;] Mnar, E, F
10. grey] gray E, F
11. marvelled] marveled E, F
12. marvelling] marveling E, F
13. grey] gray E, F
14. great] om. E, F (see below)
15. sculptures were . . . and the] om. F
16. men,] man, A
17. lands] lands, C, D, E, F
18. dream.] D, E, F; dreams. A, B, C. [dreams changed to dream by HPL in B.]
19. and spears] om. C, D, E, F
20. grey] gray E, F
21. labour] labor E, F
22. all] om. C, D, E, F
23. spared] spared, C, D, E, F
24. chiselled] chiseled E, F
25. the] the great A
26. to Sarnath] om. D, E, F
27. a] as a C, D, E, F
28. temple] temple, E, F
29. gone,] gone E, F
30. chrysolite] chrysolilte D
31. artificers] artificere D
32. neighbouring] neighboring C, D, E, F
33. its] the A, B. [the erased in B, its inserted]
34. drave] drove C, D, E, F
35. lake;] lake D, E, F
36. travellers] travelers E, F
37. marvelled] marveled E, F
38. wherewith] where with F
39. marvellous] marvelous E, F
40. olden] elden D
41. least] last E, F
42. Dothur] Dother D, E, F
43. shewed] showed E, F
44. splendour] splendor E, F
45. palaces] places E
46. lapis-lazuli] lapis lazuli E, F
47. amphitheatres] amphitheaters D, E, F
48. amphitheatres] amphitheaters E, F
49. multi-coloured] multi-colored E, F
50. Lobon,] Labon, A
51. Lobon, for] Labon, for A; Lobon. For D, E, F
52. shining] om. C, D, E, F
53. by] at D, E, F
54. DOOM-scrawl] Doom-scrawl E, F
55. centre] center E, F
56. and stars] om. D, E, F
57. skilfully] skillfully B, D
58. fires,] fires; A
59. dancing,] dancing C, D, E, F
60. honours] honors E, F
61. it.] it. ¶ E, F
62. amongst] among A
63. calamity] calamity, A
64. cursed] cursed, A
65. over Sarnath,] over the blessed and magnificent city of Sarnath, A
66. world . . . mankind.] world. D, E, F
67. beyond.] beyond D
68. pavilions] Pavilions A
69. travellers . . . revellers.] travellers. C, D; travelers. E, F
70. peacocks . . . distant] peacocks from the distant E, F
71. Bnazic] Rnazic A
72. Cydathrian] Sydathrian F
73. Mtal] Mtal, A
74. up on] upon D, E, F
75. revels,] ravels, A
76. neighbouring lands] neighbouring lands, D; neighboring lands E, F
77. grey] gray E, F
78. departed . . . Ai,] departed, D, E, F
79. travellers] travelers E, F
80. so] to A
81. hearer] hearers A
82. pouting,] pouting A
83. flames.] flames, A
84. travellers,] travelers, E, F
85. grey] gray E, F
86. submerged. ¶] submerged. E, F
87. lands] land F
88. traveller] travellers C, D; travelers E, F
89. men of distant . . . yellow] men of yellow D, E, F
90. grey] gray E, F
91. millions] million D, E, F
92. only] om. F
93. green] om. D, E, F
94. remained, for] remained. D, E, F
95. idol of stone;] idol; D, E, F
96. exceedingly] exceeding E
97. idol coated . . . chiselled] idol, coated with seaweed and chiselled A; idol chiseled D, E, F
The Statement of Randolph Carter
I repeat to you, gentlemen, that your inquisition is fruitless. Detain me here for ever [1] if you will; confine or execute me if you must have a victim to propitiate the illusion you call justice; but I can say no more than I have said already. Everything that I can remember, I have told[2] with perfect candour.[3] Nothing has been distorted or concealed, and if anything remains vague, it is only because of the dark cloud which has come over my mind—that cloud and the nebulous nature of the horrors which brought it upon me.
Again I say, I do not know what has become of Harley Warren,[4] though I think—almost hope—that he is in peaceful oblivion, if there be anywhere so blessed a thing. It is true that I have for five years been his closest friend, and a partial sharer of his terrible researches into the unknown. I will not deny, though my memory is uncertain and indistinct, that this witness of yours may have seen us together as he says, on the Gainsville pike, walking toward Big Cypress Swamp, at half past eleven[5] on that awful night. That we bore electric lanterns, spades, and a curious coil of wire with attached instruments, I will even affirm; for these things all played a part in the single hideous scene which remains burned into my shaken recollection. But of what followed, and of the reason I was found alone and dazed on the edge of the swamp next morning, I must insist that I know nothing save what I have told you over and over again. You say to me that there is nothing in the swamp or near it which could form the setting of that frightful episode. I reply that I know[6] nothing beyond what I saw. Vision or nightmare it may have been—vision or nightmare I fervently hope it was—yet it is all that my mind retains of what took place in those shocking hours after we left the sight of men. And why Harley Warren did not return, he or his shade—or some nameless thing[7] I cannot describe—alone can tell.
As I have said before, the weird studies of Harley Warren were well known to me, and to some extent shared by me. Of his vast collection of strange, rare books on forbidden subjects I have read all that are written in the languages of which I am master; but these are few as compared with those in languages I cannot understand. Most, I believe, are in Arabic; and the fiend-inspired book which brought on the end—the book which he carried in his pocket out of the world—was written in characters whose like I never saw elsewhere. Warren would never tell me just what was in that book. As to the nature of our studies—must I say again that I no longer retain full comprehension? It seems to me rather merciful that I do not, for they were terrible studies, which I pursued more through reluctant fascination than through actual inclination. Warren always dominated me, and sometimes I feared him. I remember how I shuddered at his facial expression on the night before the awful happening, when he talked so incessantly of his theory, why certain corpses never decay, but rest firm and fat in their tombs for a thousand years.[8] But I do not fear him now, for I suspect that he has known horrors beyond my ken. Now I fear for [9] him.
Once more I say that I have no clear idea of our object on that night. Certainly, it had much to do with something in the book which Warren carried with him—that ancient book in undecipherable characters which had come to him from India a month before—but I swear I do not know what it was that we expected to find. Your witness says he saw us at half past eleven[10] on the Gainsville pike, headed for Big Cypress Swamp. This is probably true, but I have no distinct memory of it. The picture seared into my soul is of one scene only, and the hour must have been long after midnight; for a waning crescent moon was high in the vaporous heavens.
The place was an ancient cemetery; so ancient that I trembled at the manifold signs of immemorial years. It was in a deep, damp hollow, overgrown with rank grass, moss, and curious creeping weeds, and filled with a vague stench which my idle fancy associated absurdly with rotting stone. On every hand were the signs of neglect and decrepitude, and I seemed haunted by the notion that Warren and I were the first living creatures to invade a lethal silence of centuries. Over the valley’s rim a wan, waning crescent moon peered through the noisome vapours[11] that seemed to emanate from unheard-of[12] catacombs, and by its feeble, wavering beams I could distinguish a repellent array of antique slabs, urns, cenotaphs, and mausolean[13] facades;[14] all crumbling, moss-grown, and moisture-stained, and partly concealed by the gross luxuriance of the unhealthy vegetation.[15] My first vivid impression of my own presence in this terrible necropolis concerns the act of pausing with Warren before a certain half-obliterated[16] sepulchre,[17] and of throwing down some burdens which we seemed to have been carrying. I now observed that I had with me an electric lantern and two spades, whilst my companion was supplied with a similar lantern and a portable telephone outfit. No word was uttered, for the spot and the task seemed known to us; and without delay we seized our spades and commenced to clear away the grass, weeds, and drifted earth from the flat, archaic mortuary. After uncovering the entire surface, which consisted of three immense granite slabs, we stepped back some distance to survey the charnel scene; and Warren appeared to make some mental calculations. Then he returned to the sepulchre,[18] and using his spade as a lever,[19] sought to pry up the slab lying nearest to a stony ruin which may have been a monument in its day. He did not succeed, and motioned to me to come to his assistance. Finally our combined strength loosened the stone, which we raised and tipped to one side.