The reason why Arthur Jermyn’s charred[104] fragments were not collected and buried lies in what was found afterward;[105] principally the thing in the box. The stuffed goddess[106] was a nauseous sight, withered and eaten away, but it was clearly a mummified white ape of some unknown species, less hairy than any recorded variety, and infinitely nearer mankind—quite shockingly so.[107] Detailed description would be rather unpleasant, but two salient particulars must be told, for they fit in revoltingly with certain notes of Sir Wade Jermyn’s African expeditions and with the Congolese legends of the white god and the ape-princess. The two particulars in question are these: the[108] arms on the golden locket about the creature’s neck were the Jermyn arms, and the jocose suggestion of M. Verhaeren about a[109] certain resemblance as connected with the shrivelled[110] face applied with vivid, ghastly, and unnatural horror to none other than the sensitive Arthur Jermyn, great-great-great-grandson of Sir Wade Jermyn and an unknown wife.[111] Members of the Royal Anthropological Institute burned the thing and threw the locket into a well, and some of them do not admit that Arthur Jermyn ever existed.
Notes
Editor’s Note: The tale was first published in the Wolverine (March and June 1921). At some subsequent date, HPL prepared a T.Ms. embodying a few revisions from that text. This T.Ms. is single-spaced, and HPL must have prepared a double-spaced typescript for Weird Tales, where the story appeared in the April 1924 issue; but that appearance does not appear to contain any revisions by HPL from the existing T.Ms. In a letter to Farnsworth Wright (21 May 1934; Lovecraft Annual No. 8 [2014]: 40), HPL asked to see the proofs of the Weird Tales reprint (May 1935), and there appears to be internal evidence that he made some slight revisions, although he failed to correct (or Weird Tales refused to correct) some existing errors (chiefly in paragraphing) in the first appearance; and the reprint introduced a number of further errors. The Arkham House editions followed the T.Ms., hence are fairly accurate aside from the title.
Texts: A = Wolverine No. 9 (March 1921): 3–11; No. 10 (June 1921): 6–11; B = T.Ms. (JHL); C = Weird Tales 3, No. 4 (April 1924): 15–18 (as “The White Ape”); D = Weird Tales 25, No. 5 (May 1935): 642–48 (as “Arthur Jermyn”); E = Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (Arkham House, 1965), 47–55 (as “Arthur Jermyn”). Copy-text: B (with some readings from D).
1. daemoniacal] demoniacal A, B, C, D
2. thousandfold] thousand fold A
3. revelations, . . . perhaps] revalations, . . . perchance A
4. world.] world. ¶ C, D
5. object] object A
6. found,] found E
7. object,] object C
8. life.] life. ¶ C, D
9. Bart.,] Bt., A, B, C, E
10. civilisation] civilization A, C, D
11. “Observations . . . Africa”,] “Observations . . . Africa,” C; Observations . . . Africa, D; Observation . . . Africa, E
12. 1765] 1765, C
13. cannot] can not A, B, C, D, E
14. came.] came. ¶ C, D
15. shewed] showed A, B, C, D, E
16. shewed] showed A, B, C, D, E
17. Portuguese] Portugese B
18. and] and she C
19. returning.] returning. ¶ C, D
20. eighteenth century] Eighteenth Century D
21. man] man of learning A, B, E
22. scepticism;] skepticism; A, D
23. carvings.] carvings. ¶ C, D
24. madhouse.] madhouse. ¶ C, D
25. shewn] shown A, B, C, D, E
26. protection.] protection. ¶ C, D
27. son Philip] son, Philip, C, D
28. agility.] agility. ¶ C, D
29. gypsy] gipsy D
30. born] born, A; born he C, D
31. mesalliance] misalliance E
32. a] om. E
33. exploration.] exploration. ¶ C, D
34. 1815] 1815, C, D
35. 1849] 1849, C, D
36. repellent] repellant A
37. myths.] myths. ¶ C, D
38. notes] notes, C, D
39. grey] gray C, D, E
40. details,] details; A, B, C, E
41. being.] being. ¶ C, D
42. defence] defense C, D
43. any] an E
44. circus.] circus. ¶ C, D
45. travelled] traveled C, D
46. colour] color C
47. surprisingly] surprizingly D
48. bars.] bars. ¶ C, D
49. than] than the E
50. and] and the A, C, D, E
51. trainer.] trainer. ¶ C, D
52. on] On E
53. II.] om. C, D, E
54. music-hall] musical-hall A
55. Jermyn House;] Jermyn, A
56. provide.] provide. ¶ C, D
57. neighbouring] neighboring A, C, D
58. Portuguese] Portugese B
59. wife] wife, C, D
60. shewing] showing A, B, C, D, E
61. unrecognised.] unrecognized. ¶ C, D
62. honours] honors C, D
63. utilising] utilizing C, D
64. civilisation] civilization C, D
65. grey] gray C, D, E
66. warlike] war-like D
67. stuffed goddess] Stuffed Goddess D
68. white ape-goddess] white-ape goddess C
69. worshipped,] worshiped, C
70. those] these E
71. ape-like] apelike C, D
72. stuffed goddess.] Stuffed Goddess. D
73. the] om. A, E
74. worshipped.] worshiped. C
75. alone.] alone. ¶ C, D
76. save] except A
77. the] a E
78. jungle . . . old] old jungle city described by C, D
79. when,] when A, B, C, E
80. 1912,] 1912 A, B, E
81. negro] Negro A, D, E
82. Unfortunately] Unfortunately, C, D
83. stuffed goddess] Stuffed Goddess D
84. stuffed goddess,] Stuffed Goddess, D
85. deity] diety A
86. off.] off. ¶ C, D
87. cause.] cause. ¶ C, D
88. great-great-great-grandmother,] great-great-great grandmother, A
89. Portuguese] Portugese B
90. would not be] was not A
91. of] om. E
92. stuffed goddess.] Stuffed Goddess. D
93. traveller’s] traveler’s C, D
94. rather,] rather A
95. stuffed goddess,] Stuffed Goddess, D
96. arrive . . . packed] arrive, duly packed, C, D
97. tales] tales, C, D
98. shewed] showed A, B, C, D, E
99. estimate,] estimate; A, B, C, E
100. heard.] heard. ¶ C, D
101. dumbfounded,] dumfounded, C, D
102. below.] below. ¶ C, D
103. house] House A, C, D
104. charred] om. C, D
105. afterward;] afterward, A, B, C, E
106. stuffed goddess] Stuffed Goddess D
107. so.] so. ¶ C, D
108. the] The C, D
109. a] om. E
110. shrivelled] shriveled C, D
111. wife.] wife. ¶ C, D
Celephaïs
In a dream Kuranes saw the city in the valley, and the seacoast[1] beyond, and the snowy peak overlooking the sea, and the gaily painted galleys that sail out of the harbour toward distant regions where the sea meets the sky. In a dream it was also[2] that he came by his name of Kuranes, for when awake he was called by another name. Perhaps it was natural for him to dream a new name; for he was the last of his family, and alone among the indifferent millions of London, so there were not many to speak to him and[3] remind him who he had been. His money and lands were gone, and he did not care for the ways of [4] people about him, but preferred to dream and write of his dreams. What he wrote was laughed at by those to whom he shewed[5] it, so that after a time he kept his writings to himself, and finally ceased to write. The more he withdrew from
the world about him, the more wonderful became his dreams; and it would have been quite futile to try to describe them on paper. Kuranes was not modern, and did not think like others[6] who wrote. Whilst they strove to strip from life its embroidered robes of myth,[7] and to shew[8] in naked ugliness the foul thing that is reality, Kuranes sought for beauty alone.[9] When truth and experience failed to reveal it, he sought it in fancy and illusion, and found it on his very doorstep, amid the nebulous memories of childhood tales and dreams.
There are not many persons who know what wonders are opened to them in the stories and visions of their youth; for when as children we listen and dream, we think but half-formed thoughts, and when as men we try to remember, we are dulled and prosaic with the poison of life. But some of us awake in the night with strange phantasms of enchanted hills and gardens, of fountains that sing in the sun, of golden cliffs overhanging murmuring seas, of plains that stretch down to sleeping cities of bronze and stone, and of shadowy companies of heroes[10] that ride caparisoned[11] white horses along the edges of thick forests; and then we know that we have looked back through the ivory gates into that world of wonder which was ours before we were wise and unhappy.
Kuranes came very suddenly upon his old world of childhood. He had been dreaming of the house where he was[12] born; the great stone house covered with ivy, where thirteen generations of his ancestors had lived, and where he had hoped to die. It was moonlight, and he had stolen out into the fragrant summer night, through the gardens, down the terraces, past the great oaks of the park, and along the long white road to the village. The village seemed very old, eaten away at the edge like the moon which had commenced to wane, and Kuranes wondered whether the peaked roofs of the small houses hid sleep or death. In the streets were spears of long grass, and the window-panes on either side were either[13] broken or filmily staring. Kuranes had not lingered, but had plodded on as though summoned toward some goal. He dared not disobey the summons for fear it might prove an illusion like the urges and aspirations of waking life, which do not lead to any goal. Then he had been drawn down a lane that led off from the village street toward the channel cliffs, and had come to the end of things—to the precipice and the abyss where all the village and all the world fell abruptly away[14] into the unechoing emptiness of infinity, and where even the sky ahead was empty and unlit by the crumbling moon and the peering stars. Faith had urged him on, over the precipice and into the gulf, where he had floated down, down, down; past dark, shapeless, undreamed dreams, faintly glowing spheres that may have been partly dreamed dreams, and laughing winged things that seemed to mock the dreamers of all the worlds. Then a rift seemed to open in the darkness before him, and he saw the city of the valley, glistening radiantly far, far below, with a background of sea and sky, and a snow-capped mountain near the shore.
Kuranes[15] had awaked the very moment he beheld the city, yet he knew from his brief glance that it was none other than Celephaïs,[16] in the Valley of Ooth-Nargai[17] beyond the Tanarian Hills,[18] where his spirit had dwelt all the eternity of an hour one summer afternoon very long ago, when he had slipt away from his nurse and let the warm sea-breeze lull him to sleep as he watched the clouds from the cliff near the village. He had protested then, when they had found him, waked him, and carried him home, for just as he was aroused[19] he had been about to sail in a golden galley for those alluring regions where the sea meets the sky. And now he was equally resentful of awaking, for he had found his fabulous city after forty weary years.
But three nights afterward Kuranes came again to Celephaïs.[20] As before, he dreamed first of the village that was asleep or dead, and of the abyss down which one must float silently; then the rift appeared again, and he beheld the glittering minarets[21] of the city, and saw the graceful galleys riding at anchor in the blue harbour, and watched the gingko trees of Mount Aran swaying in the sea-breeze. But this time he was not snatched away, and like a winged being settled gradually over a grassy hillside till finally his feet rested gently on the turf. He had indeed come back to the Valley[22] of Ooth-Nargai and the splendid city of Celephaïs.[23]
Down the hill amid scented grasses and brilliant flowers walked Kuranes, over the bubbling Naraxa on the small wooden bridge where he had carved his name so many years ago, and through the whispering grove to the great stone bridge by the city gate. All was as of old, nor were the marble walls discoloured, nor the polished bronze statues upon them tarnished. And Kuranes saw that he need not tremble lest[24] the things he knew be vanished; for even the sentries on the ramparts were the same, and still as young as he remembered them. When he entered the city, past the bronze gates and over the onyx pavements, the merchants and camel-drivers greeted him as if he had never been away; and it was the same at the turquoise temple of Nath-Horthath, where the orchid-wreathed priests told him that there is no time in Ooth-Nargai, but only perpetual youth. Then Kuranes walked through the Street of Pillars to the seaward wall, where gathered the traders and sailors, and strange men from the regions where the sea meets the sky. There he stayed long, gazing out over the bright harbour where the ripples sparkled beneath an unknown sun, and where rode lightly the galleys from far places over the water. And he gazed also upon Mount Aran rising regally from the shore, its lower slopes green with swaying trees and its white summit touching the sky.
More than ever Kuranes wished to sail in a galley to the far places of which he had heard so many strange tales, and he sought again the captain who had agreed to carry him so long ago. He found the man, Athib, sitting on the same chest of spices[25] he had sat upon before, and Athib seemed not to realise[26] that any time had passed. Then the two rowed to a galley in the harbour, and giving orders to the oarsmen,[27] commenced to sail out into the billowy Cerenarian Sea that leads to the sky. For several days they glided undulatingly over the water, till finally they came to the horizon, where the sea meets the sky. Here the galley paused not at all, but floated easily in the blue of the sky among fleecy clouds tinted with rose. And far beneath the keel Kuranes could see strange lands and rivers and cities of surpassing beauty, spread indolently in the sunshine which seemed never to lessen or disappear. At length Athib told him that their journey was near its end, and that they would soon enter the harbour of Serannian, the pink marble city of the clouds, which is built on that ethereal coast where the west wind flows into the sky; but as the highest of the city’s carven towers came into sight there was a sound somewhere in space, and Kuranes awaked in his London garret.
For many months after that Kuranes sought the marvellous[28] city of Celephaïs[29] and its sky-bound galleys in vain; and though his dreams carried him to many gorgeous and unheard-of places, no one whom he met could tell him how to find Ooth-Nargai,[30] beyond the Tanarian Hills. One night he went flying over dark mountains where there were faint, lone campfires at great distances apart, and strange, shaggy herds with tinkling bells on the leaders;[31] and in the wildest part of this hilly country, so remote that few men could ever have seen it, he found a hideously ancient wall or causeway of stone zigzagging along the ridges and valleys; too gigantic ever to have risen by human hands, and of such a length that neither end of it could be seen. Beyond that wall in the grey[32] dawn he came to a land of quaint gardens and cherry trees, and when the sun rose he beheld such beauty of red and white flowers, green foliage and lawns, white paths, diamond brooks, blue lakelets, carven bridges, and red-roofed pagodas, that he for a moment forgot Celephaïs[33] in sheer delight. But he remembered it again when he walked down a white path toward a red-roofed pagoda, and would have questioned the people of that[34] land about it, had he not found that there were no people there, but only birds and bees and butterflies. On another night Kuranes walked up a damp stone spiral stairway endlessly, and came to a tower window overlooking a mighty plain and river lit by the full moon; and in the silent city that spread away from the river-bank[35] he thought he beheld some feature or arrangement which he had known before. He would have descended and asked the way to
Ooth-Nargai had not a fearsome aurora sputtered up from some remote place beyond the horizon, shewing[36] the ruin and antiquity of the city, and the stagnation of the reedy river, and the death lying[37] upon that land, as it had lain since King Kynaratholis came home from his conquests to find the vengeance of the gods.
So Kuranes sought fruitlessly for the marvellous city of Celephaïs[38] and its galleys that sail to Serannian in the sky, meanwhile seeing many wonders and once barely escaping from the high-priest not to be described, which wears a yellow silken mask over its face and dwells all alone in a prehistoric stone monastery on[39] the cold desert plateau of Leng. In time he grew so impatient of the bleak intervals of day that he began buying drugs in order to increase his periods of sleep. Hasheesh helped a great deal, and once sent him to a part of space where form does not exist, but where glowing gases study the secrets of existence. And a violet-coloured gas told him that this part of space was outside what he had called infinity. The gas had not heard of planets and organisms before, but identified Kuranes merely as one from the infinity where matter, energy, and gravitation exist. Kuranes was now very anxious to return to minaret-studded Celephaïs,[40] and increased his doses of drugs; but eventually he had no more money left, and could buy no drugs. Then one summer day he was turned out of his garret, and wandered aimlessly through the streets, drifting over a bridge to a place where the houses grew thinner and thinner. And it was there that fulfilment[41] came, and he met the cortege of knights come from Celephaïs[42] to bear him thither for ever.[43]