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It is told that in the immemorial years when the world was young,
before ever the men of Sarnath came to the land of Mnar, another city
stood beside the lake; the gray stone city of Ib, which was old as the
lake itseli, and peopled with beings not pleasing to behold. Very odd and
ugly were these beings, as indeed are most beings of a world yet inchoate
and rudely fashioned. It is written on the brick cylinders of Kadatheron
that the beings of lb were in hue as green as the lake and the mists that
rise above it; that they had bulging eyes, pouting, flabby lips, and
curious ears, and were without voice. It is also written that they
descended one night from the moon in a mist; they and the vast still lake
and gray stone city lb. However this may be, it is certain that they
worshipped a sea-green stone idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug, the
great water-lizard; before which they danced horribly when the moon was
gibbous. And it is written in the papyrus of Ilarnek, that they one day
discovered fire, and thereafter kindled flames on many ceremonial
occasions. But not much is written of these beings, because they lived in
very ancient times, and man is young, and knows but little of the very
ancient living things.
After many eons men came to the land of Mnar, dark shepherd folk with
their fleecy flocks, who built Thraa, Ilarnek, and Kadatheron on the
winding river Ai. And certain tribes, more hardy than the rest, pushed on
to the border of the lake and built Sarnath at a spot where precious
metals were found in the earth.
Not far from the gray city of lb did the wandering tribes lay the first
stones of Sarnath, and at the beings of lb they marveled greatly. But with
their marveling was mixed hate, for they thought it not meet that beings
of such aspect should walk about the world of men at dusk. Nor did they
like the strange sculptures upon the gray monoliths of Ib, for why those
sculptures lingered so late in the world, even until the coming men, none
can tell; unless it was because the land of Mnar is very still, and remote
from most other lands, both of waking and of dream.
As the men of Sarnath beheld more of the beings of lb their hate grew,
and it was not less because they found the beings weak, and soft as jelly
to the touch of stones and arrows. So one day the young warriors, the
slingers and the spearmen and the bowmen, marched against lb and slew all
the inhabitants thereof, pushing the queer bodies into the lake with long
spears, because they did not wish to touch them. And because they did not
like the gray sculptured monoliths of lb they cast these also into the
lake; wondering from the greatness of the labor how ever the stones were
brought from afar, as they must have been, since there is naught like them
in the land of Mnar or in the lands adjacent.
Thus of the very ancient city of lb was nothing spared, save the
sea-green stone idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug, the water-lizard.
This the young warriors took back with them as a symbol of conquest over
the old gods and beings of Th, and as a sign of leadership in Mnar. But on
the night after it was set up in the temple, a terrible thing must have
happened, for weird lights were seen over the lake, and in the morning the
people found the idol gone and the high-priest Taran-Ish lying dead, as
from some fear unspeakable. And before he died, Taran-Ish had scrawled
upon the altar of chrysolite with coarse shaky strokes the sign of DOOM.
After Taran-Ish there were many high-priests in Sarnath but never was
the sea-green stone idol found. And many centuries came and went, wherein
Sarnath prospered exceedingly, so that only priests and old women
remembered what Taran-Ish had scrawled upon the altar of chrysolite.
Betwixt Sarnath and the city of flarnek arose a caravan route, and the
precious metals from the earth were exchanged for other metals and rare
cloths and jewels and books and tools for artificers and all things of
luxury that are known to the people who dwell along the winding river Ai
and beyond. So Sarnath waxed mighty and learned and beautiful, and sent
forth conquering armies to subdue the neighboring cities; and in time
there sate upon a throne in Sarnath the kings of all the land of Mnar and
of many lands adjacent.
The wonder of the world and the pride of all mankind was Sarnath the
magnificent. Of polished desert-quarried marble were its walls, in height
three hundred cubits and in breadth seventy-five, so that chariots might
pass each other as men drove them along the top. For full five hundred
stadia did they run, being open only on the side toward the lake where a
green stone sea-wall kept back the waves that rose oddly once a year at
the festival of the `destroying of lb. In Sarnath were fifty streets from
the lake to the gates of the caravans, and fifty more intersecting them.
With onyx were they paved, save those whereon the horses and camels and
elephants trod, which were paved with granite. And the gates of Sarnath
were as many as the landward ends of the streets, each of bronze, and
flanked by the figures of lions and elephants carven from some stone no
longer known among men. The houses of Sarnath were of glazed brick and
chalcedony, each having its walled garden and crystal lakelet. With
strange art were they builded, for no other city had houses like them; and
travelers from Thraa and Ilarnek and Kadatheron marveled at the shining
domes wherewith they were surmounted.
But more marvelous still were the palaces and the temples, and the
gardens made by Zokkar the olden king. There were many palaces, the last
of which were mightier than any in Thraa or Ilarnek or Kadatheron. So high
were they that one within might sometimes fancy himself beneath only the
sky; yet when lighted with torches dipt in the oil of Dother their walls
showed vast paintings of kings and armies, of a splendor at once inspiring
and stupefying to the beholder. Many were the pillars of the palaces, all
of tinted marble, and carven into designs of surpassing beauty. And in
most of the palaces the floors were mosaics of beryl and lapis lazuli and
sardonyx and carbuncle and other choice materials, so disposed that the
beholder might fancy himself walking over beds of the rarest flowers. And
there were likewise fountains, which cast scented waters about in pleasing
jets arranged with cunning art. Outshining all others was the palace of
the kings of Mnar and of the lands adjacent. On a pair of golden crouching
lions rested the throne, many steps above the gleaming floor. And it was
wrought of one piece of ivory, though no man lives who knows whence so
vast a piece could have come. In that palace there were also many
galleries, and many amphitheaters where lions and men and elephants
battled at the pleasure of the kings. Sometimes the amphitheaters were
flooded with water conveyed from the lake in mighty aqueducts, and then
were enacted stirring sea-fights, or combats betwixt swimmers and deadly
marine things.
Lofty and amazing were the seventeen tower-like temples of Sarnath,
fashioned of a bright multi-colored 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, 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 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 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, at 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 of Taran-Ish.
Wonderful likewise were the gardens made by Zokkar the olden king. In
the center 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 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 wafted by fans, and in winter they were heated with
concealed fires, 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 hued 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 lb, at which time wine, song, dancing, and merriment of every kind
abounded. Great honors 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.
At first the high-priests liked not these festivals, for there had
descended amongst 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 even the
priests laughed and cursed 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, wonder of
the world.
Gorgeous beyond thought was the feast of the thousandth year of the
destroying of lb. 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, llarnek, and Kadetheron, and all the cities of
Mnar and the lands beyond. Before the marble walls on the appointed night
were pitched the pavilions of princes and the tents of travelers. 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 distant hills of linplan, heels of camels from the
Bnazic desert, nuts and spices from Sydathrian groves, and pearls from
wave-washed Mtal 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 upon 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, and
in pavilions without the walls the princes of neighboring lands 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 gray 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, 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 travelers 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 terrible that no hearer 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, flabby
lips, and curious ears; things which danced horribly, bearing in their
paws golden platters set with rubies and diamonds and containing uncouth
flames. And the princes and travelers, 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 gray rock Akurion was quite submerged.
Through all the land of Mnar and the land 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 travelers went
thither, and even then only the brave and adventurous young men of yellow
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 gray 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
million of men now crawled the detestable water-lizard. Not even the mines
of precious metal remained. DOOM had come to Sarnath.
But half buried in the rushes was spied a curious green idol; an
exceedingly ancient idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug, the great
water-lizard. That idol, enshrined in the high temple at llarnek, was
subsequently worshipped beneath the gibbous moon throughout the land of
Mnar. |
