The Cats of Ulthar - HP Lovecraft

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The cats of Olthar by H. Bloughcraft. It is said
that in al Thar, which lies beyond the river sky,
no man may kill a cat. And this I can
verily believe, as I who gaze upon him who sitteth
purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic and

(00:22):
close to strange things which man cannot see. He is
the soul of Antique Egyptus, and bearer of tales from
forgotten cities in Meyrow and o Fear. He is the
kin of the Jungle's lords, and heir to the secrets
of Hoary and Sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin,

(00:44):
and he speaks her language. But he is more ancient
than the Sphynx, and remembers that which she hath forgotten.
In Ulphar, before ever the Burgesses forbade the killings of cats,
there dwelt an old old cotter and his wife, who
delighted to trap and slay the cats of their neighbors.

(01:06):
Why they did this I know not, save that many
hate the voice of the cat in the night, and
take it ill that cats should run stealthily about yards
and gardens at twilight. But whatever the reason, this old
man and woman took pleasure in trapping and slaying every
cat which came near their hovel, and from some of

(01:27):
the sounds heard after dark, many villagers fancied that the
manner of slaying was exceedingly peculiar. But the villagers did
not discuss such things with the old man and his
wife because of the habitual expression on the withered faces
of the two, and because their cottage was so small

(01:48):
and so darkly hidden under spreading oaks at the back
of a neglected yard. In truth, much as the owners
of the cats hated these odd folks, they feared them more,
and instead of berating them as brutal assassins, merely took
care that no cherished pet or mouser should stray towards

(02:09):
remote hovel under the dark trees. When through some unavoidable
oversight a cat was missed and sounds heard after dark,
the loser would lament impotently, or console himself by thanking
fate that it was not one of his children who
had thus vanished. For the people of Althar were simple

(02:32):
and knew not whence it is all cats first came
one day a caravan of strange wanderers from the south
entered the narrow, cobbled streets of all Thar. Dark wanderers
they were, and unlike the other roving folk who passed
through the village twice every year. In the market place,

(02:54):
they sold fortunes for silver and bought gay beads from
the merchants. What was the land of these wanderers none
could tell, but it was seen that they were given
to strange prayers, and that they had painted on the
sides of their wagons strange figures with humanoid bodies and
the heads of cats, hawks, rams, and lions. And the

(03:17):
leader of the caravan wore a head dress with two horns,
and a curious disk betwixt the horns. There was in
this singular caravan a little boy with no father or mother,
but only a tiny black kitten to cherish. The plague
had not been kind to him, yet had left him

(03:39):
this small furry thing to mitigate his sorrows. And when
one is very young, one can find great relief in
the lively antics of a black kitten. So the boy,
whom the dark people called Mennas, smiled more often than
he wept as he sat playing with his graceful kitten
on the steps of an oddly painted wagon. On the

(04:03):
third morning of the wanderer's stay in Altar, Manes could
not find his kitten, and as he sobbed aloud in
the market place, certain villagers told him of the old
man and his wife, and of sounds heard in the night.
And when he heard these things, his sobbing gave place
to meditation, and finally to prayer. He stretched out his

(04:28):
arms towards the sun and prayed in a tongue no
villager could understand, though indeed the villagers did not try
very hard to understand, since their attention was mostly taken
up by the sky and the odd shapes the clouds were.
Assuming it was very peculiar. But as the little boy

(04:50):
uttered his petition, there seemed to form overhead the shadowy,
nebulous figures of exotic things, of hybrid creatures with horned
flanked disks, natures full of such allusions to impress the imaginative.
That night, the wanderers left aul Thar and were never

(05:12):
seen again. The households were troubled when they noticed that
in all the village there was not a cat to
be found. From each hearth. The familiar cat had vanished cats,
large and small, black, gray, striped, yellow and white. Old
Crenon the burgomaster, swore that the dark folk had taken

(05:35):
the cats away in revenge for the killing of Mene's kitten,
and cursed the caravan and the little boy. But Nith
the lean notary declared that the old cotter and his
wife were more likely persons to suspect, for their hatred
of cats was notorious and increasingly bold. Still no one

(05:56):
durst complain to the sinister couple, even when little the
innkeeper's son vowed that he had a twilight seen all
the cats of Olphar in that accursed yard under the trees,
pacing very slowly and solemnly in a circle around the
cottage to her breast, as if in performance of some

(06:17):
unheard of rite of beasts. The villagers did not know
how much to believe from so small a boy, and
though they feared that the evil pair had charmed the
cats to their death, they preferred not to chide the
old cotter till they met him outside his dark and
repellent yard. So Othar went to sleep in vain anger,

(06:38):
and when the people awakened at dawn, behold every cat
was back at his accustomed hearth. Large and small, black
and gray, striped, yellow and white, none was missing. Very
sleek and fat did the cats appear, and sonorous with
purring content. The citizens talked with one another of the

(06:59):
affair and marveled not a little. Old Craynon again insisted
that it was the dark folk who had taken them,
since cats did not return alive from the cottage of
the ancient man and his wife. But all agreed on
one thing that the refusal of all the cats to
eat their portions of meat or drink their saucers of
milk was exceedingly curious. And for the two whole days

(07:23):
the sleek, lazy cats of Othar would touch no food,
but only doze by the fire or in the sun.
It was fully a week before the villagers noticed that
no lights were appearing at dusk in the windows of
the cottage under the trees. Then the lean nith remarked
that no one had seen the old man or his

(07:45):
wife since the night the cats were away. In another week,
the bergamister decided to overcome his fears and call at
the strangely silent dwelling as a matter of duty, though
in doing so he was careful to take with him
him Shanged the blacksmith, and Full the cutter of stone,
as witnesses. And when they had broken down the frail

(08:07):
door they found only this, two cleanly picked human skeletons
on the earth and floor, and a number of singular
beetles crawling in the shadowy corners. There was subsequently much
talk among the burgesses of othar Zath. The corner disputed

(08:28):
at length with Nith, the lead notary, and Craynon and
Shang and Thal were overwhelmed with the questions. Even little Attel,
the innkeeper son, was closely questioned and given a sweetmeat
as reward. They talked of the old cotter and his wife,
of the caravan of dark wanderers, of small Mennase and

(08:51):
his black kitten, of the prayer of Mennaes, and of
the sky during that prayer, of the doings of the
cats on the night the caravan left, and of what
was later found in the cottage under the dark trees
in the repellent yard. And in the end the burgesses

(09:11):
passed that remarkable law which is told by traders in
Hathag and discussed by travelers and near, namely that in
all thar no man may kill a cat. End of
Cats of Altar by H. P. Lovecraft, recording by Clark

(09:31):
Pigio