The Cats of Ulthar - H P Lovecraft copy

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The cats of all Thar by H. P. Lovecraft. It
is said that in all Thar, which lies beyond the
river sky, no man may kill a cat. And this
I can verily believe, as I gaze upon him who
sitteth purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic
and close to strange things which men cannot see. He

(00:23):
is the soul of Antique Egyptus, and bearer of tales
from forgotten cities of Maro and Offer. He is the
kin of the Jungle's lords, and heir to the secrets
of Hoary and Sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin,
and he speaks her language. But he is more ancient
than the Sphinx, and he remembers that which she hath forgotten.

(00:44):
In all Thar, before ever the Burgesses forbade the killing
of cats, there dwelt an old cotter and his wife,
who delighted to trap and slay the cats of their neighbors.
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

(01:07):
man and woman took pleasure in trapping and slaying every
cat which came near to their hovel, and from some
of 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

(01:30):
small and so darkly hidden under spreading oaks at the
back of a neglected yard. In truth, much as the
owners of cats hated these odd folk, they feared them more,
and instead of berating them as brutal assassins, merely took
care that no cherished pet or mouser should stray to
near the remote hovel under the dark trees. If through

(01:51):
some unavoidable oversight, a cat was missed and sounds heard
after dark, the loser would lament impotently or console himself
by things, thinking fate that it was not one of
his children who had thus vanished. For the people of
all Thar were simple and knew not whence it was
that all cats first came. One day a caravan of

(02:12):
strange wanderers from the south entered the narrow, cobbled streets
of all tar dark wanderers they were, and unlike the
other roving folk who passed through the village twice every year.
In the marketplace, they told 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

(02:32):
they were given to strange prayers, and that they had
painted on the sides of their wagons strange figures with
human bodies in the heads of cats, hawks, rams, and lions.
And the 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

(02:53):
no father or mother, but only a tiny black kitten
to cherish. The plague had not been kind to him him,
yet had left him this small furry thing to mitigate
his sorrow. 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 Minis, smiled

(03:14):
more often than he wept as he sat playing with
his graceful kitten on the steps of an oddly painted wagon.
On the third morning of the wanderer's stayin Althar, minies
could not find his kitten, and as he sobbed aloud
in the marketplace, certain villagers told him of the old
man and his wife, and of sounds heard in the night.

(03:34):
And when he heard these things, his sobbing gave place
to meditation, and finally to prayer. He stretched out his
arms toward 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

(03:55):
were assuming it was very peculiar. But as the little
boy uttered his petition, there seemed to form overhead the shadowy,
nebulous figures of exotic things, of hybrid creatures crowned with
horn flank disks. Nature is full of such illusions to
impress the imaginative. That night, the wanderers left Altharm were

(04:17):
never seen again, and the householders were troubled when they
noticed that in all the village there was not a
cat to be found. From each heart, the familiar cat
had vanished. Cats large and small, black, gray, striped, yellow,
and white old Crane and the Bergemeister swore that the
dark folk had taken the cats away in revenge for

(04:38):
the killing of Minie's kitten, and cursed the caravan and
a 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 durst complain to the sinister couple,
even when little Atol, the innkeeper's son, vowed that he

(05:01):
had a twilight seen all the cats of all Thar
in that accursed yard under the trees, pacing very slowly
and solemnly in a circle around the cottage, too abreast,
as if in performance of some 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

(05:24):
preferred not to chide the old cotter till they met
him outside his dark and repellent yard. So Allthar went
to sleep in vain anger, And when the people awakened
at dawn, behold every cat was back at its accustomed hearth,
large and small, black, gray, striped yellow and white. None
was missing. Very sleek and fat did the cats appear,

(05:47):
and sonorous with purring content. The citizens talked with one
another of the affair and marveled not a little. Old
Cranan 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

(06:10):
their saucers of milk was exceedingly curious, And for two
whole days the sleek, lazy cats of Althar would touch
no food, but only dozed by the fire 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

(06:31):
that no one had seen the old manner his wife
since the night the cats were away. In another week,
the Bergemeister decided to overcome his fears and call at
the strangely silent dwelling as a matter of duty, though
in so doing he was careful to take with him
Shang the Blacksmith and Thull, the cutter of stone, as witnesses,
and when they had broken down the frail door they

(06:53):
found only this, two cleanly picked human skeletons on the
earthen floor, and a number of singular beetles crawling in
the shadowy corners. There was subsequently much talk among the
burgesses of all Thar Zath the corner disputed at length
with Nith the lean notary, and Cranan, and Shang and

(07:13):
Thal were overwhelmed with questions. Even little Adol, the innkeeper's son,
was closely questioned and given a sweetmeat as a reward.
They talked of the old cotter and his wife, of
the caravan of dark wanderers of small menis in his
black kitten, of the prayer of Minis, and of the
sky during that prayer, of the doings of the cats

(07:34):
the night the caravan left, and what was later found
in the cottage under the dark trees in the repellent yard.
And in the end the burgesses passed that remarkable law
which is told of by traders in Hathock and discussed
by travelers inner, namely that in all Thar no man
may kill a cat. End of the Cats of opar

(08:00):
By H. P. Lovecraft,