The Doom That Came to Sarnath
There is in the land of Mnar a vast still lake that is fed by no stream, andout of which no stream flows. Ten thousand years ago there stood by its shorethe mighty city of Sarnath, but Sarnath stands there no more.It is told that in the immemorial years when the world was young, beforeever the men of Sarnath came to the land of Mnar, another city stood beside thelake; the gray stone city of Ib, which was old as the lake itseli, and peopledwith beings not pleasing to behold. Very odd and ugly were these beings, asindeed are most beings of a world yet inchoate and rudely fashioned. It iswritten on the brick cylinders of Kadatheron that the beings of lb were in hueas green as the lake and the mists that rise above it; that they had bulgingeyes, pouting, flabby lips, and curious ears, and were without voice. It is alsowritten that they descended one night from the moon in a mist; they and the vaststill lake and gray stone city lb. However this may be, it is certain that theyworshipped a sea-green stone idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug, the greatwater-lizard; before which they danced horribly when the moon was gibbous. Andit is written in the papyrus of Ilarnek, that they one day discovered fire, andthereafter kindled flames on many ceremonial occasions. But not much is writtenof these beings, because they lived in very ancient times, and man is young, andknows but little of the very ancient living things.After many eons men came to the land of Mnar, dark shepherd folk with theirfleecy 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 thelake 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 firststones of Sarnath, and at the beings of lb they marveled greatly. But with theirmarveling was mixed hate, for they thought it not meet that beings of suchaspect should walk about the world of men at dusk. Nor did they like the strangesculptures upon the gray monoliths of Ib, for why those sculptures lingered solate in the world, even until the coming men, none can tell; unless it wasbecause the land of Mnar is very still, and remote from most other lands, bothof waking and of dream.As the men of Sarnath beheld more of the beings of lb their hate grew, andit was not less because they found the beings weak, and soft as jelly to thetouch of stones and arrows. So one day the young warriors, the slingers and thespearmen and the bowmen, marched against lb and slew all the inhabitantsthereof, pushing the queer bodies into the lake with long spears, because theydid not wish to touch them. And because they did not like the gray sculpturedmonoliths of lb they cast these also into the lake; wondering from the greatnessof 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-greenstone idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug, the water-lizard. This the youngwarriors took back with them as a symbol of conquest over the old gods andbeings of Th, and as a sign of leadership in Mnar. But on the night after it wasset up in the temple, a terrible thing must have happened, for weird lights wereseen over the lake, and in the morning the people found the idol gone and thehigh-priest Taran-Ish lying dead, as from some fear unspeakable. And before hedied, Taran-Ish had scrawled upon the altar of chrysolite with coarse shakystrokes the sign of DOOM.After Taran-Ish there were many high-priests in Sarnath but never was thesea-green stone idol found. And many centuries came and went, wherein Sarnathprospered exceedingly, so that only priests and old women remembered whatTaran-Ish had scrawled upon the altar of chrysolite. Betwixt Sarnath and thecity of flarnek arose a caravan route, and the precious metals from the earthwere exchanged for other metals and rare cloths and jewels and books and toolsfor artificers and all things of luxury that are known to the people who dwellalong the winding river Ai and beyond. So Sarnath waxed mighty and learned andbeautiful, 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 ofMnar and of many lands adjacent.The wonder of the world and the pride of all mankind was Sarnath themagnificent. Of polished desert-quarried marble were its walls, in height threehundred cubits and in breadth seventy-five, so that chariots might pass eachother as men drove them along the top. For full five hundred stadia did theyrun, being open only on the side toward the lake where a green stone sea-wallkept 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 ofthe caravans, and fifty more intersecting them. With onyx were they paved, savethose whereon the horses and camels and elephants trod, which were paved withgranite. And the gates of Sarnath were as many as the landward ends of thestreets, each of bronze, and flanked by the figures of lions and elephantscarven from some stone no longer known among men. The houses of Sarnath were ofglazed 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; andtravelers from Thraa and Ilarnek and Kadatheron marveled at the shining domeswherewith they were surmounted.But more marvelous still were the palaces and the temples, and the gardensmade by Zokkar the olden king. There were many palaces, the last of which weremightier than any in Thraa or Ilarnek or Kadatheron. So high were they that onewithin might sometimes fancy himself beneath only the sky; yet when lighted withtorches dipt in the oil of Dother their walls showed vast paintings of kings andarmies, of a splendor at once inspiring and stupefying to the beholder. Manywere the pillars of the palaces, all of tinted marble, and carven into designsof surpassing beauty. And in most of the palaces the floors were mosaics ofberyl and lapis lazuli and sardonyx and carbuncle and other choice materials, sodisposed that the beholder might fancy himself walking over beds of the rarestflowers. And there were likewise fountains, which cast scented waters about inpleasing jets arranged with cunning art. Outshining all others was the palace ofthe kings of Mnar and of the lands adjacent. On a pair of golden crouching lionsrested the throne, many steps above the gleaming floor. And it was wrought ofone piece of ivory, though no man lives who knows whence so vast a piece couldhave come. In that palace there were also many galleries, and many amphitheaterswhere lions and men and elephants battled at the pleasure of the kings.Sometimes the amphitheaters were flooded with water conveyed from the lake inmighty aqueducts, and then were enacted stirring sea-fights, or combats betwixtswimmers 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 thousandcubits high stood the greatest among them, wherein the high-priests dwelt with amagnificence scarce less than that of the kings. On the ground were halls asvast and splendid as those of the palaces; where gathered throngs in worship ofZo-Kalar and Tamash and Lobon, the chief gods of Sarnath, whoseincense-enveloped shrines were as the thrones of monarchs. Not like the eikonsof other gods were those of Zo-Kalar and Tamash and Lobon. For so close to lifewere they that one might swear the graceful bearded gods themselves sate on theivory thrones. And up unending steps of zircon was the tower-chamber, wherefromthe 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 reflectionsin the lake, at night. Here was done the very secret and ancient rite indetestation of Bokrug, the water-lizard, and here rested the altar of chrysolitewhich bore the Doom-scrawl of Taran-Ish.Wonderful likewise were the gardens made by Zokkar the olden king. In thecenter 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 sunand moon and planets when it was clear, and from which were hung fulgent imagesof the sun and moon and stars and planets when it was not clear. In summer thegardens were cooled with fresh odorous breezes skilfully wafted by fans, and inwinter they were heated with concealed fires, so that in those gardens it wasalways spring. There ran little streams over bright pebbles, dividing meads ofgreen and gardens of many hues, and spanned by a multitude of bridges. Many werethe waterfalls in their courses, and many were the hued lakelets into which theyexpanded. Over the streams and lakelets rode white swans, whilst the music ofrare birds chimed in with the melody of the waters. In ordered terraces rose thegreen banks, adorned here and there with bowers of vines and sweet blossoms, andseats and benches of marble and porphyry. And there were many small shrines andtemples 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. Greathonors were then paid to the shades of those who had annihilated the odd ancientbeings, and the memory of those beings and of their elder gods was derided bydancers and lutanists crowned with roses from the gardens of Zokkar. And thekings would look out over the lake and curse the bones of the dead that laybeneath it.At first the high-priests liked not these festivals, for there had descendedamongst them queer tales of how the sea-green eikon had vanished, and howTaran-Ish had died from fear and left a warning. And they said that from theirhigh tower they sometimes saw lights beneath the waters of the lake. But as manyyears passed without calamity even the priests laughed and cursed and joined inthe orgies of the feasters. Indeed, had they not themselves, in their hightower, often performed the very ancient and secret rite in detestation ofBokrug, the water-lizard? And a thousand years of riches and delight passed overSarnath, wonder of the world.Gorgeous beyond thought was the feast of the thousandth year of thedestroying of lb. For a decade had it been talked of in the land of Mnar, and asit drew nigh there came to Sarnath on horses and camels and elephants men fromThraa, 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 ofprinces and the tents of travelers. Within his banquet-hall reclined Nargis-Hei,the king, drunken with ancient wine from the vaults of conquered Pnoth, andsurrounded by feasting nobles and hurrying slaves. There were eaten many strangedelicacies at that feast; peacocks from the distant hills of linplan, heels ofcamels from the Bnazic desert, nuts and spices from Sydathrian groves, andpearls from wave-washed Mtal dissolved in the vinegar of Thraa. Of sauces therewere an untold number, prepared by the subtlest cooks in all Mnar, and suited tothe palate of every feaster. But most prized of all the viands were the greatfishes from the lake, each of vast size, and served upon golden platters setwith rubies and diamonds.Whilst the king and his nobles feasted within the palace, and viewed thecrowning dish as it awaited them on golden platters, others feasted elsewhere.In the tower of the great temple the priests held revels, and in pavilionswithout the walls the princes of neighboring lands made merry. And it was thehigh-priest Gnai-Kah who first saw the shadows that descended from the gibbousmoon into the lake, and the damnable green mists that arose from the lake tomeet the moon and to shroud in a sinister haze the towers and the domes of fatedSarnath. Thereafter those in the towers and without the walls beheld strangelights on the water, and saw that the gray rock Akurion, which was wont to rearhigh above it near the shore, was almost submerged. And fear grew vaguely yetswiftly, so that the princes of Ilarnek and of far Rokol took down and foldedtheir tents and pavilions and departed, though they scarce knew the reason fortheir departing.Then, close to the hour of midnight, all the bronze gates of Sarnath burstopen and emptied forth a frenzied throng that blackened the plain, so that allthe visiting princes and travelers fled away in fright. For on the faces of thisthrong was writ a madness born of horror unendurable, and on their tongues werewords so terrible that no hearer paused for proof. Men whose eyes were wild withfear shrieked aloud of the sight within the king's banquet-hall, where throughthe windows were seen no longer the forms of Nargis-Hei and his nobles andslaves, but a horde of indescribable green voiceless things with bulging eyes,pouting, flabby lips, and curious ears; things which danced horribly, bearing intheir paws golden platters set with rubies and diamonds and containing uncouthflames. And the princes and travelers, as they fled from the doomed city ofSarnath on horses and camels and elephants, looked again upon the mist-begettinglake and saw the gray rock Akurion was quite submerged. Through all the land ofMnar 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 waslong ere any travelers went thither, and even then only the brave andadventurous young men of yellow hair and blue eyes, who are no kin to the men ofMnar. These men indeed went to the lake to view Sarnath; but though they foundthe vast still lake itself, and the gray rock Akurion which rears high above itnear the shore, they beheld not the wonder of the world and pride of allmankind. Where once had risen walls of three hundred cubits and towers yethigher, now stretched only the marshy shore, and where once had dwelt fiftymillion of men now crawled the detestable water-lizard. Not even the mines ofprecious metal remained. DOOM had come to Sarnath.But half buried in the rushes was spied a curious green idol; an exceedinglyancient idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug, the great water-lizard. Thatidol, enshrined in the high temple at llarnek, was subsequently worshippedbeneath the gibbous moon throughout the land of Mnar.
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