Зов Ктулху
The Horror in Clay
HiscardborethenameofHenryAnthonyWilcox, andmyunclehadrecognizedhim astheyoungestsonofanexcellentfamilyslightlyknowntohim, whohadlatterlybeenstudyingsculptureattheRhodeIslandSchoolofDesign andlivingaloneattheFleur-de-LysBuildingnearthatinstitution. Wilcoxwasaprecociousyouthofknowngeniusbutgreateccentricity, andhadfromchildhoodexcitedattentionthroughthestrangestoriesandodddreams hewasinthehabitofrelating. Hecalledhimself"psychicallyhypersensitive",butthestaidfolkoftheancientcommercialcity dismissedhimasmerely"queer". Neverminglingmuchwithhiskind, hehaddroppedgraduallyfromsocialvisibility, andwasnowknownonlytoasmallgroupofaesthetesfromothertowns. EventheProvidenceArtClub,anxioustopreserveitsconservatism, hadfoundhimquitehopeless.
Ontheoccasionofthevisit,rantheprofessor’smanuscript, thesculptorabruptlyaskedforthebenefitofhishost’sarchaeologicalknowledge inidentifyingthehieroglyphicsonthebas-relief. Hespokeinadreamy,stiltedmanner whichsuggestedposeandalienatedsympathy; andmyuncleshewedsomesharpnessinreplying, fortheconspicuousfreshnessofthetabletimpliedkinshipwithanythingbutarchaeology. YoungWilcox’srejoinder, whichimpressedmyuncleenoughtomakehimrecall andrecorditverbatim,wasofafantasticallypoeticcast whichmusthavetypifiedhiswholeconversation, andwhichIhavesincefoundhighlycharacteristicofhim. Hesaid,"Itisnew,indeed,forImadeitlastnightinadreamofstrangecities; anddreamsareolderthanbroodingTyre, orthecontemplativeSphinx,orgarden-girdledBabylon."
Itwasthenthathebeganthatramblingtale whichsuddenlyplayeduponasleepingmemory andwonthefeveredinterestofmyuncle.
