Memory by H.P. Lovecraft
Memory
by H.P. Lovecraft
1919 
In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for 
its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great upas-tree. And 
within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not 
meant to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on each slope, where evil vines and 
creeping plants crawl amidst the stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about 
broken columns and strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by 
forgotten hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap 
little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison serpents and 
scaly things without a name. Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets 
of dank moss, and mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did 
their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them 
the grey toad makes his habitation. 
At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are slimy and 
filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to subterranean grottoes it 
flows, so that the Daemon of the Valley knows not why its waters are red, nor 
whither they are bound. 
The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Daemon of the Valley, saying, 
"I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and name of them who 
built these things of Stone." And the Daemon replied, "I am Memory, and am wise 
in lore of the past, but I too am old. These beings were like the waters of the 
river Than, not to be understood. Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of 
the moment. Their aspect I recall dimly, it was like to that of the little apes 
in the trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river. 
These beings of yesterday were called Man." 
So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Daemon looked intently 
at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard. 




© 1998-1999 William Johns
Last modified: 12/18/1999 22:44:12
