barzai's repose

''atop the tallest of earth's peaks dwell the gods of earth, and suffer no man to tell that he hath looked upon them. lesser peaks they once inhabited; but ever men from the plains would scale the slopes of rock and snow, driving the gods to higher and higher mountains till now only the last remain. sometimes when earth's gods are homesick they visit in the still night the peaks where once they dwelt, and weep softly as they try to play in the olden way on remembered slopes.

''in ulthar, which lies beyond the river skai, once dwelt an old man avid to behold the gods of earth; ... his name was barzai the wise, and the villagers tell of how he went up a mountain on the night of the strange eclipse. barzai knew so much of the gods that he could tell of their comings and goings, and guessed so many of their secrets that he was deemed half a god himself.

''he believed that his great secret knowledge of gods could shield him from their wrath, so resolved to go up the summit of high and rocky hatheg-kla on a night when he knew the gods would be there. ... the villagers of hateg-kla say it is ill to climb the hateg-kla at any time, and deadly to climb it by night when pale vapours hide the summit and the moon;

''but barzai heeded them not when he came from neighboring ulthar with the young priest atal, who was his disciple. ... many days they travelled and from afar saw lofty hateg-kla with his aureole of mournful mist. ... the way was rocky and made perilous by chasms, cliffs, and falling stones, ... for three days they climbed higher and higher toward the roof of the world; then they camped to wait for the clouding of the moon.

''for four nights no clouds came, and the moon shone down cold through the thin mournful mist around the silent pinnacle. then on the fifth night which was the night of the full moon, barzai saw some dense clouds far to the north, and stayed up with atal to watch them draw near.

''barzai was wise in the lore of earth's gods, and listened hard for certain sounds, but atal felt the chill of the vapours and the awe of the night, and feared much. and when barzai began to climb higher and beckon eagerly, it was long before atal would follow.

''then through the high mists he heard thte voice of barzai shouting wildly in delight: "i have heard the gods. i have heard earth's gods singing in revelry on hateg-kla! ... the wisdom of barzai hath made him greater than earth's gods and against his will their spells and barriers are as naught; barzai will behold the gods, the proud gods, the secret gods, the gods of earth who spurn the sight of man!"

''then he heard barzai's voice grow shrill and louder: "the other gods! the other gods! the gods of the outer hells that guard the feeble gods of earth! ... look away ... go back ... do not see! do not see! the vengeance of the infnite abysses ... that cursed, that damnable pit ... merciful gods of earth, i am falling into the sky!"

''barzai the wise they never found, nor could the holy priest atal ever be persuaded to pray for his souls rerpose. ... and above the mists on hateg-kla earth's gods sometimes dance reminiscently for they know they are safe, and love to come from unknown kadath in ships of cloud and play in the olden way, as they did when earth was new and men not given to the climbing of inaccessible places.''

h.p.lovecraft, the other gods.