The Tale of Satampra Zeiros

"The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" is a short story written in 1929 by Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Hyperborean cycle, and first published in the November 1931 issue of Weird Tales. It is notable as the story in which Smith created the Cthulhu Mythos entity Tsathoggua.

The story, narrated by the thief Satampra Zeiros, is said to be written with his left hand, for he no longer has any other. A native of the city of Uzuldaroum, Zeiros and his companion Tirouv Ompallios together go in search of treasure and jewels in the long-abandoned and overgrown former capital city of Hyperborea, Commoriom. Entering a temple of the god Tsathoggua, they are disappointed to find that the statue of the god is carven of stone, but has no inset jewels. Meanwhile, from a vast basin in the temple, a flowing protoplasmic entity emerges, puts forth a head and limbs, and chases them through the jungles. Eventually they find they have run in a circle and have returned to the temple of Tsathoggua. They enter and bar the door, but the entity flows in through some high apertures and threatens them again. Zeiros hides behind the statue of the god; Ompallios clambers into the basin, whereupon the entity flows in on top and silently devours him. Zeiros attempts escape but the entity throws out a limb which encircles his right wrist, and in escaping the temple, Zeiros loses his right hand.

Inspiration

"Satampra Zeiros" is a story written in the style of Lord Dunsany, who wrote a similar tale of thievery gone wrong called "How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art upon the Gnoles". Robert M. Price points to Dunsany's "Bethmoora", featuring another deserted city, as an additional likely inspiration.[1]

Reaction

When Smith sent his friend H. P. Lovecraft a copy of the unpublished manuscript, he responded with "well-nigh delirious delight.... You have achieved in its fullest glamour the exact Dunsanian touch which I find it almost impossible to duplicate.... Altogether, I think this comes close to being your high point in prose fiction to date...."[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Robert M. Price, The Tsathoggua Cycle, p. 56.
  2. ↑ H. P. Lovecraft, letter to Clark Ashton Smith, December 3, 1929; cited in Price, p. 56.

External links