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- Говард Лавкрафт
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- Дагон
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- Стр. 1/3
Dagon
I
am
writing
this
under
an
appreciable
mental
strain
,
since
by
tonight
I
shall
be
no
more
.
Penniless
,
and
at
the
end
of
my
supply
of
the
drug
which
alone
,
makes
life
endurable
,
I
can
bear
the
torture
no
longer
;
and
shall
cast
myself
from
this
garret
window
into
the
squalid
street
below
.
Do
not
think
from
my
slavery
to
morphine
that
I
am
a
weakling
or
a
degenerate
.
When
you
have
read
these
hastily
scrawled
pages
you
may
guess
,
though
never
fully
realise
,
why
it
is
that
I
must
have
forgetfulness
or
death
.
It
was
in
one
of
the
most
open
and
least
frequented
parts
of
the
broad
Pacific
that
the
packet
of
which
I
was
supercargo
fell
a
victim
to
the
German
sea
-
raider
.
The
great
war
was
then
at
its
very
beginning
,
and
the
ocean
forces
of
the
Hun
had
not
completely
sunk
to
their
later
degradation
;
so
that
our
vessel
was
made
a
legitimate
prize
,
whilst
we
of
her
crew
were
treated
with
all
the
fairness
and
consideration
due
us
as
naval
prisoners
.
So
liberal
,
indeed
,
was
the
discipline
of
our
captors
,
that
five
days
after
we
were
taken
I
managed
to
escape
alone
in
a
small
boat
with
water
and
provisions
for
a
good
length
of
time
.
When
I
finally
found
myself
adrift
and
free
,
I
had
but
little
idea
of
my
surroundings
.
Never
a
competent
navigator
,
I
could
only
guess
vaguely
by
the
sun
and
stars
that
I
was
somewhat
south
of
the
equator
.
Of
the
longitude
I
knew
nothing
,
and
no
island
or
coastline
was
in
sight
.
The
weather
kept
fair
,
and
for
uncounted
days
I
drifted
aimlessly
beneath
the
scorching
sun
;
waiting
either
for
some
passing
ship
,
or
to
be
cast
on
the
shores
of
some
habitable
land
.
But
neither
ship
nor
land
appeared
,
and
I
began
to
despair
in
my
solitude
upon
the
heaving
vastness
of
unbroken
blue
.
The
change
happened
whilst
I
slept
.
Its
details
I
shall
never
know
;
for
my
slumber
,
though
troubled
and
dream
-
infested
,
was
continuous
.
When
at
last
I
awakened
,
it
was
to
discover
myself
half
sucked
into
a
slimy
expanse
of
hellish
black
mire
which
extended
about
me
in
monotonous
undulations
as
far
as
I
could
see
,
and
in
which
my
boat
lay
grounded
some
distance
away
.
Though
one
might
well
imagine
that
my
first
sensation
would
be
of
wonder
at
so
prodigious
and
unexpected
a
transformation
of
scenery
,
I
was
in
reality
more
horrified
than
astonished
;
for
there
was
in
the
air
and
in
the
rotting
soil
a
sinister
quality
which
chilled
me
to
the
very
core
.
The
region
was
putrid
with
the
carcasses
of
decaying
fish
,
and
of
other
less
describable
things
which
I
saw
protruding
from
the
nasty
mud
of
the
unending
plain
.
Perhaps
I
should
not
hope
to
convey
in
mere
words
the
unutterable
hideousness
that
can
dwell
in
absolute
silence
and
barren
immensity
.
There
was
nothing
within
hearing
,
and
nothing
in
sight
save
a
vast
reach
of
black
slime
;
yet
the
very
completeness
of
the
stillness
and
the
homogeneity
of
the
landscape
oppressed
me
with
a
nauseating
fear
.
The
sun
was
blazing
down
from
a
sky
which
seemed
to
me
almost
black
in
its
cloudless
cruelty
;
as
though
reflecting
the
inky
marsh
beneath
my
feet
.
As
I
crawled
into
the
stranded
boat
I
realised
that
only
one
theory
could
explain
my
position
.
Through
some
unprecedented
volcanic
upheaval
,
a
portion
of
the
ocean
floor
must
have
been
thrown
to
the
surface
,
exposing
regions
which
for
innumerable
millions
of
years
had
lain
hidden
under
unfathomable
watery
depths
.
So
great
was
the
extent
of
the
new
land
which
had
risen
beneath
me
,
that
I
could
not
detect
the
faintest
noise
of
the
surging
ocean
,
strain
my
ears
as
I
might
.
Nor
were
there
any
sea
-
fowl
to
prey
upon
the
dead
things
.
For
several
hours
I
sat
thinking
or
brooding
in
the
boat
,
which
lay
upon
its
side
and
afforded
a
slight
shade
as
the
sun
moved
across
the
heavens
.
As
the
day
progressed
,
the
ground
lost
some
of
its
stickiness
,
and
seemed
likely
to
dry
sufficiently
for
travelling
purposes
in
a
short
time
.
That
night
I
slept
but
little
,
and
the
next
day
I
made
for
myself
a
pack
containing
food
and
water
,
preparatory
to
an
overland
journey
in
search
of
the
vanished
sea
and
possible
rescue
.
On
the
third
morning
I
found
the
soil
dry
enough
to
walk
upon
with
ease
.
The
odour
of
the
fish
was
maddening
;
but
I
was
too
much
concerned
with
graver
things
to
mind
so
slight
an
evil
,
and
set
out
boldly
for
an
unknown
goal
.
All
day
I
forged
steadily
westward
,
guided
by
a
far
-
away
hummock
which
rose
higher
than
any
other
elevation
on
the
rolling
desert
.
That
night
I
encamped
,
and
on
the
following
day
still
travelled
toward
the
hummock
,
though
that
object
seemed
scarcely
nearer
than
when
I
had
first
espied
it
.
By
the
fourth
evening
I
attained
the
base
of
the
mound
,
which
turned
out
to
be
much
higher
than
it
had
appeared
from
a
distance
,
an
intervening
valley
setting
it
out
in
sharper
relief
from
the
general
surface
.
Too
weary
to
ascend
,
I
slept
in
the
shadow
of
the
hill
.
