Cooinaghtyn

Cooinaghtyn

Ayns glion Nis ta’n eayst vaarnee mollaghtagh soilshaghey dy thanney, as liorish eairkyn faasey t’ee raipey raad da’n toilshey eck trooid duillagys marrooagh billey-upas mooar. As ayns cree ny glionney raad nagh roshee soilshey erbee, ta cummaghyn garraghey nagh vel cooie da sooillyn deiney. S’rank ee glasseraght ny lhargee, raad ta raiseyderyn as çhionnagyn olkey snaue mastey claghyn plaaseyn currit mow, as lhoobey mygeayrt collooghyn brishtey as leacyn quaaghey, as girree straiddyn marmyragh va jeant ec laueyn jarroodit. As ayns biljyn ta gaase dy foawragh ayns closeyn boghlanagh ta apagyn beggey corlheimmey, as magh as stiagh ny thieyn-tashtee ta ard-nieughyn snaue, as reddyn crottylagh gyn ennym.

S’buillvollee ad ny claghyn nyn gadley fo curleidyn keynnagh hash, s’lajer ad ny boallaghyn huitt ad voue. Er son dy bragh ren masoonee ad y hroggal, as dy firrinagh t’ad jannoo shirveish braew foast, da’n beayf lheeah ta cummal foue.

Ec eer-vun ny glionney ta’n awin Theinney ny lhie, lesh ushtaghyn gleiynagh as sarkylagh. T’ee girree ass çhibbyryn follit, as roie da ooigyn fo-hallooin, as cha nel fys ec Imshee ny Glionney er yn oyr dy vel ny h-ushtaghyn jiarg, chamoo er c’raad t’ad roie.

Ren Jinnee ny goullyn eaystey loayrt rish Imshee ny Glionney, as gra: “Ta mee shenn, as ta ram jarroodit aym. Insh dou obbraghyn as cummey as ennym adsyn ren ny reddyn cloaie shoh.” As dreggyr y Imshee, “She mish Cooinaghtyn, as creeney lesh oayllys traaghyn t’er ngoll shaghey, agh ta mish shenn myrgeddin. Va ny bioee shen gollrish ushtaghyn ny h-awiney Theiney, harrish toiggal. Cha gooin lhiam ny h-obbraghyn oc; v’ad jeh’n çhallid ynrican. S’cooin lhiam dy dullyr y cummey v’oc; v’ad gollrish ny h-apagyn beggey ayns ny biljyn. S’cooin lhiam dy baghtal yn ennym oc, ny drane da ennym ny h-awiney: ny bioee jea shen, hug ad Deiney orroo.”

As jettyl y Jinnee erash da’n eayst eairkagh thanney, as yeeagh yn Imshee dy cruinn er apag veg ayns billey daase ayns close boghlanagh.

---

Memory

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 meet 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, for 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.

---

Ta'n skeealeen shoh çhyndaait ass Memory liorish yn Çhiarn Dunsany. Ta'n lioar vunneydagh ry-lhaih er Project Gutenberg.

Cre'n nah ghamman?

Nish as reesht, ‘sy veggan traa t’aym nagh vel mee gobbraghey, gynsaghey çhengaghyn, screeu artyn gv.wiki ny jannoo obbyr thie aynsyn, ta mee cloie gammanyn co-earrooder. Share lhiam gammanyn cloie paart, son y chooid smoo, agh ta meiyghys ayms cour gammanyn ardane as keisht. Ec y traa t’ayn, ta daa ghamman foym; Planescape Torment as Thief II. She shenn fir t’ayn; troaryn 1999 as 2000. Agh s’mie lhiam shenn ghammanyn, dy mennick. Shynney lhiam gammanyn Infinity Engine, as ta mee goaill arrys nagh vel ad jannoo gammanyn noa lioree. Cha nel mee currit da aahroggal y co-earrooder aym dagh blein lesh stoo noa, as cha nel mee cur wheesh geill da graafaght as kuse dy ‘leih. S’mie lhiam gammanyn as skeeal drualtagh oc do noddym ronsaghey seihll noa ny çheet da quaiyllyn karracteyryn anaasoil.

Son y chooid smoo, ta mee cloie Thief II ec y traa t’ayn. Ta cooid y ghamman ‘syn ennym: t’ou uss dty vaarliagh, Garrett (fer schlei er bashtal), as t’ou brishey stiagh ayns buill as reddyn y yeid. Hoshiaght, t’ou geid ‘syn aght chadjin, agh rish tammylt ta ny meoir-shee dty lorgey, t’ou shirrey feanish jeh co-chialgyn politickagh, sollaghey-laue as kimmeeys liorish brishey stiagh ayns doonyn gildey as stashoonyn meoir-shee, as caggey (dy follaghtagh, my ta keeayl ayd – she maarliagh uss, cha nee sidoor) noi cretooryn neuvio as seyr-obbree caggee. Wahll, s’baghtal eh dy s’mie lhiam ve my vaarliagh as sleetçhal mygeayrt ‘sy dorraghys, as jannoo magh cre’n aght noddym shaghney arreyderyn as glassyn dys goaill ny ta mee shirrey er. Gowym rish dy vel cummey cooiljeigagh er nish, as tro boiragh ny ghaa: s’doillee eh lhiggey voyd aaraghyn gyn lheimmey er ard as tuittym lesh tharmane ta doostey dagh arreyder ‘syn ynnyd (as keead oardagh ry-gheddyn ass y vair-chlaare, as cha aashagh eh stiurey ny keayrtyn er coontey caslyssyn-çheerey neuvaghtal as shamyryn ta gollrish y cheilley. As ta keisht ny ghaa nagh dod mee feaysley er agh liorish art-bollee (“walkthrough”).

Ny yei shen, ta’n skeeal anaasoil dy liooar dy ‘reayll my yeill, gyn boirey orrym rouyr ny brishey stiagh er bun y ghamman: sleetçhal as geid. Chammah’s shen, ta karracteyr fondagh ayd (maarliagh schlei as granganagh) agh cha nel ad jannoo eab eh y ro-veenaghey, as myr shen, ta reamys ayds shen y yannoo. Ta’n Garrett ayms pragmatagh dy liooar; t’eh geid nhee erbee ta ry-laue, agh cha nel eh jummal traa rish ronsaghey lane thie er son buill ‘olliaghtagh. Cha nel eh marroo arreyderyn mannagh vel eh fo gaue baaish er y chooyl, agh ad y harnoal; cha nel marrooder t’ayn. As t’eh jannoo reddyn magh as magh; share da goll strooid lane stashoon arrey dy saaseagh as tarnoal dagh arreyder fer as fer, as eisht y voayl y ronsaghey ayns shee, na roie mygeayrt as jannoo dagh ooilley red ad hoc gyn plannal erbee. Agh oddagh oo cummey Garrett eddrym ‘sy chree ta goaill taitnys ass boirey arreyderyn as cur orroo shirrey er er feie ny caayr, ny fer feayr-fuiltagh ta lhiggey ad gyn faitys.

Erreish dou roshtyn jerrey ny gammanyn shoh, bee’m shirrey er fer noa, as hug my ner dy vel CGP noa er jeet magh: Skyrim. She obbyr Bethesda t’ayn; cha row aigh vie aym bentyn rish ny gammanyn elley oc (v’ad failleil dy mennick), agh er lesh ram sleih dy vel eh feer vie. T’ad cur moylley da seihll mooar as gyn lhiettrimyssyn boiragh, da graafaght ghoys yn ennal jeed, as caggaghyn creesee as feniaghtagh.

Oh, Skyrim. I really am so enamoured by your peaks, and your misty valleys. Oh, what a beautiful world, filled with possibility and with cheese. Oh, Skyrim, let us bask in the the spook of your ghosts and squirm in the horror of your catacombs. Let us be gleefully smacked about by giants and devoured by dragons. Let us steal hats and trade them for unexpected potions. Oh, Skyrim. There’s so much to you that there are even ants crawling on this log! Blimey.

(Jim Rossignol, User Interfarce: Skyrim's Silly Choices er Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

"Skyrim" sieht verdammt gut aus! Der tolle Look zeigt sich vor allem in den Außenbereichen: Die riesige lebendige Spielwelt fasziniert an allen Ecken und Enden: Windböen wirbeln Schnee auf, Pflanzen bewegen sich sanft im Wind. Es ist eines der wenigen Spiele, in denen die Vegetation ihren Namen auch verdient... Gäbe es in der Games-Branche eine Auszeichnung für das beste Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis zu gewinnen, Bethesda Softworks hätte sie sicher! Ein solches Spielemonster hat es noch nicht gegeben.

(Welt.de, Riesiges "Skyrim" ist das Rollenspiel des Jahres)

Ta shen clashtyn dy mie dou, gyn ourys, as ta ny feeshanyn-cleaynagh jeeaghyn dy mie chammah. Er y laue elley...

• ta ny Karracteyryn Seyrey ommidjagh rere cliaghtey
  
• t’ad cur magh clampyn ta jannoo reddyn ny smessey as shimmey fout t’ayn foast gyn clamp.
• ta co-eddin lane lheibeidjagh echey
  
• she co-hroggal PC as “console” t’ayn, as t’eh jeeaghyn nagh ren ad y saase stiuree y vaare-hareaghey (“optimise”) da’n ghaa ‘er. Myr shen ta troyn ayn nagh vel cooie da PC.
• as t’eh ort eh y chloie liorish Steam, corys ta mee rieau er shaghney. Cha nel fa erbee aym y co-earrooder aym y chur fo bondiaght chlaare. Ta ymmydyn ec Steam, ta mee goaill rish shen: t’eh lhiggey dhyt laadey neose gammanyn reesht, tashtey fys cloie er yn eddyr-voggyl, as reddyn elley. Er y laue elley, ny keayrtyn, t’eh neulhiggey dhyt cloie, ny eer glassey magh slieh ass yn çhirveish as dagh ooilley ghamman t’oc. Cha nel mee son lhiggey lesh reagheydys da colught ennagh; s’lhiams eh y co-earrooderyn as ny gammanyn myrgeddin. My ta feme aym er karraghey ennagh, er lhiam, foddym eh y laadey neose jeed, gura mie ayd; cha nel mee shirrey ort eh y vroojey orrym dy folliaghtagh. Chammah’s shen, ta lheid ny shirveishyn stiuree nyn munyn doilleeidyn bentyn rish ymmyd arraghyssyn (“mods”), obbyr ard-jeeaneyderyn ta shareaghey ny mooadaghey gammanyn, ny karraghey reddyn nagh charree y colught hene.

Myr shen, ec y traa t’ayn t’eh orrym gamman elley y gheddyn, er lhiam. Tybed c’red ta ry-gheddyn veih 2001?

Shirrey jeirk

Va mee 'sy vrastyl Sheenish noght, agh gyn jargaght geill y chur. Ta shin gynsaghey ayns thie ooree son y chooid smoo (cha nel agh jees jin as y ven-ynsee), as mish goll stiagh, va dooinney Big Issue ny hassoo çheumooie jeh'n thie ooree as shirrey jeirk er sleih. Wahll, hug my ner çhelleeragh nagh nee feer chreckeyder BI v'ayn: cha row eh ceau y perree oikoil, as ga dy row kaart enney ennagh echey, v'eh er streng cadjin (lhisagh eh ve ayns poagey tarhoilshan) mygeayrt e wannal. Chammah's shen, cha row agh un earishlioar echey as cha row eh shirrey eh y chreck noadyr, agh jeirk (agh, dy olk, ta mee er nyannoo feer chreckeyderyn shen y yannoo ny keayrtyn). As mish as y ven-ynsee goll stiagh 'sy thie ooree as feddyn my charrey ny hoie rish y dorrys, haink y far-chreckeyder nyn yei, as lesh shinyn nyn shassoo eddyr eshyn as y skimmee, hie eh dys coyr rioee faggys da'n dorrys as cur stiagh eh laue. Eisht ren eh red ennagh quaagh lesh y wuinneel echey, as çhyndaa as goll magh. Nagh quaagh shen! Wahll, cha dod mee smooinaghtyn dy baghtal rish minnid, agh eisht va mee shickyr dy row eh er ngeid red ennagh - boteil dy choke, er lhiam. Gowym rish, s'cosoylagh eh nagh row eh agh feayraghey e veir rish thullagh ynrican, agh... cha row, noadyr. As eisht v'eh çheumooie reesht as shirrey jeirk. Wahll, lurg minnid dooyrt mee rish my chaarjyn ny honnick mee, as v'ad fud-y-cheilley myrgeddin. Fy yerrey, hie mee as gra rish y skimmee, as ghow ad yindys, agh cha dod ad jannoo monney agh cur coontey çhellvane da'n vainshter assaaragh. As cur bwooise dou, myrçhaagh.

Hie shin seose ny greeishyn as goaill toshiaght, agh eisht haink ny ner dy dod shin y marliagh y 'akin trooid yn uinniag, as eh foast shirrey jeirk. Loayrt shin er y chooish nish as reesht, as va mee boirey er ny lhisin jannoo. Veg? Fys er ny meoiryn-shee y chur? Fy yerrey, erreish da feed minnid, foddee, dooyrt my charrey, my t'ou uss jeeley 101 (ayn Sostyn er y chooid sloo) t'eh uss y chiangley rish y skimmee meoir-shee s'niessey. As mish craa, ren mee shen er y çhellvane laue aym (cha nel eh aym dy cadjin, ta mee eh y 'aagail thie). Dreggyr ad y çhellvane dy tappee as v'ad cooyrtoil dy liooar, as gra dy darragh meoir-shee ennagh, foddee. Honnick mee gleashtan claare feeal lurg lieh-oor, agh va'n dooinney ersooyl (fy yerrey) as cha scuirr eh.

Aghterbee, ta'n chooish er chur ram boirey orrym. Quoi ec ta fys er, agh t'eh rieau cur aggle (boirey, er y chooid sloo) orrym dellal rish ny shirveishyn, ga dy vel fa mie aym. Haghyr y red cheddin tra va gleashtan er aile çheu chooyloo y thie rish mean-oie as v'eh orrym y brigaid aile y hellvaney. Foddee er y fa dy ren ad cur wheesh trimmid 'sy scoill er nagh lhisagh oo ad y hellvaney er son cooish jeh beggan scansh. Dooyrt ad dy row ram paitçhyn jummal traa ny shirveishyn as va sleih geddyn baase ny keayrtyn kyndagh rish. Foddee er y fa dy nee taghyrt doaltattym as quaagh t'ayn, as ta kimmeeys boirey er cagh? Foddee er y fa nagh nhione dou ny lhisin jannoo. Cha dod mee cur geill mie 'sy vrastyl, as cha ren shen cooney nyn ynsaghey. S'treih lhiam gra nagh row mee my studeyr mie noght.

Ta mee cur dwoaie er lheid ny deiney. Chammah's boirey er sleih, t'ad jannoo assee da ny feer chreckeyderyn as jummal co-ennaghtyn y theay. Ta mee er ngeddyn wheesh boirey ayns Aah yn Ollee veih sleih "Big Issue" shirrey jeirk, ny "shen y coip s'jerree aym, lhig dou eh y 'reaylley... (agh lhig dou yn argid y 'reaylley myrgeddin)", s'goan mee kionnaghey yn earishlioar nish. She braddeeys t'ayn, dy jarroo. As ta mee goaill yindys, cre'n aght t'ad geddyn stoo Big Issue dys jannoo yn arrish? Vel ad roostey ny feer chreckeyderyn?

S'cosoylagh nagh vow ad y fer-chreckeyder mollaghtagh, as dy voghe ad, cre'n feeu? Nee ad eh y lhiettal veih shirrey jeirk? Ny jeh milley ennym ny feer chreckeyderyn? S'cosoylagh nagh noddagh ad taishbyney kimmeeys erbee. Cha nel freggyrt baghtal da shirrey jeirk (as un fa dy vel eh ayn foast). As ta mee foast smooinaghtyn, lhisin er aawoalley dy s'tappee? Dod mee er ny ghoaill, foddee, as eisht..? Ta'n lane chooish er my anveaghey dy mooar. S'treisht lhiam nagh gaillym cadley er e son.

Reading "What is morphology?"

One of the things I studied while at University was linguistics, and I'm still interested in the subject. I also find it useful in learning languages. However, as I was on combined honours, there are areas that are still largely unexplored territory for me, which I've been trying to catch up on. Recently, I picked up a promising morphology textbook designed for beginners: “What is Morphology?”. It explicitly states:

This little book is meant to introduce fundamental aspects of morphology to students with only a minimal background in linguistics. It presupposes only the very basic knowledge of phonetics, phonology, syntax and semantics that an introductory course in linguistics provides...

Exactly what I was looking for.

Unfortunately, as I've read through it, I've considently found myself getting frustrated or bemused, to the point where I can't really be bothered to finish it. Now to be fair, my situation is unusual, in that I'm not a current student. The textbook basically assumes that it'll be the main book for a course, and includes sections for in-class discussion, exercises for homework, and so on, none of which I can really use in the intended way. However, if your textbook relies on the teaching staff to cover its weaknesses, I feel that it has room for improvement. I don't necessarily disagree with the overall points they are trying to make, but the specifics sometimes seem distinctly weak or questionable.

After a fair amount of thought, I've decided there are two broad problems with the book and its writing. The first one is their teaching style, and the second one is their approach to problems, though they're often interrelated.

Illustrating vs. Demonstrating

Linguistics makes considerable use of examples to demonstrate rules or principles in operation, and morphology is no exception. However, Aronoff and Fudeman's approach to examples is one that (coming from a scientific background) I find deeply flawed. Their view of examples seems to be that they illustrate a point being made. Most of the time, though, these examples crop up in when someone is trying to argue a point of view, or make a claim about rules or properties. In those situations, I expect examples to demonstrate. Broadly speaking, this means that the example should:

• Show the property or rule under discussion (when does it apply, and what does it do?).

• Show the limits of that rule (where does it not apply?).

• If making a causal claim, show causation, not just correlation.

Obviously a general textbook covering a broad range of topics doesn't want to devote lots of space to precisely delineating every rule and its details, but I think it's reasonable to expect some evidence, not just accepting authority. After all, anyone who's read “Eskimo words for snow?” knows what a mistake that is.

Unfortunately, Anofoff and Fudeman don't fulfil those basic requirements. Their examples are often lacking in detail, and they often resort to 'tests' without explaining why they think those tests are valid. For example, in Chapter 4 (p.106), they say:

There is evidence that high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor is a single noun... second, high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor behaves as a single unit for the purposes of wh-movement. Question-answer pairs that break it up are at the very least awkward. In chapter 2 we related this characteristic of words to the notion of lexical integrity.

This is the first mention of wh-movement. Nowhere do they explain what it is; the reader must either know in advance, research it separately, or work it out from the following paragraphs. More importantly, nowhere do they give any reason to believe that wh-movement is a valid test for noun status. This sort of thing is important, and particularly so when you are making a claim that's counterintuitive (that “high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor is a single noun”, or as they say on the next page, “a single word”). People, even linguists, have ideas about what a noun is, and while I'd cheerfully accept it as a noun phrase, I want a bit of convincing here.

Their examples are similarly flawed. Here is an example from Chapter 2, where they discuss empirical tests for wordhood.

Words and phrases are often displaced to the beginning of a sentence or qualified, but not morphemes.

(7) a. That girl, I saw her sneaking around yesterday.

Which girl did you see sneaking around?

b. Possible, it’s im-.

Which school- did you see bus? (i.e. which school’s school bus did you see?).

Ignoring standard practice, they haven’t marked any of these as ungrammatical (I also feel that the bus example should have been 7c, as it's unrelated to the first phrase). I am forced to draw my own inference on what I think they want to claim, which is that the examples in 7b are ungrammatical. I do in fact agree with this.

However, when trying to prove a contrast between things, the usual way of doing things is to have parallel examples where one is grammatical and the other isn’t; you could consider this a kind of minimal pair, though it's not quite the same thing. Aronoff and Fudeman have not used parallel examples, or at least if they have, they haven't explained why we should consider them to be parallel.

In this example, we are looking for a situation where something ungrammatical for morphemes (like 7b) is grammatical for words. Let’s try it, with the non-morphemic versions slightly blue and smelly bus.

(7) c. *Blue, it’s slightly.

d. *Which smelly did you see bus?

Oops! Those aren’t valid for words either. Your example fails at the first hurdle of demonstrating your point.

The example in 7a is made less useful because they leap straight to an example of displacing part of a phrase, without including the unmodified version. It would be more useful like this:

(7) a. That girl, I saw her sneaking around yesterday.

Which girl did you see sneaking around?

aa. I saw that girl sneaking around yesterday.

Which girl did you see sneaking around?

ab. I saw that tall girl sneaking around yesterday.

?Which tall girl did you see sneaking around?

ac. I saw that tall platinum blonde girl sneaking around yesterday.

?Which tall platinum blonde girl did you see sneaking around?

ad. I saw that undertaker sneaking around yesterday.

*Which under- did you see -taker sneaking around?

ae. I saw that tall blonde girl sneaking around yesterday.

*Which tall did you see blonde girl sneaking around?

af. That tall girl, I saw her sneaking around yesterday.

Which tall girl did you see sneaking around?

ag. That tall platinum blonde girl, I saw her sneaking around yesterday.

?Which tall platinum blonde girl did you see sneaking around?

ah. That undertaker, I saw her sneaking around yesterday.

Which undertaker did you see sneaking around?

This example starts with the unmodified version, and moves from there. It incorporates examples with modifying adjectives (ab and ac), demonstrates that neither modifiers nor parts of the original noun can be moved separately (ad and ae), includes Aronoff and Fudeman's inverted example (a) and other versions of it (af-ah).

Although 7ad is clearly ungrammatical, a quick check in 7ae (cross-referenced with 7b and 7d) shows that the same problem would apply to any displacement which doesn’t move the whole object, be it a single word or a phrase. Whether the object consists of a set of connected morphemes, or a set of connected words, is apparently irrelevant.

Let’s see that statement again:

Words and phrases are often displaced to the beginning of a sentence or qualified, but not morphemes.

Their example does not demonstrate anything about qualifying. It does not demonstrate that words can be displaced in situations where morphemes cannot. It does not demonstrate that morphemes cannot be displaced in situations where words or phrases can. It is entirely pointless.

I'll look at the other problem in a second post.

Asathoth, liorish Lovecraft

Asathoth

Tra haink shenn-eash er y teihll, as skeill yindys magh ass aigney deiney; tra ren caayryn lheeah sheeyney seose da’n speyr yaaghagh nyn dooryn graney groamagh, as ad mooghey dagh ashlish ny greiney ny jeh lheeantyn arree my vlaa; tra ren ynsagh skilley breidey aalinid ny cruinney j’ee, as nagh ghow bardyn arragh arrane agh er conrieught chassit er ny fakin liorish sooillyn goorlagh çhyndaait çheusthie; erreish da ny reddyn shoh çeheet gy-kione, as doghys lambaanagh lheie ersooyl er son dy bragh, ren dooinney dy row jurnaa magh ass bea dys ronsaghey yn ‘eaynid raad va ashlishyn deiney er ngeddyn fastee.

Mychione ennym as oayll y dooinney, s’goan ny ta screeuit; venn adsyn rish y teihll doostee ynrican; agh t’ad gra dy row ad imlagh. S’liooar eh toiggal dy chum eh ayns caayr ard-woallit fo cheeiraght hiast, as tooilleil er fud y laa mastey scaa as corvaal, as çheet thie ‘syn oie da shamyr raad nagh doshil yn uinniag lomarcan er magheryn as keyjlyn, agh er close dullyr fo vlakey dooagh uinniagyn sheer-hreih elley. Trooid yn uinniag shid cha vaik oo agh boallaghyn as uinniagyn, mannagh chroymm magh oo foddey ny keayrtyn as jeeaghyn seose er ny rollageyn beggey hiauill harryd. As er y fa dy nhegin da boallaghyn as uinniagyn lhomey cur dooinney ashlishyn as lioaryn ass e cheayll dy leah, boallagh baghagh ny shamyr shid croymmey magh oie er oie as blakey seose dys geddyn shilley beg er sleig erbee jeh reddyn erskyn y teihll doostee as lheeaghys caayryn ardey. Erreish da bleeantyn ghow eh toshiaght enmyn er ny rollageyn shiaullee y chur, as eiyrt orroo liorish sheiltynys tra snaue ad dy arryssagh ass e hilley; derrey fy-yerrey lheeadee e hastid da ymmodee reayrtyssyn follit harrish oayllys sooilley cadjin. As oie dy row hie çharvaal vooar er tarcheimnaghey, as lhieen y speyr ashlishagh neose da uinniag yn arreyder lomarcan dys covestey marish aer breen ny shamyr as eshyn y ghoaill stiagh ‘sy yindys thanvaneagh echey.

Da’n çhamyr shid haink awinyn feie ny mean-oie phlooreenagh as joan airhey glistral ayndaue; eeiraghyn ooirey as ailey chass magh ass ny h-ard-eaynidyn as ad trome lesh coorane harrish oayllys ny seihill. Gheayrt faarkaghyn cadleenag ayns shid, fo hoilshey greiney nagh vel rieau ny arragh ry-akin ec y tooill, as shimmey doraid whaagh as shee-varrey ny diunidyn do-chooinaghtyn v’ayns ny puill sluggee oc. Ren neuyerrinaght hostagh y dreamyder y hoailley as y heidey ersooyl dy meein, gyn eer bentyn rish y chorp ghob magh dy creoi ass yn uinniag lomarcan; as rish laghyn ass towse imbee deiney ren tidaghyn cruinnaghyn foddey eh y ymmyrkey dy meein da quaiyl ny h-ashlishyn v’eh yeearree orroo; ashlishyn caillt deiney. As rish ymmodee lhingyn daag ad eh, dy meiyghagh, ny chadley er traie ghlass ec irree ny greiney; traie ghlass mastey soar millish blaaghyn-lotus as breck lesh lossreeyn ny folley jiargey.

---

Azathoth

When age fell upon the world, and wonder went out of the minds of men; when grey cities reared to smoky skies tall towers grim and ugly, in whose shadow none might dream of the sun or of spring’s flowering meads; when learning stripped earth of her mantle of beauty, and poets sang no more save of twisted phantoms seen with bleared and inward-looking eyes; when these things had come to pass, and childish hopes had gone away forever, there was a man who travelled out of life on a quest into the spaces whither the world’s dreams had fled.

Of the name and abode of this man but little is written, for they were of the waking world only; yet it is said that both were obscure. It is enough to know that he dwelt in a city of high walls where sterile twilight reigned, and that he toiled all day among shadow and turmoil, coming home at evening to a room whose one window opened not on the fields and groves but on a dim court where other windows stared in dull despair. From that casement one might see only walls and windows, except sometimes when one leaned far out and peered aloft at the small stars that passed. And because mere walls and windows must soon drive to madness a man who dreams and reads much, the dweller in that room used night after night to lean out and peer aloft to glimpse some fragment of things beyond the waking world and the greyness of tall cities. After years he began to call the slow-sailing stars by name, and to follow them in fancy when they glided regretfully out of sight; till at length his vision opened to many secret vistas whose existence no common eye suspects. And one night a mighty gulf was bridged, and the dream-haunted skies swelled down to the lonely watcher’s window to merge with the close air of his room and make him a part of their fabulous wonder.

There came to that room wild streams of violet midnight glittering with dust of gold; vortices of dust and fire, swirling out of the ultimate spaces and heavy with perfumes from beyond the worlds. Opiate oceans poured there, litten by suns that the eye may never behold and having in their whirlpools strange dolphins and sea-nymphs of unrememberable deeps. Noiseless infinity eddied around the dreamer and wafted him away without even touching the body that leaned stiffly from the lonely window; and for days not counted in men’s calendars the tides of far spheres bare him gently to join the dreams for which he longed; the dreams that men have lost. And in the course of many cycles they tenderly left him sleeping on a green sunrise shore; a green shore fragrant with lotus-blossoms and starred by red camalotes.

---

Ta'n skeealeen shoh çhyndaait ass Azathoth liorish H P Lovecraft.

Feyshtey feamagh

Mastey ceaughyn traa elley, ta mee gynsaghey çhengaghyn, as Sheenish Vandarin nyn mast'oc. Ta mee er ny h-ynsaghey harrish tree bleeaney nish, neayr's ghow mee toshiaght dys goll da'n Çheen as ynsaghey Baarle ayns ollooscoill ayns Xi'an rish daa vee. Ghow mee ram taitnys jeh'n cheayrt, ga dy row doilleeidyn reirey ayn bentyn rish yn obbyr. Myr sampleyr, va mee gynsaghey Baarle beill as beggan cultoor Goaldagh; va brastyllyn Baarle formoil oc hannah er son screeu as lhaih a.r.e. Agh cha row laare-ynsee erbee ayn! Myr shen, cha row fys aym er c'red v'ad er n'ynsaghey foast, ny c'red by ymmydoil daue, ny c'red verragh dreeys baaish orroo. As cha row eh ro-vaghtal dou ny v'eh orrym ad y ynsaghey, cur tastey da mooadys ny brastyllyn - feed dys daeed, foddey rouyr da brastyl çhengey beill mie. Fy-yerrey, hayrn mee beggan fys assdaue er ny by vie lhieu eh y ynsaghey (obbyr trome), as goll rere shen.

Agh shen skeeal elley da laa elley. Neayr's va mee goaill toshiaght er son y cheayrt shen, ta mee er n'ynsaghey Sheenish Vandarin. Dy firrinagh, ta anaase er ve aym urree rish bleeantyn. As mish ass Lerphoyll, ny bunnys, va stoo Sheenish as "Sheenee" (Scousee son y chooid smoo, s'cosoylagh) ry-akin dy mennick. Tra ghow mee toshiaght studeyrys er çhengaghyn as çhengoaylleeaght y yannoo, hug shin ram geill jee (mastey mraane elley). Shen er y fa dy vel ee mie er enney da cagh, agh ta lhiettrimyssyn eddyr ish as çhengaghyn Ind-Oarpagh. As chammah's shen, ta ram studeyryn Sheenagh (ny as Sheenish Vandarin oc) 'sy rheynn aym. She çhengey aalin t'ayn (ta gagh çhengey aalin*) as ram troyn anaasagh eck, as ec y traa cheddin, she ben cham t'ayn. Ta mee dy kinjagh mollit eck cowraghyn yl-cheeayllagh, ny shenn raa ennagh, ny caillt er y fa nagh vel baarnaghyn erbee dys cowraghey creeaghyn ny focklyn. Agh ta mee goaill ram taitys jeh ynsaghey ish as jannoo ymmyd j'ee, as jeh ny nod mee lhaih nish as beggan Sheenish aym.

Aghterbee! Rish blein nish, ta mee er n'ynsaghey jeh ben-ynsee ass Hunan as shen feer vie. Rish nuy mee, ta mee er n'ynsaghey marish carrey dou ayns co-ynsagh beg, ayns thie-tey son y chooid smoo. Nish t'ee er nyannoo briwnys dy lhisin ynsaghey mychione bee Sheenagh, as ren shin beggan studeyrys er kaart bee noght. As yn çhiaghtin shoh çheet, hemmayd dys thie bee Sheenagh as cooilleeney'n lane oie 'syn Çheenish, my ta shen jantagh. Feyshtey feamagh dy firrinagh (ny bashtey ailey my share lhiat!). Bee eh orrym jannoo ram studeyrys er tasht-fockle Sheenish rish y çhiaghtin shoh çheet...

*agh cha geayll mee rieau çhengey erbee ta cur wheesh graih aym as ny Celtiee as gennaghyn myr undinaght chaillt

Gyn vree

Er y gherrid, cha nel monney stoo noa jeant aym er son yn ynnyd-eggey beg aym. Dy firrinagh, ta bea er ve trome rish y vlein shoh chaie. Cha nel my vea hene cho olk, agh ta mee tarroogh as fo stroos bentyn rish yn obbyr as reddyn elley. Ta'n rheynn gobbraghey ain arraghey dys troggal elley y sourey shoh hugain, as ta obbyr ass towse ry-yannoo. Agh ta'n lught reirey neuarryltagh briwnys erbee y yannoo, as ta'n ard-ven ersooyl fo asslaynt ennagh kerroo ny bleeaney dagh blein, as cho skee as faase nagh nod ee jannoo monney tra t'ee erash. Myr shen, ta'n lught obbree er nyannoo tooilley obbyr rish daa vlein, as ceaut as skee. Cha nel shen ro-olk dooys, dy firrinagh, agh t'eh jeeaghyn dy vel dagh ainjyssagh aym fo doilleeid trome ennagh; çhingys, mooinjer çhingey, studeyrys gyn raah, argid, staartaghyn, cooish ghraih chrampagh... as myr shen ta aeraght trome as groamey er feie ny caayrey. T'eh cur lhag-chreeys orrym as cha nel eh greinney aittys ny gientynaght - ny bree.

Liorish ooilley shen, cha nel monney bree aynym ny laghyn shoh, as s'doillee eh red ennagh y screeu. Ta shalee ny ghaa foym as lieh-yeant, agh cha nel traa ny breeaghys aym ad y chooilleeney. Chammah's shen, mannagh vel glout dy hraa ayd, cha aashagh eh reddyn gientynagh y yannoo dy corrym. T'ou jummal traa liorish smooinaghtyn er c'red v'ou jannoo, ny shirrey noteyn, ny shirrey er y vree skeeeallagh v'aynyd y keayrt s'jerree. Myr shen, ga dy by vie lhiam red ennagh noa y chur magh, ta mee aareaghey ny skeealyn ta caghlaait ny screeuit aym hannah, obbyr gyn feme er wheesh bree. S'treisht lhiam dy bee caa aym red ennagh noa y yannoo dy leah.

Shirveishee as Myn-hengaghyn

Rish y touree, ren mee turrys dys Nerin rish my ayr as moir, er son y chied cheayrt rieau bentyn rhym pene. Red naareydagh dou, as mish ass y Wirral. Hannee shin ayns thieyn oastey as gee ayns thieyn bee; ga dy vel shin cummal ayns bwaane er mayl ny keayrtyn, v’eh foin fakin beggan jeh’n çheer, as cha aashagh shen as bwaaneyn er mayl rish lane hiaghtin. Hannee shin ayns Divlyn as Corkee, as shen dy liooar ayns shiaghtin, ga dy bare lhiam boayl ennagh çheerey y nah cheayrt.

Agh cha nee lioar-voggyl t'ayn, as cha nel eh foym jannoo coontys jeh'n turrys. Ta red ny ghaa ry-ghra aym er myn-hengaghyn.

Myr dooyrt mee, va shin cummal ayns thieyn oastey as gee ayns thieyn bee, gyn çheet er ny thieyn ooree ass towse. Liorish shen, hug my ner quoid dy hirveishee nagh row ass Nerin. Dy firrinagh, rere blass as enmyn as ny dooyrt uss dooin ny keayrtyn, va’n chooid smoo jeu ass yn Oarpey Hiar. Shimmey cooneyder shapp v’assjee myrgeddin. Ta’n red cheddin ry-akin ayns ymmodee buill, as (yiarrins) buill hurrysagh erskyn ooilley, er y fa dy vel lheid yn obbyr ry-gheddyn ayndaue, agh cha nel shen agh my heiltyn. Dys shaghney boirey erbee, lhig dou gra nish nagh vel mee shassoo n’oi; ta kiart ec peiagh erbee dy obbraghey ayns boayl erbee, er lhiam. Agh hug my ner eh er y fa dy row mee cur ram tastey da ny shirveishee. As mish my hengeyder jeean, va mee geaishtagh er son Yernish, as er son caa beggan j’ee y loayrt. Cha nel agh beggan Yernish aym, agh v’eh foym yn eab y yannoo. Cha dooar mee agh beggan dy Yernee, ayns thieyn tashtee son y chooid smoo, as va reireyderyn ny thieyn oastey nyn Yernee myrgeddin.

Dy firrinagh, s’cosoylagh dy bee reddyn cosoylagh ry-akin raad erbee. Ta staartaghyn oastey as kiarail bee er faill veg son y chooid smoo; ayns caayryn, ta lheid yn obbyr jeant ec sleih joarree dy mennick (chammah’s troggal, thieyn greasey, a.r.e.). Myr sampleyr, ayns Lunnin, ta 60% dy staartaghyn thie oast as thie bee jeant ec arredee stiagh.^[1] Shen daa wheesh as ny keirdyn elley, fo ny harrish. Foddee dy vel shen er y fa nagh vel ad shirrey rouyr teishtyn dys geddyn obbyr; ta shen doillee ayns çheer joarree. Foddee dy vel eh er y fa nagh vel ad jerkal jeed y çhengey y ve ayd dy flaaoil, as t’eh cur caa dhyt ee y chliaghtey. Foddee dy vel eh er y fa nagh verragh sleih obbyr elley jeed. As dy dooghyssagh, ta staartaghyn noa ry-gheddyn dy mennick, liorish caghlaa caireyder ny shenn obbree faagail er son red ennagh er faill hare. Rere ronsaghey y Learning and Skills Council: “Dooyrt failleyderyn dy row caghlaa obbree (as obbree RU erskyn ooilley) ny ghoilleeid, er coontey ambee ny keirdey oltee myr nane as staartaghyn creoiey er faill voght eck, gyn monney cosoylaght ardjee, foddee. Myr shen, er lhieu dy row arreydee stiagh undinagh da cummal seose as aase ny keirdey. Er lesh ny failleyderyn, she scanshoil eh dy vel ethic obbree lajer ayd, as dy vel oo arryltagh dy obbraghey ooryn neuhaitnyssagh liauyr ‘sy cheird shoh. Ta enney ec obbree arreydagh myr fir aggindagh, cooyrtoil, biall as ammyssagh, as myr shen, er lesh failleyderyn, t’ad cooie er son obbyr hirveishagh chionnee.”^[2] Myr shen, my t’ou er jeet stiagh ayns çheer ennagh as shirrey obbyr, t’eh ny s’assey feddyn obbyr ayns thie ooree na ayns co-lught ennagh raad ta sleih tannaghtyn rish bleeantyn.

Ta reddyn çheet dy ve doillee tra t'ou jeeaghyn er myn-hengaghyn. S'doillee eh çhengey y ynsaghey dy flaaoil, as shen dean arreydee stiagh son y chooid smoo. Va Baarle feer vie ec ny shirveishee venn mee roo, er lhiam. Agh cha ren mee feysht my row Yernish oc ny dyn. Er lhiam nagh cosoylagh eh dy beagh ad er ynsaghey Yernish (marranys, foddee, agh sheiltyn so-hoiggal as cadjin, er lhiam) as cha row mee er son boirey er sleih va loayrt ayns nah hengey hannah.

Agh son y chooid smoo, ayns bea laaoil as ayns buill noa erskyn ooilley, she shirveishee as cooneyderyn shapp ta shin bentyn roo, faagail magh lught-thie as co-obbree. Myr shen, mannagh vel y vyn-hengey oc, shen rheam mooar baghee nagh dod oo cooilleeiney 'sy vyn-hengey, as bwoalley elley jee. Dy jarroo, cha scanshoil eh eer my ta'n çhengey hene oc, agh my ta sleih jerkal dy noddagh ee ve oc as jannoo eab. Mannagh vel y vyn-hengey ec cooid hoshee ("critical mass") dy 'leih ayns çhymbyllaght heshoil ennagh, cha bee oo jerkal dy noddagh ee ve oc. Myr shen, ta tree obbraghyn lhie harrish y cheilley:

Y chied obbyr, shen y fa dy nee myn-hengey t'ayn. Myr shen, cha nel ee ec cagh, eer mastey sleih daase 'syn ard, as cha nel oo jerkal dy vees ee ec cagh.
Y nah obbyr, shen y fa dy nee sleih joarree t'ayn. Ta cooid wooar jeu gynsaghey yn ard-hengey myr nah hengey, agh cha nel cagh (Sostnee ayns Nerin a.r.e.). Agh gyn scansh da shen, cosoylagh rish pobble daase 'syn yn ard, s'foddey ny sloo cosoylagh eh dy beagh y vyn-hengey oc. Myr shen, gyn cowrey ennagh dy vel ee oc, cha nel oo jerkal shen.
Y hreeoo obbyr, shen croghey er y çhymyllaght heshoil. My t'ou uss goll dys thie tashtee, ny thie lheihys, ny oik ny reiltys, ta caa ayn dy bee y vyn-hengey ec ny shirveishee as oikee (ta shen croghey er staydys ny myn-hengey, ayns ayrn). Eer my nee arreydee stiagh t'ayn, s'cosoylagh dy nee ad eab y vyn-hengey y ynsaghey; ny keayrtyn, ta feme leighagh er shen. My t'ou uss goll dys shapp lioaryn Celtiagh, bee oo jerkal çhengey Cheltiagh yn ard y ve oc. My t'ou goaill ayrn 'syn Eisteddfod, t'ou jerkal Bretnish y ve ec dagh ooilley hirveishagh as goaill yindys mannagh vel (wahll, ren mish ec y chooid sloo). Agh ayns shappyn cadjin a.r.e., cha nel eh cho scanshoil da sleih y vyn-hengey y ve oc. Myr shen, my ta shirveishee as cooneyderyn shapp çheet dy ve sleih joarree son y chooid smoo, cha nel oo jerkal y vyn-hengey y ve ec shirveishee.

Liorish shen, cha nel oo jannoo yn eab y vyn-hengey y loayrt ayns shappyn as thieyn bee. As myr fainney aaniartee, mannagh vel sleih loayrt Yernish ayns shappyn as thieyn bee, cha bee shirveishee ny caireyderyn jerkal ee y chlashtyn, as cha bee brod erbee daue ish y ynsaghey. T'eh feer aashagh da myn-hengey rheam baghee y choayl er y fa nagh vel peiagh erbee jannoo ymmyd jee aynsyn, as myr shen t'ee goll er lhiettal, beggan er veggan, dys jesh-chliaghtey as ymmyd thie. Er y laue elley, my t'ou gobbraghey ayns boayl ennagh raad ta sleih loayrt çhengey ennagh dhyt dy mennick, t'eh cur ort smooinaghtyn dy lhisagh oo ish y ynsaghey, eer dys gra daue nagh vel ee ayd. As my t'ou goll stiagh ayns thie bee as clashtyn rish sleih loayrt Bretnish rish ny shirveishee, t'eh dty ghreinney Bretnish roo y loayrt. As ta ooilley shen lhiggey da cagh y vyn-hengey y chliaghtey, as mooadaghey y rheam baghee eck.

Dy firrinagh, cha nel freggyrt erbee aym er y chooish shoh. Cha noddym gra dy "lhisagh" arreydee stiagh ynsaghey myn-hengaghyn ny çheerey noa, ga dy by vie lhiam shen. Ta reddyn doillee dy liooar ayns çheer noa as ynsaghey un hengey noa, gyn boirey er ynsaghey çhengey elley nagh vel ec agh beggan beg jeh'n phobble. Cha nel y doilleeid shoh caghlit dys "sleih joarree" t'er n'ynsaghey Baarle noadyr. Ta ram Sostnee ayns Bretyn, as cha nel mee jerkal Bretnish y ve oc. Ny yei shen, ta mee jannoo eab ny keayrtyn, er y fa dy vel ad ee y ghreinney wheesh as ta kuse dy Hostnee ny h-ynsaghey. Ayns Nerin, eer dy row Yernish hare aym, cha yinnin yn eab Yernish y loayrt rish Sostnee, as ish ec beggan beg dy 'leih eer mastey Yernee. Shen briwnys aigney, cha nel resoon, agh briwnys so-hoiggal er lhiam. As cha nel mee noi lhiggey da arreydee stiagh obbraghey ayns thieyn bee noadyr! She cooish hrimshagh t'ayn gyn feaysley baghtal. Agh s'treisht lhiam dy bee anaase ec peiagh ennagh er ny smooinaghtyn shoh.

Imraaghyn

^[1] Country of birth and labour market outcomes in London: an analysis of Labour Force Survey and Census data. London: Greater London Authority Data Management and Analysis Group, 2005. http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/publications/society/facts-and-figures/labour-market-archive

^[2] “Employers mentioned a high turnover of staff (especially for UK workers) as a problem, possibly caused by the negative image the hospitality sector has as comprising low-paid, hard jobs with limited career prospects. Migrants were therefore perceived as fundamental to the successful continuation and growth of this sector. A strong work ethic and being prepared to work long and antisocial hours were seen as critical within the service industry. The attitudes typically associated with migrant workers such as being willing, polite, obedient and respectful were therefore naturally suited to customer service roles.” Employer Perceptions of Migrant Workers Research Report. Learning and Skills Council, 2006, dg. 27. Coad LSC-P-NAT-060574. http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/164/

Y Joarree, liorish Lovecraft

Notey: Va sannish gloo as shenn-emshiragh er y skeeal shen hug ennaghtyn joaney as dullyr er. Ren mee my chooid shen yn ennaghtyn cheddin y chur er y lhieggey Gaelg; myr shen, ta shenn-chaaynt ry-akin ayn nish as reesht.

Haink ashlish donney er y Varran creoi
As ad nyn gadley, shimmey scaa-doo loau
Ayns cummey buitçh as jouyll as beishteig ghrouw
Voir er ny goaldee.
—Keats (The Eve of St. Agnes).

Nagh treih eshyn nagh vow ayns cooinaghtyn aegid agh aggle as meevaynrys! Nagh treih eshyn ta jeeaghyn ny yei er ooryn ny lomarcan ayns shamyryn buillvollee groamey, lane dy hapeishyn dhoney as straihyn baanragh dy henn lioaryn; ny er ammyn atçhimagh ayns keylljyn keeiragh raad ta biljyn foawragh arraghtagh fo ghreim raiseyder sheeyney seose banglaneyn caslagh foddey er-e-skynn nyn dost! Shen y cronney hug ny jeeghyn orryms - orryms t'er shaghryn, mollit, follym, brisht. As gyn y wooise da, ta mee bwooiagh aght ennagh, as ta mee greimmey dy çhionn er ny cooinaghtyn lhomey shen tra ta'n aigney aym sheeyney magh gys shirrey er fir elley.

Cha s'aym cre'n y voayl ruggyree, agh by henn ass towse as owanagh ass towse y cashtal shid. Shimmey limmer dorraghey v'ayn, as sar-vullee ardjey oc, raad nagh dooar my ghaa hooill agh sneeuaneyn as scaaghyn. By hash graynoil dy kinjagh claghyn ny gorradoyryn tholtanagh, as hannee soar breinn mollaghtagh trooid y clane, myr veih merriu charnaneagh ny h-eashyn. Cha vrish soilshey erbee y vurgeeaght rieau, as ny keayrtyn, doad mee cainleyn as blakey orroo er son couyr ennagh; cha daink soilshey ny greiney dou noadyr trooid ny biljyn eajee daase foddey erskyn toor s'yrdjey roshtynagh y chashtal. Va toor doo ynrican ny hassoo ny s'yrdjey foast, as heeyn eshyn ass shilley 'sy speyr do-akin dou; agh by lieh-vrisht eh, as yn aght ynrican dy chosney, veagh shen drappal neuyantagh, bunnys, greim as greim seose y voalley cloaie jeeragh.

Shegin dou er gummal 'sy voayl rish bleeantyn, agh cha noddym ad y howse. Shegin da bioee er ngoaill kiarail jeem, agh cha gooin lhiam peiagh erbee agh mee hene; dy firrinagh, cha gooin lhiam red bio erbee agh roddanyn as craitnagyn as feederyn tostagh. Y voandyr yarroodit hrog mee, shegin jee er ve shenn atçhimagh; y chied sheiltynys v'aym er peiagh, shen red gollrhym pene gys fannidys, agh cassit as shirgit as loauaghey myr ren y cashtal. Cha dooar mee arraghtaght erbee jeh ny craueyn as ushylee skeayll harrish shiartanse dy chabbalyn cloaie dowiney mastey ny binn. Ard-yindyssagh myr t'eh, va lheid ny reddyn laaoil dooys, as ny smoo dooghyssagh na ny cummaghyn daahit bioee hooar mee ayns lioaryn er lheeah. Jynsee mee y clane fys aym jeusyn. Cha dug ynseyder erbee greinney ny stiurey dooys, as cha gooin lhiam clashtyn coraa erbee er feie ny bleeantyn liauyrey — eer my choraa hene; ga dy row mee er lhiah jeh glare, cha row yn eie rieau er duittym orrym eab er y jannoo. Hug mee wheesh dy neuhastey da'n chummey orrym; cha row scaane erbee 'sy chastal, as myr shen, heill mee my hene rere ny sleih aegey dooar mee tayrnit as daahit ayns ny lioaryn. Dennee mee my aegid er coontey'n veggan cooinaghtyn v'aym.

Çheumooie, harrish y jeeg vreinn as fo ny biljyn dorraghey tostey, lhie mee dy mennick as ceau ooryn fo ashlish er cooid ny lioaryn; as mian lajer orrym, heill mee mee hene mastey çhionnal gennal 'syn teihll grianagh foddey jeh'n cheyll gyn chaghliagh. Keayrt dy row, ren mee eab dy scapail jeh'n cheyll, agh ny s'odjey hie mee jeh'n chashtal, ny s'glooey yn doorey as ny strimmey atçhim groamagh ny h-aerey; derrey roie mee erash er çhea fo aggle ragh mee er coayl ayns cartage host ny h-oie.

As er fud coleayrtys gyn yerrey ren mee dreamal as fuirriaghtyn, gyn enney er ny duirree mee er. Eisht my lomarcan scaadooagh daase lheid y vian aynym er sollys nagh dod mee surranse foast, as skeayll mee laueyn aghinagh cour y toor doo brisht ynrican jirree erskyn ny keylley gys y speyr mooie neuakinit. As fy-yerrey chiar mee y toor y ghrappal, dy duittin ny gyn; ny share shilley jeh'n speyr as baase neesht y gheddyn, na bea veayn gyn fakin arragh laa.

'Sy choleayrtys tash ghrapp mee ny shenn ghreeishyn craiuit derrey rosh mee y brishey, as eisht chrog dy cryggylagh er greimyn beggey jirree seose. Nagh by ghrouw as agglagh eh y speek chloaie varroo gyn ghreeish! Doo as brisht, as treigit, as baggyrtagh lesh craitnagyn moostey jirree er skianyn tostey. Agh ny s'grouwey as ny s'aggley foast va meillid my irree; ga dy ghrapp mee lesh ooilley my niart, cha hannee y dorraghys er-my-skyn, as skeayll feayraght noa my hrooid myr shenn lheeah scaanjoonagh. Va mee er craa tra smooinee mee cre'n fa nagh rosh mee y soilshey, as yinnin er nyeeaghyn seose dy b'lhoys dou. Heill mee dy row yn oie er duittym orrym çhelleeragh, as loaght lesh laue follym er sprey, gys blakey magh as seose as towse yn yrjid v’er ny chosney aym; agh cha dooar mee fer erbee.

Dy doaltattym, lurg beaynid atçhim drappal my ghellid seose yn eaynin coobagh gaueagh shid, venn my chione rish nhee fondagh as hoig mee dy row mee er gosney y mullagh, ny laare ennagh er y chooid sloo. ‘Sy dorraghys, heeyn magh my laue follym y lhiettrim y phrowal, as hooar mee dy row eh neuscughee as cloaie. Eisht keayrt varrooagh mygeayrt y toor, croghey er greim erbee va ry-gheddyn er y woalley shliawin; derrey darree y lhiettrim fo my laue prowee as hyndaa mee seose reesht. Heiy my chione er y leac ny dorrys, as mish croghey er daa laue er son y drappal agglagh. Cha daink soilshey erbee neose, agh heeyn my laueyn seose as feddyn magh dy beagh jerrey er drappal rish tammylt. Va’n leac ny cooylley hroggee da barney ayns laare chloaie rea, ny shlea na crantessen y toor; laare hamyr yeeaghee reamyssagh ard ennagh, gyn ourys. Snaue mee ny hrooid dy kiarailagh, as jannoo eab gyn lhiggey da’n leac hrome tuittym erash ‘sy voayl eck, agh cha daink lhiam shen. As mish my lhie er troggloo er y laare chloaie, cheayll mee mactullee neuheiltagh e tuittym, agh va doghys aym dy noddin e fosley rere feme.

Er lhiam dy row mee feer ard nish, foddey erskyn banglaneyn mollaghtagh ny keylley. Jirree mee dy loaganagh as loaghtey er son uinniag, do oddin fakin y speyr son y chied cheayrt, as yn eayst as ny rollageyn lhaih mee jeu. Agh va mee mollit er dagh çheu; cha dooar mee agh skellooghyn marmyr buillvollee lane dy chishtaghyn dronuillagagh eajee er mooadys boiragh. Smooinee mee er dy trome, as sheiltyn ny shenn ‘olliaghtyn oddagh tannaghtyn ‘sy thie ard shoh, er ny rheynn veih’n chashtal rish wheesh dy eashyn. Eisht, gyn yerkallys, dooar my laueyn doarlish, as dorrys cloaie garroo quaagh-e-ghrainney croghey ayn. Phrow mee eh, as feddyn magh dy row eh fo ghlass; agh lesh freayney niart, hug mee fo chosh dagh lhiettrimys as tayrn stiagh eh. Liorishyn haink dou yn eunys s’glenney dennee mee rieau: trooid cleeah yiarn yesheenagh, sheese roie greeishyn cloaie jirree seose voish y dorrys noa-feddynit, hoilshean lane-eayst lossanagh nagh vaik mee rieau roish shen agh ayns slammyn as ashlishyn neuhickyr nagh lhoys dou enmys myr cooinaghtyn.

Hoig mee dy nhegin dou er roshtyn eer veinn y chashtal, as goaill toshiaght dy roie seose ny greeishyn goaney trooid y dorrys; agh huitt coodagh bodjallagh harrish yn eayst dy doaltattym as cur orrym snapperal, as loaght mee er son y raad dy moal 'sy dorraghys. By ghorraghey foast eh tra rosh mee yn chleeah; phrow mee ee dy kiarailagh as feddyn magh nagh row ee fo ghlass, agh cha doshil mee ish er aggle dy duittin veih'n yrjid thanvaneagh va mee er nrappal da. Eisht haink ree yn eayst.

Y yindys s'jouyllee erskyn ooilley, shen yindys gyn yerkallys as neuchredjallagh gys arraghtaght. Cha row taghyrt erbee er chur aggle orrym cosoylagh rish ny honnick mee nish; rish yindyssyn joarree chowree y reayrtys shid. Va'n reayrtys shen cho cadjin as v'eh sevreainagh: raad yerk mee reayrtys bir viljyn voish mullagh ard verragh thollaneys orrym, heeyn magh thalloo fondagh er my cheim pene çheu elley ny cleeahey, stooamit as jesheenit lesh leacyn as collooyn marmyr, as y clane fo scaa shenn cheeill chloaie as speek vrisht eck lonree dy neuheiltagh fo hoilshey ny h-eayst.

Lieh my neealloo, doshil mee y chleeah as loaganey magh gys cassan shillee vane heeyn magh er daa heu. Wheesh dallit as fud-y-cheilley as va my aigney, va mian keoie urree er sollys, as cha dod eer y taghyrt ard-yindyssagh shoh my lhiettal. Cha s’aym my she ashlish ny baanrid ny obbeeys v’ayn, as by gummey lhiam eh; begin dou fakin gennalys as bioyrid gyn scansh da’n leagh. Cha s’aym quoi ny c’red ny c’raad va mish; agh tra skyrree mee roym, haink orrym enney er cooinaghtyn follit owanagh ennagh hug orrym ennaghtyn nagh nee immeeaght lane taghyrtagh v’ayn. Hie mee fo aae magh ass thalloo ny leacyn as collooyn, as rouail trooid çheer follym; rish raad baghtal ny keayrtyn, agh ny keayrtyn elley daag mee eh er fa quaagh ennagh gys shooyl harrish lheeantyn gyn agh tholtan goan myr feanish shenn raad caillt. Snaue mee harrish awin tappee raad chowree seyirsaght chloaie voghlaneagh, coadit lesh keynnagh, dy row droghad ayn keayrt dy row.

Begin da daa oor er ngoll shaghey roish my rosh mee y dean gyn enney aym: shenn chashtal hibbinagh ayns pairk cheylljagh ghloo. V’eh ainjyssagh torçhagh dou, agh lane dy yoarreeaght anveaghee. Honnick mee dy row y chlash ushtey lhieent, as kuse jeh ny tooryn ainjyssagh er nyn lhieggey; choud’s va buin noa ayns gys molley y dooinney fakin. Agh erskyn ooilley hug mee geill da ny h-uinnagyn foshlit, as hug adsyn eunys dooys — v’ad lonraghey lesh sollys aalin as deayrtey magh sheeanyn giense gennal ass sheiltyn. Hooill mee gys nane jeu as jeeaghyn stiagh er lught coamrit quaagh dy liooar; v’ad cummal reaid as coloayrt dy bioyr. V’eh baghtal nagh row mee rieau er glashtyn glare deiney; as cha dod mee agh sheiltyn ny v’ad gra. Er eddin nish as reesht ‘sy lught, honnick mee dreagh ghooisht aachooinaghtyn ass duinid foddey; va fir elley lane joarree.

Eisht ren mee kesmad roym trooid yn uinnag injil stiagh ayns y çhamyr hollysh er bashtal, as liorishyn ren mee kesmad veih’n tullagh lomarcan doghys sollysh ayms gys my heaym s’dorraghey rieau jeh dooghid as toiggal. Haink y tromlhie dy tappee; as mish çheet stiagh, haink my vlaa y taishbyney s’agglee heill mee rieau. Eer as mish goll harrish y leac uinnag, huitt atçhim jeean graynoil er y lane çheshaght çhelleeragh as gyn raaue erbee. Chammee eh dagh eddin as tayrn magh yllee agglagh ass dagh scoarnagh. Hyndaa ad myrane lesh y cheilley as çhea, as mastey boiraneys as sevreain y çhionnal, huitt kuse jeu neeal, derrey hayrn caarjyn er çhea ad ersooyl maroo. Cheau fir jeu laueyn harrish nyn sooillyn, as loaganey dy doal as staagagh lesh scapail; chledd ad stoo thie as bwoalley noi ny boallaghyn roish my dod ad roshtyn dorrys ennagh as skellal roish.

B’agglagh y screeaghey; as mish my hassoo lomarcan er shaghryn ‘sy çhamyr hollysh, clashtyn rish yn aawoalley jeu skellal rish, va mee er craa liorish sheiltyn ny va sleetçhal mygeayrt ass my hilley. Ec y chied hilley neuchooishagh, er lhiam dy row y çhamyr follym; agh tra hooill mee cour cuilleig ennagh, heill mee dy chronn mee red ennagh. Va sannish arraghey ennagh çheu elley jeh aae airh-oirrit doshil er shamyr elley gollrish y fer va mee ayn. As mish tayrn er gerrey da, b’leayrey dou ny v’aynjee; as eisht, lesh y chied heean as jerrinagh ren mee coraaghey – ny screeaghey feohdoil hug wheesh grayn orrym as y bun dwoaiagh jeh – honnick mee dy baghtal as owanagh y beisht do-heiltyn, do-hoilshaghey, do-ghra v’er nyannoo griaght cheoie er çhea jeh lught gennal liorish çheet rish ynrican.

Cha noddym cur sannish hene diu er; v’eh ny chovestey jeh dagh ooilley red neughlen, neughooghyssagh, feohdagh as dwoaiagh. She scaa gowlagh loauys, shenndaght as treihys v’ayn; eidolon breinn yngyragh taishbyney anchasherick; roostey atçhimagh ny lhisagh y thalloo myghinagh follaghey er son dy bragh. Ta fys ec Jee nagh row eh jeh’n teihll shoh – ny nagh lhisagh eh ve foast – agh fo atçhim ass towse, hoig mee y cummey crimmit gys taishbyney craueyn myr arrish craidagh graney jeh cummey deiney; as hug quallid ennagh erskyn insh ‘syn eaddagh ooiragh v’echey ny smoo scoagh foast orrym.

Va mee bunnys kyrloghit, agh va bree dy liooar faagit aynym eab faase er scapail y yannoo; ny snapperal erash nagh vrish y gess va’n veishteig gyn ennym ny coraa cur orrym. Fo ghruiaght ny gruinnagyn marroo vlak cho agglagh orrym, dobb my ghaa hooill dy ghooney; agh v’ad dullyr, bwooise da Jee, as erreish da’n chied woalley, cha hoilshee ad y nhee atçhimagh dy cronnal. Ren mee eab my laue y hroggal gys dooney magh ny vaik mee, agh cha dod my laue cur lane viallys fo hrimmid y greain nearagagh v’orrym. Agh va’n eab dy liooar mish y chur ass cormid, as v’eh orrym loaganey roym kesmad ny ghaa do nagh duittin. Hug mee my ner dy angaishagh cho faggys va’n red convayrtagh, as lieh-heill mee dy cheayll mee eh tayrn ennal dy mooghit graney. Dobbyr dou goll ass my cheeayll, agh haink rhym my laue y cheau roym gys castey yn arragh breinn ying stiagh orrym; as eisht, myr tullagh co-leaystagh scoagh ooilley-stroiagh as taghyrt iurinagh, venn my vair rish maaig loauaghey sheeynt ny beishteig fo’n aae airhey.

Cha dyllee mee, agh ‘sy tullagh cheddin dyllee dagh ooilley ghowl ta markiagh er geay ny h-oie er-my-hon, tra huitt lhieggey cooinaghtyn giare-heiltagh er my aigney as cur lesh my annym gys veg. Ayns y tullagh shid by chooin lhiam dagh ooilley red; by chooin lhiam ny va çheu elley y chashtal agglagh as ny viljyn, as haink enney orrym er y troggal ceaghlit va mee my hoie aynsyn nish; as atçhim erskyn ooilley, haink enney orrym er y jalloo dwoaiagh anchasherick vlak orrym as mish tayrn magh my veir sollit veih ny veir echey.

Agh ta shelliu ‘sy chruinney myrgeddin as sherruid, as she lus y gheu t’ayn. Liorish scoagh jerrinagh y tullagh shen yarrood mee ny v’er chur lheid yn atçhim orrym, as skell magh y thooilley drogh-chooinaghtyn ayns corvaal jallooyn mactullee. Roie mee fo ashlish veih’n troggal mollaghtagh scaanagh, tappee as tost fo hoilshey ny h-eayst. Tra rosh mee y ruillick varmyragh as goll sheese ny greeishyn, hooar magh mee nagh row y cooylley hroggee chloaie ry-hroggal reesht; agh cha treih lhiam eh. Va dwoaie aym er y çhenn chashtal as ny biljyn. Nish ta mee markiagh marish gowlyn craidagh as caarjagh er geay ny h-oie, as ‘sy laa ta shin cloie mastey oaiaghyn Nephren-Ka ayns glion Hodath sealit as follit rish y Neel. Ta fys aym nagh row soilshey cooie dou, er lhimmey jeh soilshey ny h-eayst harrish tommanyn cloaie Neb, as cha nel reaid cooie dou agh feaillaghyn gyn ennym Nitokris fo’n Phyramid Mooar; agh seyr as feie as ta mee nish, ta mee bunnys cur failt er sherruid joarreeys.

Ga dy vel lus y gheu er my chiunaghey, ta fys aym dy kinjagh dy nee joarree t’ayn; joarree ‘syn eash shoh as mastey adsyn ta nyn neiney foast. Ta’n fys shoh er ve aym dy kinjagh neayr’s heeyn magh mee my veir da’n dwoaiagh ‘syn aae airhey vooar shid; heeyn magh my veir as bentyn rish eaghtyr feayr as anchorragh kerrin glonney gloasit.

---

The Outsider

Note: This story was originally written in a dense and semi-archaic style that helps to evoke a cobwebby, gloomy atmosphere. I have tried to maintain that feel in the translation, so the Manx has a few archaisms of its own.

Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness. Wretched is he who looks back upon lone hours in vast and dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books, or upon awed watches in twilight groves of grotesque, gigantic, and vine-encumbered trees that silently wave twisted branches far aloft. Such a lot the gods gave to me—to me, the dazed, the disappointed; the barren, the broken. And yet I am strangely content, and cling desperately to those sere memories, when my mind momentarily threatens to reach beyond to the other.

I know not where I was born, save that the castle was infinitely old and infinitely horrible; full of dark passages and having high ceilings where the eye could find only cobwebs and shadows. The stones in the crumbling corridors seemed always hideously damp, and there was an accursed smell everywhere, as of the piled-up corpses of dead generations. It was never light, so that I used sometimes to light candles and gaze steadily at them for relief; nor was there any sun outdoors, since the terrible trees grew high above the topmost accessible tower. There was one black tower which reached above the trees into the unknown outer sky, but that was partly ruined and could not be ascended save by a well-nigh impossible climb up the sheer wall, stone by stone.

I must have lived years in this place, but I cannot measure the time. Beings must have cared for my needs, yet I cannot recall any person except myself; or anything alive but the noiseless rats and bats and spiders. I think that whoever nursed me must have been shockingly aged, since my first conception of a living person was that of something mockingly like myself, yet distorted, shrivelled, and decaying like the castle. To me there was nothing grotesque in the bones and skeletons that strowed some of the stone crypts deep down among the foundations. I fantastically associated these things with every-day events, and thought them more natural than the coloured pictures of living beings which I found in many of the mouldy books. From such books I learned all that I know. No teacher urged or guided me, and I do not recall hearing any human voice in all those years—not even my own; for although I had read of speech, I had never thought to try to speak aloud. My aspect was a matter equally unthought of, for there were no mirrors in the castle, and I merely regarded myself by instinct as akin to the youthful figures I saw drawn and painted in the books. I felt conscious of youth because I remembered so little.

Outside, across the putrid moat and under the dark mute trees, I would often lie and dream for hours about what I read in the books; and would longingly picture myself amidst gay crowds in the sunny world beyond the endless forest. Once I tried to escape from the forest, but as I went farther from the castle the shade grew denser and the air more filled with brooding fear; so that I ran frantically back lest I lose my way in a labyrinth of nighted silence.

So through endless twilights I dreamed and waited, though I knew not what I waited for. Then in the shadowy solitude my longing for light grew so frantic that I could rest no more, and I lifted entreating hands to the single black ruined tower that reached above the forest into the unknown outer sky. And at last I resolved to scale that tower, fall though I might; since it were better to glimpse the sky and perish, than to live without ever beholding day.

In the dank twilight I climbed the worn and aged stone stairs till I reached the level where they ceased, and thereafter clung perilously to small footholds leading upward. Ghastly and terrible was that dead, stairless cylinder of rock; black, ruined, and deserted, and sinister with startled bats whose wings made no noise. But more ghastly and terrible still was the slowness of my progress; for climb as I might, the darkness overhead grew no thinner, and a new chill as of haunted and venerable mould assailed me. I shivered as I wondered why I did not reach the light, and would have looked down had I dared. I fancied that night had come suddenly upon me, and vainly groped with one free hand for a window embrasure, that I might peer out and above, and try to judge the height I had attained.

All at once, after an infinity of awesome, sightless crawling up that concave and desperate precipice, I felt my head touch a solid thing, and I knew I must have gained the roof, or at least some kind of floor. In the darkness I raised my free hand and tested the barrier, finding it stone and immovable. Then came a deadly circuit of the tower, clinging to whatever holds the slimy wall could give; till finally my testing hand found the barrier yielding, and I turned upward again, pushing the slab or door with my head as I used both hands in my fearful ascent. There was no light revealed above, and as my hands went higher I knew that my climb was for the nonce ended; since the slab was the trap-door of an aperture leading to a level stone surface of greater circumference than the lower tower, no doubt the floor of some lofty and capacious observation chamber. I crawled through carefully, and tried to prevent the heavy slab from falling back into place; but failed in the latter attempt. As I lay exhausted on the stone floor I heard the eerie echoes of its fall, but hoped when necessary to pry it open again.

Believing I was now at a prodigious height, far above the accursed branches of the wood, I dragged myself up from the floor and fumbled about for windows, that I might look for the first time upon the sky, and the moon and stars of which I had read. But on every hand I was disappointed; since all that I found were vast shelves of marble, bearing odious oblong boxes of disturbing size. More and more I reflected, and wondered what hoary secrets might abide in this high apartment so many aeons cut off from the castle below. Then unexpectedly my hands came upon a doorway, where hung a portal of stone, rough with strange chiselling. Trying it, I found it locked; but with a supreme burst of strength I overcame all obstacles and dragged it open inward. As I did so there came to me the purest ecstasy I have ever known; for shining tranquilly through an ornate grating of iron, and down a short stone passageway of steps that ascended from the newly found doorway, was the radiant full moon, which I had never before seen save in dreams and in vague visions I dared not call memories.

Fancying now that I had attained the very pinnacle of the castle, I commenced to rush up the few steps beyond the door; but the sudden veiling of the moon by a cloud caused me to stumble, and I felt my way more slowly in the dark. It was still very dark when I reached the grating—which I tried carefully and found unlocked, but which I did not open for fear of falling from the amazing height to which I had climbed. Then the moon came out.

Most daemoniacal of all shocks is that of the abysmally unexpected and grotesquely unbelievable. Nothing I had before undergone could compare in terror with what I now saw; with the bizarre marvels that sight implied. The sight itself was as simple as it was stupefying, for it was merely this: instead of a dizzying prospect of treetops seen from a lofty eminence, there stretched around me on a level through the grating nothing less than the solid ground, decked and diversified by marble slabs and columns, and overshadowed by an ancient stone church, whose ruined spire gleamed spectrally in the moonlight.

Half unconscious, I opened the grating and staggered out upon the white gravel path that stretched away in two directions. My mind, stunned and chaotic as it was, still held the frantic craving for light; and not even the fantastic wonder which had happened could stay my course. I neither knew nor cared whether my experience was insanity, dreaming, or magic; but was determined to gaze on brilliance and gaiety at any cost. I knew not who I was or what I was, or what my surroundings might be; though as I continued to stumble along I became conscious of a kind of fearsome latent memory that made my progress not wholly fortuitous. I passed under an arch out of that region of slabs and columns, and wandered through the open country; sometimes following the visible road, but sometimes leaving it curiously to tread across meadows where only occasional ruins bespoke the ancient presence of a forgotten road. Once I swam across a swift river where crumbling, mossy masonry told of a bridge long vanished.

Over two hours must have passed before I reached what seemed to be my goal, a venerable ivied castle in a thickly wooded park; maddeningly familiar, yet full of perplexing strangeness to me. I saw that the moat was filled in, and that some of the well-known towers were demolished; whilst new wings existed to confuse the beholder. But what I observed with chief interest and delight were the open windows—gorgeously ablaze with light and sending forth sound of the gayest revelry. Advancing to one of these I looked in and saw an oddly dressed company, indeed; making merry, and speaking brightly to one another. I had never, seemingly, heard human speech before; and could guess only vaguely what was said. Some of the faces seemed to hold expressions that brought up incredibly remote recollections; others were utterly alien.

I now stepped through the low window into the brilliantly lighted room, stepping as I did so from my single bright moment of hope to my blackest convulsion of despair and realisation. The nightmare was quick to come; for as I entered, there occurred immediately one of the most terrifying demonstrations I had ever conceived. Scarcely had I crossed the sill when there descended upon the whole company a sudden and unheralded fear of hideous intensity, distorting every face and evoking the most horrible screams from nearly every throat. Flight was universal, and in the clamour and panic several fell in a swoon and were dragged away by their madly fleeing companions. Many covered their eyes with their hands, and plunged blindly and awkwardly in their race to escape; overturning furniture and stumbling against the walls before they managed to reach one of the many doors.

The cries were shocking; and as I stood in the brilliant apartment alone and dazed, listening to their vanishing echoes, I trembled at the thought of what might be lurking near me unseen. At a casual inspection the room seemed deserted, but when I moved toward one of the alcoves I thought I detected a presence there—a hint of motion beyond the golden-arched doorway leading to another and somewhat similar room. As I approached the arch I began to perceive the presence more clearly; and then, with the first and last sound I ever uttered—a ghastly ululation that revolted me almost as poignantly as its noxious cause—I beheld in full, frightful vividness the inconceivable, indescribable, and unmentionable monstrosity which had by its simple appearance changed a merry company to a herd of delirious fugitives.

I cannot even hint what it was like, for it was a compound of all that is unclean, uncanny, unwelcome, abnormal, and detestable. It was the ghoulish shade of decay, antiquity, and desolation; the putrid, dripping eidolon of unwholesome revelation; the awful baring of that which the merciful earth should always hide. God knows it was not of this world—or no longer of this world—yet to my horror I saw in its eaten-away and bone-revealing outlines a leering, abhorrent travesty on the human shape; and in its mouldy, disintegrating apparel an unspeakable quality that chilled me even more.

I was almost paralysed, but not too much so to make a feeble effort toward flight; a backward stumble which failed to break the spell in which the nameless, voiceless monster held me. My eyes, bewitched by the glassy orbs which stared loathsomely into them, refused to close; though they were mercifully blurred, and shewed the terrible object but indistinctly after the first shock. I tried to raise my hand to shut out the sight, yet so stunned were my nerves that my arm could not fully obey my will. The attempt, however, was enough to disturb my balance; so that I had to stagger forward several steps to avoid falling. As I did so I became suddenly and agonisingly aware of the nearness of the carrion thing, whose hideous hollow breathing I half fancied I could hear. Nearly mad, I found myself yet able to throw out a hand to ward off the foetid apparition which pressed so close; when in one cataclysmic second of cosmic nightmarishness and hellish accident my fingers touched the rotting outstretched paw of the monster beneath the golden arch.

I did not shriek, but all the fiendish ghouls that ride the night-wind shrieked for me as in that same second there crashed down upon my mind a single and fleeting avalanche of soul-annihilating memory. I knew in that second all that had been; I remembered beyond the frightful castle and the trees, and recognised the altered edifice in which I now stood; I recognised, most terrible of all, the unholy abomination that stood leering before me as I withdrew my sullied fingers from its own.

But in the cosmos there is balm as well as bitterness, and that balm is nepenthe. In the supreme horror of that second I forgot what had horrified me, and the burst of black memory vanished in a chaos of echoing images. In a dream I fled from that haunted and accursed pile, and ran swiftly and silently in the moonlight. When I returned to the churchyard place of marble and went down the steps I found the stone trap-door immovable; but I was not sorry, for I had hated the antique castle and the trees. Now I ride with the mocking and friendly ghouls on the night-wind, and play by day amongst the catacombs of Nephren-Ka in the sealed and unknown valley of Hadoth by the Nile. I know that light is not for me, save that of the moon over the rock tombs of Neb, nor any gaiety save the unnamed feasts of Nitokris beneath the Great Pyramid; yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage.

For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men. This I have known ever since I stretched out my fingers to the abomination within that great gilded frame; stretched out my fingers and touched a cold and unyielding surface of polished glass.

---

Ta'n skeealeen shoh çhyndaait ass The Outsider liorish H P Lovecraft.