Ebook28 pages45 minutes
An Offering to the Moon
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
Join Morley and Thorway on their exploration of the temples of Mu. Were they devoted to peaceful solar worship? or a something darker?
Excerpt
"I believe," announced Morley, "that the roofless temples of Mu were not all devoted to solar worship, but that many of them were consecrated to the moon. And I am sure that the one we have now discovered proves my point. These hieroglyphics are lunar symbols beyond a doubt."
Thorway, his fellow-archaeologist, looked at Morley with a surprise not altogether due to the boldly authoritative pronouncement. He was struck anew by the singularity of Morley's tones and expression. The dreamy, beardless, olive features, that seemed to repeat some aboriginal Aryan type, were transfigured by a look of ecstatic absorption. Thorway himself was not incapable of enthusiasm when the occasion seemed to warrant it; but this well-nigh religious ardor was beyond his comprehension. He wondered (not for the only time) if his companion's mentality were not a trifle... eccentric.
However, he mumbled a rejoinder that was deferential even though non-committal. Morley had not only financed the expedition, but had been paying a liberal stipend to Thorway for more than two years. So Thorway could afford to be respectful, even though he was a little tired of his employer's odd and unauthorized notions, and the interminable series of sojourns they had made on Melanesian isles. From the monstrous and primordial stone images of Easter Island to the truncated pyramidal columns of the Ladrones, they had visited all the far-strewn remains which are held to prove the former existence of a great continent in the mid-Pacific. Now, on one of the lesser Marquesas, hitherto unexplored, they had located the massive walls of a large temple-like edifice, As usual, it had been difficult to find, for such places were universally feared and shunned by the natives, who believed them haunted by the immemorial dead, and could not be hired to visit them or even to reveal their whereabouts. It was Morley who had stumbled upon the place, almost as if he were led by a subconscious instinct.
Truly, they had made a significant discovery, as even Thorway was compelled to admit. Except for a few of the colossal topmost stones, which had fallen or splintered away, the walls were in well-nigh perfect preservation. The place was surrounded by a tangle of palms and jackfruit and various tropical shrubs; but somehow none of them had taken root within the walls. Portions of a paved floor were still extant, amid centurial heaps of rubble. In the center was a huge, square block, rising four feet above the ground-level, which might well have served as an altar. It was carved with rude symbols which appeared to represent the moon in all its digits, and was curiously grooved across the top from the middle to one side with a trough that became deeper toward the edge. Like all other buildings of the sort, it was plain that the temple had never supported a roof.
Excerpt
"I believe," announced Morley, "that the roofless temples of Mu were not all devoted to solar worship, but that many of them were consecrated to the moon. And I am sure that the one we have now discovered proves my point. These hieroglyphics are lunar symbols beyond a doubt."
Thorway, his fellow-archaeologist, looked at Morley with a surprise not altogether due to the boldly authoritative pronouncement. He was struck anew by the singularity of Morley's tones and expression. The dreamy, beardless, olive features, that seemed to repeat some aboriginal Aryan type, were transfigured by a look of ecstatic absorption. Thorway himself was not incapable of enthusiasm when the occasion seemed to warrant it; but this well-nigh religious ardor was beyond his comprehension. He wondered (not for the only time) if his companion's mentality were not a trifle... eccentric.
However, he mumbled a rejoinder that was deferential even though non-committal. Morley had not only financed the expedition, but had been paying a liberal stipend to Thorway for more than two years. So Thorway could afford to be respectful, even though he was a little tired of his employer's odd and unauthorized notions, and the interminable series of sojourns they had made on Melanesian isles. From the monstrous and primordial stone images of Easter Island to the truncated pyramidal columns of the Ladrones, they had visited all the far-strewn remains which are held to prove the former existence of a great continent in the mid-Pacific. Now, on one of the lesser Marquesas, hitherto unexplored, they had located the massive walls of a large temple-like edifice, As usual, it had been difficult to find, for such places were universally feared and shunned by the natives, who believed them haunted by the immemorial dead, and could not be hired to visit them or even to reveal their whereabouts. It was Morley who had stumbled upon the place, almost as if he were led by a subconscious instinct.
Truly, they had made a significant discovery, as even Thorway was compelled to admit. Except for a few of the colossal topmost stones, which had fallen or splintered away, the walls were in well-nigh perfect preservation. The place was surrounded by a tangle of palms and jackfruit and various tropical shrubs; but somehow none of them had taken root within the walls. Portions of a paved floor were still extant, amid centurial heaps of rubble. In the center was a huge, square block, rising four feet above the ground-level, which might well have served as an altar. It was carved with rude symbols which appeared to represent the moon in all its digits, and was curiously grooved across the top from the middle to one side with a trough that became deeper toward the edge. Like all other buildings of the sort, it was plain that the temple had never supported a roof.
Read more from Clark Ashton Smith
The Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK®: 40 Modern and Classic Lovecraftian Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Golden Age of Weird Fiction MEGAPACK ® Vol. 6: Clark Ashton Smith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: The Door To Saturn Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: The End Of The Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: The Last Hieroglyph Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Return of the Sorcerer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: The Maze of the Enchanter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: A Vintage From Atlantis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5DARK DIMENSIONS OF DEATH: Selected Weird Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maker of Gargoyles and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wildside Book of Fantasy: 20 Great Tales of Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hashish Eater: An Apocalypse Of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Master of the Asteroid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ninth Skeleton Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantazius Mallare & The Dark Eidolon: A Book Of The Dead: American Decadent Classics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEbony and Crystal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOdes and Sonnets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWonder and Glory Forever: Awe-Inspiring Lovecraftian Fiction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to An Offering to the Moon
Related ebooks
The Tree of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5K Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tree of Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tom Clark and His Wife: Their Double Dreams, And the Curious Things that Befell Them Therein; Being the Rosicrucian's Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn (Essays Collection): On Nothing and Kindred Subjects, On Everything, On Anything, On Something, On Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tree of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Best Science Fiction Works of Stanley G. Weinbaum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExordium: 1 - The Phoenix in Flight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Hollow of Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of Stanley G. Weinbaum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStanley G. Weinbaum: Collected Works: Science Fiction Classics, Post-Apocalyptic Novels & Space Adventure Books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuddenly Sam (The October Trilogy, Book Three) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5On: On Nothing and Kindred Subjects, On Everything, On Anything, On Something, On Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Space Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Centaur: Modern Myth - A Mystical Encounter in Secret Lands of Caucasus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tree of Life Revisited Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shadow of a Dead God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Centaur Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMedieval: The Book of Loss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThey Stared at the Sun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPantheon – Volume I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shades of Time and Memory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evolutions: Fifteen Myths That Explain Our World Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Shades of Time and Memory: The Wraeththu Histories, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Destiny Times Three Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wraiths of Will and Pleasure: The Wraeththu Histories, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of a False Religion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camp Zero: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein: Original 1818 Uncensored Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time and Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perelandra: (Space Trilogy, Book Two) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rendezvous with Rama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light From Uncommon Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for An Offering to the Moon
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
An Offering to the Moon - Clark Ashton Smith
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1