Howard Lovecraft - The Color out of Space and Other Mystery Stories / «Цвет из иных миров» и другие мистические истории

I moved on over rich, black soil in which no grass grew. As I went for the center of this deserted area, I began to notice a strange silence. There were no birds, no rabbits, and even the insects seemed to have left the place. I stood on a little hill and tried to guess at the size of that strange region. Then I saw the lone tree.

It stood on a hill, which was higher than the other hills, and attracted the attention because it was so unexpected. I had seen no trees for miles: many bushes grew in the ravines, but there had been no big trees. It was strange to find one standing on that hill.

I crossed two canyons before I came to it, and a surprise waited for me. It was not a pine tree, nor a fir tree, nor an ash tree. I had never, in all my life, seen a tree which I could compare with it – for which I am thankful!

More than anything it looked like an oak. It had a huge, twisted trunk, a yard in diameter, and the large branches began spreading about seven feet from the ground. The leaves were round and strangely alike in size and design. It might have been a tree from a painting, but I swear to God it was real. I will always know that it was real, despite what Theunis said later.

I remember that I looked at the sun and thought it was about ten o’clock in the morning, but I did not look at my watch. The day was getting warm, and I sat for a while in the welcome shade of the huge tree. Then I noticed the grass that grew under it – another strange phenomenon when I remembered the deserted area through which I had passed. A wild maze of hills and ravines surrounded me on all sides, although the hill on which I sat was rather higher than any other within miles. I looked far to the east and I jumped to my feet, startled and amazed. Through a blue haze in the distance I could see the Bitterroot Mountains! There is no other range of snow-capped peaks [11] снежные вершины within three hundred miles of Hampden, and I knew that I shouldn’t be seeing them at all from this hill. For several minutes I looked at the peaks, and then I became sleepy. I lay in the grass under the tree. I put down my camera, took off my hat, and relaxed, staring at the sky through the green leaves. Finally, I closed my eyes.

Then a curious thing happened to me: I saw a cloudy vision of something unfamiliar. I thought I saw a great temple by a sea where three suns shone in the pale red sky. The temple, or a vast tomb, was of a strange color – a nameless blue-violet shade. Large beasts flew in the cloudy sky, and I seemed to hear the flapping of their heavy wings. I went nearer the stone temple, and a huge doorway appeared in front of me. Within that doorway were shadows that seemed to try to suck me inside that awful darkness. I thought I saw three burning eyes in the void of the doorway, and I screamed with mortal fear. In that depth, I knew, was a living hell even worse than death. I screamed again. The vision faded.

I saw the round leaves and the blue sky again. Trembling and covered in cold sweat, I tried to get up. I wanted to run away, to run from that evil tree on the hill, but then I calmed down and thought it was absurd. Never had I dreamed anything so realistic, so horrifying. What had caused the vision? I had been reading several of Theunis’ books on ancient Egypt… I wiped my forehead and decided that it was time for lunch.

Then I had an idea. I would take a few photos of the tree, for Theunis. They might interest him. Perhaps I would tell him about the dream… Opening my camera, I took some shots of the tree and the landscape seen from the tree, including the peaks.

Putting the camera away, I looked at my cushion of soft grass. Had that spot under the tree some enchantment? I did not want to leave it.

I looked up at the curious round leaves. I closed my eyes. A breeze stirred the branches, and their soft music made me sleepy again. And suddenly I saw the pale red sky and the three suns. The land of three shadows! Again there was the great temple. I seemed to be floating on the air, exploring the wonders of another world! The temple frightened me, and I knew that no man on earth had ever seen this place in his wildest dreams.

Again the vast doorway opened before me, and I was sucked into that black cloud. I seemed to be staring at a void I cannot describe: a dark, bottomless gulf with nameless shapes and creatures.

I was terribly afraid. I screamed and screamed, and felt that I would soon go mad. Then in my dream I ran and ran in terror, but I did not know what I was running from. I left that horrible temple and that hellish void because I knew I had to return…

At last my eyes opened. I was not under the tree. I was lying on a rocky slope, my clothes torn, my hands bleeding. I stood up in pain and recognized the spot – it was the slope from where I had first seen the blasted area! I must have walked miles – unconscious! I could not see the tree, and I was glad.

I looked at the sun. Late afternoon! Where had I been? I took out my watch. It had stopped at 10:34…

“So you have the shots?” Theunis asked, looking at me across the breakfast table. Three days had passed by since my return from Hell’s Acres. I had told him about the dream under the tree, and he had laughed.

“Yes,” I said. “They came last night. Haven’t had a chance to open them yet. Study them. Perhaps you’ll change your mind.”

Theunis smiled, drinking his coffee. I gave him the unopened envelope, and he quickly took out the pictures. He looked at the first one, and the smile faded from his face.

“My God, man! Look at this!”

I took the glossy picture. There was nothing special on it, so I could not understand what made Theunis so excited. It was the first picture of the tree. There it was, standing on the hill, with the jungle of grass where I had lain below it. In the distance were the snow-capped mountains.

“Here it is,” I said. “The proof of my story.”

“Look at it!” Theunis cried. “The shadows – there are three for every rock, bush, and tree!”

He was right. Below the tree lay three shadows. Suddenly, I realized that there was an abnormal element the picture. The leaves on the thing were too lush, while the trunk was twisted in the most unusual shapes. Theunis put the picture on the table.

“There is something wrong,” I muttered. “The tree I saw didn’t look like that…”

“Are you sure?” Theunis asked. “The fact is, you may have seen many things not recorded on this film.”

“It shows more than I saw!”

“That’s right. There is something terribly wrong with this landscape. Something I can’t understand. The tree seems to be too unreal to be natural!” He took the other pictures and looked through them.

I took the picture again and felt some uncertainty and strangeness. The flowers and grass grew in different directions. The tree seemed too clouded, but I noticed the huge branches that were ready to fall over, yet did not fall. And also many overlapping shadows… They were very queer shadows – too long or short when compared to the plants they fell below. The landscape hadn’t shocked me the day of my visit… But now there was an abnormal dark suggestion in it, something distant like the stars beyond the galaxy.

“Did you say you saw three suns in your dream?” Theunis asked.

I nodded, puzzled. Then it dawned on me [12] И тут до меня дошло. . My fingers trembled slightly as I stared at the picture again. My dream! Of course!

“The others are just like it,” Theunis said. “That same suggestion. I should be able to catch it, to see it in its real light, but it is too… Perhaps later I will figure it out, if I look at it long enough.”