Зов Ктулху
The Tale of Inspector Legrasse
What,insubstance,boththeEsquimauxwizardsandtheLouisianaswamp-priestshadchantedtotheirkindredidolswassomethingverylikethis —theword-divisionsbeingguessedatfromtraditionalbreaksinthephraseaschantedaloud:
"Ph’ngluimglw’nafhCthulhuR’lyehwgah’naglfhtagn."
LegrassehadonepointinadvanceofProfessorWebb,forseveralamonghismongrelprisonershadrepeatedtohimwhatoldercelebrantshadtoldthemthewordsmeant. Thistext,asgiven,ransomethinglikethis:
"InhishouseatR’lyehdeadCthulhuwaitsdreaming."
Andnow,inresponsetoageneralandurgentdemand,InspectorLegrasserelatedasfullyaspossiblehisexperiencewiththeswampworshippers; tellingastorytowhichIcouldseemyuncleattachedprofoundsignificance. Itsavouredofthewildestdreamsofmythmakerandtheosophist,anddisclosedanastonishingdegreeofcosmicimaginationamongsuchhalf-castesandpariahsasmightbeleastexpectedtopossessit.
OnNovember1st,1907,therehadcometotheNewOrleanspoliceafranticsummonsfromtheswampandlagooncountrytothesouth. Thesquattersthere,mostlyprimitivebutgood-natureddescendantsofLafitte’smen,wereinthegripofstarkterrorfromanunknownthingwhichhadstolenupontheminthenight. Itwasvoodoo,apparently,butvoodooofamoreterriblesortthantheyhadeverknown; andsomeoftheirwomenandchildrenhaddisappearedsincethemalevolenttom-tomhadbegunitsincessantbeatingfarwithintheblackhauntedwoodswherenodwellerventured.
