Хребты безумия
VII
Thesteadytrenddowntheageswasfromwatertoland—amovementencouragedbytheriseofnewlandmasses,thoughtheoceanwasneverwhollydeserted. AnothercauseofthelandwardmovementwasthenewdifficultyinbreedingandmanagingtheShoggothsuponwhichsuccessfulsealifedepended. Withthemarchoftime,asthesculpturessadlyconfessed,theartofcreatingnewlifefrominorganicmatterhadbeenlost,sothattheOldOneshadtodependonthemoldingofformsalreadyinexistence. Onlandthegreatreptilesprovedhighlytractable;buttheShoggothsofthesea,reproducingbyfissionandacquiringadangerousdegreeofaccidentalintelligence,presentedforatimeaformidableproblem.
TheyhadalwaysbeencontrolledthroughthehypnoticsuggestionsoftheOldOnes,andhadmodeledtheirtoughplasticityintovarioususefultemporarylimbsandorgans;butnowtheirself-modelingpowersweresometimesexercisedindependently,andinvariousimitativeformsimplantedbypastsuggestion. Theyhad,itseems,developedasemistablebrainwhoseseparateandoccasionallystubbornvolitionechoedthewilloftheOldOneswithoutalwaysobeyingit. SculpturedimagesoftheseShoggothsfilledDanforthandmewithhorrorandloathing. Theywerenormallyshapelessentitiescomposedofaviscousjellywhichlookedlikeanagglutinationofbubbles,andeachaveragedaboutfifteenfeetindiameterwhenasphere. Theyhad,however,aconstantlyshiftingshapeandvolume—throwingouttemporarydevelopmentsorformingapparentorgansofsight,hearing,andspeechinimitationoftheirmasters,eitherspontaneouslyoraccordingtosuggestion.
