Hello.

Does anybody know what Smith means by "the outermost circle" in his short story "The Treader In The Dust?" I think is it could mean the "boundaries of our universe" but I am not sure.

…The olden wizards knew him, and named him Quachil Uttaus. Seldom is he revealed: for he dwelleth beyond the outermost circle, in the dark limbo of unsphered time and space.-Dreadful is the word that calleth him, though the word be unspoken save in thought: For Quachil Uttaus is the ultimate corruption; and the instant of his coming is like the passage of many ages; and neither flesh nor stone may abide his treading, but all things crumble beneath-it atom from atom. And for this, some have called him The Treader of the Dust.

Minicthulhu Wrote:
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> Hello.
>
> Does anybody know what Smith means by "the
> outermost circle" in his short story "The Treader
> In The Dust?" I think is it could mean the
> "boundaries of our universe" but I am not sure.
>
> …The olden wizards knew him, and named him
> Quachil Uttaus. Seldom is he revealed: for he
> dwelleth beyond the outermost circle, in the dark
> limbo of unsphered time and space.-Dreadful is the
> word that calleth him, though the word be unspoken
> save in thought: For Quachil Uttaus is the
> ultimate corruption; and the instant of his coming
> is like the passage of many ages; and neither
> flesh nor stone may abide his treading, but all
> things crumble beneath-it atom from atom. And for
> this, some have called him The Treader of the
> Dust.

That's a hell of a cosmic description (like "...The Ayatollah of Rock-and-Rolla!"), isn't it? Very effective in attempting to convey the paradoxical nature of this being's existence.

Kinda interesting, too, that such an entity has a gender identification; that, in itself, is disorienting. I mean, my most rational conception would be that Quachil Uttaus is an "it", not a "he" or a "she".

Let's see...

"...the instant of his coming
> is like the passage of many ages; and neither
> flesh nor stone may abide his treading, but all
> things crumble beneath-it atom from atom."

So he's all about Time, looks like, and we might infer that the universe(s) he inhabits are governed by very different temporal laws.

So, yeah, I'd surmise that CAS meant that he was from beyond the physical universe, as we know it--beyond the outermost circle of human comprehension.

--Sawfish

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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 31 Mar 21 | 01:08PM by Sawfish.

Thank you very much for answering my question. Smith´s writing is hard to get sometimes.

Minicthulhu Wrote:
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> Thank you very much for answering my question.
> Smith´s writing is hard to get sometimes.


You're quite welcome and I hope it makes some sense.

BTW, I really like your forum name. Every time I see it I think of that character in Sponge Bob. He was a very evil-spirited, very aggressive phytoplankton with dreams of world domination. Very scary, but because he was measured in nanometers, he wasn't really much of a threat.

...but if he was bigger, watch out!

So I see Cthulu, but the size of maybe a tree frog...

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sawfish Wrote:
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> Sponge Bob


I watched an episode with a big anglerfish that baited with a manikin wobbling at the end of the tongue stalk, imitating a perfectly irresistible old lady offering cake. I loved that. I think CAS would have appreciated the humour. It reminded me of some horrifying details in "The Letter from Mohaun Los".

edit



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 3 Apr 21 | 05:08AM by Knygatin.

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> a manikin wobbling at the end of the
> tongue stalk

And another manikin on a separate stalk, imitating a snuggled cat, for increased verisimilitude.

This is *very* funny!

Thanks!

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sawfish Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sponge Bob
>
>
> I watched an episode with a giant anglerfish that
> baited with a manikin wobbling at the end of the
> tongue stalk, imitating a perfectly irresistible
> old lady offering cake. I loved that. I think CAS
> would have appreciated the humour. It reminded me
> of some horrifying details in "The Letter from
> Mohaun Los".


And also "The Flower Women", but that was of course an altogether different lure.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knygatin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sawfish Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Sponge Bob
> >
> >
> > I watched an episode with a giant anglerfish
> that
> > baited with a manikin wobbling at the end of
> the
> > tongue stalk, imitating a perfectly
> irresistible
> > old lady offering cake. I loved that. I think
> CAS
> > would have appreciated the humour. It reminded
> me
> > of some horrifying details in "The Letter from
> > Mohaun Los".
>
>
> And also "The Flower Women", but that was of
> course an altogether different lure.

Did you like the underlying irony of having the siren-ladies as sorta witless beauties, while Mal Dweb used them as bait?

All that was missing was having him mansplain the situation to them.

No snark from me here, K. I *did* think it an ironic commentary on beautiful women who get what they want by relying on their sexual wiles.

Maybe that makes me heartlessly insensitive--I don't know.

But I *do* know that I'm far too old to change. Not so much that I've grown mentally inflexible and ossified (there's that too, on other stuff), but that I've seen too much, for too long... :^)

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~