The Transformation of Juan Romero ( Eng. The Transition of Juan Romero ) is a short story by G. F. Lovecraft , written on September 16, 1919 . It was first published in the magazine Marginalia, published in 1944 by Arkham House . The story was included in the collection " Dagon and other terrible stories " (1986).
Juan Romero's reincarnation | |
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The Transition of Juan Romero | |
Genre | Lovecraft Horrors |
Author | Howard Phillips Lovecraft |
Original language | English |
Date of writing | September 16, 1919 |
Date of first publication | 1944 |
Publisher | "Marginalia" |
Content
Story
In October 1894, the narrator arrived to work as a prospector at the North Mine, near Lake Jewel . Once the workers blew up the caves and it turned out that a deep hollow had opened; its depth could not be measured even with ropes tied together. Work stopped and there were only a few people left in the camp.
Romero woke up at night because of the strange sounds of the pulsation of the earth. Soon the sound from the cave began to sound like polyphony singing, and he and the narrator went there. It seemed to the narrator that he was going crazy, and his ancient ring began to radiate a glow. On Juan is some kind of insanity, he escapes into the depths of the cave. Juan said something about Huitzilopochtli , and then ran away screaming into the cave, but falls into the abyss there. From there, as from hell, flames burst out, and the ring ceased to glow in that place.
I approached the fiery abyss that had swallowed the unfortunate Romero and looked into the bottomless void of the utter hell that was raging with lights and sounds. At first I saw only a boiling concoction of light, but then the outlines, albeit vague, began to emerge from the mash, and I discerned Juan Romero? Oh my God! My lips are sealed! The sky itself came to my aid, there was a terrible roar, as if two universes collided in space, and the sight that opened to me disappeared. The surging chaos was replaced by the peace of oblivion.
The next morning, the narrator wakes up in his bed and sees that there are several people near the body of Juan Romero. The doctor confirmed his death, which came unknown from what. Perhaps, some said, this is due to the fire that had descended into the abyss at night; however, they were not believed. Workers who ventured into the mine, reported that there was a collapse that sealed the abyss, which had made such a terrible impression on everyone the day before. On autumn nights, just at two o'clock in the middle of the night, a sinister howling of the wind and feral beasts is heard, a damn rhythm flows from uncharted depth ... and I feel that Juan Romero's eerie reincarnation has really happened.
Characters
- Narrator
The narrator is a scientist who does not give his name. He read that his name and origin are unlikely to be interesting to descendants and it is better not to drag them into the future. He was an immigrant who ended up in one of the northern colonies of the United States , so he decided to part with his past. He studied at Oxford , at the time of service in India, he became much more intimate with the wise, gray-bearded elders than with his fellow officers. He was immersed in the ancient Eastern teachings, when misfortune turned his whole life over, and he began to build it anew in the open spaces of Western America , changing his name and working as a laborer to the famous North Mine. He owned an ancient Indian ring of intricate shape that reminded of his past life.
- Juan Romero
Juan Romero was one of many semi-wild Mexicans who flocked to the mine from neighboring areas, but his unusual appearance set him apart from the crowd. He eloquently was a type of Indian, but with a paler complexion and an exquisite article that made him so different from the local zamuhryg. It is curious that, differing from most Indians, both Hispanized and Indigenous, Romero's appearance was not marked by signs of kinship with the white race. Ignorant and dirty, he was his among the Mexicans. He was found a child in a damp shack in the mountains: he was the only one who survived the epidemic that brought death to the county. Grown by a Mexican who hunted cattle, Juan inherited his name and was not much different from the rest. He knew only a few words in English.
Inspiration
The story was created as a private example and illustration of an exercise intended only for the eyes of a small circle of correspondents. Written in less than a day, the story was intended to quickly demonstrate what can be done in conditions of deployment in the desert, which Lovecraft used as an example of what he called "Boring Thread."
It seems that Lovecraft disavowed the story at the beginning of his writing career. He did not allow him to be published during his lifetime, and he is not on most lists of his stories. It seems that he did not show this story to anyone until, at the end of his life, Robert Barlow gave instructions to send him a manuscript to prepare her typewriting.
Sources
Lovecraft "Letter to the Gallomo, April 1920", in Letters to Alfred Galpin , Hippocampus Press, 2003.
Leigh Blackmore. "Some Notes on Lovecraft's 'The Transition of Juan Romero'". Lovecraft Annual (Summer 2009)