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| Weird Tales 1938.08, Margaret Brundage. |
Opening Statement:
“Fata viam invenient.”What in Brown Jenkin's Name..?
On a verdant slope of Mount Maenalus, in Arcadia, there stands an olive grove about the ruins of a villa.
Two Greek sculptors have a friendly competition, but sickness, death and foliage intervene.Synopsis:
In ancient Greece, two sculptors, Kalos and Musides, compete in building tribute projects for their ruler. Kalos falls ill, and dies. Musides builds a tomb for Kalos and plants olive twigs by Kalos' grave as per Kalos’ final wishes. A great olive tree grows from the twigs, and on one stormy night a large branch falls and destroys Musides and his statue.From Dr. Armitage's Notes:
- This is Lovecraft’s only story set in Greece, possibly inspired by Hawthorne’s “A Wonder Book” and “Tanglewood Tales”, or Bulfinch’s “Age of Fable”.
- Kalos' tree is possibly referenced (but re-envisioned as elms?) in "The Silver Key".
The Horrible Conclusion:
But the olive grove still stands, as does the tree growing out of the tomb of Kalos, and the old bee-keeper told me that sometimes the boughs whisper to one another in the night wind, saying over and over again. "Oida! Oida! -I know! I know!"Read it here.
Follow'd by "The Cats of Ulthar".
