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Memory
"Memory" is a flash fiction short story by American horror and science fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in 1919 and published in May 1923 in The National Amateur. "Memory" uses many of H. P. Lovecraft's common images and ideas, such as relics of the deep past and things "without name". Also, his fondness for vast, monolithic ruins (a favourite with many other Cthulhu and horror writers) is evident in the intricate description found in the page-long story.
This story takes place in the ancient valley of Nis, in vegetation-covered stone ruins described by Lovecraft in great detail. These crumbling blocks of monolithic stone now serve only for grey toads and snakes to nest under. Interspersed in the ruins are large trees that are home to little apes. Through the bottom of this valley runs the great, slimy red river called Than.
"Memory" involves only two "the Genie that haunts the moonbeams" and "the Daemon of the Valley". The Genie inquires of the Daemon who it was that long ago placed the stones that were now the desolate ruin near the river Than. The Daemon replies that he remembers the name of the creatures "clearly," but only because their name rhymed with that of the they were called Man. He also remembers "dimly" that they appeared like the small apes that now leap through the ruins. The Genie flies back to his moonbeams, and the Daemon turns to regard an ape in silent contemplation.
This story takes place in the ancient valley of Nis, in vegetation-covered stone ruins described by Lovecraft in great detail. These crumbling blocks of monolithic stone now serve only for grey toads and snakes to nest under. Interspersed in the ruins are large trees that are home to little apes. Through the bottom of this valley runs the great, slimy red river called Than.
"Memory" involves only two "the Genie that haunts the moonbeams" and "the Daemon of the Valley". The Genie inquires of the Daemon who it was that long ago placed the stones that were now the desolate ruin near the river Than. The Daemon replies that he remembers the name of the creatures "clearly," but only because their name rhymed with that of the they were called Man. He also remembers "dimly" that they appeared like the small apes that now leap through the ruins. The Genie flies back to his moonbeams, and the Daemon turns to regard an ape in silent contemplation.
2 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 1919
7 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
5,946 books19k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
June 5, 2019
Eerie atmosphere, a thin horned moon, a demon named memory and "these being of yesterday were called Man." Very poetic description of a valley and its river. Ruins of the past and some fancy dialogue. I really enjoyed this short story by Lovecraft. Recommended!
March 21, 2023
طريقة كتابة لاف كرافت مثيرة جدًا و مختلفه
بس في نفس الوقت القصة كانت قصيرة جدًا انها تشد او تسيب علامة فيك
بس في نفس الوقت القصة كانت قصيرة جدًا انها تشد او تسيب علامة فيك
December 5, 2020
I strangely really, really liked this extremely short story. A delightfully brief and haunting depiction of memories of the fall of civilisation, all set during a conversation of supernatural beings in a mystical valley.
September 24, 2024
What if we are of no significance and the ones who do matter look at us as hairless monkeys frolicking mindlessly in a wet valley…
January 31, 2019
ترجمة موقع "ويكي مصدر" لقصة "ذكرى" بقلم هوارد فيليبس لافكرافت، مع بعض التصرف
=============================================
في وادي (نيس)، يشرق القمرُ النحيل الملعونُ على الأرض، ويشقُّ نورُه الضعيفُ طريقَه من خلالِ الأوراق الخضراء الكثيفةِ لأشجار الأوباس العظيمة. وضمن أعماق الوادي، حيث لا يصلُ الضوء، تتحركُ أشكالٌ لا يجبُ النظرُ إليها.
غزيرةٌ هي الأعشاب التي تنمو على المنحدرات، حيث تزحفُ الكرومُ الشريّرةُ والنباتات المتسلّقةُ وسط أحجارِ القصورِ الخربة، وتلتفُّ بإحكامٍ حول الأعمدةِ المحطمة والأنصابِ الغريبة، وترتفعُ فوق أرصفةِ الرخامِ التي نصبتها أيدٍ منسيّة.
وبين الأشجارِ العملاقةِ في الأفنيةِ المنهارة، تقفزُ القردةُ الصغيرة، وبين مدافن الكنوزِ العميقةِ تتلوى ثعابينُ سامّةٌ وأشياءٌ ذاتِ حراشفَ لا اسم لها.
عريضةٌ هي الأحجار التي تنام تحت غطاء من الأُشْنَة الرطبة، وهائلةٌ كانت الحيطان التي سقطت. فقد بناها العمال لتنتصبَ إلى الأبد، ومازالت تؤدي واجبَها بنُبلٍ إلى الآن، إذ يجلسُ تحتَها ضِفدعٌ رماديٌ يتخذُها مسكنا.
في قاع الوادي يقعُ نهرُ (ثان)، ذو المياه اللزجة والمملوءة بالأعشاب. ينبعُ من نبعٍ مخفي، ويتدفقُ إلى الكهوفِ تحت الأرض. وحتى شيطانُ الوادي لا يعرفُ لماذا مياهُه حمراء، ولا إلى أين هي راحلة.
أتى جنيٌ يسكنُ أشعةَ القمر، وتحدث إلى شيطان الوادي، قائلا: "أنا عجوز وأنسي كثيرا. أخبرني عن صنائعِ وشكلِ واسمِ الذين صنعوا هذه الأشياءَ من الحجارة”. وأجاب الشيطان: "أنا الذاكرة، وأنا حكيمٌ بعلم الماضي، لكنّي عجوز أيضا. تلك الكائنات كانت مثل مياه نهر (ثان)، لم يكن لأحدٍ أن يفهمَها. لا أتذكرُ صنائعَهم، فوجودُهم لم يطُل إلا للحظة. أما سيماهم، فبالكاد أتذكرها، وكانت مثلَ تلك القرودِ الصغيرةِ على الأشجار. أما اسمهم فأتذكّره بكل وضوح، فله قافيةٌ باسم ذاك النهر. تلك الكائنات من الأمس كانت تُدعى: الإنسان".
عاد الجنيُّ طائرا إلى القمر النحيل، ونظر الشيطانُ باهتمام شديدٍ نحو قردٍ صغيرٍ يجلسُ في شجرةٍ نمَت في فناءٍ منهار.
...
سجلتُ القصة بصوتي على ساوندكلاود، هنا:
https://soundcloud.com/ahmadeddeeb/th...
=============================================
في وادي (نيس)، يشرق القمرُ النحيل الملعونُ على الأرض، ويشقُّ نورُه الضعيفُ طريقَه من خلالِ الأوراق الخضراء الكثيفةِ لأشجار الأوباس العظيمة. وضمن أعماق الوادي، حيث لا يصلُ الضوء، تتحركُ أشكالٌ لا يجبُ النظرُ إليها.
غزيرةٌ هي الأعشاب التي تنمو على المنحدرات، حيث تزحفُ الكرومُ الشريّرةُ والنباتات المتسلّقةُ وسط أحجارِ القصورِ الخربة، وتلتفُّ بإحكامٍ حول الأعمدةِ المحطمة والأنصابِ الغريبة، وترتفعُ فوق أرصفةِ الرخامِ التي نصبتها أيدٍ منسيّة.
وبين الأشجارِ العملاقةِ في الأفنيةِ المنهارة، تقفزُ القردةُ الصغيرة، وبين مدافن الكنوزِ العميقةِ تتلوى ثعابينُ سامّةٌ وأشياءٌ ذاتِ حراشفَ لا اسم لها.
عريضةٌ هي الأحجار التي تنام تحت غطاء من الأُشْنَة الرطبة، وهائلةٌ كانت الحيطان التي سقطت. فقد بناها العمال لتنتصبَ إلى الأبد، ومازالت تؤدي واجبَها بنُبلٍ إلى الآن، إذ يجلسُ تحتَها ضِفدعٌ رماديٌ يتخذُها مسكنا.
في قاع الوادي يقعُ نهرُ (ثان)، ذو المياه اللزجة والمملوءة بالأعشاب. ينبعُ من نبعٍ مخفي، ويتدفقُ إلى الكهوفِ تحت الأرض. وحتى شيطانُ الوادي لا يعرفُ لماذا مياهُه حمراء، ولا إلى أين هي راحلة.
أتى جنيٌ يسكنُ أشعةَ القمر، وتحدث إلى شيطان الوادي، قائلا: "أنا عجوز وأنسي كثيرا. أخبرني عن صنائعِ وشكلِ واسمِ الذين صنعوا هذه الأشياءَ من الحجارة”. وأجاب الشيطان: "أنا الذاكرة، وأنا حكيمٌ بعلم الماضي، لكنّي عجوز أيضا. تلك الكائنات كانت مثل مياه نهر (ثان)، لم يكن لأحدٍ أن يفهمَها. لا أتذكرُ صنائعَهم، فوجودُهم لم يطُل إلا للحظة. أما سيماهم، فبالكاد أتذكرها، وكانت مثلَ تلك القرودِ الصغيرةِ على الأشجار. أما اسمهم فأتذكّره بكل وضوح، فله قافيةٌ باسم ذاك النهر. تلك الكائنات من الأمس كانت تُدعى: الإنسان".
عاد الجنيُّ طائرا إلى القمر النحيل، ونظر الشيطانُ باهتمام شديدٍ نحو قردٍ صغيرٍ يجلسُ في شجرةٍ نمَت في فناءٍ منهار.
...
سجلتُ القصة بصوتي على ساوندكلاود، هنا:
https://soundcloud.com/ahmadeddeeb/th...
February 7, 2015
This is more of a reminder for myself than anything.
Memory is a snippet of an encounter between the Genie and the Daemon who are talking about the builders who left the stones and the ruins near the river Than.
Memory is a snippet of an encounter between the Genie and the Daemon who are talking about the builders who left the stones and the ruins near the river Than.
May 6, 2019
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku, as best as I could:
"For all mankind’s fuss,
The mark left is mere landscape
The garden reclaims."
"For all mankind’s fuss,
The mark left is mere landscape
The garden reclaims."
December 31, 2022
Enjoyable for what it is but at the same time way too short to fully get into for me.
October 22, 2021
The imagery in this piece is absolutely amazing.
January 24, 2025
About a demon called memory. Creepy scenery
July 18, 2025
Lovecraft's writing is just so beautiful and vivid. Hardly 2 pages and yet so immersive!
July 18, 2025
Gory!
December 8, 2021
Short but sweet.
May 30, 2016
An oddly effective, tiny little story, evoking the ephemeral nature of human works.
November 16, 2018
It's so short I feel a bit strange reviewing it. For me, it just wasn't long enough for its message to be effective.
May 10, 2019
This is a completely forgettable tale from H.P. Lovecraft, and doesn't even qualify as a waste of time, because it's so short.
March 9, 2023
This short story is a perfect introduction to H.P Lovecraft, and furthermore, it is a great exercise to introduce yourself to a more challenging writing style. Lovecrafts writing can sometimes be a little hard to read with the old English and his insane attention to detail. There is no greater example of his attention to detail then this story, it may only be a few paragraphs but it quite literally paints a picture for you, going over every detail of a valley so that you have a standstill image of this world. If you're reading for characters Lovecraft isn't your writer, but if you're reading for horror that had never been done before and quite literally started a whole genre, or reading to envelop yourself into a small world that builds around you as you read then I highly recommend his work.
November 21, 2024
Debaixo das coisas estão restos de outras coisas do passado. Os homens são uma dessas camadas que se sedimenta como pó e pedra e que a memória faz esquecer mesmo depois da luta contra essa mortalidade. Lovecraft, mais do que anunciar o depois do homem, é um escritor focado em mostrar o que está por debaixo, o subterrâneo, o junto ao solo, as existências entre as pedras e as sombras do visível.
November 21, 2023
Why is this literally 2 pages long? The writing is nice but why does this story exist? What do you do with this valley and its two characters, the Genie and the Daemon? I need a guideline, a purpose. Yet strangely enough I think that’s the one I appreciated most yet.
November 4, 2021
For a great visualization of Lovecraft's short story / prose poem Memory watch this creative animated video on YouTube by bluworm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XINL-...
May 6, 2023
I like this one, slightly confused but it makes more sense.
May 16, 2023
Dreamy and evocative.
December 10, 2024
Nichts besonderes, dafür kurz, eine Art Gedankenspiel welches niedergeschrieben wurde, ohne echte Story
September 14, 2025
This was rather boring. Not a hater of moon stories, but it was only 5 pages long. If it could have been longer I might have liked it more.
July 4, 2019
THE COMPLETE TEXT:
"In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great upas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not meet to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on each slope, where evil vines and creeping plants crawl amidst the stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about broken columns and strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by forgotten hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison serpents and scaly things without a name.
Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets of dank moss, and mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them the grey toad makes his habitation.
At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are slimy and filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to subterranean grottoes it flows, so that the Daemon of the Valley knows not why its waters are red, nor whither they are bound.
The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Daemon of the Valley, saying, “I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and name of them who built these things of stone.” And the Daemon replied, “I am Memory, and am wise in lore of the past, but I too am old. These beings were like the waters of the river Than, not to be understood. Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of the moment. Their aspect I recall dimly, for it was like to that of the little apes in the trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river. These beings of yesterday were called Man.”
So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Daemon looked intently at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard."
"In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great upas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not meet to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on each slope, where evil vines and creeping plants crawl amidst the stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about broken columns and strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by forgotten hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison serpents and scaly things without a name.
Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets of dank moss, and mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them the grey toad makes his habitation.
At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are slimy and filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to subterranean grottoes it flows, so that the Daemon of the Valley knows not why its waters are red, nor whither they are bound.
The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Daemon of the Valley, saying, “I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and name of them who built these things of stone.” And the Daemon replied, “I am Memory, and am wise in lore of the past, but I too am old. These beings were like the waters of the river Than, not to be understood. Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of the moment. Their aspect I recall dimly, for it was like to that of the little apes in the trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river. These beings of yesterday were called Man.”
So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Daemon looked intently at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard."
February 19, 2021
An intriguing flash fiction story regarding a short conversation between a nameless genie of the moonbeams and a daemon that resides in the mystical valley of Nis. Down in the depths of the valley where the red river called Than flows, the godlike beings admire the sight of ape-like creatures frolicking amid the moss-covered ruins of long forgotten civilizations. The punchline of the conversation is that the ape creatures resemble an extinct race of beings whose name rhymes with the river Than, they were called Man. This plays with Lovecraft's familiar theme of mankind being insignificant to higher beings who view us as little more than a brief afterthought.
Makes you wonder, how would ancient gods and celestial beings who live for countless eons perceive humans after observing several thousand years of bizarre and chaotic events caused by us? Would they be afraid? Would they be fascinated? Or would they simply laugh us off as a brief anomaly that was gone in a fleeting flash?
***
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Makes you wonder, how would ancient gods and celestial beings who live for countless eons perceive humans after observing several thousand years of bizarre and chaotic events caused by us? Would they be afraid? Would they be fascinated? Or would they simply laugh us off as a brief anomaly that was gone in a fleeting flash?
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
January 24, 2020
Lovecraft's fourth published work. This flash short story evokes his interest in nameless relics and forgotten history, which over time become regular staples of his mythos. This one-page story describes the deteriorating and horrific condition of the mysterious "valley of Nis," and observes a conversation between the "Genie that haunts the moonbeams" and the "Daemon of the Valley." The two briefly converse about the beings that built the valley's crumbling monoliths, and the Daemon, named "Memory," recalls that the beings were called "Man."
September 15, 2021
This was actually kinda good, tho I can't help but wonder if its because Lovecraft didn't have the chance to insert racist ramblings into this.
October 23, 2024
Fav quote
"Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river [Than]. These beings of yesterday were called Man"
"Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river [Than]. These beings of yesterday were called Man"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews