Lovecraft, H P - The Tree

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The Tree

by H. P. Lovecraft

Written 1920

Published October 1921 in The Tryout, Vol. 7, No. 7, p. 3-10.

On a verdant slope of Mount Maenalus, in Arcadia, there stands an olive grove about the

ruins of a villa. Close by is a tomb, once beautiful with the sublimest sculptures, but now

fallen into as great decay as the house. At one end of that tomb, its curious roots

displacing the time-stained blocks of Panhellic marble, grows an unnaturally large olive

tree of oddly repellent shape; so like to some grotesque man, or death-distorted body of a

man, that the country folk fear to pass it at night when the moon shines faintly through

the crooked boughs. Mount Maenalus is a chosen haunt of dreaded Pan, whose queer

companions are many, and simple swains believe that the tree must have some hideous

kinship to these weird Panisci; but an old bee-keeper who lives in the neighboring cottage

told me a different story.

Many years ago, when the hillside villa was new and resplendent, there dwelt within it

the two sculptors Kalos and Musides. From Lydia to Neapolis the beauty of their work

was praised, and none dared say that the one excelled the other in skill. The Hermes of

Kalos stood in a marble shrine in Corinth, and the Pallas of Musides surmounted a pillar

in Athens near the Parthenon. All men paid homage to Kalos and Musides, and marvelled

that no shadow of artistic jealousy cooled the warmth of their brotherly friendship.

But though Kalos and Musides dwelt in unbroken harmony, their natures were not alike.

Whilst Musides revelled by night amidst the urban gaieties of Tegea, Saios would remain

at home; stealing away from the sight of his slaves into the cool recesses of the olive

grove. There he would meditate upon the visions that filled his mind, and there devise the

forms of beauty which later became immortal in breathing marble. Idle folk, indeed, said

that Kalos conversed with the spirits of the grove, and that his statues were but images of

the fauns and dryads he met there for he patterned his work after no living model.

So famous were Kalos and Musides, that none wondered when the Tyrant of Syracuse

sent to them deputies to speak of the costly statue of Tyche which he had planned for his

city. Of great size and cunning workmanship must the statue be, for it was to form a

wonder of nations and a goal of travellers. Exalted beyond thought would be he whose

work should gain acceptance, and for this honor Kalos and Musides were invited to

compete. Their brotherly love was well known, and the crafty Tyrant surmised that each,

instead of concealing his work from the other, would offer aid and advice; this charity

producing two images of unheard of beauty, the lovelier of which would eclipse even the

dreams of poets.

With joy the sculptors hailed the Tyrant's offer, so that in the days that followed their

slaves heard the ceaseless blows of chisels. Not from each other did Kalos and Musides

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Lovecraft, H P - The Tree

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