User:DoctorWho42/The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan

"The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Hyperborean cycle, and first published in the June 1932 issue of Weird Tales.

Publication history
According to Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography (1978) by Donald Sidney-Fryer, "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan" was first published in the June 1932 issue of Weird Tales. It was included in Out of Space and Time (1942), And the Darkness Falls (1946), In Memoriam: Clark Ashton Smith (1963), and Hyperborea (1971).

Plot
A beggar requests two pazoors from the richest money-lender of Commoriom, Avoosl Wuthoqquan, in return for a prediction. Declining twice, Wuthoqquan listens to the beggar relate freely how his greed will lead to his doom and the earth shall devour him. Refusing the prophesy, Wuthoqquan later conducts a deal with a thief for two emeralds. Negotiating the sum to two hundred djals, Wuthoqquan takes the emeralds without learning how the thief acquired them. As Wuthoqquan sorts his possessions, the two emeralds stumble off the level table and continue tumbling. Wuthoqquan follows the stones which lead him far from the streets of Commoriom. On a forest road, Wuthoqquan finds the emeralds lead to a cavern. Entering it, he finds a pit full of precious stones. He dives into his newfound wealth. However, it soon ensnares him like quicksand. A monster remarks on his predicament. Pleading with the monster, he sinks further into the pile of stones. The monster notes how it let a thief steal two of his stones but all return to it via magic. Letting the thief escape with two emeralds eventually got the monster a fat money-lender. Rescuing Wuthoqquan, the monster then devours him.

Reception
Reviewing Out of Space and Time in the 1983 book The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, E. F. Bleiler said "The Dark Eidolon" and "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan" are "the best stories." Reviewing Hyperborea in Whispers, Fritz Leiber said "Of the Hyperborean stories, three are wholly first rate: "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan," "The White Sybil," and Ubbo-Sathla."