The Cats of Ulthar

In the town of Ulthar, before the law was passed, an old cotter and his wife took pleasure in killing any cat that strayed onto their land. When a caravan of dark wanderers passes through, a small boy among them, Menes, loses his only companion, a little black kitten, to the couple. That night the boy prays in a tongue no one knows, and the whole population of cats in Ulthar vanishes.

When they return, sleek and sated, the old couple are never seen again, and only their picked bones remain. So it is that in Ulthar no man may kill a cat. A small fable of a story, almost a fairy tale, and one of Lovecraft's most quietly satisfying. The Archive keeps it light and feline, a swing tune with claws under it.