The King in Yellow

The two epigraphs for this story are in French. The first is from Paul Verlaine’s “fete galante” poems and reads:

Half-close your eyes,

Cross your arms on your breast,

And from your sleeping heart

Drive Away all purpose forever (88).

The second epigraph is from an unknown source, and translates to:

I sing of nature,

The evening stars, the morning’s tears,

The sunsets on the distant horizon,

The sky that speaks to the heart of future existence! (88).

The painter Severn in his little apartment in Paris. A cat walks into his room, and he invites her in with a bowl of milk and breadcrumbs. As the cat eats, Severn talks to her in gentle tones. He asks her about her troubles and wonders why she came to his apartment in the Street of the Four Winds, and up five flights of stairs to visit him. He notices her collar, made from a pink silk garter with a silver tag, and realizes she must have an owner.

Daydreaming, Severn imagines what the cat’s owner must look like. First, he pictures an old woman doting on her cat. Then he imagines a younger woman who is beautiful, with gold hair, azure-blue eyes, and rosy lips. He would like to paint her, but not on canvas where the colors would never do her justice.