Ghost Stories · Chapter
Negotium Perambulans explained
The narrator returns to the isolated fishing village of Polearn after twenty years, recalling a childhood legend of a blood-draining creature that haunted the quarry-house.
What happens
The narrator returns to the isolated fishing village of Polearn after twenty years, recalling a childhood legend of a blood-draining creature that haunted the quarry-house. The story involves a wicked landowner who built a house on a desecrated church site, was drained of blood by a dark entity, and later a Mr. Dooliss who rebuilt the house, drank heavily, and met a mysterious end after smashing a church panel depicting the creature.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and Occult
The legend of a blood-draining creature that walks in darkness, the mysterious restoration of the smashed church panel, and the supernatural fate of Mr. Dooliss.
Folklore and Superstition
The local legend of the 'Thing' that trafficked in darkness, passed down among fisher-boys and believed by the community, reflecting deep-rooted superstitions.
Guilt and Retribution
Mr. Dooliss's drunken sacrilege in destroying the church panel is followed by his mysterious death, suggesting divine or supernatural retribution.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator, now a successful barrister, returns to Polearn after twenty years and recalls childhood memories of the quarry-house legend.
- Aunt Hester
The narrator's aunt, who remained in Polearn and recounts the fate of Mr. Dooliss and the supernatural events surrounding the quarry-house.
- Mr. Dooliss
A drunken man from Penzance who rebuilt the quarry-house, smashed the church panel in a fit of fear, and later died under mysterious circumstances.
- Richard Bolitho
The vicar of Polearn, the narrator's uncle, who preached about the creature and confronted Mr. Dooliss after the panel was destroyed.
Key passages
“it was the Thing, the Creature, the Business that trafficked in the outer Darkness, a minister of God's wrath on the unrighteous.”
The creature was described as an entity that operated in darkness, serving as an instrument of divine punishment for sinners.
The narrator recalls the vicar's sermon describing the supernatural being.
“There he lay a-dying, and him that had been a great burly man was withered to a bag o' skin, for the critter had drained all the blood from him.”
The once large and strong man lay dying, shriveled to a sack of skin because the creature had drained all his blood.
A fisher-boy recounts the legend of the landowner's death.
“I've settled your Thing for you, and your sermon too. A fig for such superstitions.”
Mr. Dooliss boasted to the vicar that he had destroyed the panel and dismissed the supernatural warnings.
Mr. Dooliss's defiant response after smashing the church panel.