THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE

"The Pool of the Black One," first published in Weird Tales in 1933, is one of the only Conan tales that I've read at least three or four times. And at this point, I feel like we're kind of on a downswing in this section of Conan's career. The last couple stories have just been passable. "The Pool of the Black One," which not a major step up, is definitely the best one since "The People of the Black Circle." It has several elements we've seen before in "Iron Shadows in the Moon" and "The Devil in Iron" (and a few more, if we're being honest) but it does the job better with some of its creepy magic elements, especially later in the narrative.

The story opens with a poem as an epigraph, which I think is fun most of the time. Conan is now travelling with the pirate Zaporavo and Sancha, a beautiful and classy woman, as usual. Conan's entrance to the story is pretty classic, as he sort of just appears on their boat, dripping wet. When they ask him how the hell he got aboard, he just says, "I swam." We really get to see Conan have a good time while crewed up with the pirates.

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“Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and ​gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.”

We finally get to see some of the gigantic mirth talked about in the above quote, which is trotted out almost any time Conan is mentioned. Usually Conan is sullen and frequently monosyllabic, but he loosens up a bit in a really charming way here. At least, it's charming if you're not Zaporavo or Sancha, seeing as it's clear he's gunning for Zaporavo's captain post and Sancha's bed. But as long as you're a part of this crew or a third-party viewer, Conan's downright charming in this. 

"​His mates began to rely upon him. He did not quarrel with them, and they were careful not to quarrel with him. He gambled with them, putting up his girdle and sheath for a stake, won their money and weapons, and gave them back with a laugh. The crew instinctively looked toward him as the leader of the forecastle. He vouchsafed no information as to what had caused him to flee the Barachas, but the knowledge that he was capable of a deed bloody enough to have exiled him from that wild band increased the respect felt toward him by the fierce Freebooters. Toward Zaporavo and the mates he was imperturbably courteous, never insolent or servile."

I remember running a "Pool of the Black One" module with my friends when DMing a Conan D&D campaign with them, and it was really fun in a way that leant itself well to a D&D session. The creepy pool of green water which seems to petrify people into hardened bone action figures. The way the water seems sentient. The ancient civilization's walls surrounding it. It's all pretty cool. 

The "black one(s)" themselves are a bit of a different story. Howard seems to be betraying some of his own personal beliefs here, as these clearly inhuman things are readily referred to as "blacks" by Conan, and it's specifically noted that he just seems to feel that's what's best to call them. As they carry off a white woman, it starts to feel pretty icky. 

"The Pool of the Black One" feels a lot like some of Post Malone's new country music. I know there's a long history of "going country" in popular music, but I can't think about it too much or it really ruins it for me. Post Malone's wearing multiple Cowboys jerseys and singing about Dallas (Isn't he from Syracuse? He is! I checked.). The whole video's basically just a Bud Light commercial. Blake Shelton's the feature (Is there a more horrendously bland pop country artist than Blake Shelton?) They're singing about working 40-hour weeks and keeping up with the Joneses (You're both rich pop singers! You've never worked a 40-hour week! You're the Joneses! Actually, the Joneses are trying to keep up with you!) And yet, for some reason, I really like that song. The less I think about it, the more I like it. It's the same for "The Pool of the Black One." If I don't think about the weird implications of the black creatures carrying off a defenseless white woman, I have a much better time. It's a shame you have to do that to enjoy some of these.

"Pool" was adapted into comic form by Roy Thomas and John Buscema in Savage Sword 22 and 23, which is kind of surprising to me since it doesn't seem like one of the stories that would need two parts for an adaption.

​"Red Nails" is next. I'm excited for this one!

★★★☆☆

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