"The Door to Saturn" by Clark Ashton Smith

Apparently I couldn't decide on what sound that 'o' in Eibon should take, so it changes throughout the story. Oops.

Smith's writings would make for good SAT prep, in so far as vocabulary goes! HA!

malison: curse

400 feet = 122 meters

calamite: an extinct type of swamp plant related to horsetails

perspicacious: having a ready insight into and understanding of things

desuetude: state of disuse

telluric: of the earth

veracious, not voracious! meaning speaking or representing the truth

debouch, not debauch! meaning to emerge from a narrow or confined space into a wide, open area

friability: the tendency of a solid substance to break into smaller pieces under duress or contact, especially by rubbing

Hziulquoigmnzhah: you will note my pronunciation of this word is hardly consistent. But look at it! I really have no idea how to pronounce in the first place, much less any clue how to pronounce it consistently. And from the sound of it, Eibon probably would have struggled as well. So I'm not worried about it.

orotund: of speech: full, round, and imposing

sententious: given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner

horrent: of a person's hair, this would be standing on end, and it's possible that is the meaning he is looking for here. Otherwise it means expressing horror, which is also certainly possible.

refection: refreshment by food or drink; a light meal

objurgation: harsh rebuke

termagant: a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman

hieratic: highly stylized or formal

cephalic: of, in, or relating to the head

apterous: (of an insect) having no wings

Stylitean: The Stylites were early Christian ascetics who lived on top of high pillars, preaching, fasting, and praying. Dolomite is a type of mineral, and The Dolomites is a mountain range in northern Italy, so the fact that these Djhibbis "roost" on "dolomites" does sound like Stylitean is hearkening to the Christian Stylites.

flibbertigibbet: a frivolous, flighty, or excessively talkative person

cacodemoniacal: evil

thallophytes: algae

To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/50/the-door-to-saturn

I love how these old stories are so imaginative about life on other planets in our solar system! While I suppose authors today could be creative about life on planets in other solar systems, they would be confronted with the challenge of justifying human exploration of star systems many light years away, while a planet in our own solar system is much more reachable, but that alas, modern science has put to rest the matter of complex life on other planets in our system.