Shadows in Zamboula

"Shadows in Zamboula"

Author	Robert E. Howard
Original title	"The Man-Eaters of Zamboula"
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Conan the Cimmerian
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Published in	United States
Publication type	Pulp magazine
Publisher	Weird Tales
Publication date	1935

"Shadows in Zamboula" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in Weird Tales in 1935. Its original title was "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula".

The story takes place over the course of a night in the desert city of Zamboula, with political intrigue amidst streets filled with roaming cannibals. It features the character Baal-pteor, one of the few humans in the Conan stories to be a physical challenge for the main Cimmerian character himself.

By present-day sensibilities, the story is seriously marred by including a vicious racial stereotype - blacks as cannibals - though Howard strove to lessen this by making clear that the cannibals in Zamboula are only the specific blacks from Darfar, other blacks being untainted.

Plot summary

Despite a warning received in the Suq by an elderly desert nomad, Conan stays the night in a cheap tavern in Zamboula, run by Aram Baksh. As night falls, a black Darfarian cannibal enters Conan's small chamber by means of a trick lock to drag him away to be eaten. All of the Darfarian slaves in the city are cannibals who roam the streets at night. As they only prey on travelers, the people of the city tolerate this and stay locked securely in their homes, while nomads and beggars make sure to spend the night at a comfortable distance from its walls. Even worse, Aram Baksh has made a deal with the cannibals - he provides them "fresh meat," while he profits from the belongings of the ill-fated guests of his inn. This night, however, the unfortunate Darfarian attempts to prey on an armed and wary Conan, and pays with his life. Realizing the trap his room is, Conan takes to the Zamboulan streets where he soon runs into a naked woman chasing through the streets after her deranged lover; Conan rescues them from an attack by the cannibals. She tells him that she tried to secure her lover's unending affection via a love potion which instead made a raving lunatic of him. Suggestively promising Conan "a reward" in return for his assistance, they attempt to kill the high priest responsible for the man's madness.

The woman is captured in the attempt, and forced - via hypnotism - to dance before the High priest until she dies. Conan, defeating - quite literally - the strangler Baal-pteor at his own game, rescues her and kills the priest. At the point of claiming his payment, however, she reveals that she is really Nafertari, mistress to the satrap of the city, Jungir Khan (the mad man). Taking an antidote to Jungir, she promises Conan position and wealth.

Conan, however, leaves the city and reveals to the reader that he had recognised them almost immediately. He takes his revenge on the tavern owner Aram Baksh by cutting out his tongue and shearing off his beard to render him mute and unrecognizable, and turning him over to the hungry cannibals to devour - one of the most profound displays of Conan's ironic sense of humor - and leaves the city with gold and the magic ring that started the night's intrigues (and which Conan had stolen from the mad Jungir on their first encounter), with the intent to sell it to another interested party.

Reprint history

The story was republished in the collections Conan the Barbarian (Gnome Press, 1954) and Conan the Wanderer (Lancer Books, 1968). It has more recently been published in the collections The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle (Gollancz, 2000) as "Shadows in Zamboula" and in Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935-1936) (Del Rey, 2005) under its original title, "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula."

Adaptation

The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams in Savage Sword of Conan #14.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Shadows in Zamboula

Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com
Conan.com: The Official Website
Shadows in Zamboula public domain audiobook at LibriVox

Preceded by "Beyond the Black River"	Original Howard Canon (publication order)	Succeeded by The Hour of the Dragon
Preceded by "The People of the Black Circle"	Original Howard Canon (Dale Rippke chronology)	Succeeded by "Drums of Tombalku"
Preceded by Conan and the Manhunters	Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology)	Succeeded by Conan the Raider

Conan the Barbarian

Stories, books

Books	Conan (books)

Original works by Robert E. Howard	"Beyond the Black River" "Black Colossus" "The Black Stranger" "Cimmeria" "The Devil in Iron" "Drums of Tombalku" "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" "The God in the Bowl" "The Hall of the Dead" "The Hand of Nergal" The Hour of the Dragon "Jewels of Gwahlur" "The People of the Black Circle" "The Phoenix on the Sword" "The Pool of the Black One" "Queen of the Black Coast" "Red Nails" "Rogues in the House" "The Scarlet Citadel" "Shadows in the Moonlight" "Shadows in Zamboula" "The Slithering Shadow" "The Snout in the Dark" "The Tower of the Elephant" "The Vale of Lost Women" "A Witch Shall be Born" "Wolves Beyond the Border"

Non-Howard works (some based on non- Conan Howard works)	"Black Sphinx of Nebthu" "Black Tears" "The Blood-Stained God" "The Castle of Terror" "The City of Skulls" Conan and the Amazon Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza Conan and the Emerald Lotus Conan and the Gods of the Mountain Conan and the Grim Grey God Conan and the Manhunters Conan and the Mists of Doom Conan and the Shaman's Curse Conan and the Sorcerer Conan and the Spider God Conan and the Treasure of Python Conan at the Demon's Gate Conan, Lord of the Black River Conan of the Isles Conan of the Red Brotherhood Conan of Venarium Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Bold Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Champion Conan the Defender Conan the Defiant Conan the Destroyer Conan the Fearless Conan the Formidable Conan the Free Lance Conan the Gladiator Conan the Great Conan the Guardian Conan the Hero Conan the Hunter Conan the Indomitable Conan the Invincible Conan the Liberator Conan the Magnificent Conan the Marauder Conan the Mercenary Conan the Outcast Conan the Raider Conan the Rebel Conan the Relentless Conan the Renegade Conan the Rogue Conan the Savage Conan the Triumphant Conan the Unconquered Conan the Valiant Conan the Valorous Conan the Victorious Conan the Warlord "The Curse of the Monolith" "Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian" "The Flame Knife" "The Gem in the Tower" "Hawks over Shem" "The Ivory Goddess" "The Lair of the Ice Worm" "Legions of the Dead" "Moon of Blood" "The People of the Summit" "Red Moon of Zembabwei" The Return of Conan The Road of Kings "The Road of the Eagles" "Shadows in the Dark" "Shadows in the Skull" "The Star of Khorala" The Sword of Skelos "The Thing in the Crypt" "The Witch of the Mists"

Collections	Black Colossus The Bloody Crown of Conan The Coming of Conan The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian The Complete Chronicles of Conan Conan The Conan Chronicles (Howard et al) The Conan Chronicles (Jordan) The Conan Chronicles, 1 The Conan Chronicles 2 The Conan Chronicles, 2 The Conan Chronicles II Conan of Aquilonia Conan of Cimmeria Conan the Adventurer Conan the Avenger Conan the Barbarian (1954) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Freebooter Conan the Swordsman Conan the Usurper Conan the Wanderer Conan the Warrior The Conquering Sword of Conan The Devil in Iron The Essential Conan The Further Chronicles of Conan Jewels of Gwahlur King Conan The People of the Black Circle The Pool of the Black One Queen of the Black Coast Red Nails Rogues in the House Sagas of Conan The Sword of Conan Tales of Conan The Tower of the Elephant The Treasure of Tranicos

Scholarship	The Blade of Conan The Conan Grimoire The Conan Reader The Conan Swordbook The Spell of Conan

Authors

Creator	Robert E. Howard

Later authors	Poul Anderson Leonard Carpenter Lin Carter L. Sprague de Camp Roland J. Green John C. Hocking Robert Jordan Sean A. Moore Björn Nyberg Andrew J. Offutt Steve Perry John Maddox Roberts Michael A. Stackpole Roy Thomas Harry Turtledove Karl Edward Wagner

Other media

Television	Conan the Adventurer (animated series) Conan and the Young Warriors Conan the Adventurer (TV series)

Film	Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Kull the Conqueror (1997) Conan the Barbarian (2011) The Legend of Conan (2016)

Comics	Conan (comics) Conan (Marvel Comics) Conan (Dark Horse Comics) Savage Sword of Conan

Games	Age of Conan (Rise of the Godslayer) Conan (2004) Conan (2007) Conan: Hall of Volta Conan: The Mysteries of Time Conan Against Darkness! Conan Collectible Card Game Conan Role-Playing Game Conan: The Roleplaying Game Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Mercenary Conan Triumphant Conan Unchained!

Setting

Characters	Bêlit Conan the Barbarian Kulan Gath Queen Taramis Red Sonja Serpent Men Thoth-Amon Thulsa Doom Valeria Vammatar Xaltotun Zenobia

Deities	Crom Mitra Set

World	Hyborian Age Aquilonia Cimmeria Acheron Empire

Chronology	The Hyborian Age Conan Chronologies

Kull	Thurian Age

Red Sonja	"The Shadow of the Vulture"

References	Cohen the Barbarian Conan the Librarian

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