Asterix and the Magic Carpet
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| Asterix and the Magic Carpet | |
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| French Title: | Astérix chez Rahàzade |
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| Story: | Albert Uderzo |
| Illustrations: | Albert Uderzo |
| French Edition: | 1987 |
| English Translation: | 1988 |
| Preceded by: | Asterix and Son |
| Followed by: | Asterix and the Secret Weapon |
Asterix and the Magic Carpet is the twenty-eighth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was first published in 1987. It is the fourth book to be published after the death of René Goscinny and is thus both written and drawn by Albert Uderzo alone.
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[edit] Plot Summary
The village of the indomitable Gauls is visited by a fakir called Watziznehm on a flying carpet. Watziznehm has come from a kingdom located in the plains of the river Ganges, which is facing severe drought. The only way his land can be rescued is by a timely rainfall, which can be had by a new song-lyric of bard Cacofonix. If the kingdom does not get rain in time, the lovely princess Orinjade, daughter of Rajah Wotzit, will be sacrificed to the rain-God by the Grand Vizier, Hoodunnit.
Orinjade has a time delay of 1001 hours (as opposed to 1001 nights). This is all a scheme by Hoodunnit to seize power once he is rid of the only heiress to the throne.
After facing many delays and hardships (not least Obelix's never-ending complaints about lack of food), Asterix, Obelix, Cacofonix and Watziznehm reach the kingdom in time, only to discover that Cacofonix has lost his voice. He is taken him to Howdoo's elephant farm, where a special bath of elephant hair and dung is supposed to bring his voice back. However, Hoodunnit learns of this and sends his agents to kidnap Cacofonix and abandon him in an elephant graveyard, to be trampled to death by the pachyderms for 'desecrating' the site.
The next morning – after an encounter with Hoodunnit's fakir henchman Owzat – Asterix and Obelix discover Cacofonix' disappearance and with Howdoo's help trace him to the elephant graveyard. To their delighted surprise, they find him alive and comfortable; the elephantine smell from the bath has made the beasts believe that he was one of them. Since Cacofonix hasn't regained the use of his voice, however, they decide to save the princess by force, and Cacofonix gets a share of magic potion for the upcoming brawl.
Meanwhile, the countdown runs out, and the princess is led to the executioner's block. But just at the stroke of 0, Asterix interferes by sky-punching the executioner, and he, Obelix and Cacofonix engage the guards in battle. During the battle, Cacofonix suddenly regains his voice (thanks to the potion) and immediately starts singing off with his own interpretation of Singing in the Rain, which finally triggers the monsoon season.
At the victory feast in the palace, Obelix muses that now their fellow villagers might be (and indeed are doing so) having their traditional banquet, this time without him. And back in the village, some of the Gauls begin to express some desire to have the bard back, since it hasn't been raining for some time now...
[edit] Introducing
- Watziznehm - the fakir
- Orinjade - the princess
- Hoodunnit - the scheming Grand Vizier
- Owzat - Hoodunnit's fakir henchman
[edit] Notes
- This is the first reference to India in an Asterix book.
- In the original French version the princess is called Rahàzade. The title of the comic is thus; "Astérix chez Rahàzade" (Asterix in the presence of Rahàzade) a pun on the famous storyteller Sheherazade who told the 1001 Arabian nights stories.
- At one point Cacofonix (page 18) starts singing a song "confused with another comic strip", according to the accompanying text. The song is indeed Bianca Castafiore's famous aria from Charles Gounod's Faust, which she sings often in the Belgian comic strip The Adventures of Tintin.
- On page 23 the princess starts asking her handmaiden if she sees anything arriving (they are waiting on Asterix and Obelix' arrival). This a reference to the fairy tale of Bluebeard where Bluebeard's wife asks the same thing of her sister, while waiting for her brothers to rescue her.
- On page 29 Asterix, Obelix and Cacofonix eat caviar, just a meal for "poor people", according to the cooks. This is of course a reference to the fact that nowadays only rich people eat it.
- Whodunnit makes a reference to another Goscinny character, Iznogoud, as his cousin and borrows his catchphrase by declaring he will be Rajah instead of the Rajah. (page 43)
- Cacofonix sings "Singin' in the Rain" by Gene Kelly.
- The gag that Cacofonix' singing induces rain was used for the first time in this book. The gag appears later on in Asterix and the Secret Weapon.
[edit] In other languages
- Italian: Le mille e un'ora di Asterix
- Portuguese: As 1001 horas de Astérix
- Polish: Asteriks u Reszehezady
