Asterix in the Orient

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Asterix im Morgenland (French original title: Astérix chez Rahàzade ) is the 28th volume in the Asterix series and was published in 1987 in both German and the original. It was written and drawn by Albert Uderzo .

action

After the Romans burned down the Gallic village of Asterix and rebuilt it on the orders of the ashamed Caesar, the residents celebrate their return. During the banquet, the fakir Erindyah from the distant Gangestal arrives on his magic carpet . He needs the help of the Gauls: the monsoon has failed in his homeland , and the rain god Indra , through the guru Daisayah, calls Orandschade, the daughter of the rajah Nihamavasah, to sacrifice. The call of the bard Troubadix, who conjures up storms of all kinds with his singing, would have spread to India. So Troubadix, accompanied by Asterix and Obelix, starts the journey with Erindyah to the valley of the Ganges in order to trigger the monsoon and prevent human sacrifice.

The journey, which leads through Gaul , Rome and Athens , is accompanied by numerous incidents. First of all, Obelix's constant hunger forces travelers to make frequent gastronomic stops. The bard, on the other hand, feels neglected because the others forbid him to sing during the flight; when his patience finally runs out and he sings, this leads to a crash in the Mediterranean.

After another crash landing in Persia due to the weather (this time Troubadix is ​​not to blame), Asterix, Obelix and Erindyah suddenly become heroes of a village by repelling an incursion by Scythian robbers. As a thank you, they will be given a feast, and they will also receive a new carpet because the previous travel carpet was damaged in the crash.

Meanwhile, Daisayah reveals his true plan to his faithful servant Shandadh, and thus to the reader. After the sacrifice of the princess, the rajah itself is to be sacrificed. Daisayah would have all power in the kingdom after all.

When there are still 30½ hours until the execution, the Gauls arrive in the valley of the Ganges and land in the room of Nihamavasah. Now Troubadix tries to sing in front of the assembled people - but this only causes a choke: he had caught a cold on the trip. The crowd throws furiously at him, while Daisayah and Shandadh rejoice at the mishap.

A cure organized as quickly as possible by the bard fails because he is kidnapped by Daisayah's henchmen while bathing in elephant cow milk. Asterix and Obelix finally find him in the elephant cemetery .

The hour of execution has come and the Gauls can save the princess at the last minute. During a subsequent fight on the scaffold, Troubadix discovers his voice again - Miraculix's magic potion has recovered him - and triggers the rain miracle.

The story ends with two banquets. In the palace of Nihamavasah, Obelix rejoices that the wild boar in Gangestal is not a sacred animal ; at the same time, the Gallic village celebrates the success of its heroes far away.

Remarks

Erindyah's name is a reference to Air India, and Nihamavasah to Never Have Water . Orandschade's name also refers to the popular lemonade drink Orangeade , Shandadh owes its name to his "nefarious" personality and predilection for outrage, and Washupdah owes its name to the elephant - it is derived from What honk there? . This album makes particular reference to the Arabian Nights . This is also noticeable in the French original title, in which the daughter is called Rahazade and the band is called Chez Rahazade , alluding to Scheherazade. But also the deadline that Asterix and the others have to meet is 1001 hours. A year after the album was released, a sketchbook was published for this comic.

While Troubadix's singing has so far been limited to driving all listeners insane (with a few exceptions, such as Grautvornix in Volume 9 or Pepe in Volume 14 ), he also lets it rain here. This special gift can also be found in the following volumes.

Erindyah's route leads from Brittany via Rome , Greece and today's Lebanon and Iran to the Gangestal valley . On the Mercator projection this looks like an almost straight route, but is approx. 700 km longer than the shortest route that follows a great circle .

publication

The first edition of the album was in 1987 by Albert René as volume 28 of the Asterix series. According to the editorial of the work edition, the first German edition of the book was published on October 21, 1987 by Egmont Ehapa Verlag . With the new edition in 2002 this volume got a new cover picture.

See also

Web links