The secret of the "unicorn"

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The secret of the "unicorn" ( French original title: Les aventures de Tintin: Le Secret de La Licorne ) is the eleventh Tintin album by the Belgian illustrator Hergé . The story, which was first published in Le Soir from June 11, 1942 to June 14, 1943 , is continued in The Treasure of Rackham the Red .

action

The Place du Jeu de Balle in Brussels was a template for Hergé for the flea market in this story

Tim buys a model of a sailing ship at the flea market that he would like to give to his friend Captain Haddock . Immediately after the purchase, dubious-looking characters appear who are also interested in the ship and offer large sums for it. However, the seller leaves the ship to Tim. When the captain came to see Tim, he noticed that the ship looked exactly like that of the Chevalier de Hadoque , a seafarer and ancestor of the captain, it even had the same name: The "Unicorn". While they are making sure of this at Haddock's apartment, the ship is stolen.

Tim immediately suspects one of the previously very intrusive competitors on the market. When he visits it, he actually finds an identical ship, but not the same one. While he was wondering about it, his apartment was broken into again and everything was searched, but nothing was taken. The two policemen Schulze and Schultze , who are on the hunt for a pickpocket and want to help Tim, are very clumsy and achieve nothing, except to become victims of the pickpocket themselves several times.

Tim now discovers that there is a secret connected with the ship models. He finds a piece of paper that apparently indicates the treasure of Rackham the Red in encrypted form . The captain, who has meanwhile read everything about his ancestor, tells Tim how he was traveling in the Antilles in 1698 on behalf of the French King Louis XIV . His ship is captured by the pirate Rackham the Red and his entire crew is killed. Hadoque himself is tied to a mast, but can break free. He kills Rackham and sinks the ship with the pirates on board.

The two discover that there are three identical models and that each part of the puzzle about the position of the sunk and treasure-filled real ship. In the search for the other models, they find that their unknown opponent also obviously knows what to look for. This is extremely rough: Another ship owner is chloroformed , an informant is even shot. Finally, Tim is also drugged and kidnapped because the stranger assumes that Tim knows the whereabouts of the documents.

Tim manages to escape from the prison, which he finds out is in the basement of Mühlenhof Castle , which belongs to the Vogel-Faull brothers . After a lengthy physical argument with the kidnappers, one of them is arrested and reports on the motives, while the other manages to escape with one of the pieces of paper. However, he does not get far and is arrested at the border.

In the meantime the Schulzes have also been successful. They tracked down the pickpocket, who turns out to be a very neat kleptomaniac - the stolen wallets are neatly arranged and sorted in alphabetical order. Among them, Tim also finds the third prospect's wallet, which contains the two missing pieces of paper. The combination of the three parchments gives geographic coordinates.

The story continues in Rackham the Red's Treasure .

background

In contrast to various other Tintin adventures, the secret of the "unicorn" has not been changed since it was first published. Just like its predecessor, it first appeared as a comic strip in the newspaper Le Soir . The important circulation of this daily newspaper made Hergé's work widely known, so that the circulation of the two albums in this story was very high - Rackham's Treasure of the Red is the most printed Tintin album.

Some authors assume that the story written down in Captain Hadoque's logbook is fictitious, since the pirates would never have been able to conquer the much larger ship without cannons and that Hadoque simply took the king's treasure for himself. (Tim will also find the treasure at Mühlenhof) There actually was a pirate named Jean Rackam (sic!): He was English and with his crew spread fear and terror on the oceans at the beginning of the 18th century. After he was defeated in a battle, he was hung on a yard of his ship on November 20, 1720. Several famous captains named Haddock - such as Richard Haddock - also existed in the English navy in the 17th and 18th centuries under Charles II , which Hergé only learned later - an astonishing coincidence.

In this volume, Hergé draws for the first time the Mühlenhof Castle (in the original: Moulinsart ), which was inspired by the Cheverny Castle on the Loire . A reference to the castle in Malicorne-sur-Sarthe is also possible, some names used in the book suggest this. This volume also introduces the last main character in the (later) stories: Professor Bienlein , a caricature by the Swiss professor Auguste Piccard , for Hergé the epitome of a professor. The high arched forehead, the round glasses with gold rims, the mustache (no goatee like the little bees), the dented hat, the long coat and the long thin turtle-like neck are modeled on Piccard, but Piccard was very tall, as Herge said of one "Mini-Piccard" as Professor Bienlein. The stubborn composure, the deafness and the genius are the exact opposite of the explosive impatient Haddock. Another person who makes their first appearance is the butler Nestor. Mr. Sakharin, the model ship collector, has a new appearance in the unfinished album Tim und die Alpha-Kunst .

The red flag is hoisted, Haddock explains the meaning: "That means: No pardon! Prisoners are not taken. If we are defeated, they will slaughter us all".

The flea market at the beginning of the story is inspired by the Place du Jeu de Balle in Brussels.

Film adaptations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tintin au pays des savants ( Science et Vie hors série, 2003)
  2. Michael Farr: In the footsteps of Tintin and Struppi . Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2006, pp. 105-106
  3. Michael Farr: In the footsteps of Tintin and Struppi . Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2006, p. 109
  4. Michael Farr: In the footsteps of Tintin and Struppi . Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2006, p. 111

literature