The secret of the abandoned castle
The secret of the abandoned castle is the title of the last book by the Russian writer Alexander Volkov . He wrote it in 1975 under the original title "Тайна заброшенного замка". The illustrations are again by Leonid Wladimirski . The story forms the sixth volume in the Emerald City series .
The story was first published in 1976 in the journal Druzhnye rebjata . The book edition, the text of which differs greatly from the first publication, was only published posthumously in 1982. The book was first translated into German by Lazar Steinmetz ; this translation appeared in the journal Soviet literature . Thea-Marianne Bobrowski was ultimately responsible for the translation of the book edition .
action
Several years have passed since the events described in The Yellow Fog . A spaceship is under the control of the pilot Kau-Ruck on its way to Earth from the planet Rameria . Two peoples live on this planet, the Menvites and the Arsaks . The Menvites subjugated the Arsaks with the help of their hypnotic gaze and made them slaves. Now the Menvites also want to subjugate the inhabitants of the earth. The first to see the spaceship is Urfin Juice . The Winkers had built a telescope for him and so he can first see the spaceship like a star that begins to twinkle more and more. At this time there is a feast with Urfins fruit and vegetables every year in the emerald city. The night the Menviten land is the night before the feast. So it is that the arrival of the Ramerians does not go unnoticed. You end up in the valley in which the magician Hurrikap once built his castle. Hurricane died a long time ago, but the castle is still very well preserved. The Menvites also brought some of the enslaved Arsaks with them. The leader of the Arsaks is Ilsor . He is the personal servant of Commander Baan-Nu . He is also the only Arsakus who can withstand the hypnotic gaze of the Menvites. To get a picture of the country in which they landed, the Menvites kidnap the weaver Mentacho. Before he was put to sleep, he was one of the seven underground kings.
At the same time the Scheuch in the Emerald City learns of the arrival of the strangers. He assigned the dwarves to spy on the camp and the spaceship. Mentacho learns from one of the dwarfs what he has to conceal from the leader of the Menvites. The intruders must not find out that they were in a magical land, that the animals can speak and that creatures such as the Scheuch, the Iron Lumberjack , Tilli-Willi and the wooden heads live here. After the animosity of the Ramerians is revealed, the Scheuch and his friends decide to send Faramant and Oicho to Kansas to ask for help for the magical land. Ann , Tim O'Kelli and the also summoned Alfred Cunning do not hesitate and fly to the magical land to take up the fight against the strangers.
In the meantime, the Menvites set about exploiting an emerald mine. As usual, they leave the hard work to the Arsaks. Over time, they notice that the emeralds make them insensitive to the hypnosis of the Menvites. So now for the first time they see an opportunity to free their people from the yoke of the Menvites. In addition to the dwarves, someone else had watched the strangers: Urfin. The effect of the emeralds on the Arsaks does not escape him either. With the help of one of the Gingema magic stones, he succeeds in stealing the emeralds from the Baan-Nus room.
After Ann, Tim and Fred arrive in the Emerald City, they discuss how to defeat the strangers. It is decided to lay an aqueduct from the land of the underground ore graves to the Ramerians to put the Menvites into a magical sleep. Various attacks were carried out on the camp to keep the Menvites busy. First the bats disrupted the alarm system until it was switched off. Then the wooden heads carry out an attack with the help of distorting mirrors, as a result of which the energy of their radiation weapons acts against the menvites themselves. Then Baan-Nu decides to launch a helicopter attack against the Emerald City. This is thwarted by the eagles under the leadership of Karfax. Kau-Ruck refuses to take part, which means he is to be prosecuted with the severest punishment according to the Menvite laws.
When the water pipe was completely laid, the Arsaks added the magic water to the Menvites' food and drinks. So they immediately fall into a magical sleep. Only the pilot Kau-Ruck is spared. On the one hand he is the only one who can fly the spaceship back to Rameria, on the other hand he has proven to be trustworthy through his behavior. In parting, Urfin presented the Arsaks with the stolen emeralds. After the spaceship leaves Earth, Ann, Tim and Fred return to Kansas.
particularities
The Secret of the Abandoned Castle is the last book in the Emerald City series written by Alexander Volkov. He died in Moscow two years later . The series was continued by other authors such as Yuri Kuznetsov and Nikolai Bachnow .
The Secret of the Abandoned Castle was preprinted in German from 1983-84 in the magazine “Soviet Literature”. The translation there comes from Lazar Steinmetz, who had already translated the first five Volkov volumes. The translation of the German book edition of the sixth volume is, however, by Thea-Marianne Bobrowski. The German book first edition appeared in 1984.
radio play
There is a radio play about this book: The Secret of the Abandoned Castle . Director: Paul Hartmann, MC, ISBN 3-82-910329-8 . An audio book version was published in 2011: The Secret of the Abandoned Castle , read by Katharina Thalbach , Jumbo Neue Medien, 2 CD, ISBN 978-3-8337-2715-3
Individual evidence
- ↑ Soviet literature, Issues 8/1983, 3/1984, 7/1984 and 9/1984.