The fifth elephant (original title: The Fifth Elephant ) is the twenty-fourth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett . It was published in 1999 and was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000. The action takes place in Überwald. The fifth elephant is one of the city watch stories, which is why Commander Mumm and his wife, Lady Sybil , occupy the most prominent roles. Uncovering a conspiracy and thus ensuring a coronation are the central narrative strand of the story. In addition, Terry Pratchett introduces the "clacker" in this novel, the long-distance semaphore system that becomes indispensable in many later novels.
action
Commander Mumm , definitely the most undiplomatic man in town, travels in his function as Duke of Ankh on behalf of Lord Vetinari as ambassador to Überwald . Accompanied by Lady Sybil , the troll Detritus , the dwarf Grinsi and a dubious secretary, he is supposed to represent Ank-Morpork at the coronation of the lesser king of the dwarfs on a diplomatic mission.
Before he left the city, the most famous rubber manufacturer, Mr. Keinesorge, was murdered and a copy of the famous “Steinsemmel” (originally “Scone of Stone”, an allusion to the Stone of Scone ) was stolen when the dwarf museum was broken into . Then disappears even Sergeant Angua and causes Captain Carrot to follow her.
Hardly having arrived in Bums, the capital of Überwald, Mumm made acquaintance with the three relevant power factors of the country on his inaugural visits. The baron, Angua's father, represents the werewolves, whereby the baroness is in charge, but she is apparently afraid of her own son Wolfgang, a muscled fascist. Rhys, the future lesser king, is a worried-looking dwarf who has the wrong advisers. Finally, Lady Margalotta, the spokeswoman for the vampires, who has been a member of the Schwarzbandlern (a vampire association that has sworn off human blood) for three years. She seems to be the only one who is happy about Mumm's presence.
The policeman in Samuel Mumm senses that a crime is in the air and when he innocently asks the dwarfs whether they have found the stone rolls in the meantime, he sets off an avalanche. It has actually disappeared and the coronation is seriously in danger. Sitting on the stone roll, the future king has been taking his vows for 1500 years. Mumm is unofficially assigned to help find the bread roll, because civil war threatens to break out among the dwarves.
In the course of the investigation, the disappearance of the stone roll turns out to be a major conspiracy between Wolfgang and the supporters of Vice-King Albrecht Albrechtson. Ultimately, Mumm finds the stone roll, which is a perfect copy from a Morporkian production, but is unanimously declared to be genuine by the king and his competitor. Then Mumm kills Wolfgang in a final duel and restores peace.
As a reward for his successful intervention, the Low King of the Dwarfs, Samuel Mumm, grants particularly favorable conditions for Ankh-Morpork's fat imports (the Discworld analogy for crude oil) over the next few years. It turns out that Lady Sybil knows how to negotiate much better than her husband.
Instead of returning directly to the city after the coronation, Mumm and Lady Sybill treat themselves to another three weeks honeymoon in Überwald. This is good because in the absence of both the commander and Captain Karotte, the watch was under the direction of Fred Colon , which then led to considerable upheavals.
The Scholars of the Disc World (1999, German 2004) • The Philosophers of the Round World. More from the scholars of the Discworld (2002, German 2004) • Darwin and the Gods of the Discworld (2005, German 2006) • The Last Judgment. The Science of Discworld 4 (2013, German 2013)
Other books
The Disc World from A – Z (with Stephen Briggs ; 1994, German 1996) • The Disc World Album (1996, German 2001) • GURPS Disc World (with Phil Masters ; 1998, German 1999) • Nanny Oggs Cookbook (1999, German 2001) . 2001) • GURPS Discworld Also (with Phil Masters ; 2001) • The Art of Discworld (2004, German 2006) • Where's my Cow (2005) • Wit and Wisdom of Discworld (2007, German 2010) • Myths and legends the Discworld (with Jacqueline Simpson ; 2008, German 2009) • The World of Poo (2012) • Fools, Thieves and Vampires - The best of ten years of Discworld calendars (with Stephen Briggs ; 2012, German 2012)
Discworld maps
The Streets of Ankh-Morpork - A Discworld Map (1993; Ger. 1996) • The Discworld Mapp (1995) • A Tourist Guide to Lancre - A Discworld Mapp (1998) • Death's Domain - A Discworld Mapp (1999) • More complete and indispensable Ankh-Morpork city guide (2012, German 2013) • Mrs. Bradshaw's most useful handbook for all routes of the Hygienic Railway Ankh-Morpork and Sto Plain (2014, German 2015)
The whole madness (2004, German 2007) • Big words (2012, German 2018) • Twisted dragon (2014, German 2015) • The vacuum-sucking fright screw (2016, German 2018)
