The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul

by Albert Robida

  “A zoological garden!” cried Palmyrin Rosette. “We’re part of a menagerie! The wretches! What an insult to a colleague!”

  And all the prisoners, furious at this treatment, hurled themselves at the bars of their cage and shook them furiously. The crowd gathered outside recoiled in fear, but the menagerie’s keepers appeared then, passing long poles between the bars and vigorously belaboring the shoulders of the most furious.

  O rage! O dolor! How shameful for an astronomer like Palmyrin, officers like Servadac and the Englishmen! To be locked up in a menagerie like mere animals! To be beaten by brutal keepers before the eyes of an imbecilic crowd!

  And to put the cap on the humiliation, the time to distribute nourishment having arrived, keepers bearing large baskets full of blackish meat appeared, throwing bloody morsels into all the cages! The neighboring beasts released long howls; in the cages opposite those of the unfortunate Terrans, members of a bear-like species climbed tree-trunks and swung stupidly back and forth to earn their pittance.

  Finally, the baskets reached the Terrans. The crowd parted and the keepers, placing large pieces on the ends of their long forks, passed them very carefully through the bars.

  Servadac could not stand it; he leapt on a bone and threw it forcefully at the face of a stupidly-staring gawker in the front row. The unfortunate Saturnian released a horrible scream and fainted in the arms of his seven wives; he had had his nose—or rather, his trunk—broken.

  X.

  Three days and three nights passed without Farandoul being able to find any trace of Servadac. For three nights he wandered at hazard in the labyrinthine streets of the great city, whose name he did not know, into which hazard had thrown him. This was not without great danger to himself, with no lack of pursuits by bands of Saturnian night-owls.

  If he had understood their language, he would have been rapidly informed by the gigantic posters plastered on every wall that announced the arrival in the national menagerie of extraordinary animals, viewable on payment of a small supplementary fee. A long description followed, issued by the scientific commission and illustrated with fairly accurate portraits drawn by the finest animal artists. Farandoul recognized them, and was led to think that the Terrans had perhaps been engaged by some theater under the title of a “great attraction”—but how could he verify the fact? How could he make certain?

  Not far from this flamboyant poster there was another of more serious appearance, but which Farandoul understood no better, announcing a measure corresponding to our declaration of a state of siege. The government, to reassure the population, ordered the organization of night-patrols with the aim of capturing the ferocious beats glimpsed in the city for three nights running.

  Going out into the city at the beginning of the fourth night, in spite of his prudence, Farandoul ran straight into one of these patrols; comprised as it was, however, of a militia that was scarcely battle-hardened, his presence alone caused it to fall back. The bravest fled as fast as their wings could carry them to carry the alert to all the posts. Soon, Farandoul heard the sound of gongs summoning the garrison, and to avoid further encounters he was obliged to double back to the park.

  There was one corner of the park that he had not explored, that being the very location of the menagerie. Farandoul went into it, at hazard, curious to make the acquaintance of the Saturnian fauna. The ferocious beasts, waking with a start, growled dully.

  Farandoul went from cage to cage, examining the Saturnian beasts by the light of the moons. In this manner he arrived at the cages enclosing Servadac and his companions. They were presumably sleeping in the darker depths; Farandoul did not see them.

  He thought the cages were empty and was about to pass on when he almost stumbled over a bizarre instrument projecting through the bars of the cage. Farandoul stepped back in astonishment. The instrument resembled a telescope! What did it imply? Were the Saturnian animals studying the sky? As he looked closer, an exclamation escaped him. The animal at the telescope was Palmyrin Rosette.

  Other exclamations responded. Servadac and the others bounded out of the depths of the cage.

  “You, here, shut up in a menagerie!”

  “By Saint George!” said a fat Englishman with a crestfallen expression. “What a humiliation for officers of the queen! The Saturnians consider us as ferocious animals and treat us as such. We’re part of the menagerie, with bear-like species for neighbors. They beat us, and pass us raw meat on the end of a fork. During the day, the crowds come to laugh at our faces; the ladies try to provoke us and the infants throw little pellets of black bread at us. Sad, sad!”

  Servadac, roaring internally, did not say a word. Suddenly, Palmyrin, who had not left the telescope, released a cry of joy.

  “There she is! My calculations were correct!”

  “Who’s she?”

  “My comet—our comet! Gallia! The one we abandoned for this horrible Saturn. She’s coming back to exactly the same point…”

  Indeed, a brilliant comet, undulating its long tail, had just risen radiantly above the horizon. Palmyrin, suspended from his telescope, seemed to be imploring it with his hand on his heart.

  Meanwhile, a party of keepers, woken up by the howling in the menagerie, was advancing from the end of the pathway.

  Farandoul took Servadac’s hand. “Listen, my ex-enemy—have a little more patience. Tomorrow night I’ll come to set you free! Until tomorrow!” And Farandoul vanished into the darkness, leaving the unfortunates a glimmer of hope.

  On his arrival at the large tree, he found the minaret colony in a state of agitation. A young Saturnian and a female of the blue variety, presumably an amorous couple, had come to bill and coo in the tree. The appearance of Niam-Niam had surprised them so much that they had almost let themselves fall to the ground without having the strength to use their wings.

  This circumstance made Farandoul anxious. Was their refuge about to be discovered? He decided to mount a careful guard, and, in the meantime, to prepare the weapons for a serious defense.

  They spent the rest of the night making plans for the liberation of the presumed ferocious animals.

  It was agreed that on the following night, Farandoul and Désolant, leaving the queens under the guard of Niam-Niam, would go break into the cages in the menagerie. The colony, further reinforced by 18 men with five rifles, revolvers and gunpowder, would then attempt to take possession of some easily-defensible edifice—a tower or castle—entrench themselves therein and open negotiations with the Saturnians in order to formulate a treaty.

  “It’s a good plan,” said Désolant, “and it will succeed. I can see us already, recognized citizens of Saturn, owners of a patch of ground, founders of a prosperous colony. We shall form a new race. I don’t think the acclimatization will be difficult, the air being perfectly healthy. Before long, we’ll feel the effects of the environment…”

  “What effects?”

  “Well, just as Europeans transplanted to Guinea soon take on a darker coloration, which becomes black in a few generations, I suppose that, submitted to the same general conditions as the Saturnians, we’ll soon begin to transform ourselves. Our noses will become…”

  “How horrid!” cried Caroline and Angelina at the same time.

  “Yes, Mesdames, your nose will elongate into trunks, you’ll grow flippers…it’s the transformist theory of Darwin. Have you read Darwin?”83

  The queens placing no credence in the predictions of the savant Désolant, consoled themselves very rapidly. For his part, the scientist was perfectly satisfied with his destiny and did not regret the loss of Earth at all. What a joy for him: an entire world to get to know, a whole new nature to study! His only annoyance was not being able to send reports to the Société de la Géographie.

  Another day had to go by before our friends could set out to liberate the other Terrans: the waiting seemed long.

  When night fell, Farandoul was glad to see the weather becoming stormy. Heavy clouds, passing before the moons
and over the rings of Saturn, covered the garden in protective darkness. As the first crashes of thunder sounded, he descended with Désolant and headed for the menagerie.

  Prey to a profound terror, the animals were howling lamentably. The two men ran to Servadac’s cage and found the Terrans overexcited by anticipation. The bars of the cage were so strong and well-tempered as to negate all hope of breaking them; fortunately, Farandoul and Désolant had found a few builders’ tools left in the park and picked them up en route. They attacked the ground underneath the cages and succeeded, after two hours of Herculean labor, in making an opening large enough for the prisoners to scramble through.

  The storm had turned into a tempest; a veritable cyclone was battering Saturn, breaking trees, knocking down walls and pouring furious torrents of water everywhere. Farandoul was eager to get back to the minaret, and they were about to leave when Désolant noticed that one of the prisoners was missing.

  “Indeed,” said Servadac, “there are 17 of us! Who is still in the cage? Ah! It’s our astronomer, Monsieur Rosette.”

  “Wait! Wait!” replied a voice from within the cage. “I’m finishing my calculations. It’s certainly necessary to flee now—our comet’s coming back! We can expect an impact. Gallia has gone around Saturn and is coming back with lightning speed, getting closer and closer. She’s subject to the planet’s attraction; she has already passed the ring and pulverized one of the moons.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that we’re on the point of a new cataclysm. We’ll witness a frightful encounter between two stars and I don’t want to be at the point of impact—although there’s not much hope of avoiding it. If the impact is head-on, Saturn will explode like a shell!”

  “Bring him along!” Farandoul ordered.

  Two robust Englishmen seized the astronomer by the legs.

  “My telescope! My telescope!” howled Palmyrin.

  Farandoul had picked it up. He showed it to him, and Palmyrin, more calmly, allowed himself to be carried away in the midst of the storm.

  The park had suffered; on every side trees uprooted by the tempest were lying across the paths. They did not run; they flew, borne by a fearful wind.

  On the way the Terrans encountered a regiment of Saturnians, which was heading back to town, and which ran away to avoid a fight. Alas, in his impatience, Farandoul did not pay enough attention to two sealed palanquins escorted by the Saturnian soldiers; no tightness in his chest gave him warning; he had no suspicion of imminent misfortune.

  Running at the head of his men, he tried to peer through the darkness to find the tree with the dense foliage in which the minaret was hidden.

  Eventually, the gigantic silhouette appeared, shaking in the wind. Farandoul briskly climbed the branches and reached the opening of the minaret.

  “Niam-Niam! Kalunda!” he cried. “Angelina!”

  There was no response. Farandoul went inside the minaret, and only took a minute to understand the full extent of his misfortune. The Saturnians had abducted the four queens! A trunk severed by a sword showed that the valiant warrior-women had attempted an impossible resistance.

  Suddenly, Farandoul released a cry of joy. He had just heard Niam-Niam’s voice at the foot of the tree. In the young savage’s arms was a feminine shadow, hanging limply. One of the captives had been retrieved.

  “Which one is she?” cried Farandoul, letting himself slide down to the ground.

  The feminine shadow sat up and extended her arms toward Farandoul.

  “Damnation!” said the furious Farandoul. “Flora Klaknavor!”

  Niam-Niam gave voice to a pitiful exclamation. “Not my fault, master! It was so dark…!”

  A gust of wind more violent than the rest interrupted his protests. Everything on the ground fell down, and was enveloped by a whirlwind of branches and stones torn away from the temple. The tree with the minaret cracked under that terrible assault, bent down to the ground, eventually came upright again, and finally, vanquished by the hurricane, collapsed on to the ground with its roots in the air.

  The Terrans, trapped under the branches and more-or-less crushed, were trying to get up when Palmyrin Rosette’s excited voice rose above the din of the devastation:

  “The comet! The comet! It’s the impact!”

  Those who heard him clung on desperately to whatever was close to hand, prepared for any catastrophe.

  For ten long minutes, they were tossed about by the storm-wind and rolled along the ground with the ruins of the tree. Suddenly, the handful of men clinging to the minaret felt themselves disengaged from the foliage and rapidly lifted into the fiery atmosphere.

  “The minaret’s being carried away by the comet!” Palmyrin’s voice resumed.

  “We’re leaving Saturn!” cried Farandoul. “Curses! What about the four queens…?”

  The frightful tempest occasioned by the passage of the comet Gallia through the atmosphere of Saturn continued for a long time, with the same fury, on the comet. It was not until nearly 36 hours after the terrible shock that the men clinging to the minaret were able to profit from a moment of calm to look around.

  Only eight Terrans had left Saturn, and were voyaging through space in the comet’s wake. They were Farandoul, Niam-Niam, Servadac, his batman Ben-Zouf, Palmyrin Rosette, two Spaniards and the inevitable Flora MacKlaknavor. The other Terrans, and Désolant with them, were still on Saturn!

  The minaret, considerably reduced by the recent impact, was very cramped for such a numerous population. Its inhabitants had already divided into two groups, with Servadac and his friends on one side, and Farandoul, Niam-Niam and Flora on the other.

  Farandoul and Servadac, little disposed to fraternize, darted surly glances at one another.

  “Do you have any food-supplies?” asked Servadac, tormented by hunger.

  “No, do you?”

  “None at all—we’ll have to eat one another.”

  Palmyrin Rosette intervened and demonstrated to Servadac by a gesture that it would be easy to descend to the comet. Indeed, the minaret was now traveling barely 15 meters above the latter’s surface, brushing the branches of the forests. Servadac’s party had only to let themselves slide down into the foliage and descend from branch to branch.

  Farandoul, Niam-Niam and Flora did not move.

  “Bon voyage, and bon appétit!” Servadac shouted to them, ironically.

  Niam-Niam responded with a joyful bound, precipitated himself into the interior of the minaret, and soon returned loaded down with provisions. The prescient savage had taken advantage of the last night spent on Saturn to pillage a large restaurant in the Saturnian park. Our friends had enough supplies to last for a long time.

  Let us now return to Saturn and see how the queens had fallen into the power of the inhabitants of that strange planet.

  The minaret hidden in the tree had been discovered, and the powerful monarch resident in the grand palace, seduced by the portrait his spies had painted of the queens, had given the order to take them alive no matter what the cost.

  Thus, while Farandoul and Désolant were running to the menagerie and Niam-Niam was pillaging the Saturnian restaurant, regiments had advanced silently to the foot of the tree and determined Saturnians had launched an assault on the minaret.

  The queens, surprised in their sleep, had defended themselves bravely, but had succumbed to the weight of numbers. They had been dragged away and taken to the palace.

  Meanwhile, the hurricane unleashed on Saturn was making the building tremble on their foundations. What had become of Farandoul in the midst of that cataclysm? The queens, locked up in a sumptuous apartment in the palace, thought for a while that Saturn would be pulverized by the comet, but they soon saw the comet drawing away with vertiginous rapidity.

  In the morning, the queens receive a visit from the prince and the highly-placed individuals of the court. They perceived very quickly that, instead of having to deal with enemies like Servadac, they only had admirers
among the Saturnians. Hope returned to their hearts; they received the homages of the monarch and courtiers with an affable dignity.

  What had become of their friends? They tried to make their anxiety understood to the powerful monarch.

  The prince was full of delicacy. He gave a few orders, and the queens were soon able to see the various Terrans who had remained on Saturn after the impact—which is to say, the English officers, a few soldiers, three Spaniards and our friend Désolant.

  Désolant had seen everything. He was able to tell the four queens that Farandoul, clinging to the minaret, had been carried away again by the comet!

  It was over. O dolor! Farandoul and the queens were separated forever.

  Three weeks later, four great nations were in celebration on Saturn. Four powerful monarchs were marrying the four queens, in the hope of acclimatizing an eighth female species on that beautiful planet.

  The same day, millions of leagues away, Farandoul, still on his dislocated minaret, was subjected to a new cataclysm. This time, the comet was crossing the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.

  This resulted in dreadful turmoil, and the minaret, swinging between the two stars, suddenly entered the Earth’s atmosphere, rotated around our planet and finally fell into the middle of a wide river.

  Men sitting on the bank had witnessed the fall; they immediately threw themselves into the water. Soon, Farandoul, Niam-Niam and Flora were brought, unconscious, to dry land.

  “Farandoul!”

  “Mandibul!”

  Such were the two exclamations that rang out simultaneously. It was indeed, Mandibul and our old friends the mariners, who, despairing of being able to find their leader on African soil, were retuning sadly to Cairo, having exhausted all their resources. O Providence!

  It was necessary to tell the brave sailors everything. It was necessary to relate the emotions of that infernal journey with the queens, first across Africa, then through the atmosphere and from one planet to another, all the way to Saturn.