The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 2)
Page 25
33 In the same way that the previous letter mentioned quoted Shakespeare’s Iago, this one might be referring to one of Shakespeare’s several references to the myth of Diana and Actaeon, which tend to embody sly references to cuckold’s horns, rather than to the myth itself.
34 From which, of course, the English “cuckold” is derived.
35 A name used for several characters in Molière, but only once in a title: Sganarelle ou le Cocu imaginaire [Sganarelle, or the Imaginary Cuckold] (1660)
36 Les ciseaux d’Anastasie [Anastasia’s scissors] was conventional French shorthand for censorship; a famous cartoon by André Gill, dating from 1874 and entitled “Madame Anastasie” depicted a stern old woman, the equivalent of the English “Mrs. Grundy.”
37 Approximately, “Law and Love,” Themis being the symbolic embodiment of divine, as opposed to human, law, although she could also be construed as the principle of custom rather than formal ordinance.
38 The term torpille [torpedo]—here referring to the electric ray rather than the weapon named after the fish in question—had been famously employed by Honoré de Balzac as the nickname of a notoriously agile prostitute in a novella subsequently incorporated into the portmanteau novel Splendeurs et misères des courtesans (1838-47; tr. under various titles, including The Splendor and Misery of Courtesans).
39 Georgette de la Plante invented the silk fabric in question in the early years of the twentieth century; it was still at the peak of its fashion when the present story was written.
40 In this instance “poire” [pear] is used figuratively, to mean “simpleton,” but I have translated it literally because of Tornada’s supplementary remark.
41 The Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française, here abbreviated, is the official dictionary of the French language, founded in 1687, whose supervising committee gives careful consideration to the question of whether neologisms and appropriations from other languages are worthy of admission.
42 The lac that the protagonist is not in is presumably the infernal lake of fire. Lacrima cristi [Christ’s tears, in Latin] is nowadays better known as the name of a kind of wine than in its literal reference, but Tornada probably does not intend his wordplay to embrace that extra complication, being content with the sarcasm of implying that the Académie “rhymes” with Christ, as does the protagonist’s adventure.
43 The number two can thought of as resembling a sitting bird, as in the Bingo call that refers to 22 as “two little ducks,” hence Tornada’s recruitment of cocotte, baby-talk for hen. The word has other metaphorical meanings in French, however, the most familiar equivalent to the English “whore,” licensing Tornada’s subsequent wordplay.
44 A Classical scholar would be more likely to construe the improvisation as a reference to a device for looking into female intimate organs.
45 Continuing the theme of Tornada’s wordplay, poule de luxe, literally “luxury chicken,” carries metaphorical meanings equivalent to “high class whore” and “trophy wife.”
46 Virtue is situated in the middle.
47 Construed metaphorically, cafard can refer to depression, or “the blues,” but it can also refer to hypocrisy, or, in a more crudely literal sense, a cockroach.
48 The Sicambri were a Germanic tribe involved in various wars against the Roman Empire, but this remark relates directly to a declaration by the Bishop of Reims, later canonized as Saint Remigius, when baptizing the Merovingian Frankish king Clovis I into the Catholic faith: “Now you must bend your head, proud Sicamber. Honor what you have burnt; burn what you have honored.”
49 The Masonic lodge in Perpignan was notorious in the late 18th century, when it was rumored to be a significant nucleus of Enlightenment philosophy. It is now a hotel.
50 It did, in fact, make it, as a feminine noun referring to a violent family dispute.
51 L’entrain would normally be construed as zest, or enthusiasm; Tornada is, of course, making a punning reference to the train of a dress.
52 Maboul is a slang term meaning “mad.”
53 Landerneau is a region in Brittany, and hence remote from Paris. A lanterneau is a glazed structure on the roof of a building, a kind of glorified skylight.
54 Polyhymnia was the Muse of sacred poetry, Erato the muse of lyric poetry.
55 The painter and illustrator André Devambez (1867-1944), now most famous for crowd scenes painted from an elevated perspective, was a friend of Couvreur’s, who provided the illustrations for the serial version of Une Invasion de macrobes.
56 “Boy [or slave], get rid of that fly!” A phrase used in a standard textbook of Latin grammar to illustrate the vocative case.
57 “Pauvre Lélian” is the designation employed by Paul Verlaine to refer to himself in his classic study of Les Poètes maudits (1884). In fact, he and Théodore Banville were not neighbors in death, only the latter being interred at Montparnasse; the former found his permanent resting place in the Cimetière des Batignolles.
58 The die is cast.
59 Fiole [phial] can refer to the face rather than to a small tube, but Tornada knows what he means, even if Lucienne doesn’t.
FRENCH SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY COLLECTION
105 Adolphe Ahaiza. Cybele
102 Alphonse Allais. The Adventures of Captain Cap
02 Henri Allorge. The Great Cataclysm
14 G.-J. Arnaud. The Ice Company
61 Charles Asselineau. The Double Life
118 Henri Austruy. The Eupantophone
119 Henri Austry. The Petitpaon Era
120 Henri Austry. The Olotelepan
103 S. Henry Berthoud. Martyrs of Science
23 Richard Bessière. The Gardens of the Apocalypse
26 Albert Bleunard. Ever Smaller
06 Félix Bodin. The Novel of the Future
92 Louis Boussenard. Monsieur Synthesis
39 Alphonse Brown. City of Glass
89. Alphonse Brown. The Conquest of the Air
98. Emile Calvet. In A Thousand Years
40 Félicien Champsaur. The Human Arrow
81 Félicien Champsaur. Ouha, King of the Apes
91. Félicien Champsaur. The Pharaoh’s Wife
03 Didier de Chousy. Ignis
97 Michel Corday. The Eternal Flame
113 André Couvreur. The Necessary Evil
114 André Couvreur. Caresco, Superman
115 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 1)
116 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 2)
117 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 3)
67 Captain Danrit. Undersea Odyssey
17 C. I. Defontenay. Star (Psi Cassiopeia)
05 Charles Derennes. The People of the Pole
68 Georges T. Dodds. The Missing Link and Other Tales of Ape-Men
49 Alfred Driou. The Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut
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10 Henri Duvernois. The Man Who Found Himself
08 Achille Eyraud. Voyage to Venus
01 Henri Falk. The Age of Lead
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108 Louis Forest. Someone Is Stealing Children In Paris
31 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega
70 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega & The Shadowmen
112 H. Gayar. The Marvelous Adventures of Serge Myrandhal on Mars
88 Judith Gautier. Isoline and the Serpent-Flower
57 Edmond Haraucourt. Illusions of Immortality
24 Nathalie Henneberg. The Green Gods
107 Jules Janin. The Magnetized Corpse
29 Michel Jeury. Chronolysis
55 Gustave Kahn. The Tale of Gold and Silence
30 Gérard Klein. The Mote in Time’s Eye
90 Fernand Kolney. Love in 5000 Years
87 Louis-Guillaume de La Follie. The Unpretentious Philosopher
101 Jean de La Hire. The Fiery Wheel
50 André Laurie. Spiridon
52 Gabriel de Lautrec. The Vengeance of the Oval Portrait
82 Alain Le Drimeur. The Future City
27-28 Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny. The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (2 vols.)
07 Jules Lermina. Mysteryville
25 Jules Lermina. Panic in Paris
32 Jules Lermina. The Secret of Zippelius
66 Jules Lermina. To-Ho and the Gold Destroyers
15 Gustave Le Rouge. The Vampires of Mars
73 Gustave Le Rouge. The Plutocratic Plot
74 Gustave Le Rouge. The Transatlantic Threat
75 Gustave Le Rouge. The Psychic Spies
76 Gustave Le Rouge. The Victims Victorious
109-110-111 Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius
96. André Lichtenberger. The Centaurs
99. André Lichtenberger. The Children of the Crab
72 Xavier Mauméjean. The League of Heroes
78 Joseph Méry. The Tower of Destiny
77 Hippolyte Mettais. The Year 5865
83 Louise Michel. The Human Microbes
84 Louise Michel. The New World
93. Tony Moilin. Paris in the Year 2000
11 José Moselli. Illa’s End
38 John-Antoine Nau. Enemy Force
04 Henri de Parville. An Inhabitant of the Planet Mars
21 Gaston de Pawlowski. Journey to the Land of the Fourth Dimension
56 Georges Pellerin. The World in 2000 Years
79 Pierre Pelot. The Child Who Walked On The Sky
85 Ernest Perochon. The Frenetic People
100. Edgar Quinet. Ahasuerus
60 Henri de Régnier. A Surfeit of Mirrors
33 Maurice Renard. The Blue Peril
34 Maurice Renard. Doctor Lerne
35 Maurice Renard. The Doctored Man
36 Maurice Renard. A Man Among the Microbes
37 Maurice Renard. The Master of Light
41 Jean Richepin. The Wing
12 Albert Robida. The Clock of the Centuries
62 Albert Robida. Chalet in the Sky
69 Albert Robida. The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul
95 Albert Robida. The Electric Life
46 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Givreuse Enigma
45 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Mysterious Force
43 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Navigators of Space
48 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Vamireh
44 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The World of the Variants
47 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Young Vampire
71 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Helgvor of the Blue River
24 Marcel Rouff. Journey to the Inverted World
09 Han Ryner. The Superhumans
106 Brian Stableford. The Conqueror of Death
20 Brian Stableford. The Germans on Venus
19 Brian Stableford. News from the Moon
63 Brian Stableford. The Supreme Progress
64 Brian Stableford. The World Above the World
65 Brian Stableford. Nemoville
80 Brian Stableford. Investigations of the Future
42 Jacques Spitz. The Eye of Purgatory
13 Kurt Steiner. Ortog
18 Eugène Thébault. Radio-Terror
58 C.-F. Tiphaigne de La Roche. Amilec
104 Louis Ulbach. Prince Bonifacio
53 Théo Varlet. The Xenobiotic Invasion (w/Octave Joncquel)
16 Théo Varlet. The Martian Epic; (w/André Blandin)
59 Théo Varlet. Timeslip Troopers
86 Théo Varlet. The Golden Rock
94 Théo Varlet. The Castaways of Eros
54 Paul Vibert. The Mysterious Fluid
English adaptation and introduction Copyright 2014 by Brian Stableford.
Cover illustration Copyright 2014 Mandy.
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ISBN 978-1-61227-280-1. First Printing. May 2014. Published by Black Coat Press, an imprint of Hollywood Comics.com, LLC, P.O. Box 17270, Encino, CA 91416. All rights reserved. Except for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The stories and characters depicted in this novel are entirely fictional. Printed in the United States of America.