14. Prisoners of the Sun (1946–1949)
Prisoners of the Sun is the
fourteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip
albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé,
featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. Its original French title is
Le Temple du Soleil ("the temple of the sun"). The album continues the
story begun in The Seven Crystal Balls.
Tintin
and Captain Haddock arrive in Peru to look for Professor Calculus,
following the events in The Seven Crystal Balls, which ended with
Calculus being kidnapped for putting on the bracelet of the mummified Inca,
Rascar Capac. Calculus slips through their fingers, and they set off on
the trail of the natives who have taken him. It leads them to the
mountain town of Jauga where an attempt is made on their lives by
sabotaging the train.
Tintin
then finds himself protecting a young Indio boy named Zorrino from two
bullying men of white descent. Following that, a mysterious Indio gives
him a medallion, telling him it will save him from danger. Later,
Zorrino offers to take them to the Temple of the Sun, where he claims
their friend is being held. The Temple lies deep in the Andes, and the
journey there is eventful - it involves hindrance from natives and
Captain Haddock being terrorised by the local wildlife.
Finally
they come upon it - and stumble right into a group of Inca who have
survived until modern-day times. Zorrino is saved when Tintin gives him
the medallion (the Indio who had given it to him reveals himself as one
of the Incan high priests), but Tintin and Haddock are sentenced to
death for their sacrilegious intrusion and end up on the same pyre as
Calculus. Tintin has, however, chosen the hour of their death to
coincide with a solar eclipse, and the terrified Inca believe he can
command their God, the Sun. Afterwards, the leader of the Incas tells
them the "magic liquid" mentioned in the preceding volume was a
coca-derivative used to hypnotize the explorers who had excavated Rascar
Capac's tomb as punishment for their sacrilege. Tintin convinces him to
break the curse, and they return to civilization with a gift of Incan
gold and jewels, while Zorrino decides to stay with the Incas.
.jpg)
