Gallien, år 50 før Kristus
Under et uvejr dukker en profet ved navn Prolix op. Han vil gerne spå om folks fremtid og den ser lys ud, hvis de kommer med noget godt til ham.
Miraculix er bortrejst, så Prolix har let spil, selv om han starter med at måtte slå sig ned i skoven udenfor landsbyen.
Godemine bliver spået at hendes mand er bestemt for en højere skæbne og gætter på at det er hendes bror Homøopatix, der vil optage ham i sit firma i Lutetia. Hun får Majestix til at forbyde Asterix og Obelix at komme i skoven, men det tager Obelix ikke så nøje på.
Prolix har ytret ønske om at spå i hundeindvolde, så Obelix og Idefix er specielt imod ham.
Romerne opdager også Prolix og han forsøger at finde ud af om de helst vil have en ægte eller en falsk profet. Det er ikke så let.
I det hele taget er han en elendig profet, hvilket jo viste sig allerede fra starten, da han blev overrasket af et uvejr.
Miraculix kommer tilbage fra druide-kongres og det er lige i tide, for profeten har spået at luften i gallerbyen er usund og derfor er næsten alle flygtet fra den. Miraculix brygger en virkelig fæl hørmer og skræmmer romerne væk, som ellers havde indtaget byen.
Han demonstrerer teknikken for borgerne og Asterix demonstrerer også at spåmanden ikke har styr på noget ved at hælde trylledrik på byens kvinder og sende dem hærgende gennem romerlejren.
Asterix viser sig som en sand profet for han har forudsagt festbanketten til slut. Trubadurix er bastet og bundet som sædvanlig.
Nogenlunde album, selv om historien er tynd. ( )

Si quieres conocer las supersticiones de los galos, este es el cómic adecuado ( )

Terrorisés par un violent orage, les habitants du village se sont réunis dans la hutte de leur chef. L'arrivée d'un étranger hautain vêtu d'une peau de bête provoque de prime abord la panique générale. Celui-ci prétend être un devin, et profitant de la crédulité de ses hôtes et de l'absence de leur druide, prend rapidement un ascendant considérable sur les villageois, à l'exception d'Astérix qui reste sceptique. Bientôt les Romains cherchent à tirer parti de la situation. ( )

Six out of ten. CBR format. On a dark and stormy night a Soothsayer arrives in town. Everyone believe his every word - except for Asterix of course. ( )

Asterix must convince his village that their new Soothsayer is a fraud.

This is basically a great, big, hilarious historical romp. Goscinny plays fast and loose with certain things, but he knows his stuff nonetheless. He packs tons of French and Roman history into each installment; this time, for example, we learn about a number of Gaulish gods and about the types of divination practiced in the first century BCE. And of course, he piles on the humor even as he pens these informative tidbits.

The names are a real treat, as always. All the Gaulish men have -ix names; Asterix, (the star!), Obelix, (the menhir delivery man), Vitalstatistix, (the chief), Getafix, (the potion-brewing druid), Cacofonix, (the tone-deaf bard), etc. All the Gaulish women have -ia names, like Impedimentia and Bacteria. None of the Romans in this particular volume are named, but Goscinny's sense of humor still comes across in their camp names: Aquarium, Compendium, Laudanum, and Totorum. (When named Romans crop up in other stories, the men have -us names and the women have -a names, as per the usual Latin conventions). It's good stuff.

The story itself is fairly simple, but Goscinny packs tons of clever stuff into it. The Asterix books are a perfect example of my favourite sort of children's lit: they never talk down to their readers. Goscinny assumes that kids are going to get his jokes. They're going to see where he's coming from with the historical stuff... or if they don't, they're going to learn as they go along. As a result, the books are equally good for adult readers. And if you're learning a new language, they're an excellent way to practice; originally published in French, they've been translated into dozens of languages.

I had a great time with this. It's left me eager to reread a few more of Asterix's adventures.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )