Asterix and the Soothsayer was published in 1972. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo.
There’s only one thing that the Gauls in Asterix’s village fear and that is the sky falling on their head. The beginning of the story starts off with many of the villagers in the house of Chief Vitalstatistix during a particularly heavy storm. They’re worried that this might be the day the gods end the world... and Getafix, the druid, is not in the village to hold their hands in comfort as he is attending a druid’s conference.
During the storm a mysterious man who wears the skin of a wolf enters the chief’s house. He claims to be a... soothsayer. While we don’t encounter too many of these type in the present day, there is a full page in the story that explains what these people are all about. They basically pretend to predict the future based on premonitions.
The villagers are gullible and believe all the “nice” premonitions that this soothsayer makes (all except Asterix). He eventually sets up camp right outside of the village and receives food and money from the villagers. Eventually he is captured by a roman patrol and works for the centurion in the camp of Compendium. This centurion is also pleased by the soothsayer’s predictions and orders the soothsayer to get rid of the Gauls.
Eventually Getafix returns to the village and teaches all those gullible villagers how stupid they are for believing such things. There’s a big fight and then the usual ending with a banquet.
After reading a bunch of Asterix books written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, I have to admit that René Goscinny is a much better writer. He writes with much more wit and doesn’t rely on an overkill of puns.
Asterix and the Soothsayer is an amusing story because it’s all about greed and being gullible. I’ve never been one to go get my fortune read (be it by cards or palm) and I find it amusing how people can believe in this kind of stuff. These fortune-tellers can probably make very good educated guesses about people if they interview their customers but it all seems like nonsense.
Children who read this book can think about superstitions and how people can be taken advantage of.
