The Derk Isle

Nae tae be confused wi The Black Isle.

The Derk Isle (French: L'Île Noire) is the seivent volume o The Adventurs o Tintin, the series o comic albums bi Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Tintin travels tae Great Britain, whaur he is framed for a theft, huntit bi detectives Nisbet an Nesbit, and is on the trail o a gang o counterfeiters.

A Scots version wis publisht in 2013 bi Welsh publishin hoose Dalen.

Synopsis

While walkin in the Belgian countryside, Tintin sees an unregistered plane makin an emergency landing, but when he goes ower tae help, he is shot bi the pilot. He wakes up in hospital the next morning, when Nisbet an Nesbit veesit and tell him that an unregistered plane haed crashed in Eastdown in Sussex, England the previous nicht. Efter hearing this, Tintin wonders whether the plane which crashed wis the same plane that he haed encountered and decides tae go tae England tae investigate.

Tintin intends tae go bi train tae Ostend, whaur he will tak the ferry tae England. At Brussels' railwey station, Tintin is noticed bi twa men, who frame him for assault and robbery o ane o them. He is arrested bi Nisbet an Nesbit, who are an aa on the train, awtho he pleads his innocence. He manages tae escape when the detectives are asleep bi handcuffing them, an boards the ferry juist afore it leaves, whaur he is again spotted bi the twa men.

On arrivin in England, Tintin takes a taxi tae Eastdown. The twa men, wi the help o thair accomplices, Ivan, pursue the taxi and eventually kidnap him. Thay tak him tae the edge o cliff and whaur thay order him tae jump intae the sea at gunpoint. Tarrie rescues him bi makin a goat go chase the twa men, who escape. Later Tintin finds the plane crash in the outskirts o Eastdown, but canna find the bodies o the crew, who hae escaped. Further investigations tak him tae the woods, whaur he sees a jacket abandoned bi ane o the pilots. On searching it, he finds a torn piece note which reads Eastdown, Sussex, Müller, 3 f.r. Δ, but he is unable tae understand what it means. Later while walkin tae Eastdown, he finds the estate o Dr. J. W. Müller, an evil German doctor who runs a mental institution which tortures his enemies tae insanity. Wondering whether this Müller is the same person mentioned on the note, Tintin decides tae sneak intae the estate, but is caught bi Müller who decides tae tak him tae his mental institution. Houiver he manages tae escapes and locks himsel in an upstairs room, but during the fechtin Müller haes accidentally set the hoose on fire. Tintin, who haes fallen unconscious efter a bullet breaks a bottle o Chloroform near his heid, is finally rescued bi the firefighter alterted bi Snowy. In the meantime, Müller and his accomplices hae fled.

The next morning, Tintin again visits the estate tae investigate further. He finds some electric cables in the gardens, which he follows tae uncover three reid beacons merkin oot a triangle. Wi this information, he then maks sense o the note which says that three o something unkent wad be dropped ower Müller's estate if the triangle o reid flares war lit, tho he is unsure what that "something" actually is. Efter dark he lichts the flares, a plane drops three sacks o counterfeit money ower the estate, meanin that Müller is running a gang o forgers. He then pursues the duo o Müller and Ivan throu the Inglis countryside, a chase which ends anly when Thomson and Thompson arrest him bi chance at a countryside tavern whaur Müller and Ivan are an aa hiding. Houiver thay release him efter he pleads that he will gie himsel up efter he gets the forgers arrested. Accompanied bi the detectives, he sees Müller and Ivan takkin off in a plane. He abandons the detectives and follows the forgers in anither plane, but is nae able tae catch up wi them due tae bad wather and crash lands in rural Scotland. He is rescued bi a friendly Scottish farmer, who gies him a kilt tae wear and shelter for the nicht.

The next morning, Tintin hears in the radio that the plane which he haed been pursuing crashed off the coast o Inverdoom, a Scottish coastal veelage, wi the victims presumed drowned. He is still suspicious and goes tae Inverdoom tae continue wi his investigation. At Inverdoom, an auld man tells him the story o the Derk Isle - an island off the coast o Inverdoom whaur a residing "ferocious beast" kills anyone who goes tae that island. On hearing this story, he becomes even mair suspicious aboot the naitur o the crash and decides tae go tae the Derk Isle the follaein day tae investigate, despite warnings frae the villagers. At the Derk Isle, Tintin encounters the "ferocious beast"- a gorilla named Ranko. He manages tae flee frae Ranko and its trainer- a man named Puschov (who wis ane o the twa men Tintin encountered earlier in the beuk)- bi hiding in a sea cave. Tintin goes further inside the sea cave, which leads intae a prentin press and finds oot that the forgers are uisin the Derk Isle as thair hideout, wi Ranko bein trained bi them tae kill anyone who enters the island. He temporarily subdues aw the forgers, includin Müller, Ivan and Puschov (thay free themselves shortly afterwards) and contacts the police throu radio. Efter a desperate rearguard action (which results in Ranko injuring his arm), the forgers are arrested bi the police. Tintin, alang wi Thomson and Thompson (who are finally convinced that Tintin wis innocent aw alang) investigate the island further afore leaving; the basement o the island's castle (the forger's hideout) wis a plane hangar wi the beach at low tide uised as an airfield (which explained how the forgers war presumed drowned bi the Inverdoom locals). The beuk ends wi a nou submissive Ranko placed in Glasgow Zoo and Tintin returning tae Brussels bi air.

External links

• The Black Island offeecial Website
• The Black Island at Tintinologist.org