The Broken Ear

Compiled by Irene Mar Last updated:

The Broken Ear book cover
Colour facsimile / 1943 updated version. Hardback.
The Broken Ear book cover
Colour / 1943 updated version. Hardback. Paperback.
© Hergé / Tintinimaginatio

Original French title

L'Oreille Cassée

Plot

An Arumbaya fetish stolen from a Brussels museum is back in its case the next day, but Tintin sees that it is a copy. The sculptor who made it has been found dead, and two crooks, Alonso and Ramón, are after the original. Tintin follows them to the South American republic of San Theodoros. There he is caught up in a revolution, a war over oil and a journey to the Arumbaya people.

Publication history

First published in Le Petit Vingtième between 5 December 1935 and 25 February 1937.

Published in book form in 1937 [black and white].

Edited and published in colour in 1943.

English editions

  • 1975 - Methuen (London). Translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner. Colour. 64p. 30cm. ISBN: 0416834507.
  • 1975 - Methuen (London). Translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner. Colour. 62p. 30cm. ISBN: 0416570305.
  • 1989 - Mammoth (London). Colour. 62p. 30cm. ISBN: 0749701706.
  • 1990 - Methuen Children's Books (London). ISBN: 0416148727.
  • 2008 - Egmont (London). Colour facsimile. 64p. 30x23cm. ISBN: 9781405240680. (Publication date: 7 July 2008.)

Trivia

  1. On page 2, frame 19, the museum's conservator has a spoon behind his ear and uses a pen in his coffee.
  2. On page 3, frame 1, the museum's conservator puts on his coat inside out. [TT]
  3. On page 10, frame 10, Tintin's red notebook turns yellow. [SH]
  4. Several things in Mr Balthazar's room disappear between pages 4 and 9: on page 4, frame 1, several objects can be seen around the bed. On page 9, frame 3, the cup, the triangle, the lamp, the poster and the bust have all disappeared. [DT]
  5. The chess board used by Tintin and General Alcazar, as seen on pages 28 and 29, has a black right bottom square. Normally, the right bottom square of a chess board is white. [DT]
  6. On page 32: Hergé made a mistake drawing the tip of bananas pointing to the ground. Banana tips always point toward the sky. [DT]

Characters

Title in other languages

  • Basque - Belarri hautsia
  • Bengali - Kanbhanga Murti
  • Brazilian Portuguese - O Ídolo Roubado
  • Breton - Ar skouarn dorr
  • Catalan - L'orella escapçada
  • Chinese - China: 破损的耳朵(Puosun de erduo)Hong Kong and Taiwan: 破損的耳朵 (Puosun de erduo)
  • Danish - Det knuste øre
  • Dutch - Het gebroken oor
  • Farsi/Persian - Gushi shikastih
  • Finnish - Särkynyt korva
  • Galician - A orella rota
  • German - Der Arumbaya Fetisch
  • Greek - To Spasméno autí
  • Hebrew - Ha'ozer Ha'shvurah
  • Hungarian - A törött fül (2008 edition title. Translator: Anna Luca.)
  • Icelandic - Skurðgoðið með skarð í eyra
  • Indonesian - Patung kuping belah [Indira edition title] / Si Kuping Belah [Gramedia edition title]
  • Italian - L'orecchio spezzato
  • Japanese - かけた耳 Kaketa mimi
  • Lëtzburgesch - d'Ouer mam krack
  • Norwegian - Det knuste øret
  • Portuguese - A orelha quebrada
  • Spanish - La oreja rota
  • Swedish - Det sönderslagna örat
  • Turkish - Kirik Kulak
  • Vietnamese - Búc tuong tai vô

Next album: The Black Island

Credits

Originally created by Jesper Jühne. Revised and maintained by Irene Mar.

Characters list compiled by Irene Mar and Etienne Chevalier.

Contributors and sources: Stephen Hart, Chikahiro Masami, Etienne Chevalier (Tintinologist.org Belgium Correspondent), Luis Olavo Dantas, Chris Owens (Tintinologist.org UK Correspondent), Peter Szabo, Syaiful Bahri, BP= Tintin and the world of Hergé by Benoît Peeters. London: Methuen, 1989; TT= Tintinologisk Tidsskrift; DT = Discover Tintin [defunct web site].

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