The Roi and the Reine de Mars (King and Queen of Mars) wait for the arrival of a prodigious being, Matoum, but he is preceded by his doppelganger, the impostor Tévibar. While the poems told by Matoum bring light and colour to the planet, those delivered by Tévibar prompt melancholy and gloominess. During the sparring match between the two poets, Tévibar makes the Reine faint and the Roi die, but Matoum brings them back to life before flying to Earth to take part in the war.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Albert-Birot Pierre

France

Paris

Italy

Rome

Printed

Science fiction

Poetry

Mars Planet

Impostor

Vanguard

Seduction

Unwelcome seducer

Fainting

Miraculous cure

Resurrection

Ascension

Futurism

Comical

Fantasy

Satirical

Pierre Albert-Birot, Matoum et Tévibar, edition SIC, 1919 (cover)

French

or the enlightening and recreational Story of the true and fake poet

Prologue

Address to the public

Sticking

Interrupting

Misunderstanding

Song

Transforming scenery

Light effects

Blow-with-a-stick

Fight

Metamorphosis

Matoum et Tévibar

Matoum and Tévibar

Esteban is the owner of a farm. He has a male servant, Silvestre, and a female servant, Oliva, who is also his mistress. Oliva really loves her master and she serves him so well that Esteban is thinking about marrying her. But he is wondering if Oliva really loves him or if she is after his belongings, so he explains to Silvestre the stratagem that he has planned to deploy in order to put her to the test: he will pretend that he has lost all of his possessions, and then fake his own death. Silvestre, in the presence of the supposed body, will have to feign love for Oliva in order to test her faithfulness. Esteban puts his plan into action. Thanks to the help of a fake doctor, Esteban pretends to die. Silvestre tells Oliva how he feels about her as planned, but his feelings are in fact true and he had always concealed them. Oliva faints, Silvestre carries her in his arms and the two of them run away from the house. Esteban sits up on his death bed and, taken aback by the revelation of truth, he actually dies of syncope.