The Trip of Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant (Detailed Summary)

                                                   The Trip of Le Horla

                                                     Guy de Maupassant

Detailed Summary (Continues)

          The narrator receives a telegram from Captain Jovis in which Captain Jovis informs him that the air balloon journey will start at five o'clock. So he reaches at La Villette at five o'clock. The balloon is in the courtyard and its yellow cloth is lying on the ground under a rope. People who come there to watch the hot air balloon journey of the narrator and others begin to examine the hot air balloon's basket. In the basket, “Le Horla” is written on a mahogany plate.

          The gas is filling in the yellow cloth through a long tube. Thus “Le Horla” begins to grow enormously. Captain Jovis and his attendants are doing the rest of the works like spreading the net to maintain the pressure. Some people criticize that the air balloon will be destroyed before it reaches the fortifications. Before getting into the hot air balloon's basket, the passengers dine as per the custom.

          Captain Jovis and his attendants connect the basket to the balloon. Barometers have taken to check the weather. Before the passengers start the journey, they keep a siren, two trumpets, food, overcoats, raincoats and other things. Finally, Captain Jovis, Lieutenant Mallet, M. Etierine Beer, M. Paul Bessand and Guy de Maupassant get in the basket.

          Le Horla is moving in the sky. The narrator describes its movements thus: “we float, we rise, we fly, we glide!”. The passengers see beautiful sights such as the aerial view of Paris, dommes, towers, steeples, “the plane”, “the country”, long roads that are thin and white, green fields and woods which are black. The air balloon is sometimes rising and sometimes descending. While they are moving from one place to another, they can hear noises such as “the sound of the wheels rolling in the streets”, “the snap of a whip”, the voices of drivers, “the rolling and whistling of the train” and the laughing of the boys.

          The time is running. Now it is past 10 o'clock. The passengers can hear the “country noises”, “cry of the quail”, “mewing of the cats”, “the barking of the dogs”and “lowing” of the cow. They can also smell the “odours of the soil”, the “smell of the hay”, flowers and moist. Even where the air balloon descends, the passengers throw sands from the ballast. They even throw a pinch of the sand, half a sheet of paper, one or two drops of water and the bones of a chicken. They can also realise the “odour of the gas”.

          Now the air balloon is rising. The passengers rise up to two thousand feet. Since it is dark, they cannot see the barometers to know the weather condition. But they understood that they are rising by the fall of the rice paper which is compared to “dead butterflies”. They cannot see the earth because it is separated by the mist. Above them, stars are twinkling. They feel that the moon is rising from below. They even feel that the earth is submerged in “milky vapours” which appears to be a sea. They feel that the moon is like “another balloon” and balloon is compared with “larger moon”. The narrator compares the passengers with “birds who do not even have to flap their wings”.

          The air balloon journey makes the passengers to forget about their troubles, memories, regrets, plans and hopes. Again, they are rising. Now it is midnight. They pass “a cultivated country” and “a large city”. They see the shadow of the air balloon which the passengers misunderstand at first. Then they hear the noise of the “foundries”. With the aid of polar star, they understand that they are heading to Belgium. As the air balloon is moving, the shadow of it is getting larger which is compared to “a child's ball”.

       Captain Jovis understands that a storm is approaching. Now the sun is slowly rising and the passengers can distinctly see the trains, the brooks, the cows and the goats. They can also hear the crowing of the cock and the voice of the ducks. They even see peasants who wave hands at them. They even see a highway which is compared to a river which has full of islands.

          Now the air balloon is going to descend. The passengers understand that they are near the sea. So if they do not land now, it will be dangerous. Captain Jovis is looking for a place to land. They cross a canal. Their arrival frightens the chickens, pigeons, ducks, dogs, cows and cats. In order to land safely, they put the arrow downwards. They pass a field of beets.

     With the aid of the guy-rope, the passengers land on an area covered with trees. They land in the ground at 3.15 a.m. The landing is so bad that the basket bounces back several times before it finally rests on the ground. Seeing their landing, the Belgium peasants run towards them for help. Even the cows which are grazing run towards them.

           With the aid of the Belgian peasants, the passengers are able to pack their things and go to the station at Heyst to catch the train for Paris. As the travel essay ends, Guy de Maupassant thanks Captain Jovis for inviting him for the hot air balloon ride which helps him to see a magical aerial view of Paris.