Penguin Island · Chapter
Metamorphosis of the Penguins explained
The archangel reveals to Saint Maël that he has baptized penguins, not humans.
What happens
The archangel reveals to Saint Maël that he has baptized penguins, not humans. Maël is instructed to transform them into humans, which he does. He then tows Penguin Island to the coast of Armorica using a cord and a stone trough.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Religion
The chapter satirizes religious miracles and the idea of baptism, as penguins are mistakenly baptized and then transformed into humans by divine command.
Characters to notice
- Saint Maël
The holy man who is awakened by the archangel, learns of his error, and transforms the penguins into humans.
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator describes the events of the metamorphosis and the towing of the island.
Key passages
“Maël, know thy error, believing that thou wert baptizing children of Adam thou hast baptized birds; and it is, through thee that penguins have entered into the Church of God.”
The archangel tells Maël that he mistakenly baptized penguins instead of humans, bringing birds into the Church.
This reveals the central irony of the chapter: the baptism of penguins.
“Immediately the penguins were transformed. Their foreheads enlarged and their heads grew round like the dome of St. Maria Rotunda in Rome.”
The penguins instantly become human, with their heads taking on a rounded shape reminiscent of a famous Roman church.
The transformation is described in a humorous, almost architectural manner.
“And the holy man made a very fine cord about forty feet long out of the flax of his stole. He fastened one end of the cord round a point of rock that jutted up through the sand of the shore and, holding the other end of the cord in his hand, he entered the stone trough. The trough glided over the sea and towed Penguin Island behind it; after nine days’ sailing it approached the Breton coast, bringing the island with it.”
Maël uses a cord made from his stole to attach the island to a stone trough, which then tows the entire island across the sea to Brittany over nine days.
This absurd feat parodies the miraculous transportation of land in religious legends.