# XIX explained — The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen

> Chapter companion for The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolph Erich Raspe.

## What happens

The Baron recounts his first visit to England during the present king's reign. After shipping goods at Wapping, he rests in a cannon on Tower Wharf and falls asleep. The cannon is fired at one o'clock on June 4th, launching him across the Thames into a farmer's haystack, where he sleeps for three months. When the hay is cut, he wakes, accidentally kills the farmer by falling on him, and later learns the farmer was a detestable hoarder.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Marvelous and the Absurd

The Baron's improbable journey—falling asleep in a cannon, being shot across the Thames, sleeping for three months on a haystack—epitomizes the absurd and marvelous adventures characteristic of the narrative.

### Critique of Human Nature

The farmer who hoards hay for extravagant prices is portrayed as detestable, critiquing greed and exploitation in human nature.

## Character check-ins

### Baron Munchausen

Narrates his first visit to England, falls asleep in a cannon, is shot across the Thames, and accidentally kills a farmer.

## Key lines

> I stepped into one of the cannon to compose me, where I fell fast asleep.

I climbed into a cannon to rest and promptly fell asleep.

_The Baron's casual use of a cannon as a resting place sets up the absurd accident that follows._

> I was shot over the houses on the opposite side of the river, into a farmer's yard, between Bermondsey and Deptford, where I fell upon a large haystack, without waking, and continued there in a sound sleep till hay became so extravagantly dear...

The cannon fired me across the Thames into a farmer's haystack, where I slept for three months until hay prices rose.

_Highlights the absurdity of sleeping through a cannon shot and the extended duration of the nap._

> I afterwards found, to my great consolation, that this fellow was a most detestable character, always keeping the produce of his grounds for extravagant markets.

I later learned, to my relief, that the farmer was a despicable man who hoarded his crops to sell at inflated prices.

_The Baron justifies the accidental killing by painting the farmer as morally corrupt._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_surprising_adventures_of_baron_munchausen_se/chapters/volume-i-xix
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