The Second-Richest Duck
Encyclopedia
The Second-Richest Duck is an Uncle Scrooge
comic book
story written and illustrated by Carl Barks
in February 1956. It features the first appearance of Flintheart Glomgold
.
tries to know where was his nephew
going. Donald says he's going to buy an ice cream soda
, much for the dismay of Scrooge, who tries to convince Donald to invest the money
rather than spending it. Scrooge shows Donald the Number One Dime and the nephew notices a string attaching it to one of Scrooge's pockets. Scrooge says he also saves string and takes Donald to the Money Bin to show him the benefits of saving money. Donald still prefers a soda, so Scrooge gives up and goes to the park to find a newspaper
(he's too stingy to buy one).
A two-day-old issue points a South Africa
n mine owner named Flintheart Glomgold
as the new richest duck
in the world and describes his net worth
as over one multiplujillion and nine obsquatumatillion. Scrooge can't accept the idea of someone being richer than him, so he checks his fortune and learns his net worth also surpasses one multiplujillion and nine obsquatumatillion. It's one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred and twenty-three dollar
s and sixty-two cents.
Upon learning he's still not a second-class zillionaire, he goes to South Africa to meet Glomgold and check who's the world's richest duck and takes Donald and his nephews
stating that, if he loses, he'll need them to carry him. With a list of all of his possessions and his string ball, Scrooge and co. take one of his ships to Africa. In the ship, Scrooge finds a piece of string and tries to put it on his ball, but it already belongs to another ball, whose owner gets very angry.
At Glomgold's headquarters
, our heroes learn he has his own Money Bin, almost like Scrooge's (the biggest difference
being that Scrooge's has a dollar sign
and Flintheart's has a pound sign
). At Glomgold's office, he "welcomes" them with a cannon
, which Scrooge regards as a copy of his hospitality
. Scrooge identifies himself and says he'd sent a telegram, but, since Scrooge doesn't pay for the messages he sends and Flintheart doesn't pay for the ones he receives, Flintheart didn't know he was coming. Flintheart lets Scrooge in anyway, claiming to know him from newspapers he found at the park
. Scrooge learns Flintheart Glomgold is the duck he previously met at the ship. They start comparing wealth
but, since they can't do it without losing temper
, Donald and his nephews have to tie them up.
After a long night, Scrooge and Flintheart remain tied (in both ways) except for their string balls. They come to an agreement
that the one who keeps more string is the richest one. They go unrolling their balls through "the heart of Africa
". Scrooge tells his family he agreed to this wild rally because they are five to protect his string ball, but Flintheart is alone. On the other hand, Flintheart is armed with a better knowledge
of the territory. When Flintheart becomes exhausted, Scrooge offers him a cup of coffee, and Flintheart retributes by suggesting Scrooge to put his ball on a clay pile to keep it safe. Scrooge's coffee had a sleeping potion while the clay pile is an ant-hill
.
The next morning, Flintheart wakes with the upper hand (i.e. the bigger ball, but the race goes on). To make things worse for Scrooge, Flintheart pours syrup
on Scrooge's ball, attracting more ants. Scrooge tries to take the ball to a river
, Flintheart points one, but Scrooge doesn't believe him. It turns out that Flintheart knew Scrooge wouldn't trust him anymore. Scrooge's ball was now small enough to be kept within his top hat
, which came in handy next night to protect it from locust
s, while Flintheart wasn't so lucky.
The next morning, some natives start a grass fire to keep the locusts away, causing Flintheart to run away and the others to follow him, as while the fire cannot reach them, it scares all the animals into stampeding. The ducks climb a tree
for protection
, and Scrooge shakes Flintheart's branch trying to drop his ball (with the title of richest duck at stake, he's not so above dishonesty
), although he stops when scolded by Dewey. A rhinoceros
hits the tree, causing Glomgold's ball to fall and be destroyed by a bird. Scrooge was so distracted laughing he failed to notice another bird grabbing his ball. In the end, the remaining balls were very small and they seem to end tied, but Scrooge shows the string attached to the Number One Dime, making him the champ. Scrooge was now talking to Donald about the joy of saving money, while Donald still prefers a soda and his nephews were carrying a defeated and depressed Flintheart Glomgold back to home.
Scrooge McDuck
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Scrooge is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
story written and illustrated by Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
in February 1956. It features the first appearance of Flintheart Glomgold
Flintheart Glomgold
Flintheart Glomgold is a fictional character in Disney comic books. Glomgold is one of Scrooge McDuck's main rivals, and also holds the title of being The Second Richest Duck in the World...
.
Plot
The story starts when Scrooge McDuckScrooge McDuck
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Scrooge is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats...
tries to know where was his nephew
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
going. Donald says he's going to buy an ice cream soda
Ice cream soda
An ice cream soda or float , coke float , or spider , is a beverage that consists of one or more scoops of ice cream in either a soft drink or in a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water.-Origins:The ice cream soda was invented by Robert M...
, much for the dismay of Scrooge, who tries to convince Donald to invest the money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
rather than spending it. Scrooge shows Donald the Number One Dime and the nephew notices a string attaching it to one of Scrooge's pockets. Scrooge says he also saves string and takes Donald to the Money Bin to show him the benefits of saving money. Donald still prefers a soda, so Scrooge gives up and goes to the park to find a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
(he's too stingy to buy one).
A two-day-old issue points a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n mine owner named Flintheart Glomgold
Flintheart Glomgold
Flintheart Glomgold is a fictional character in Disney comic books. Glomgold is one of Scrooge McDuck's main rivals, and also holds the title of being The Second Richest Duck in the World...
as the new richest duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
in the world and describes his net worth
Net worth
In business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liabilities of an individual or a company. For a company, this is called shareholders' preference and may be referred to as book value. Net worth is stated as at a particular year in time...
as over one multiplujillion and nine obsquatumatillion. Scrooge can't accept the idea of someone being richer than him, so he checks his fortune and learns his net worth also surpasses one multiplujillion and nine obsquatumatillion. It's one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred and twenty-three dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
s and sixty-two cents.
Upon learning he's still not a second-class zillionaire, he goes to South Africa to meet Glomgold and check who's the world's richest duck and takes Donald and his nephews
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck are a trio of fictional, anthropomorphic ducks who appear in animated cartoons and comic books published by the Walt Disney Company. Identical triplets, the three are Donald Duck's nephews. Huey, Dewey, and Louie were created by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro, and first...
stating that, if he loses, he'll need them to carry him. With a list of all of his possessions and his string ball, Scrooge and co. take one of his ships to Africa. In the ship, Scrooge finds a piece of string and tries to put it on his ball, but it already belongs to another ball, whose owner gets very angry.
At Glomgold's headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
, our heroes learn he has his own Money Bin, almost like Scrooge's (the biggest difference
Difference
Difference may refer to:* Difference , a 2005 power metal album* Difference , a concept in computer science* Difference , any systematic way of distinguishing similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family* Difference , a statement about the relative size or order of two objects**...
being that Scrooge's has a dollar sign
Dollar sign
The dollar or peso sign is a symbol primarily used to indicate the various peso and dollar units of currency around the world.- Origin :...
and Flintheart's has a pound sign
Pound sign
The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...
). At Glomgold's office, he "welcomes" them with a cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, which Scrooge regards as a copy of his hospitality
Hospitality
Hospitality is the relationship between guest and host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, resorts, membership clubs, conventions, attractions, special events, and other services for travelers...
. Scrooge identifies himself and says he'd sent a telegram, but, since Scrooge doesn't pay for the messages he sends and Flintheart doesn't pay for the ones he receives, Flintheart didn't know he was coming. Flintheart lets Scrooge in anyway, claiming to know him from newspapers he found at the park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
. Scrooge learns Flintheart Glomgold is the duck he previously met at the ship. They start comparing wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
but, since they can't do it without losing temper
Temperament
In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned...
, Donald and his nephews have to tie them up.
After a long night, Scrooge and Flintheart remain tied (in both ways) except for their string balls. They come to an agreement
Agreement
Agreement may refer to:* Agreement or concord, cross-reference between parts of a phrase* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law* Contract, enforceable in a court of law...
that the one who keeps more string is the richest one. They go unrolling their balls through "the heart of Africa
Heart of Africa
Heart of Africa is an adventure game for the Commodore 64 and unofficial sequel to The Seven Cities of Gold. Created by Ozark Softscape and published by Electronic Arts in 1985, it casts the player as an adventurer searching for the Lost Tomb of Pharaoh Ankh Ankh in Africa during the late 19th...
". Scrooge tells his family he agreed to this wild rally because they are five to protect his string ball, but Flintheart is alone. On the other hand, Flintheart is armed with a better knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
of the territory. When Flintheart becomes exhausted, Scrooge offers him a cup of coffee, and Flintheart retributes by suggesting Scrooge to put his ball on a clay pile to keep it safe. Scrooge's coffee had a sleeping potion while the clay pile is an ant-hill
Ant colony
An ant colony is an underground lair where ants live, eat and mate. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, connected to each other and the surface of the earth by small tunnels. There are rooms for nurseries, food storage, and mating...
.
The next morning, Flintheart wakes with the upper hand (i.e. the bigger ball, but the race goes on). To make things worse for Scrooge, Flintheart pours syrup
Syrup
In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...
on Scrooge's ball, attracting more ants. Scrooge tries to take the ball to a river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
, Flintheart points one, but Scrooge doesn't believe him. It turns out that Flintheart knew Scrooge wouldn't trust him anymore. Scrooge's ball was now small enough to be kept within his top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
, which came in handy next night to protect it from locust
Locust
Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...
s, while Flintheart wasn't so lucky.
The next morning, some natives start a grass fire to keep the locusts away, causing Flintheart to run away and the others to follow him, as while the fire cannot reach them, it scares all the animals into stampeding. The ducks climb a tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
for protection
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
, and Scrooge shakes Flintheart's branch trying to drop his ball (with the title of richest duck at stake, he's not so above dishonesty
Dishonesty
Dishonesty is a word which, in common usage, may be defined as the act or to act without honesty. It is used to describe a lack of probity, cheating, lying or being deliberately deceptive or a lack in integrity, knavishness, perfidiosity, corruption or treacherousness...
), although he stops when scolded by Dewey. A rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
hits the tree, causing Glomgold's ball to fall and be destroyed by a bird. Scrooge was so distracted laughing he failed to notice another bird grabbing his ball. In the end, the remaining balls were very small and they seem to end tied, but Scrooge shows the string attached to the Number One Dime, making him the champ. Scrooge was now talking to Donald about the joy of saving money, while Donald still prefers a soda and his nephews were carrying a defeated and depressed Flintheart Glomgold back to home.
External links
- The Second-Richest Duck in Carl Barks guidebook