"The Man Who Could Work Miracles" is a British

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

''. It carried the subtitle "A Pantoum in Prose". The story is an early example of

contemporary fantasy Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy, set in the present day or, more accurately, the time period of the maker. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy. Strictly, supernatural fiction c ...

(not yet recognized, at the time, as a specific subgenre). In common with later works falling within this definition, the story places a major fantasy premise (a wizard with enormous, virtually unlimited magic power) not in an exotic semi-medieval setting but in the drab routine daily life of suburban London, very familiar to Wells himself.

Plot summary

In an English

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, George McWhirter Fotheringay vigorously asserts the impossibility of

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s during an argument. By way of demonstration, Fotheringay commands an

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. Th ...

to flame upside down and it does so, to his own astonishment. His acquaintances think it a trick and quickly dismiss it. Fotheringay explores his new power. After magically accomplishing his daily chores as an office clerk, Fotheringay quits early to a park to practice further. He encounters a local constable, who is accidentally injured. In the ensuing altercation, Fotheringay unintentionally sends the policeman to Hades; hours later, Fotheringay relocates him safely to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Unnerved by these miracles, Fotheringay attends local Sunday church services. The clergyman, Mr. Maydig, preaches about unnatural occurrences. Fotheringay is deeply moved, and meets Maydig in his manse for advice. After a few petty demonstrations, the minister becomes enthusiastic and suggests that Fotheringay should use these abilities to benefit others. That night they walk the town streets, healing illness and vice and improving public works. Maydig plans to reform the whole world. He suggests that they could disregard their obligations for the next day if Fotheringay could stop the night altogether. Fotheringay agrees and stops the motion of the Earth. His clumsy wording of the wish causes all objects on Earth to be hurled from the surface with great force. Pandemonium ensues, but Fotheringay miraculously ensures his own safety back on the ground. In fact (though he is not aware of the enormity of what he had done) the whole of humanity except for himself had perished in a single instant. Fotheringay is unable to return the Earth to its prior state. He repents, and wishes that the power be taken from him and the world restored to a time before he had the power. Fotheringay immediately finds himself back in the public house, discussing miracles with his friends as before, without any recollection of previous events. The all-knowing narrator thus tells the reader that he or she had died "a year ago" (the story was published in 1897) and was then resurrected - but has no recollection of anything special having happened.

Adaptations

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, the story was adapted to a film starring

Roland Young Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

as Fotheringay. Wells co-wrote the screenplay with Lajos Bíró. It was first adapted for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

in 1934 by

Laurence Gilliam Laurence Duval Gilliam, OBE (4 March 1907 – 15 November 1964) was a BBC radio producer. Gilliam worked with the Gramophone Company, before transferred to the BBC drama department in 1933, where he was responsible for features. At the end of Wor ...

and broadcast on 4 June that year. It continued to be adapted on several occasions for

, including 1956 by Dennis Main Wilson and broadcast on New Year's Day. It starred

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

as Fotheringay. The story idea was used as the basis for director

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...

's 2015 film ''

Absolutely Anything ''Absolutely Anything'' is a 2015 British science fantasy comedy film directed by Terry Jones, who also co-wrote it with Gavin Scott. It stars Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rob Riggle, Eddie Izzard and Joanna Lumley, with the voi ...

''. The idea of the world stopping rotating was taken up in 1972 by

Lester del Rey Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and scienc ...

, who suggested to three SF writers to write stories based on the assumption that God does it in order to unequivocally prove His existence to all humanity. The three resulting stories were published together under the name "The Day the Sun Stood Still", comprising "A Chapter of Revelation" by

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...

, "Things Which Are Caesar's" by

Gordon R. Dickson Gordon Rupert Dickson (November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001) was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

and "Thomas the Proclaimer" by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...

. The three stories share the assumption that – the miracle in this case issuing directly from God in person, rather than from Wells' fumbling human protagonist – care was taken to prevent the disastrous results evident in the original Wells story. The dramatic radio broadcast appearing in the beginning of Silverberg's version indicates that, when writing, he was familiar with the Wells story: "Latest observatory reports confirm that no appreciable momentum effects could be detected as Earth shifted to its present period of rotation. Scientists agree that the world's abrupt slowing on its axis should have produced a global catastrophe leading, perhaps, to the destruction of all life. However, nothing but minor tidal disturbances have been observed so far".

, "Thomas the Proclaimer", Ch.1 For his part, the Portuguese

José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE ComSE GColCa (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which hec ...

apparently refers to the Wells story in his novel '' Cain'', an irreverent retelling of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, when retelling the episode of God "stopping the sun" in the Book of Joshua (to which the pastor in the Wells story also refers). The very flawed God depicted by Saramago was unable to stop the disastrous effects of stopping the movement of the Earth – so he did not do so, performing just a much simpler and limited miracle which still did the job.

References

External links

* *
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
at

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Who Could Work Miracles, The 1898 short stories Comic short stories Fantasy short stories Short stories adapted into films Short stories by H. G. Wells Works originally published in The Illustrated London News