valeriodistefano.com - The Mirrored Project Gutenberg eBook of Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift (#2 in our series by Jonathan Swift) Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: Gulliver's Travels Author: Jonathan Swift Release Date: February, 1997 [EBook #829] [This file was first posted on February 20, 1997] [Most recently updated: May 29, 2002] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII
Transcribed from the 1892 George Bell and Sons edition
by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
by Jonathan Swift
THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.
[As given in the original edition.]
The author of these Travels, Mr. Lemuel Gulliver, is my ancient and
intimate friend; there is likewise some relation between us on the mother’s
side. About three years ago, Mr. Gulliver growing weary of the
concourse of curious people coming to him at his house in Redriff, made
a small purchase of land, with a convenient house, near Newark, in Nottinghamshire,
his native country; where he now lives retired, yet in good esteem among
his neighbours.
Although Mr. Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire, where his father
dwelt, yet I have heard him say his family came from Oxfordshire; to
confirm which, I have observed in the churchyard at Banbury in that
county, several tombs and monuments of the Gullivers.
Before he quitted Redriff, he left the custody of the following papers
in my hands, with the liberty to dispose of them as I should think fit.
I have carefully perused them three times. The style is very plain
and simple; and the only fault I find is, that the author, after the
manner of travellers, is a little too circumstantial. There is
an air of truth apparent through the whole; and indeed the author was
so distinguished for his veracity, that it became a sort of proverb
among his neighbours at Redriff, when any one affirmed a thing, to say,
it was as true as if Mr. Gulliver had spoken it.
By the advice of several worthy persons, to whom, with the author’s
permission, I communicated these papers, I now venture to send them
into the world, hoping they may be, at least for some time, a better
entertainment to our young noblemen, than the common scribbles of politics
and party.
This volume would have been at least twice as large, if I had not made
bold to strike out innumerable passages relating to the winds and tides,
as well as to the variations and bearings in the several voyages, together
with the minute descriptions of the management of the ship in storms,
in the style of sailors; likewise the account of longitudes and latitudes;
wherein I have reason to apprehend, that Mr. Gulliver may be a little
dissatisfied. But I was resolved to fit the work as much as possible
to the general capacity of readers. However, if my own ignorance
in sea affairs shall have led me to commit some mistakes, I alone am
answerable for them. And if any traveller hath a curiosity to
see the whole work at large, as it came from the hands of the author,
I will be ready to gratify him.
As for any further particulars relating to the author, the reader will
receive satisfaction from the first pages of the book.
RICHARD SYMPSON.
A LETTER FROM CAPTAIN GULLIVER TO HIS COUSIN SYMPSON.
WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1727.
I hope you will be ready to own publicly, whenever you shall be called
to it, that by your great and frequent urgency you prevailed on me to
publish a very loose and uncorrect account of my travels, with directions
to hire some young gentleman of either university to put them in order,
and correct the style, as my cousin Dampier did, by my advice, in his
book called “A Voyage round the world.” But I do not
remember I gave you power to consent that any thing should be omitted,
and much less that any thing should be inserted; therefore, as to the
latter, I do here renounce every thing of that kind; particularly a
paragraph about her majesty Queen Anne, of most pious and glorious memory;
although I did reverence and esteem her more than any of human species.
But you, or your interpolator, ought to have considered, that it was
not my inclination, so was it not decent to praise any animal of our
composition before my master Houyhnhnm: And besides, the fact
was altogether false; for to my knowledge, being in England during some
part of her majesty’s reign, she did govern by a chief minister;
nay even by two successively, the first whereof was the lord of Godolphin,
and the second the lord of Oxford; so that you have made me say the
thing that was not. Likewise in the account of the academy of
projectors, and several passages of my discourse to my master Houyhnhnm,
you have either omitted some material circumstances, or minced or changed
them in such a manner, that I do hardly know my own work. When
I formerly hinted to you something of this in a letter, you were pleased
to answer that you were afraid of giving offence; that people in power
were very watchful over the press, and apt not only to interpret, but
to punish every thing which looked like an innuendo (as I think
you call it). But, pray how could that which I spoke so many years
ago, and at about five thousand leagues distance, in another reign,
be applied to any of the Yahoos, who now are said to govern the
herd; especially at a time when I little thought, or feared, the unhappiness
of living under them? Have not I the most reason to complain,
when I see these very Yahoos carried by Houyhnhnms in
a vehicle, as if they were brutes, and those the rational creatures?
And indeed to avoid so monstrous and detestable a sight was one principal
motive of my retirement hither.
Thus much I thought proper to tell you in relation to yourself, and
to the trust I reposed in you.
I do, in the next place, complain of my own great want of judgment,
in being prevailed upon by the entreaties and false reasoning of you
and some others, very much against my own opinion, to suffer my travels
to be published. Pray bring to your mind how often I desired you
to consider, when you insisted on the motive of public good, that the
Yahoos were a species of animals utterly incapable of amendment
by precept or example: and so it has proved; for, instead of seeing
a full stop put to all abuses and corruptions, at least in this little
island, as I had reason to expect; behold, after above six months warning,
I cannot learn that my book has produced one single effect according
to my intentions. I desired you would let me know, by a letter,
when party and faction were extinguished; judges learned and upright;
pleaders honest and modest, with some tincture of common sense, and
Smithfield blazing with pyramids of law books; the young nobility’s
education entirely changed; the physicians banished; the female Yahoos
abounding in virtue, honour, truth, and good sense; courts and levees
of great ministers thoroughly weeded and swept; wit, merit, and learning
rewarded; all disgracers of the press in prose and verse condemned to
eat nothing but their own cotton, and quench their thirst with their
own ink. These, and a thousand other reformations, I firmly counted
upon by your encouragement; as indeed they were plainly deducible from
the precepts delivered in my book. And it must be owned, that
seven months were a sufficient time to correct every vice and folly
to which Yahoos are subject, if their natures had been capable
of the least disposition to virtue or wisdom. Yet, so far have
you been from answering my expectation in any of your letters; that
on the contrary you are loading our carrier every week with libels,
and keys, and reflections, and memoirs, and second parts; wherein I
see myself accused of reflecting upon great state folk; of degrading
human nature (for so they have still the confidence to style it), and
of abusing the female sex. I find likewise that the writers of
those bundles are not agreed among themselves; for some of them will
not allow me to be the author of my own travels; and others make me
author of books to which I am wholly a stranger.
I find likewise that your printer has been so careless as to confound
the times, and mistake the dates, of my several voyages and returns;
neither assigning the true year, nor the true month, nor day of the
month: and I hear the original manuscript is all destroyed since the
publication of my book; neither have I any copy left: however, I have
sent you some corrections, which you may insert, if ever there should
be a second edition: and yet I cannot stand to them; but shall leave
that matter to my judicious and candid readers to adjust it as they
please.
I hear some of our sea Yahoos find fault with my sea-language,
as not proper in many parts, nor now in use. I cannot help it.
In my first voyages, while I was young, I was instructed by the oldest
mariners, and learned to speak as they did. But I have since found
that the sea Yahoos are apt, like the land ones, to become new-fangled
in their words, which the latter change every year; insomuch, as I remember
upon each return to my own country their old dialect was so altered,
that I could hardly understand the new. And I observe, when any
Yahoo comes from London out of curiosity to visit me at my house,
we neither of us are able to deliver our conceptions in a manner intelligible
to the other.
If the censure of the Yahoos could any way affect me, I should
have great reason to complain, that some of them are so bold as to think
my book of travels a mere fiction out of mine own brain, and have gone
so far as to drop hints, that the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos have
no more existence than the inhabitants of Utopia.
Indeed I must confess, that as to the people of Lilliput, Brobdingrag
(for so the word should have been spelt, and not erroneously Brobdingnag),
and Laputa, I have never yet heard of any Yahoo so presumptuous
as to dispute their being, or the facts I have related concerning them;
because the truth immediately strikes every reader with conviction.
And is there less probability in my account of the Houyhnhnms
or Yahoos, when it is manifest as to the latter, there are so
many thousands even in this country, who only differ from their brother
brutes in Houyhnhnmland, because they use a sort of jabber, and
do not go naked? I wrote for their amendment, and not their approbation.
The united praise of the whole race would be of less consequence to
me, than the neighing of those two degenerate Houyhnhnms I keep
in my stable; because from these, degenerate as they are, I still improve
in some virtues without any mixture of vice.
Do these miserable animals presume to think, that I am so degenerated
as to defend my veracity? Yahoo as I am, it is well known
through all Houyhnhnmland, that, by the instructions and example
of my illustrious master, I was able in the compass of two years (although
I confess with the utmost difficulty) to remove that infernal habit
of lying, shuffling, deceiving, and equivocating, so deeply rooted in
the very souls of all my species; especially the Europeans.
I have other complaints to make upon this vexatious occasion; but I
forbear troubling myself or you any further. I must freely confess,
that since my last return, some corruptions of my Yahoo nature
have revived in me by conversing with a few of your species, and particularly
those of my own family, by an unavoidable necessity; else I should never
have attempted so absurd a project as that of reforming the Yahoo
race in this kingdom: But I have now done with all such visionary schemes
for ever.
April 2, 1727
PART I - A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.
CHAPTER I.
[The author gives some account of himself and family. His first
inducements to travel. He is shipwrecked, and swims for his life.
Gets safe on shore in the country of Lilliput; is made a prisoner, and
carried up the country.]
My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire: I was the third of
five sons. He sent me to Emanuel College in Cambridge at fourteen
years old, where I resided three years, and applied myself close to
my studies; but the charge of maintaining me, although I had a very
scanty allowance, being too great for a narrow fortune, I was bound
apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent surgeon in London, with whom
I continued four years. My father now and then sending me small
sums of money, I laid them out in learning navigation, and other parts
of the mathematics, useful to those who intend to travel, as I always
believed it would be, some time or other, my fortune to do. When
I left Mr. Bates, I went down to my father: where, by the assistance
of him and my uncle John, and some other relations, I got forty pounds,
and a promise of thirty pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden: there
I studied physic two years and seven months, knowing it would be useful
in long voyages.
Soon after my return from Leyden, I was recommended by my good master,
Mr. Bates, to be surgeon to the Swallow, Captain Abraham Pannel, commander;
with whom I continued three years and a half, making a voyage or two
into the Levant, and some other parts. When I came back I resolved
to settle in London; to which Mr. Bates, my master, encouraged me, and
by him I was recommended to several patients. I took part of a
small house in the Old Jewry; and being advised to alter my condition,
I married Mrs. Mary Burton, second daughter to Mr. Edmund Burton, hosier,
in Newgate-street, with whom I received four hundred pounds for a portion.
But my good master Bates dying in two years after, and I having few
friends, my business began to fail; for my conscience would not suffer
me to imitate the bad practice of too many among my brethren.
Having therefore consulted with my wife, and some of my acquaintance,
I determined to go again to sea. I was surgeon successively in
two ships, and made several voyages, for six years, to the East and
West Indies, by which I got some addition to my fortune. My hours
of leisure I spent in reading the best authors, ancient and modern,
being always provided with a good number of books; and when I was ashore,
in observing the manners and dispositions of the people, as well as
learning their language; wherein I had a great facility, by the strength
of my memory.
The last of these voyages not proving very fortunate, I grew weary of
the sea, and intended to stay at home with my wife and family.
I removed from the Old Jewry to Fetter Lane, and from thence to Wapping,
hoping to get business among the sailors; but it would not turn to account.
After three years expectation that things would mend, I accepted an
advantageous offer from Captain William Prichard, master of the Antelope,
who was making a voyage to the South Sea. We set sail from Bristol,
May 4, 1699, and our voyage was at first very prosperous.
It would not be proper, for some reasons, to trouble the reader with
the particulars of our adventures in those seas; let it suffice to inform
him, that in our passage from thence to the East Indies, we were driven
by a violent storm to the north-west of Van Diemen’s Land.
By an observation, we found ourselves in the latitude of 30 degrees
2 minutes south. Twelve of our crew were dead by immoderate labour
and ill food; the rest were in a very weak condition. On the 5th
of November, which was the beginning of summer in those parts, the weather
being very hazy, the seamen spied a rock within half a cable’s
length of the ship; but the wind was so strong, that we were driven
directly upon it, and immediately split. Six of the crew, of whom
I was one, having let down the boat into the sea, made a shift to get
clear of the ship and the rock. We rowed, by my computation, about
three leagues, till we were able to work no longer, being already spent
with labour while we were in the ship. We therefore trusted ourselves
to the mercy of the waves, and in about half an hour the boat was overset
by a sudden flurry from the north. What became of my companions
in the boat, as well as of those who escaped on the rock, or were left
in the vessel, I cannot tell; but conclude they were all lost.
For my own part, I swam as fortune directed me, and was pushed forward
by wind and tide. I often let my legs drop, and could feel no
bottom; but when I was almost gone, and able to struggle no longer,
I found myself within my depth; and by this time the storm was much
abated. The declivity was so small, that I walked near a mile
before I got to the shore, which I conjectured was about eight o’clock
in the evening. I then advanced forward near half a mile, but
could not discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least I was
in so weak a condition, that I did not observe them. I was extremely
tired, and with that, and the heat of the weather, and about half a
pint of brandy that I drank as I left the ship, I found myself much
inclined to sleep. I lay down on the grass, which was very short
and soft, where I slept sounder than ever I remembered to have done
in my life, and, as I reckoned, about nine hours; for when I awaked,
it was just day-light. I attempted to rise, but was not able to
stir: for, as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs
were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which
was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. I likewise felt
several slender ligatures across my body, from my arm-pits to my thighs.
I could only look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light
offended my eyes. I heard a confused noise about me; but in the
posture I lay, could see nothing except the sky. In a little time
I felt something alive moving on my left leg, which advancing gently
forward over my breast, came almost up to my chin; when, bending my
eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived it to be a human creature
not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver
at his back. In the mean time, I felt at least forty more of the
same kind (as I conjectured) following the first. I was in the
utmost astonishment, and roared so loud, that they all ran back in a
fright; and some of them, as I was afterwards told, were hurt with the
falls they got by leaping from my sides upon the ground. However,
they soon returned, and one of them, who ventured so far as to get a
full sight of my face, lifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration,
cried out in a shrill but distinct voice, Hekinah degul: the
others repeated the same words several times, but then I knew not what
they meant. I lay all this while, as the reader may believe, in
great uneasiness. At length, struggling to get loose, I had the
fortune to break the strings, and wrench out the pegs that fastened
my left arm to the ground; for, by lifting it up to my face, I discovered
the methods they had taken to bind me, and at the same time with a violent
pull, which gave me excessive pain, I a little loosened the strings
that tied down my hair on the left side, so that I was just able to
turn my head about two inches. But the creatures ran off a second
time, before I could seize them; whereupon there was a great shout in
a very shrill accent, and after it ceased I heard one of them cry aloud
Tolgo phonac; when in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows
discharged on my left hand, which, pricked me like so many needles;
and besides, they shot another flight into the air, as we do bombs in
Europe, whereof many, I suppose, fell on my body, (though I felt them
not), and some on my face, which I immediately covered with my left
hand. When this shower of arrows was over, I fell a groaning with
grief and pain; and then striving again to get loose, they discharged
another volley larger than the first, and some of them attempted with
spears to stick me in the sides; but by good luck I had on a buff jerkin,
which they could not pierce. I thought it the most prudent method
to lie still, and my design was to continue so till night, when, my
left hand being already loose, I could easily free myself: and as for
the inhabitants, I had reason to believe I might be a match for the
greatest army they could bring against me, if they were all of the same
size with him that I saw. But fortune disposed otherwise of me.
When the people observed I was quiet, they discharged no more arrows;
but, by the noise I heard, I knew their numbers increased; and about
four yards from me, over against my right ear, I heard a knocking for
above an hour, like that of people at work; when turning my head that
way, as well as the pegs and strings would permit me, I saw a stage
erected about a foot and a half from the ground, capable of holding
four of the inhabitants, with two or three ladders to mount it: from
whence one of them, who seemed to be a person of quality, made me a
long speech, whereof I understood not one syllable. But I should
have mentioned, that before the principal person began his oration,
he cried out three times, Langro dehul san (these words
and the former were afterwards repeated and explained to me); whereupon,
immediately, about fifty of the inhabitants came and cut the strings
that fastened the left side of my head, which gave me the liberty of
turning it to the right, and of observing the person and gesture of
him that was to speak. He appeared to be of a middle age, and
taller than any of the other three who attended him, whereof one was
a page that held up his train, and seemed to be somewhat longer than
my middle finger; the other two stood one on each side to support him.
He acted every part of an orator, and I could observe many periods of
threatenings, and others of promises, pity, and kindness. I answered
in a few words, but in the most submissive manner, lifting up my left
hand, and both my eyes to the sun, as calling him for a witness; and
being almost famished with hunger, having not eaten a morsel for some
hours before I left the ship, I found the demands of nature so strong
upon me, that I could not forbear showing my impatience (perhaps against
the strict rules of decency) by putting my finger frequently to my mouth,
to signify that I wanted food. The hurgo (for so they call
a great lord, as I afterwards learnt) understood me very well.
He descended from the stage, and commanded that several ladders should
be applied to my sides, on which above a hundred of the inhabitants
mounted and walked towards my mouth, laden with baskets full of meat,
which had been provided and sent thither by the king’s orders,
upon the first intelligence he received of me. I observed there
was the flesh of several animals, but could not distinguish them by
the taste. There were shoulders, legs, and loins, shaped like
those of mutton, and very well dressed, but smaller than the wings of
a lark. I ate them by two or three at a mouthful, and took three
loaves at a time, about the bigness of musket bullets. They supplied
me as fast as they could, showing a thousand marks of wonder and astonishment
at my bulk and appetite. I then made another sign, that I wanted
drink. They found by my eating that a small quantity would not
suffice me; and being a most ingenious people, they slung up, with great
dexterity, one of their largest hogsheads, then rolled it towards my
hand, and beat out the top; I drank it off at a draught, which I might
well do, for it did not hold half a pint, and tasted like a small wine
of Burgundy, but much more delicious. They brought me a second
hogshead, which I drank in the same manner, and made signs for more;
but they had none to give me. When I had performed these wonders,
they shouted for joy, and danced upon my breast, repeating several times
as they did at first, Hekinah degul. They made me a sign
that I should throw down the two hogsheads, but first warning the people
below to stand out of the way, crying aloud, Borach mevolah;
and when they saw the vessels in the air, there was a universal shout
of Hekinah degul. I confess I was often tempted, while
they were passing backwards and forwards on my body, to seize forty
or fifty of the first that came in my reach, and dash them against the
ground. But the remembrance of what I had felt, which probably
might not be the worst they could do, and the promise of honour I made
them - for so I interpreted my submissive behaviour - soon drove out
these imaginations. Besides, I now considered myself as bound
by the laws of hospitality, to a people who had treated me with so much
expense and magnificence. However, in my thoughts I could not
sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals,
who durst venture to mount and walk upon my body, while one of my hands
was at liberty, without trembling at the very sight of so prodigious
a creature as I must appear to them. After some time, when they
observed that I made no more demands for meat, there appeared before
me a person of high rank from his imperial majesty. His excellency,
having mounted on the small of my right leg, advanced forwards up to
my face, with about a dozen of his retinue; and producing his credentials
under the signet royal, which he applied close to my eyes, spoke about
ten minutes without any signs of anger, but with a kind of determinate
resolution, often pointing forwards, which, as I afterwards found, was
towards the capital city, about half a mile distant; whither it was
agreed by his majesty in council that I must be conveyed. I answered
in few words, but to no purpose, and made a sign with my hand that was
loose, putting it to the other (but over his excellency’s head
for fear of hurting him or his train) and then to my own head and body,
to signify that I desired my liberty. It appeared that he understood
me well enough, for he shook his head by way of disapprobation, and
held his hand in a posture to show that I must be carried as a prisoner.
However, he made other signs to let me understand that I should have
meat and drink enough, and very good treatment. Whereupon I once
more thought of attempting to break my bonds; but again, when I felt
the smart of their arrows upon my face and hands, which were all in
blisters, and many of the darts still sticking in them, and observing
likewise that the number of my enemies increased, I gave tokens to let
them know that they might do with me what they pleased. Upon this,
the hurgo and his train withdrew, with much civility and cheerful
countenances. Soon after I heard a general shout, with frequent
repetitions of the words Peplom selan; and I felt great numbers
of people on my left side relaxing the cords to such a degree, that
I was able to turn upon my right, and to ease myself with making water;
which I very plentifully did, to the great astonishment of the people;
who, conjecturing by my motion what I was going to do, immediately opened
to the right and left on that side, to avoid the torrent, which fell
with such noise and violence from me. But before this, they had
daubed my face and both my hands with a sort of ointment, very pleasant
to the smell, which, in a few minutes, removed all the smart of their
arrows. These circumstances, added to the refreshment I had received
by their victuals and drink, which were very nourishing, disposed me
to sleep. I slept about eight hours, as I was afterwards assured;
and it was no wonder, for the physicians, by the emperor’s order,
had mingled a sleepy potion in the hogsheads of wine.
It seems, that upon the first moment I was discovered sleeping on the
ground, after my landing, the emperor had early notice of it by an express;
and determined in council, that I should be tied in the manner I have
related, (which was done in the night while I slept;) that plenty of
meat and drink should be sent to me, and a machine prepared to carry
me to the capital city.
This resolution perhaps may appear very bold and dangerous, and I am
confident would not be imitated by any prince in Europe on the like
occasion. However, in my opinion, it was extremely prudent, as
well as generous: for, supposing these people had endeavoured to kill
me with their spears and arrows, while I was asleep, I should certainly
have awaked with the first sense of smart, which might so far have roused
my rage and strength, as to have enabled me to break the strings wherewith
I was tied; after which, as they were not able to make resistance, so
they could expect no mercy.
These people are most excellent mathematicians, and arrived to a great
perfection in mechanics, by the countenance and encouragement of the
emperor, who is a renowned patron of learning. This prince has
several machines fixed on wheels, for the carriage of trees and other
great weights. He often builds his largest men of war, whereof
some are nine feet long, in the woods where the timber grows, and has
them carried on these engines three or four hundred yards to the sea.
Five hundred carpenters and engineers were immediately set at work to
prepare the greatest engine they had. It was a frame of wood raised
three inches from the ground, about seven feet long, and four wide,
moving upon twenty-two wheels. The shout I heard was upon the
arrival of this engine, which, it seems, set out in four hours after
my landing. It was brought parallel to me, as I lay. But
the principal difficulty was to raise and place me in this vehicle.
Eighty poles, each of one foot high, were erected for this purpose,
and very strong cords, of the bigness of packthread, were fastened by
hooks to many bandages, which the workmen had girt round my neck, my
hands, my body, and my legs. Nine hundred of the strongest men
were employed to draw up these cords, by many pulleys fastened on the
poles; and thus, in less than three hours, I was raised and slung into
the engine, and there tied fast. All this I was told; for, while
the operation was performing, I lay in a profound sleep, by the force
of that soporiferous medicine infused into my liquor. Fifteen
hundred of the emperor’s largest horses, each about four inches
and a half high, were employed to draw me towards the metropolis, which,
as I said, was half a mile distant.
About four hours after we began our journey, I awaked by a very ridiculous
accident; for the carriage being stopped a while, to adjust something
that was out of order, two or three of the young natives had the curiosity
to see how I looked when I was asleep; they climbed up into the engine,
and advancing very softly to my face, one of them, an officer in the
guards, put the sharp end of his half-pike a good way up into my left
nostril, which tickled my nose like a straw, and made me sneeze violently;
whereupon they stole off unperceived, and it was three weeks before
I knew the cause of my waking so suddenly. We made a long march
the remaining part of the day, and, rested at night with five hundred
guards on each side of me, half with torches, and half with bows and
arrows, ready to shoot me if I should offer to stir. The next
morning at sun-rise we continued our march, and arrived within two hundred
yards of the city gates about noon. The emperor, and all his court,
came out to meet us; but his great officers would by no means suffer
his majesty to endanger his person by mounting on my body.
At the place where the carriage stopped there stood an ancient temple,
esteemed to be the largest in the whole kingdom; which, having been
polluted some years before by an unnatural murder, was, according to
the zeal of those people, looked upon as profane, and therefore had
been applied to common use, and all the ornaments and furniture carried
away. In this edifice it was determined I should lodge.
The great gate fronting to the north was about four feet high, and almost
two feet wide, through which I could easily creep. On each side
of the gate was a small window, not above six inches from the ground:
into that on the left side, the king’s smith conveyed fourscore
and eleven chains, like those that hang to a lady’s watch in Europe,
and almost as large, which were locked to my left leg with six-and-thirty
padlocks. Over against this temple, on the other side of the great
highway, at twenty feet distance, there was a turret at least five feet
high. Here the emperor ascended, with many principal lords of
his court, to have an opportunity of viewing me, as I was told, for
I could not see them. It was reckoned that above a hundred thousand
inhabitants came out of the town upon the same errand; and, in spite
of my guards, I believe there could not be fewer than ten thousand at
several times, who mounted my body by the help of ladders. But
a proclamation was soon issued, to forbid it upon pain of death.
When the workmen found it was impossible for me to break loose, they
cut all the strings that bound me; whereupon I rose up, with as melancholy
a disposition as ever I had in my life. But the noise and astonishment
of the people, at seeing me rise and walk, are not to be expressed.
The chains that held my left leg were about two yards long, and gave
me not only the liberty of walking backwards and forwards in a semicircle,
but, being fixed within four inches of the gate, allowed me to creep
in, and lie at my full length in the temple.
CHAPTER II.
[The emperor of Lilliput, attended by several of the nobility, comes
to see the author in his confinement. The emperor’s person
and habit described. Learned men appointed to teach the author
their language. He gains favour by his mild disposition.
His pockets are searched, and his sword and pistols taken from him.]
When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess
I never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around
appeared like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were
generally forty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers.
These fields were intermingled with woods of half a stang, {1}
and the tallest trees, as I could judge, appeared to be seven feet high.
I viewed the town on my left hand, which looked like the painted scene
of a city in a theatre.
I had been for some hours extremely pressed by the necessities of nature;
which was no wonder, it being almost two days since I had last disburdened
myself. I was under great difficulties between urgency and shame.
The best expedient I could think of, was to creep into my house, which
I accordingly did; and shutting the gate after me, I went as far as
the length of my chain would suffer, and discharged my body of that
uneasy load. But this was the only time I was ever guilty of so
uncleanly an action; for which I cannot but hope the candid reader will
give some allowance, after he has maturely and impartially considered
my case, and the distress I was in. From this time my constant
practice was, as soon as I rose, to perform that business in open air,
at the full extent of my chain; and due care was taken every morning
before company came, that the offensive matter should be carried off
in wheel-barrows, by two servants appointed for that purpose.
I would not have dwelt so long upon a circumstance that, perhaps, at
first sight, may appear not very momentous, if I had not thought it
necessary to justify my character, in point of cleanliness, to the world;
which, I am told, some of my maligners have been pleased, upon this
and other occasions, to call in question.
When this adventure was at an end, I came back out of my house, having
occasion for fresh air. The emperor was already descended from
the tower, and advancing on horseback towards me, which had like to
have cost him dear; for the beast, though very well trained, yet wholly
unused to such a sight, which appeared as if a mountain moved before
him, reared up on its hinder feet: but that prince, who is an excellent
horseman, kept his seat, till his attendants ran in, and held the bridle,
while his majesty had time to dismount. When he alighted, he surveyed
me round with great admiration; but kept beyond the length of my chain.
He ordered his cooks and butlers, who were already prepared, to give
me victuals and drink, which they pushed forward in a sort of vehicles
upon wheels, till I could reach them. I took these vehicles and
soon emptied them all; twenty of them were filled with meat, and ten
with liquor; each of the former afforded me two or three good mouthfuls;
and I emptied the liquor of ten vessels, which was contained in earthen
vials, into one vehicle, drinking it off at a draught; and so I did
with the rest. The empress, and young princes of the blood of
both sexes, attended by many ladies, sat at some distance in their chairs;
but upon the accident that happened to the emperor’s horse, they
alighted, and came near his person, which I am now going to describe.
He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court;
which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders. His
features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian lip and arched nose,
his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbs well
proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportment majestic.
He was then past his prime, being twenty-eight years and three quarters
old, of which he had reigned about seven in great felicity, and generally
victorious. For the better convenience of beholding him, I lay
on my side, so that my face was parallel to his, and he stood but three
yards off: however, I have had him since many times in my hand, and
therefore cannot be deceived in the description. His dress was
very plain and simple, and the fashion of it between the Asiatic and
the European; but he had on his head a light helmet of gold, adorned
with jewels, and a plume on the crest. He held his sword drawn
in his hand to defend himself, if I should happen to break loose; it
was almost three inches long; the hilt and scabbard were gold enriched
with diamonds. His voice was shrill, but very clear and articulate;
and I could distinctly hear it when I stood up. The ladies and
courtiers were all most magnificently clad; so that the spot they stood
upon seemed to resemble a petticoat spread upon the ground, embroidered
with figures of gold and silver. His imperial majesty spoke often
to me, and I returned answers: but neither of us could understand a
syllable. There were several of his priests and lawyers present
(as I conjectured by their habits), who were commanded to address themselves
to me; and I spoke to them in as many languages as I had the least smattering
of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian,
and Lingua Franca, but all to no purpose. After about two hours
the court retired, and I was left with a strong guard, to prevent the
impertinence, and probably the malice of the rabble, who were very impatient
to crowd about me as near as they durst; and some of them had the impudence
to shoot their arrows at me, as I sat on the ground by the door of my
house, whereof one very narrowly missed my left eye. But the colonel
ordered six of the ringleaders to be seized, and thought no punishment
so proper as to deliver them bound into my hands; which some of his
soldiers accordingly did, pushing them forward with the butt-ends of
their pikes into my reach. I took them all in my right hand, put
five of them into my coat-pocket; and as to the sixth, I made a countenance
as if I would eat him alive. The poor man squalled terribly, and
the colonel and his officers were in much pain, especially when they
saw me take out my penknife: but I soon put them out of fear; for, looking
mildly, and immediately cutting the strings he was bound with, I set
him gently on the ground, and away he ran. I treated the rest
in the same manner, taking them one by one out of my pocket; and I observed
both the soldiers and people were highly delighted at this mark of my
clemency, which was represented very much to my advantage at court.
Towards night I got with some difficulty into my house, where I lay
on the ground, and continued to do so about a fortnight; during which
time, the emperor gave orders to have a bed prepared for me. Six
hundred beds of the common measure were brought in carriages, and worked
up in my house; a hundred and fifty of their beds, sewn together, made
up the breadth and length; and these were four double: which, however,
kept me but very indifferently from the hardness of the floor, that
was of smooth stone. By the same computation, they provided me
with sheets, blankets, and coverlets, tolerable enough for one who had
been so long inured to hardships.
As the news of my arrival spread through the kingdom, it brought prodigious
numbers of rich, idle, and curious people to see me; so that the villages
were almost emptied; and great neglect of tillage and household affairs
must have ensued, if his imperial majesty had not provided, by several
proclamations and orders of state, against this inconveniency.
He directed that those who had already beheld me should return home,
and not presume to come within fifty yards of my house, without license
from the court; whereby the secretaries of state got considerable fees.
In the mean time the emperor held frequent councils, to debate what
course should be taken with me; and I was afterwards assured by a particular
friend, a person of great quality, who was as much in the secret as
any, that the court was under many difficulties concerning me.
They apprehended my breaking loose; that my diet would be very expensive,
and might cause a famine. Sometimes they determined to starve
me; or at least to shoot me in the face and hands with poisoned arrows,
which would soon despatch me; but again they considered, that the stench
of so large a carcass might produce a plague in the metropolis, and
probably spread through the whole kingdom. In the midst of these
consultations, several officers of the army went to the door of the
great council-chamber, and two of them being admitted, gave an account
of my behaviour to the six criminals above-mentioned; which made so
favourable an impression in the breast of his majesty and the whole
board, in my behalf, that an imperial commission was issued out, obliging
all the villages, nine hundred yards round the city, to deliver in every
morning six beeves, forty sheep, and other victuals for my sustenance;
together with a proportionable quantity of bread, and wine, and other
liquors; for the due payment of which, his majesty gave assignments
upon his treasury:- for this prince lives chiefly upon his own demesnes;
seldom, except upon great occasions, raising any subsidies upon his
subjects, who are bound to attend him in his wars at their own expense.
An establishment was also made of six hundred persons to be my domestics,
who had board-wages allowed for their maintenance, and tents built for
them very conveniently on each side of my door. It was likewise
ordered, that three hundred tailors should make me a suit of clothes,
after the fashion of the country; that six of his majesty’s greatest
scholars should be employed to instruct me in their language; and lastly,
that the emperor’s horses, and those of the nobility and troops
of guards, should be frequently exercised in my sight, to accustom themselves
to me. All these orders were duly put in execution; and in about
three weeks I made a great progress in learning their language; during
which time the emperor frequently honoured me with his visits, and was
pleased to assist my masters in teaching me. We began already
to converse together in some sort; and the first words I learnt, were
to express my desire “that he would please give me my liberty;”
which I every day repeated on my knees. His answer, as I could
comprehend it, was, “that this must be a work of time, not to
be thought on without the advice of his council, and that first I must
lumos kelmin pesso desmar lon emposo;” that is, swear a
peace with him and his kingdom. However, that I should be used
with all kindness. And he advised me to “acquire, by my
patience and discreet behaviour, the good opinion of himself and his
subjects.” He desired “I would not take it ill, if
he gave orders to certain proper officers to search me; for probably
I might carry about me several weapons, which must needs be dangerous
things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person.”
I said, “His majesty should be satisfied; for I was ready to strip
myself, and turn up my pockets before him.” This I delivered
part in words, and part in signs. He replied, “that, by
the laws of the kingdom, I must be searched by two of his officers;
that he knew this could not be done without my consent and assistance;
and he had so good an opinion of my generosity and justice, as to trust
their persons in my hands; that whatever they took from me, should be
returned when I left the country, or paid for at the rate which I would
set upon them.” I took up the two officers in my hands,
put them first into my coat-pockets, and then into every other pocket
about me, except my two fobs, and another secret pocket, which I had
no mind should be searched, wherein I had some little necessaries that
were of no consequence to any but myself. In one of my fobs there
was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a purse.
These gentlemen, having pen, ink, and paper, about them, made an exact
inventory of every thing they saw; and when they had done, desired I
would set them down, that they might deliver it to the emperor.
This inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is, word for
word, as follows:
“Imprimis: In the right coat-pocket of the great man-mountain”
(for so I interpret the words quinbus flestrin,) “after
the strictest search, we found only one great piece of coarse-cloth,
large enough to be a foot-cloth for your majesty’s chief room
of state. In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest, with
a cover of the same metal, which we, the searchers, were not able to
lift. We desired it should be opened, and one of us stepping into
it, found himself up to the mid leg in a sort of dust, some part whereof
flying up to our faces set us both a sneezing for several times together.
In his right waistcoat-pocket we found a prodigious bundle of white
thin substances, folded one over another, about the bigness of three
men, tied with a strong cable, and marked with black figures; which
we humbly conceive to be writings, every letter almost half as large
as the palm of our hands. In the left there was a sort of engine,
from the back of which were extended twenty long poles, resembling the
pallisados before your majesty’s court: wherewith we conjecture
the man-mountain combs his head; for we did not always trouble him with
questions, because we found it a great difficulty to make him understand
us. In the large pocket, on the right side of his middle cover”
(so I translate the word ranfulo, by which they meant my breeches,)
“we saw a hollow pillar of iron, about the length of a man, fastened
to a strong piece of timber larger than the pillar; and upon one side
of the pillar, were huge pieces of iron sticking out, cut into strange
figures, which we know not what to make of. In the left pocket,
another engine of the same kind. In the smaller pocket on the
right side, were several round flat pieces of white and red metal, of
different bulk; some of the white, which seemed to be silver, were so
large and heavy, that my comrade and I could hardly lift them.
In the left pocket were two black pillars irregularly shaped: we could
not, without difficulty, reach the top of them, as we stood at the bottom
of his pocket. One of them was covered, and seemed all of a piece:
but at the upper end of the other there appeared a white round substance,
about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each of these was
enclosed a prodigious plate of steel; which, by our orders, we obliged
him to show us, because we apprehended they might be dangerous engines.
He took them out of their cases, and told us, that in his own country
his practice was to shave his beard with one of these, and cut his meat
with the other. There were two pockets which we could not enter:
these he called his fobs; they were two large slits cut into the top
of his middle cover, but squeezed close by the pressure of his belly.
Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain, with a wonderful kind
of engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever
was at the end of that chain; which appeared to be a globe, half silver,
and half of some transparent metal; for, on the transparent side, we
saw certain strange figures circularly drawn, and thought we could touch
them, till we found our fingers stopped by the lucid substance.
He put this engine into our ears, which made an incessant noise, like
that of a water-mill: and we conjecture it is either some unknown animal,
or the god that he worships; but we are more inclined to the latter
opinion, because he assured us, (if we understood him right, for he
expressed himself very imperfectly) that he seldom did any thing without
consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said, it pointed out
the time for every action of his life. From the left fob he took
out a net almost large enough for a fisherman, but contrived to open
and shut like a purse, and served him for the same use: we found therein
several massy pieces of yellow metal, which, if they be real gold, must
be of immense value.
“Having thus, in obedience to your majesty’s commands, diligently
searched all his pockets, we observed a girdle about his waist made
of the hide of some prodigious animal, from which, on the left side,
hung a sword of the length of five men; and on the right, a bag or pouch
divided into two cells, each cell capable of holding three of your majesty’s
subjects. In one of these cells were several globes, or balls,
of a most ponderous metal, about the bigness of our heads, and requiring
a strong hand to lift them: the other cell contained a heap of certain
black grains, but of no great bulk or weight, for we could hold above
fifty of them in the palms of our hands.
“This is an exact inventory of what we found about the body of
the man-mountain, who used us with great civility, and due respect to
your majesty’s commission. Signed and sealed on the fourth
day of the eighty-ninth moon of your majesty’s auspicious reign.
CLEFRIN FRELOCK, MARSI FRELOCK.”
When this inventory was read over to the emperor, he directed me, although
in very gentle terms, to deliver up the several particulars. He
first called for my scimitar, which I took out, scabbard and all.
In the mean time he ordered three thousand of his choicest troops (who
then attended him) to surround me at a distance, with their bows and
arrows just ready to discharge; but I did not observe it, for mine eyes
were wholly fixed upon his majesty. He then desired me to draw
my scimitar, which, although it had got some rust by the sea water,
was, in most parts, exceeding bright. I did so, and immediately
all the troops gave a shout between terror and surprise; for the sun
shone clear, and the reflection dazzled their eyes, as I waved the scimitar
to and fro in my hand. His majesty, who is a most magnanimous
prince, was less daunted than I could expect: he ordered me to return
it into the scabbard, and cast it on the ground as gently as I could,
about six feet from the end of my chain. The next thing he demanded
was one of the hollow iron pillars; by which he meant my pocket pistols.
I drew it out, and at his desire, as well as I could, expressed to him
the use of it; and charging it only with powder, which, by the closeness
of my pouch, happened to escape wetting in the sea (an inconvenience
against which all prudent mariners take special care to provide,) I
first cautioned the emperor not to be afraid, and then I let it off
in the air. The astonishment here was much greater than at the
sight of my scimitar. Hundreds fell down as if they had been struck
dead; and even the emperor, although he stood his ground, could not
recover himself for some time. I delivered up both my pistols
in the same manner as I had done my scimitar, and then my pouch of powder
and bullets; begging him that the former might be kept from fire, for
it would kindle with the smallest spark, and blow up his imperial palace
into the air. I likewise delivered up my watch, which the emperor
was very curious to see, and commanded two of his tallest yeomen of
the guards to bear it on a pole upon their shoulders, as draymen in
England do a barrel of ale. He was amazed at the continual noise
it made, and the motion of the minute-hand, which he could easily discern;
for their sight is much more acute than ours: he asked the opinions
of his learned men about it, which were various and remote, as the reader
may well imagine without my repeating; although indeed I could not very
perfectly understand them. I then gave up my silver and copper
money, my purse, with nine large pieces of gold, and some smaller ones;
my knife and razor, my comb and silver snuff-box, my handkerchief and
journal-book. My scimitar, pistols, and pouch, were conveyed in
carriages to his majesty’s stores; but the rest of my goods were
returned me.
I had as I before observed, one private pocket, which escaped their
search, wherein there was a pair of spectacles (which I sometimes use
for the weakness of mine eyes,) a pocket perspective, and some other
little conveniences; which, being of no consequence to the emperor,
I did not think myself bound in honour to discover, and I apprehended
they might be lost or spoiled if I ventured them out of my possession.
CHAPTER III.
[The author diverts the emperor, and his nobility of both sexes, in
a very uncommon manner. The diversions of the court of Lilliput
described. The author has his liberty granted him upon certain
conditions.]
My gentleness and good behaviour had gained so far on the emperor and
his court, and indeed upon the army and people in general, that I began
to conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time. I took
all possible methods to cultivate this favourable disposition.
The natives came, by degrees, to be less apprehensive of any danger
from me. I would sometimes lie down, and let five or six of them
dance on my hand; and at last the boys and girls would venture to come
and play at hide-and-seek in my hair. I had now made a good progress
in understanding and speaking the language. The emperor had a
mind one day to entertain me with several of the country shows, wherein
they exceed all nations I have known, both for dexterity and magnificence.
I was diverted with none so much as that of the rope-dancers, performed
upon a slender white thread, extended about two feet, and twelve inches
from the ground. Upon which I shall desire liberty, with the reader’s
patience, to enlarge a little.
This diversion is only practised by those persons who are candidates
for great employments, and high favour at court. They are trained
in this art from their youth, and are not always of noble birth, or
liberal education. When a great office is vacant, either by death
or disgrace (which often happens,) five or six of those candidates petition
the emperor to entertain his majesty and the court with a dance on the
rope; and whoever jumps the highest, without falling, succeeds in the
office. Very often the chief ministers themselves are commanded
to show their skill, and to convince the emperor that they have not
lost their faculty. Flimnap, the treasurer, is allowed to cut
a caper on the straight rope, at least an inch higher than any other
lord in the whole empire. I have seen him do the summerset several
times together, upon a trencher fixed on a rope which is no thicker
than a common packthread in England. My friend Reldresal, principal
secretary for private affairs, is, in my opinion, if I am not partial,
the second after the treasurer; the rest of the great officers are much
upon a par.
These diversions are often attended with fatal accidents, whereof great
numbers are on record. I myself have seen two or three candidates
break a limb. But the danger is much greater, when the ministers
themselves are commanded to show their dexterity; for, by contending
to excel themselves and their fellows, they strain so far that there
is hardly one of them who has not received a fall, and some of them
two or three. I was assured that, a year or two before my arrival,
Flimnap would infallibly have broke his neck, if one of the king’s
cushions, that accidentally lay on the ground, had not weakened the
force of his fall.
There is likewise another diversion, which is only shown before the
emperor and empress, and first minister, upon particular occasions.
The emperor lays on the table three fine silken threads of six inches
long; one is blue, the other red, and the third green. These threads
are proposed as prizes for those persons whom the emperor has a mind
to distinguish by a peculiar mark of his favour. The ceremony
is performed in his majesty’s great chamber of state, where the
candidates are to undergo a trial of dexterity very different from the
former, and such as I have not observed the least resemblance of in
any other country of the new or old world. The emperor holds a
stick in his hands, both ends parallel to the horizon, while the candidates
advancing, one by one, sometimes leap over the stick, sometimes creep
under it, backward and forward, several times, according as the stick
is advanced or depressed. Sometimes the emperor holds one end
of the stick, and his first minister the other; sometimes the minister
has it entirely to himself. Whoever performs his part with most
agility, and holds out the longest in leaping and creeping, is rewarded
with the blue-coloured silk; the red is given to the next, and the green
to the third, which they all wear girt twice round about the middle;
and you see few great persons about this court who are not adorned with
one of these girdles.
The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been
daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very
feet without starting. The riders would leap them over my hand,
as I held it on the ground; and one of the emperor’s huntsmen,
upon a large courser, took my foot, shoe and all; which was indeed a
prodigious leap. I had the good fortune to divert the emperor
one day after a very extraordinary manner. I desired he would
order several sticks of two feet high, and the thickness of an ordinary
cane, to be brought me; whereupon his majesty commanded the master of
his woods to give directions accordingly; and the next morning six woodmen
arrived with as many carriages, drawn by eight horses to each.
I took nine of these sticks, and fixing them firmly in the ground in
a quadrangular figure, two feet and a half square, I took four other
sticks, and tied them parallel at each corner, about two feet from the
ground; then I fastened my handkerchief to the nine sticks that stood
erect; and extended it on all sides, till it was tight as the top of
a drum; and the four parallel sticks, rising about five inches higher
than the handkerchief, served as ledges on each side. When I had
finished my work, I desired the emperor to let a troop of his best horses
twenty-four in number, come and exercise upon this plain. His
majesty approved of the proposal, and I took them up, one by one, in
my hands, ready mounted and armed, with the proper officers to exercise
them. As soon as they got into order they divided into two parties,
performed mock skirmishes, discharged blunt arrows, drew their swords,
fled and pursued, attacked and retired, and in short discovered the
best military discipline I ever beheld. The parallel sticks secured
them and their horses from falling over the stage; and the emperor was
so much delighted, that he ordered this entertainment to be repeated
several days, and once was pleased to be lifted up and give the word
of command; and with great difficulty persuaded even the empress herself
to let me hold her in her close chair within two yards of the stage,
when she was able to take a full view of the whole performance.
It was my good fortune, that no ill accident happened in these entertainments;
only once a fiery horse, that belonged to one of the captains, pawing
with his hoof, struck a hole in my handkerchief, and his foot slipping,
he overthrew his rider and himself; but I immediately relieved them
both, and covering the hole with one hand, I set down the troop with
the other, in the same manner as I took them up. The horse that fell
was strained in the left shoulder, but the rider got no hurt; and I
repaired my handkerchief as well as I could: however, I would not trust
to the strength of it any more, in such dangerous enterprises.
About two or three days before I was set at liberty, as I was entertaining
the court with this kind of feat, there arrived an express to inform
his majesty, that some of his subjects, riding near the place where
I was first taken up, had seen a great black substance lying on the
around, very oddly shaped, extending its edges round, as wide as his
majesty’s bedchamber, and rising up in the middle as high as a
man; that it was no living creature, as they at first apprehended, for
it lay on the grass without motion; and some of them had walked round
it several times; that, by mounting upon each other’s shoulders,
they had got to the top, which was flat and even, and, stamping upon
it, they found that it was hollow within; that they humbly conceived
it might be something belonging to the man-mountain; and if his majesty
pleased, they would undertake to bring it with only five horses.
I presently knew what they meant, and was glad at heart to receive this
intelligence. It seems, upon my first reaching the shore after
our shipwreck, I was in such confusion, that before I came to the place
where I went to sleep, my hat, which I had fastened with a string to
my head while I was rowing, and had stuck on all the time I was swimming,
fell off after I came to land; the string, as I conjecture, breaking
by some accident, which I never observed, but thought my hat had been
lost at sea. I entreated his imperial majesty to give orders it
might be brought to me as soon as possible, describing to him the use
and the nature of it: and the next day the waggoners arrived with it,
but not in a very good condition; they had bored two holes in the brim,
within an inch and half of the edge, and fastened two hooks in the holes;
these hooks were tied by a long cord to the harness, and thus my hat
was dragged along for above half an English mile; but, the ground in
that country being extremely smooth and level, it received less damage
than I expected.
Two days after this adventure, the emperor, having ordered that part
of his army which quarters in and about his metropolis, to be in readiness,
took a fancy of diverting himself in a very singular manner. He
desired I would stand like a Colossus, with my legs as far asunder as
I conveniently could. He then commanded his general (who was an
old experienced leader, and a great patron of mine) to draw up the troops
in close order, and march them under me; the foot by twenty-four abreast,
and the horse by sixteen, with drums beating, colours flying, and pikes
advanced. This body consisted of three thousand foot, and a thousand
horse. His majesty gave orders, upon pain of death, that every
soldier in his march should observe the strictest decency with regard
to my person; which however could not prevent some of the younger officers
from turning up their eyes as they passed under me: and, to confess
the truth, my breeches were at that time in so ill a condition, that
they afforded some opportunities for laughter and admiration.
I had sent so many memorials and petitions for my liberty, that his
majesty at length mentioned the matter, first in the cabinet, and then
in a full council; where it was opposed by none, except Skyresh Bolgolam,
who was pleased, without any provocation, to be my mortal enemy.
But it was carried against him by the whole board, and confirmed by
the emperor. That minister was galbet, or admiral of the
realm, very much in his master’s confidence, and a person well
versed in affairs, but of a morose and sour complexion. However,
he was at length persuaded to comply; but prevailed that the articles
and conditions upon which I should be set free, and to which I must
swear, should be drawn up by himself. These articles were brought
to me by Skyresh Bolgolam in person attended by two under-secretaries,
and several persons of distinction. After they were read, I was
demanded to swear to the performance of them; first in the manner of
my own country, and afterwards in the method prescribed by their laws;
which was, to hold my right foot in my left hand, and to place the middle
finger of my right hand on the crown of my head, and my thumb on the
tip of my right ear. But because the reader may be curious to
have some idea of the style and manner of expression peculiar to that
people, as well as to know the article upon which I recovered my liberty,
I have made a translation of the whole instrument, word for word, as
near as I was able, which I here offer to the public.
“Golbasto Momarem Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue, most mighty
Emperor of Lilliput, delight and terror of the universe, whose dominions
extend five thousand blustrugs (about twelve miles in circumference)
to the extremities of the globe; monarch of all monarchs, taller than
the sons of men; whose feet press down to the centre, and whose head
strikes against the sun; at whose nod the princes of the earth shake
their knees; pleasant as the spring, comfortable as the summer, fruitful
as autumn, dreadful as winter: his most sublime majesty proposes to
the man-mountain, lately arrived at our celestial dominions, the following
articles, which, by a solemn oath, he shall be obliged to perform:-
“1st, The man-mountain shall not depart from our dominions, without
our license under our great seal.
“2d, He shall not presume to come into our metropolis, without
our express order; at which time, the inhabitants shall have two hours
warning to keep within doors.
“3d, The said man-mountain shall confine his walks to our principal
high roads, and not offer to walk, or lie down, in a meadow or field
of corn.
“4th, As he walks the said roads, he shall take the utmost care
not to trample upon the bodies of any of our loving subjects, their
horses, or carriages, nor take any of our subjects into his hands without
their own consent.
“5th, If an express requires extraordinary despatch, the man-mountain
shall be obliged to carry, in his pocket, the messenger and horse a
six days journey, once in every moon, and return the said messenger
back (if so required) safe to our imperial presence.
“6th, He shall be our ally against our enemies in the island of
Blefuscu, and do his utmost to destroy their fleet, which is now preparing
to invade us.
“7th, That the said man-mountain shall, at his times of leisure,
be aiding and assisting to our workmen, in helping to raise certain
great stones, towards covering the wall of the principal park, and other
our royal buildings.
“8th, That the said man-mountain shall, in two moons’ time,
deliver in an exact survey of the circumference of our dominions, by
a computation of his own paces round the coast.
“Lastly, That, upon his solemn oath to observe all the above articles,
the said man-mountain shall have a daily allowance of meat and drink
sufficient for the support of 1724 of our subjects, with free access
to our royal person, and other marks of our favour. Given at our
palace at Belfaborac, the twelfth day of the ninety-first moon of our
reign.”
I swore and subscribed to these articles with great cheerfulness and
content, although some of them were not so honourable as I could have
wished; which proceeded wholly from the malice of Skyresh Bolgolam,
the high-admiral: whereupon my chains were immediately unlocked, and
I was at full liberty. The emperor himself, in person, did me
the honour to be by at the whole ceremony. I made my acknowledgements
by prostrating myself at his majesty’s feet: but he commanded
me to rise; and after many gracious expressions, which, to avoid the
censure of vanity, I shall not repeat, he added, “that he hoped
I should prove a useful servant, and well deserve all the favours he
had already conferred upon me, or might do for the future.”
The reader may please to observe, that, in the last article of the recovery
of my liberty, the emperor stipulates to allow me a quantity of meat
and drink sufficient for the support of 1724 Lilliputians. Some
time after, asking a friend at court how they came to fix on that determinate
number, he told me that his majesty’s mathematicians, having taken
the height of my body by the help of a quadrant, and finding it to exceed
theirs in the proportion of twelve to one, they concluded from the similarity
of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1724 of theirs, and
consequently would require as much food as was necessary to support
that number of Lilliputians. By which the reader may conceive
an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as the prudent and
exact economy of so great a prince.
CHAPTER IV.
[Mildendo, the metropolis of Lilliput, described, together with the
emperor’s palace. A conversation between the author and
a principal secretary, concerning the affairs of that empire.
The author’s offers to serve the emperor in his wars.]
The first request I made, after I had obtained my liberty, was, that
I might have license to see Mildendo, the metropolis; which the emperor
easily granted me, but with a special charge to do no hurt either to
the inhabitants or their houses. The people had notice, by proclamation,
of my design to visit the town. The wall which encompassed it
is two feet and a half high, and at least eleven inches broad, so that
a coach and horses may be driven very safely round it; and it is flanked
with strong towers at ten feet distance. I stepped over the great
western gate, and passed very gently, and sidling, through the two principal
streets, only in my short waistcoat, for fear of damaging the roofs
and eaves of the houses with the skirts of my coat. I walked with
the utmost circumspection, to avoid treading on any stragglers who might
remain in the streets, although the orders were very strict, that all
people should keep in their houses, at their own peril. The garret
windows and tops of houses were so crowded with spectators, that I thought
in all my travels I had not seen a more populous place. The city
is an exact square, each side of the wall being five hundred feet long.
The two great streets, which run across and divide it into four quarters,
are five feet wide. The lanes and alleys, which I could not enter,
but only view them as I passed, are from twelve to eighteen inches.
The town is capable of holding five hundred thousand souls: the houses
are from three to five stories: the shops and markets well provided.
The emperor’s palace is in the centre of the city where the two
great streets meet. It is enclosed by a wall of two feet high,
and twenty feet distance from the buildings. I had his majesty’s
permission to step over this wall; and, the space being so wide between
that and the palace, I could easily view it on every side. The
outward court is a square of forty feet, and includes two other courts:
in the inmost are the royal apartments, which I was very desirous to
see, but found it extremely difficult; for the great gates, from one
square into another, were but eighteen inches high, and seven inches
wide. Now the buildings of the outer court were at least five
feet high, and it was impossible for me to stride over them without
infinite damage to the pile, though the walls were strongly built of
hewn stone, and four inches thick. At the same time the emperor
had a great desire that I should see the magnificence of his palace;
but this I was not able to do till three days after, which I spent in
cutting down with my knife some of the largest trees in the royal park,
about a hundred yards distant from the city. Of these trees I
made two stools, each about three feet high, and strong enough to bear
my weight. The people having received notice a second time, I
went again through the city to the palace with my two stools in my hands.
When I came to the side of the outer court, I stood upon one stool,
and took the other in my hand; this I lifted over the roof, and gently
set it down on the space between the first and second court, which was
eight feet wide. I then stept over the building very conveniently
from one stool to the other, and drew up the first after me with a hooked
stick. By this contrivance I got into the inmost court; and, lying
down upon my side, I applied my face to the windows of the middle stories,
which were left open on purpose, and discovered the most splendid apartments
that can be imagined. There I saw the empress and the young princes,
in their several lodgings, with their chief attendants about them.
Her imperial majesty was pleased to smile very graciously upon me, and
gave me out of the window her hand to kiss.
But I shall not anticipate the reader with further descriptions of this
kind, because I reserve them for a greater work, which is now almost
ready for the press; containing a general description of this empire,
from its first erection, through along series of princes; with a particular
account of their wars and politics, laws, learning, and religion; their
plants and animals; their peculiar manners and customs, with other matters
very curious and useful; my chief design at present being only to relate
such events and transactions as happened to the public or to myself
during a residence of about nine months in that empire.
One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my liberty, Reldresal,
principal secretary (as they style him) for private affairs, came to
my house attended only by one servant. He ordered his coach to
wait at a distance, and desired I would give him an hours audience;
which I readily consented to, on account of his quality and personal
merits, as well as of the many good offices he had done me during my
solicitations at court. I offered to lie down that he might the
more conveniently reach my ear, but he chose rather to let me hold him
in my hand during our conversation. He began with compliments
on my liberty; said “he might pretend to some merit in it;”
but, however, added, “that if it had not been for the present
situation of things at court, perhaps I might not have obtained it so
soon. For,” said he, “as flourishing a condition as
we may appear to be in to foreigners, we labour under two mighty evils:
a violent faction at home, and the danger of an invasion, by a most
potent enemy, from abroad. As to the first, you are to understand,
that for about seventy moons past there have been two struggling parties
in this empire, under the names of Tramecksan and Slamecksan,
from the high and low heels of their shoes, by which they distinguish
themselves. It is alleged, indeed, that the high heels are most
agreeable to our ancient constitution; but, however this be, his majesty
has determined to make use only of low heels in the administration of
the government, and all offices in the gift of the crown, as you cannot
but observe; and particularly that his majesty’s imperial heels
are lower at least by a drurr than any of his court (drurr
is a measure about the fourteenth part of an inch). The animosities
between these two parties run so high, that they will neither eat, nor
drink, nor talk with each other. We compute the Tramecksan,
or high heels, to exceed us in number; but the power is wholly on our
side. We apprehend his imperial highness, the heir to the crown,
to have some tendency towards the high heels; at least we can plainly
discover that one of his heels is higher than the other, which gives
him a hobble in his gait. Now, in the midst of these intestine
disquiets, we are threatened with an invasion from the island of Blefuscu,
which is the other great empire of the universe, almost as large and
powerful as this of his majesty. For as to what we have heard
you affirm, that there are other kingdoms and states in the world inhabited
by human creatures as large as yourself, our philosophers are in much
doubt, and would rather conjecture that you dropped from the moon, or
one of the stars; because it is certain, that a hundred mortals of your
bulk would in a short time destroy all the fruits and cattle of his
majesty’s dominions: besides, our histories of six thousand moons
make no mention of any other regions than the two great empires of Lilliput
and Blefuscu. Which two mighty powers have, as I was going to
tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war for six-and-thirty moons
past. It began upon the following occasion. It is allowed
on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat
them, was upon the larger end; but his present majesty’s grandfather,
while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to
the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon
the emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subjects,
upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs.
The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us,
there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one emperor
lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions were
constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were
quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It
is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered
death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end.
Many hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy:
but the books of the Big-endians have been long forbidden, and the whole
party rendered incapable by law of holding employments. During
the course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefusca did frequently
expostulate by their ambassadors, accusing us of making a schism in
religion, by offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great prophet
Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which is their
Alcoran). This, however, is thought to be a mere strain upon the
text; for the words are these: ‘that all true believers break
their eggs at the convenient end.’ And which is the convenient
end, seems, in my humble opinion to be left to every man’s conscience,
or at least in the power of the chief magistrate to determine.
Now, the Big-endian exiles have found so much credit in the emperor
of Blefuscu’s court, and so much private assistance and encouragement
from their party here at home, that a bloody war has been carried on
between the two empires for six-and-thirty moons, with various success;
during which time we have lost forty capital ships, and a much a greater
number of smaller vessels, together with thirty thousand of our best
seamen and soldiers; and the damage received by the enemy is reckoned
to be somewhat greater than ours. However, they have now equipped
a numerous fleet, and are just preparing to make a descent upon us;
and his imperial majesty, placing great confidence in your valour and
strength, has commanded me to lay this account of his affairs before
you.”
I desired the secretary to present my humble duty to the emperor; and
to let him know, “that I thought it would not become me, who was
a foreigner, to interfere with parties; but I was ready, with the hazard
of my life, to defend his person and state against all invaders.”
CHAPTER V.
[The author, by an extraordinary stratagem, prevents an invasion.
A high title of honour is conferred upon him. Ambassadors arrive
from the emperor of Blefuscu, and sue for peace. The empress’s
apartment on fire by an accident; the author instrumental in saving
the rest of the palace.]
The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated to the north-east of Lilliput,
from which it is parted only by a channel of eight hundred yards wide.
I had not yet seen it, and upon this notice of an intended invasion,
I avoided appearing on that side of the coast, for fear of being discovered,
by some of the enemy’s ships, who had received no intelligence
of me; all intercourse between the two empires having been strictly
forbidden during the war, upon pain of death, and an embargo laid by
our emperor upon all vessels whatsoever. I communicated to his
majesty a project I had formed of seizing the enemy’s whole fleet;
which, as our scouts assured us, lay at anchor in the harbour, ready
to sail with the first fair wind. I consulted the most experienced
seamen upon the depth of the channel, which they had often plumbed;
who told me, that in the middle, at high-water, it was seventy glumgluffs
deep, which is about six feet of European measure; and the rest of it
fifty glumgluffs at most. I walked towards the north-east
coast, over against Blefuscu, where, lying down behind a hillock, I
took out my small perspective glass, and viewed the enemy’s fleet
at anchor, consisting of about fifty men of war, and a great number
of transports: I then came back to my house, and gave orders (for which
I had a warrant) for a great quantity of the strongest cable and bars
of iron. The cable was about as thick as packthread and the bars
of the length and size of a knitting-needle. I trebled the cable
to make it stronger, and for the same reason I twisted three of the
iron bars together, bending the extremities into a hook. Having
thus fixed fifty hooks to as many cables, I went back to the north-east
coast, and putting off my coat, shoes, and stockings, walked into the
sea, in my leathern jerkin, about half an hour before high water.
I waded with what haste I could, and swam in the middle about thirty
yards, till I felt ground. I arrived at the fleet in less than
half an hour. The enemy was so frightened when they saw me, that
they leaped out of their ships, and swam to shore, where there could
not be fewer than thirty thousand souls. I then took my tackling,
and, fastening a hook to the hole at the prow of each, I tied all the
cords together at the end. While I was thus employed, the enemy
discharged several thousand arrows, many of which stuck in my hands
and face, and, beside the excessive smart, gave me much disturbance
in my work. My greatest apprehension was for mine eyes, which
I should have infallibly lost, if I had not suddenly thought of an expedient.
I kept, among other little necessaries, a pair of spectacles in a private
pocket, which, as I observed before, had escaped the emperor’s
searchers. These I took out and fastened as strongly as I could
upon my nose, and thus armed, went on boldly with my work, in spite
of the enemy’s arrows, many of which struck against the glasses
of my spectacles, but without any other effect, further than a little
to discompose them. I had now fastened all the hooks, and, taking
the knot in my hand, began to pull; but not a ship would stir, for they
were all too fast held by their anchors, so that the boldest part of
my enterprise remained. I therefore let go the cord, and leaving
the looks fixed to the ships, I resolutely cut with my knife the cables
that fastened the anchors, receiving about two hundred shots in my face
and hands; then I took up the knotted end of the cables, to which my
hooks were tied, and with great ease drew fifty of the enemy’s
largest men of war after me.
The Blefuscudians, who had not the least imagination of what I intended,
were at first confounded with astonishment. They had seen me cut
the cables, and thought my design was only to let the ships run adrift
or fall foul on each other: but when they perceived the whole fleet
moving in order, and saw me pulling at the end, they set up such a scream
of grief and despair as it is almost impossible to describe or conceive.
When I had got out of danger, I stopped awhile to pick out the arrows
that stuck in my hands and face; and rubbed on some of the same ointment
that was given me at my first arrival, as I have formerly mentioned.
I then took off my spectacles, and waiting about an hour, till the tide
was a little fallen, I waded through the middle with my cargo, and arrived
safe at the royal port of Lilliput.
The emperor and his whole court stood on the shore, expecting the issue
of this great adventure. They saw the ships move forward in a
large half-moon, but could not discern me, who was up to my breast in
water. When I advanced to the middle of the channel, they were
yet more in pain, because I was under water to my neck. The emperor
concluded me to be drowned, and that the enemy’s fleet was approaching
in a hostile manner: but he was soon eased of his fears; for the channel
growing shallower every step I made, I came in a short time within hearing,
and holding up the end of the cable, by which the fleet was fastened,
I cried in a loud voice, “Long live the most puissant king of
Lilliput!” This great prince received me at my landing with
all possible encomiums, and created me a nardac upon the spot,
which is the highest title of honour among them.
His majesty desired I would take some other opportunity of bringing
all the rest of his enemy’s ships into his ports. And so
unmeasureable is the ambition of princes, that he seemed to think of
nothing less than reducing the whole empire of Blefuscu into a province,
and governing it, by a viceroy; of destroying the Big-endian exiles,
and compelling that people to break the smaller end of their eggs, by
which he would remain the sole monarch of the whole world. But
I endeavoured to divert him from this design, by many arguments drawn
from the topics of policy as well as justice; and I plainly protested,
“that I would never be an instrument of bringing a free and brave
people into slavery.” And, when the matter was debated in
council, the wisest part of the ministry were of my opinion.
This open bold declaration of mine was so opposite to the schemes and
politics of his imperial majesty, that he could never forgive me.
He mentioned it in a very artful manner at council, where I was told
that some of the wisest appeared, at least by their silence, to be of
my opinion; but others, who were my secret enemies, could not forbear
some expressions which, by a side-wind, reflected on me. And from
this time began an intrigue between his majesty and a junto of ministers,
maliciously bent against me, which broke out in less than two months,
and had like to have ended in my utter destruction. Of so little
weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance
with a refusal to gratify their passions.
About three weeks after this exploit, there arrived a solemn embassy
from Blefuscu, with humble offers of a peace, which was soon concluded,
upon conditions very advantageous to our emperor, wherewith I shall
not trouble the reader. There were six ambassadors, with a train
of about five hundred persons, and their entry was very magnificent,
suitable to the grandeur of their master, and the importance of their
business. When their treaty was finished, wherein I did them several
good offices by the credit I now had, or at least appeared to have,
at court, their excellencies, who were privately told how much I had
been their friend, made me a visit in form. They began with many
compliments upon my valour and generosity, invited me to that kingdom
in the emperor their master’s name, and desired me to show them
some proofs of my prodigious strength, of which they had heard so many
wonders; wherein I readily obliged them, but shall not trouble the reader
with the particulars.
When I had for some time entertained their excellencies, to their infinite
satisfaction and surprise, I desired they would do me the honour to
present my most humble respects to the emperor their master, the renown
of whose virtues had so justly filled the whole world with admiration,
and whose royal person I resolved to attend, before I returned to my
own country. Accordingly, the next time I had the honour to see
our emperor, I desired his general license to wait on the Blefuscudian
monarch, which he was pleased to grant me, as I could perceive, in a
very cold manner; but could not guess the reason, till I had a whisper
from a certain person, “that Flimnap and Bolgolam had represented
my intercourse with those ambassadors as a mark of disaffection;”
from which I am sure my heart was wholly free. And this was the
first time I began to conceive some imperfect idea of courts and ministers.
It is to be observed, that these ambassadors spoke to me, by an interpreter,
the languages of both empires differing as much from each other as any
two in Europe, and each nation priding itself upon the antiquity, beauty,
and energy of their own tongue, with an avowed contempt for that of
their neighbour; yet our emperor, standing upon the advantage he had
got by the seizure of their fleet, obliged them to deliver their credentials,
and make their speech, in the Lilliputian tongue. And it must
be confessed, that from the great intercourse of trade and commerce
between both realms, from the continual reception of exiles which is
mutual among them, and from the custom, in each empire, to send their
young nobility and richer gentry to the other, in order to polish themselves
by seeing the world, and understanding men and manners; there are few
persons of distinction, or merchants, or seamen, who dwell in the maritime
parts, but what can hold conversation in both tongues; as I found some
weeks after, when I went to pay my respects to the emperor of Blefuscu,
which, in the midst of great misfortunes, through the malice of my enemies,
proved a very happy adventure to me, as I shall relate in its proper
place.
The reader may remember, that when I signed those articles upon which
I recovered my liberty, there were some which I disliked, upon account
of their being too servile; neither could anything but an extreme necessity
have forced me to submit. But being now a nardac of the
highest rank in that empire, such offices were looked upon as below
my dignity, and the emperor (to do him justice), never once mentioned
them to me. However, it was not long before I had an opportunity
of doing his majesty, at least as I then thought, a most signal service.
I was alarmed at midnight with the cries of many hundred people at my
door; by which, being suddenly awaked, I was in some kind of terror.
I heard the word Burglum repeated incessantly: several of the
emperor’s court, making their way through the crowd, entreated
me to come immediately to the palace, where her imperial majesty’s
apartment was on fire, by the carelessness of a maid of honour, who
fell asleep while she was reading a romance. I got up in an instant;
and orders being given to clear the way before me, and it being likewise
a moonshine night, I made a shift to get to the palace without trampling
on any of the people. I found they had already applied ladders
to the walls of the apartment, and were well provided with buckets,
but the water was at some distance. These buckets were about the
size of large thimbles, and the poor people supplied me with them as
fast as they could: but the flame was so violent that they did little
good. I might easily have stifled it with my coat, which I unfortunately
left behind me for haste, and came away only in my leathern jerkin.
The case seemed wholly desperate and deplorable; and this magnificent
palace would have infallibly been burnt down to the ground, if, by a
presence of mind unusual to me, I had not suddenly thought of an expedient.
I had, the evening before, drunk plentifully of a most delicious wine
called glimigrim, (the Blefuscudians call it flunec, but
ours is esteemed the better sort,) which is very diuretic. By
the luckiest chance in the world, I had not discharged myself of any
part of it. The heat I had contracted by coming very near the
flames, and by labouring to quench them, made the wine begin to operate
by urine; which I voided in such a quantity, and applied so well to
the proper places, that in three minutes the fire was wholly extinguished,
and the rest of that noble pile, which had cost so many ages in erecting,
preserved from destruction.
It was now day-light, and I returned to my house without waiting to
congratulate with the emperor: because, although I had done a very eminent
piece of service, yet I could not tell how his majesty might resent
the manner by which I had performed it: for, by the fundamental laws
of the realm, it is capital in any person, of what quality soever, to
make water within the precincts of the palace. But I was a little
comforted by a message from his majesty, “that he would give orders
to the grand justiciary for passing my pardon in form:” which,
however, I could not obtain; and I was privately assured, “that
the empress, conceiving the greatest abhorrence of what I had done,
removed to the most distant side of the court, firmly resolved that
those buildings should never be repaired for her use: and, in the presence
of her chief confidents could not forbear vowing revenge.”
CHAPTER VI.
[Of the inhabitants of Lilliput; their learning, laws, and customs;
the manner of educating their children. The author’s way
of living in that country. His vindication of a great lady.]
Although I intend to leave the description of this empire to a particular
treatise, yet, in the mean time, I am content to gratify the curious
reader with some general ideas. As the common size of the natives
is somewhat under six inches high, so there is an exact proportion in
all other animals, as well as plants and trees: for instance, the tallest
horses and oxen are between four and five inches in height, the sheep
an inch and half, more or less: their geese about the bigness of a sparrow,
and so the several gradations downwards till you come to the smallest,
which to my sight, were almost invisible; but nature has adapted the
eyes of the Lilliputians to all objects proper for their view: they
see with great exactness, but at no great distance. And, to show
the sharpness of their sight towards objects that are near, I have been
much pleased with observing a cook pulling a lark, which was not so
large as a common fly; and a young girl threading an invisible needle
with invisible silk. Their tallest trees are about seven feet
high: I mean some of those in the great royal park, the tops whereof
I could but just reach with my fist clenched. The other vegetables
are in the same proportion; but this I leave to the reader’s imagination.
I shall say but little at present of their learning, which, for many
ages, has flourished in all its branches among them: but their manner
of writing is very peculiar, being neither from the left to the right,
like the Europeans, nor from the right to the left, like the Arabians,
nor from up to down, like the Chinese, but aslant, from one corner of
the paper to the other, like ladies in England.
They bury their dead with their heads directly downward, because they
hold an opinion, that in eleven thousand moons they are all to rise
again; in which period the earth (which they conceive to be flat) will
turn upside down, and by this means they shall, at their resurrection,
be found ready standing on their feet. The learned among them
confess the absurdity of this doctrine; but the practice still continues,
in compliance to the vulgar.
There are some laws and customs in this empire very peculiar; and if
they were not so directly contrary to those of my own dear country,
I should be tempted to say a little in their justification. It
is only to be wished they were as well executed. The first I shall
mention, relates to informers. All crimes against the state, are
punished here with the utmost severity; but, if the person accused makes
his innocence plainly to appear upon his trial, the accuser is immediately
put to an ignominious death; and out of his goods or lands the innocent
person is quadruply recompensed for the loss of his time, for the danger
he underwent, for the hardship of his imprisonment, and for all the
charges he has been at in making his defence; or, if that fund be deficient,
it is largely supplied by the crown. The emperor also confers
on him some public mark of his favour, and proclamation is made of his
innocence through the whole city.
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom
fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance,
with a very common understanding, may preserve a man’s goods from
thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning; and, since
it is necessary that there should be a perpetual intercourse of buying
and selling, and dealing upon credit, where fraud is permitted and connived
at, or has no law to punish it, the honest dealer is always undone,
and the knave gets the advantage. I remember, when I was once
interceding with the emperor for a criminal who had wronged his master
of a great sum of money, which he had received by order and ran away
with; and happening to tell his majesty, by way of extenuation, that
it was only a breach of trust, the emperor thought it monstrous in me
to offer as a defence the greatest aggravation of the crime; and truly
I had little to say in return, farther than the common answer, that
different nations had different customs; for, I confess, I was heartily
ashamed. {2}
Although we usually call reward and punishment the two hinges upon which
all government turns, yet I could never observe this maxim to be put
in practice by any nation except that of Lilliput. Whoever can
there bring sufficient proof, that he has strictly observed the laws
of his country for seventy-three moons, has a claim to certain privileges,
according to his quality or condition of life, with a proportionable
sum of money out of a fund appropriated for that use: he likewise acquires
the title of snilpall, or legal, which is added to his name,
but does not descend to his posterity. And these people thought
it a prodigious defect of policy among us, when I told them that our
laws were enforced only by penalties, without any mention of reward.
It is upon this account that the image of Justice, in their courts of
judicature, is formed with six eyes, two before, as many behind, and
on each side one, to signify circumspection; with a bag of gold open
in her right hand, and a sword sheathed in her left, to show she is
more disposed to reward than to punish.
In choosing persons for all employments, they have more regard to good
morals than to great abilities; for, since government is necessary to
mankind, they believe, that the common size of human understanding is
fitted to some station or other; and that Providence never intended
to make the management of public affairs a mystery to be comprehended
only by a few persons of sublime genius, of which there seldom are three
born in an age: but they suppose truth, justice, temperance, and the
like, to be in every man’s power; the practice of which virtues,
assisted by experience and a good intention, would qualify any man for
the service of his country, except where a course of study is required.
But they thought the want of moral virtues was so far from being supplied
by superior endowments of the mind, that employments could never be
put into such dangerous hands as those of persons so qualified; and,
at least, that the mistakes committed by ignorance, in a virtuous disposition,
would never be of such fatal consequence to the public weal, as the
practices of a man, whose inclinations led him to be corrupt, and who
had great abilities to manage, to multiply, and defend his corruptions.
In like manner, the disbelief of a Divine Providence renders a man incapable
of holding any public station; for, since kings avow themselves to be
the deputies of Providence, the Lilliputians think nothing can be more
absurd than for a prince to employ such men as disown the authority
under which he acts.
In relating these and the following laws, I would only be understood
to mean the original institutions, and not the most scandalous corruptions,
into which these people are fallen by the degenerate nature of man.
For, as to that infamous practice of acquiring great employments by
dancing on the ropes, or badges of favour and distinction by leaping
over sticks and creeping under them, the reader is to observe, that
they were first introduced by the grandfather of the emperor now reigning,
and grew to the present height by the gradual increase of party and
faction.
Ingratitude is among them a capital crime, as we read it to have been
in some other countries: for they reason thus; that whoever makes ill
returns to his benefactor, must needs be a common enemy to the rest
of mankind, from whom he has received no obligation, and therefore such
a man is not fit to live.
Their notions relating to the duties of parents and children differ
extremely from ours. For, since the conjunction of male and female
is founded upon the great law of nature, in order to propagate and continue
the species, the Lilliputians will needs have it, that men and women
are joined together, like other animals, by the motives of concupiscence;
and that their tenderness towards their young proceeds from the like
natural principle: for which reason they will never allow that a child
is under any obligation to his father for begetting him, or to his mother
for bringing him into the world; which, considering the miseries of
human life, was neither a benefit in itself, nor intended so by his
parents, whose thoughts, in their love encounters, were otherwise employed.
Upon these, and the like reasonings, their opinion is, that parents
are the last of all others to be trusted with the education of their
own children; and therefore they have in every town public nurseries,
where all parents, except cottagers and labourers, are obliged to send
their infants of both sexes to be reared and educated, when they come
to the age of twenty moons, at which time they are supposed to have
some rudiments of docility. These schools are of several kinds,
suited to different qualities, and both sexes. They have certain
professors well skilled in preparing children for such a condition of
life as befits the rank of their parents, and their own capacities,
as well as inclinations. I shall first say something of the male
nurseries, and then of the female.
The nurseries for males of noble or eminent birth, are provided with
grave and learned professors, and their several deputies. The
clothes and food of the children are plain and simple. They are
bred up in the principles of honour, justice, courage, modesty, clemency,
religion, and love of their country; they are always employed in some
business, except in the times of eating and sleeping, which are very
short, and two hours for diversions consisting of bodily exercises.
They are dressed by men till four years of age, and then are obliged
to dress themselves, although their quality be ever so great; and the
women attendant, who are aged proportionably to ours at fifty, perform
only the most menial offices. They are never suffered to converse
with servants, but go together in smaller or greater numbers to take
their diversions, and always in the presence of a professor, or one
of his deputies; whereby they avoid those early bad impressions of folly
and vice, to which our children are subject. Their parents are
suffered to see them only twice a year; the visit is to last but an
hour; they are allowed to kiss the child at meeting and parting; but
a professor, who always stands by on those occasions, will not suffer
them to whisper, or use any fondling expressions, or bring any presents
of toys, sweetmeats, and the like.
The pension from each family for the education and entertainment of
a child, upon failure of due payment, is levied by the emperor’s
officers.
The nurseries for children of ordinary gentlemen, merchants, traders,
and handicrafts, are managed proportionably after the same manner; only
those designed for trades are put out apprentices at eleven years old,
whereas those of persons of quality continue in their exercises till
fifteen, which answers to twenty-one with us: but the confinement is
gradually lessened for the last three years.
In the female nurseries, the young girls of quality are educated much
like the males, only they are dressed by orderly servants of their own
sex; but always in the presence of a professor or deputy, till they
come to dress themselves, which is at five years old. And if it
be found that these nurses ever presume to entertain the girls with
frightful or foolish stories, or the common follies practised by chambermaids
among us, they are publicly whipped thrice about the city, imprisoned
for a year, and banished for life to the most desolate part of the country.
Thus the young ladies are as much ashamed of being cowards and fools
as the men, and despise all personal ornaments, beyond decency and cleanliness:
neither did I perceive any difference in their education made by their
difference of sex, only that the exercises of the females were not altogether
so robust; and that some rules were given them relating to domestic
life, and a smaller compass of learning was enjoined them: for their
maxim is, that among peoples of quality, a wife should be always a reasonable
and agreeable companion, because she cannot always be young. When
the girls are twelve years old, which among them is the marriageable
age, their parents or guardians take them home, with great expressions
of gratitude to the professors, and seldom without tears of the young
lady and her companions.
In the nurseries of females of the meaner sort, the children are instructed
in all kinds of works proper for their sex, and their several degrees:
those intended for apprentices are dismissed at seven years old, the
rest are kept to eleven.
The meaner families who have children at these nurseries, are obliged,
besides their annual pension, which is as low as possible, to return
to the steward of the nursery a small monthly share of their gettings,
to be a portion for the child; and therefore all parents are limited
in their expenses by the law. For the Lilliputians think nothing
can be more unjust, than for people, in subservience to their own appetites,
to bring children into the world, and leave the burthen of supporting
them on the public. As to persons of quality, they give security
to appropriate a certain sum for each child, suitable to their condition;
and these funds are always managed with good husbandry and the most
exact justice.
The cottagers and labourers keep their children at home, their business
being only to till and cultivate the earth, and therefore their education
is of little consequence to the public: but the old and diseased among
them, are supported by hospitals; for begging is a trade unknown in
this empire.
And here it may, perhaps, divert the curious reader, to give some account
of my domestics, and my manner of living in this country, during a residence
of nine months, and thirteen days. Having a head mechanically
turned, and being likewise forced by necessity, I had made for myself
a table and chair convenient enough, out of the largest trees in the
royal park. Two hundred sempstresses were employed to make me
shirts, and linen for my bed and table, all of the strongest and coarsest
kind they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together
in several folds, for the thickest was some degrees finer than lawn.
Their linen is usually three inches wide, and three feet make a piece.
The sempstresses took my measure as I lay on the ground, one standing
at my neck, and another at my mid-leg, with a strong cord extended,
that each held by the end, while a third measured the length of the
cord with a rule of an inch long. Then they measured my right
thumb, and desired no more; for by a mathematical computation, that
twice round the thumb is once round the wrist, and so on to the neck
and the waist, and by the help of my old shirt, which I displayed on
the ground before them for a pattern, they fitted me exactly.
Three hundred tailors were employed in the same manner to make me clothes;
but they had another contrivance for taking my measure. I kneeled
down, and they raised a ladder from the ground to my neck; upon this
ladder one of them mounted, and let fall a plumb-line from my collar
to the floor, which just answered the length of my coat: but my waist
and arms I measured myself. When my clothes were finished, which
was done in my house (for the largest of theirs would not have been
able to hold them), they looked like the patch-work made by the ladies
in England, only that mine were all of a colour.
I had three hundred cooks to dress my victuals, in little convenient
huts built about my house, where they and their families lived, and
prepared me two dishes a-piece. I took up twenty waiters in my
hand, and placed them on the table: a hundred more attended below on
the ground, some with dishes of meat, and some with barrels of wine
and other liquors slung on their shoulders; all which the waiters above
drew up, as I wanted, in a very ingenious manner, by certain cords,
as we draw the bucket up a well in Europe. A dish of their meat
was a good mouthful, and a barrel of their liquor a reasonable draught.
Their mutton yields to ours, but their beef is excellent. I have
had a sirloin so large, that I have been forced to make three bites
of it; but this is rare. My servants were astonished to see me
eat it, bones and all, as in our country we do the leg of a lark.
Their geese and turkeys I usually ate at a mouthful, and I confess they
far exceed ours. Of their smaller fowl I could take up twenty
or thirty at the end of my knife.
One day his imperial majesty, being informed of my way of living, desired
“that himself and his royal consort, with the young princes of
the blood of both sexes, might have the happiness,” as he was
pleased to call it, “of dining with me.” They came
accordingly, and I placed them in chairs of state, upon my table, just
over against me, with their guards about them. Flimnap, the lord
high treasurer, attended there likewise with his white staff; and I
observed he often looked on me with a sour countenance, which I would
not seem to regard, but ate more than usual, in honour to my dear country,
as well as to fill the court with admiration. I have some private
reasons to believe, that this visit from his majesty gave Flimnap an
opportunity of doing me ill offices to his master. That minister
had always been my secret enemy, though he outwardly caressed me more
than was usual to the moroseness of his nature. He represented
to the emperor “the low condition of his treasury; that he was
forced to take up money at a great discount; that exchequer bills would
not circulate under nine per cent. below par; that I had cost his majesty
above a million and a half of sprugs” (their greatest gold
coin, about the bigness of a spangle) “and, upon the whole, that
it would be advisable in the emperor to take the first fair occasion
of dismissing me.”
I am here obliged to vindicate the reputation of an excellent lady,
who was an innocent sufferer upon my account. The treasurer took
a fancy to be jealous of his wife, from the malice of some evil tongues,
who informed him that her grace had taken a violent affection for my
person; and the court scandal ran for some time, that she once came
privately to my lodging. This I solemnly declare to be a most
infamous falsehood, without any grounds, further than that her grace
was pleased to treat me with all innocent marks of freedom and friendship.
I own she came often to my house, but always publicly, nor ever without
three more in the coach, who were usually her sister and young daughter,
and some particular acquaintance; but this was common to many other
ladies of the court. And I still appeal to my servants round,
whether they at any time saw a coach at my door, without knowing what
persons were in it. On those occasions, when a servant had given
me notice, my custom was to go immediately to the door, and, after paying
my respects, to take up the coach and two horses very carefully in my
hands (for, if there were six horses, the postillion always unharnessed
four,) and place them on a table, where I had fixed a movable rim quite
round, of five inches high, to prevent accidents. And I have often
had four coaches and horses at once on my table, full of company, while
I sat in my chair, leaning my face towards them; and when I was engaged
with one set, the coachmen would gently drive the others round my table.
I have passed many an afternoon very agreeably in these conversations.
But I defy the treasurer, or his two informers (I will name them, and
let them make the best of it) Clustril and Drunlo, to prove that any
person ever came to me incognito, except the secretary Reldresal,
who was sent by express command of his imperial majesty, as I have before
related. I should not have dwelt so long upon this particular,
if it had not been a point wherein the reputation of a great lady is
so nearly concerned, to say nothing of my own; though I then had the
honour to be a nardac, which the treasurer himself is not; for
all the world knows, that he is only a glumglum, a title inferior
by one degree, as that of a marquis is to a duke in England; yet I allow
he preceded me in right of his post. These false informations,
which I afterwards came to the knowledge of by an accident not proper
to mention, made the treasurer show his lady for some time an ill countenance,
and me a worse; and although he was at last undeceived and reconciled
to her, yet I lost all credit with him, and found my interest decline
very fast with the emperor himself, who was, indeed, too much governed
by that favourite.
CHAPTER VII.
[The author, being informed of a design to accuse him of high-treason,
makes his escape to Blefuscu. His reception there.]
Before I proceed to give an account of my leaving this kingdom, it may
be proper to inform the reader of a private intrigue which had been
for two months forming against me.
I had been hitherto, all my life, a stranger to courts, for which I
was unqualified by the meanness of my condition. I had indeed
heard and read enough of the dispositions of great princes and ministers,
but never expected to have found such terrible effects of them, in so
remote a country, governed, as I thought, by very different maxims from
those in Europe.
When I was just preparing to pay my attendance on the emperor of Blefuscu,
a considerable person at court (to whom I had been very serviceable,
at a time when he lay under the highest displeasure of his imperial
majesty) came to my house very privately at night, in a close chair,
and, without sending his name, desired admittance. The chairmen
were dismissed; I put the chair, with his lordship in it, into my coat-pocket:
and, giving orders to a trusty servant, to say I was indisposed and
gone to sleep, I fastened the door of my house, placed the chair on
the table, according to my usual custom, and sat down by it. After
the common salutations were over, observing his lordship’s countenance
full of concern, and inquiring into the reason, he desired “I
would hear him with patience, in a matter that highly concerned my honour
and my life.” His speech was to the following effect, for
I took notes of it as soon as he left me:-
“You are to know,” said he, “that several committees
of council have been lately called, in the most private manner, on your
account; and it is but two days since his majesty came to a full resolution.
“You are very sensible that Skyresh Bolgolam” (galbet,
or high-admiral) “has been your mortal enemy, almost ever since
your arrival. His original reasons I know not; but his hatred
is increased since your great success against Blefuscu, by which his
glory as admiral is much obscured. This lord, in conjunction with
Flimnap the high-treasurer, whose enmity against you is notorious on
account of his lady, Limtoc the general, Lalcon the chamberlain, and
Balmuff the grand justiciary, have prepared articles of impeachment
against you, for treason and other capital crimes.”
This preface made me so impatient, being conscious of my own merits
and innocence, that I was going to interrupt him; when he entreated
me to be silent, and thus proceeded:-
“Out of gratitude for the favours you have done me, I procured
information of the whole proceedings, and a copy of the articles; wherein
I venture my head for your service.
“‘Articles of Impeachment against QUINBUS FLESTRIN, (the
Man-Mountain.)
ARTICLE I.
“‘Whereas, by a statute made in the reign of his imperial
majesty Calin Deffar Plune, it is enacted, that, whoever shall make
water within the precincts of the royal palace, shall be liable to the
pains and penalties of high-treason; notwithstanding, the said Quinbus
Flestrin, in open breach of the said law, under colour of extinguishing
the fire kindled in the apartment of his majesty’s most dear imperial
consort, did maliciously, traitorously, and devilishly, by discharge
of his urine, put out the said fire kindled in the said apartment, lying
and being within the precincts of the said royal palace, against the
statute in that case provided, etc. against the duty, etc.
ARTICLE II.
“‘That the said Quinbus Flestrin, having brought the imperial
fleet of Blefuscu into the royal port, and being afterwards commanded
by his imperial majesty to seize all the other ships of the said empire
of Blefuscu, and reduce that empire to a province, to be governed by
a viceroy from hence, and to destroy and put to death, not only all
the Big-endian exiles, but likewise all the people of that empire who
would not immediately forsake the Big-endian heresy, he, the said Flestrin,
like a false traitor against his most auspicious, serene, imperial majesty,
did petition to be excused from the said service, upon pretence of unwillingness
to force the consciences, or destroy the liberties and lives of an innocent
people.
ARTICLE III.
“‘That, whereas certain ambassadors arrived from the Court
of Blefuscu, to sue for peace in his majesty’s court, he, the
said Flestrin, did, like a false traitor, aid, abet, comfort, and divert,
the said ambassadors, although he knew them to be servants to a prince
who was lately an open enemy to his imperial majesty, and in an open
war against his said majesty.
ARTICLE IV.
“‘That the said Quinbus Flestrin, contrary to the duty of
a faithful subject, is now preparing to make a voyage to the court and
empire of Blefuscu, for which he has received only verbal license from
his imperial majesty; and, under colour of the said license, does falsely
and traitorously intend to take the said voyage, and thereby to aid,
comfort, and abet the emperor of Blefuscu, so lately an enemy, and in
open war with his imperial majesty aforesaid.’
“There are some other articles; but these are the most important,
of which I have read you an abstract.
“In the several debates upon this impeachment, it must be confessed
that his majesty gave many marks of his great lenity; often urging the
services you had done him, and endeavouring to extenuate your crimes.
The treasurer and admiral insisted that you should be put to the most
painful and ignominious death, by setting fire to your house at night,
and the general was to attend with twenty thousand men, armed with poisoned
arrows, to shoot you on the face and hands. Some of your servants
were to have private orders to strew a poisonous juice on your shirts
and sheets, which would soon make you tear your own flesh, and die in
the utmost torture. The general came into the same opinion; so
that for a long time there was a majority against you; but his majesty
resolving, if possible, to spare your life, at last brought off the
chamberlain.
“Upon this incident, Reldresal, principal secretary for private
affairs, who always approved himself your true friend, was commanded
by the emperor to deliver his opinion, which he accordingly did; and
therein justified the good thoughts you have of him. He allowed
your crimes to be great, but that still there was room for mercy, the
most commendable virtue in a prince, and for which his majesty was so
justly celebrated. He said, the friendship between you and him
was so well known to the world, that perhaps the most honourable board
might think him partial; however, in obedience to the command he had
received, he would freely offer his sentiments. That if his majesty,
in consideration of your services, and pursuant to his own merciful
disposition, would please to spare your life, and only give orders to
put out both your eyes, he humbly conceived, that by this expedient
justice might in some measure be satisfied, and all the world would
applaud the lenity of the emperor, as well as the fair and generous
proceedings of those who have the honour to be his counsellors.
That the loss of your eyes would be no impediment to your bodily strength,
by which you might still be useful to his majesty; that blindness is
an addition to courage, by concealing dangers from us; that the fear
you had for your eyes, was the greatest difficulty in bringing over
the enemy’s fleet, and it would be sufficient for you to see by
the eyes of the ministers, since the greatest princes do no more.
“This proposal was received with the utmost disapprobation by
the whole board. Bolgolam, the admiral, could not preserve his
temper, but, rising up in fury, said, he wondered how the secretary
durst presume to give his opinion for preserving the life of a traitor;
that the services you had performed were, by all true reasons of state,
the great aggravation of your crimes; that you, who were able to extinguish
the fire by discharge of urine in her majesty’s apartment (which
he mentioned with horror), might, at another time, raise an inundation
by the same means, to drown the whole palace; and the same strength
which enabled you to bring over the enemy’s fleet, might serve,
upon the first discontent, to carry it back; that he had good reasons
to think you were a Big-endian in your heart; and, as treason begins
in the heart, before it appears in overt-acts, so he accused you as
a traitor on that account, and therefore insisted you should be put
to death.
“The treasurer was of the same opinion: he showed to what straits
his majesty’s revenue was reduced, by the charge of maintaining
you, which would soon grow insupportable; that the secretary’s
expedient of putting out your eyes, was so far from being a remedy against
this evil, that it would probably increase it, as is manifest from the
common practice of blinding some kind of fowls, after which they fed
the faster, and grew sooner fat; that his sacred majesty and the council,
who are your judges, were, in their own consciences, fully convinced
of your guilt, which was a sufficient argument to condemn you to death,
without the formal proofs required by the strict letter of the law.
“But his imperial majesty, fully determined against capital punishment,
was graciously pleased to say, that since the council thought the loss
of your eyes too easy a censure, some other way may be inflicted hereafter.
And your friend the secretary, humbly desiring to be heard again, in
answer to what the treasurer had objected, concerning the great charge
his majesty was at in maintaining you, said, that his excellency, who
had the sole disposal of the emperor’s revenue, might easily provide
against that evil, by gradually lessening your establishment; by which,
for want of sufficient for you would grow weak and faint, and lose your
appet