موقع ثانویة اون لاین التعلیمي

Transcription

1 C h a p t e r 1 Before I begin my story, I would like to tell you a little about my early life. I was born in a large farm in the middle of England and my father called me Lemuel Gulliver, After I finished school, I studied in Cambridge for three years and then became an apprentice to a Surgeon in London. The surgeon, Mr Bates, was a very good one, but I always wanted to travel. So in my free time I learned how to sail so that one day I could leave England and explore the world When I had finished my studies, Mr Hates helped me to get work as a surgeon on a ship called the Swallow, and for three and a half years, 1 worked on this ship as it travelled round the eastern seas. I then got married to a kind woman called Mary Burton. I decided to stay in London with my new wife for a few years, but work was not easy to find. Mary and I agreed that, because there was no work in London, it would be best if I took another job on a ship. This I did, and for six years I travelled around the world. I earned good money, and in my free time, I read books and taught myself to speak several languages. My life changed in 1699 after I got a new job on a ship called the Antelope. We left England in May and we had been at sea for about two months when the Antelope was hit by a. violent storm. The ship was soon blown far away from our chosen route and we did not know where we were. The sea was so violent that we had already lost some of our crew when the ship was suddenly blown onto a rock. There was a terrible crash and I could see that the ship was in great danger. Before the ship sank, I climbed into a lifeboat with five other sailors and we were able to escape. But although we rowed for some distance, the sea did not become calmer. A huge wave hit us and we were all thrown into the sea. I swam for some time in the rough sea. I did not know what had happened to the other sailors. Perhaps they were all dead. The wind and the waves decided the direction I went in. and just when I thought I could not swim any more, my feet touched something hard, I had reached land. When I finally walked up the beach, I was cold, wet and exhausted. I looked around me, but there were no houses or people that I could see. I found some soft grass, lay down and fell into a long sleep. When i woke up, it was early morning and the sun was just beginning to rise. I tried to stand up, but I found that this was impossible. I realised that my arms, my legs and even my hair were all somehow fastened to the ground. Thin ropes were tied around my body and neck, and 1 found I could only look up at the clear sky above me. I heard some noises and then felt something climb onto my left leg. It moved up my body until it was close to my head. Only then could I see what it was. It was a human, but this human was only about fifteen centimetres tall. He was carrying a bow and arrow, "Who are you?" I called out in surprise. "Can you tell me.where 1 am?" 1 then realised there were about forty other men of the same size all around me. They

2 all looked the same, each one carrying a tiny bow and arrow. "What do you want?" I said. On hearing my voice, the little men moved away from me, so I tried to stand up again. Some of the ropes broke and now I could move my left arm.. The little men shouted something in a strange language and I felt hundreds of arrows hit my left hand. The arrows were tiny, but there were so many of them that it hurt. I did not like this, so 1 decided not to move and lay quietly on the ground. Perhaps because they could see that I was not trying to escape, the little men became quiet. Later, they grew more confident and after about an hour, I could hear wood being cut next to me. I guessed that they were building something. Then the ropes around my head were cut free and I could finally lift my head. 1 saw a man standing on a wooden platform that had been built in front of my head. The man was wearing important-looking clothes, and a servant stood on each side of him. he looked at me and started to give a talk, but I could not understand anything he said. When the man finished talking, 1 tried to talk to him in English. "My name is Lemuel Gulliver and 1 come from England. My ship was lost in a storm and I swam to this beach." However, I could sec he did not understand me either. So I pointed to my mouth to show him that I was hungry and thirsty. The man said something to his servants. I watched as some of the little men went off, returning shortly with many baskets of food and little containers of water. They put ladders against my shoulder and carried the baskets and containers up to my mouth. They could not believe how much I drank and ate, but they seemed pleased, I think the little people realised that they could trust me and, with food in my stomach, I felt I could trust them, too. Another man arrived and I could see that he was important. The other men bowed to him and from his clothes I understood that this was their King. He, too, spoke to me from the wooden platform, and although we could not speak the same language, we communicated with each other using signs with our hands. I asked him to set me free, which he refused, but he said that I did not need to worry. He pointed and said something about moving me somewhere. Hundreds of tiny people were now standing around me, and slowly they picked me up and put me on a strange machine that had many wheels. This machine had been designed to carry heavy trees and was pulled by a team of horses, each horse about eleven centimetres tall. I realised mat they wanted to take me to the capital city of their country, which I later found was called Lilliput. Before we left, some of the men poured some medicine on the cuts where the arrows had hit my hand. The cuts immediately felt much better. The city was perhaps a kilometre away, but it took all that night for the machine to carry me there. 1 slept for most of the journey (because they had put some medicine in my food that made me sleepy), only waking up when one of the soldiers decided to put a pole up my nose to see what would happen. He quickly ran away when 1 woke up and sneezed.

3 The next morning, I awoke to find that the machine had carried me to an area close to the city gates. The horses stopped outside a building which I later found out was the largest in the land. No one lived in the empty building now, so the King decided that I should stay there. The building had a small garden around it which you could enter through two gates, each one a little more than a metre high. The King did not want me to escape, so he asked some men to fasten my legs to the gates using metal chains. Opposite my new home there was a tower which was about two metres high. The King went to the top of this tower with his men so they could watch me, although I could not see them. During the next few days, hundreds of people from the city came out of the gates to see me lying on the strange machine next to my new home. At first, they used ladders to try to climb up on my body, but the King said this was not allowed. When the soldiers realised I could not escape with my legs chained to the gates, they cut the ropes that fastened me to the machine. Now I could stand up, although the chains on my legs stopped me from going very far. But I could walk a little way around the empty building, and at night I could lie down to sleep on the hard floor of my new home. The next day, I got up and looked at the land around the city. It was a pretty scene. There were lots of little fields and woods, the fields the size of small gardens and the trees only a little more than two metres tall. I watched as some men arrived with little-vehicles which they pushed towards me on wooden wheels. each vehicle carried food and drink, and the men left the vehicles at the point I could walk to before the chains stopped me. I emptied twenty of these vehicles for my breakfast. 1 did not know what the food was, but it tasted nice. As I was eating, I realised the King was watching me with his servants and some of his family. he was about 28 years old, and tall compared to the other people, with strong arms and a handsome face. his clothes were the same as a king would wear in a European country, although he held up a sword to protect himself. It was perhaps seven centimetres long. he spoke to me again in a very high voice. I tried to answer in all the languages I knew: French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, but he understood nothing. After the King left, people from the city began to arrive to look at me again. Some of the braver people tried to climb on my body, but the guards stopped them. Some of the little men then decided to shoot arrows at me, and one arrow nearly hit my eye. The guards quickly arrested the six people who did this. They tied their hands together and pushed them towards me, perhaps thinking that I could punish them. The six little people looked very worried. I picked them up one at a time and put five of them in my pocket. I held the other one in my hand. I looked at him with interest and picked up a knife. I laughed and moved the knife towards the little man's hands. The little man and even the guards looked horrified. They thought I was going to eat him.i held the little man who had shot arrows at me and felt his five friends moving in my pocket. I took the knife and moved it towards the man in my hand. He looked very frightened.

4 Chapter 2 But his fright turned to surprise when I used the knife to cut the ropes that had tied his hands together, and then put him down on the ground. Then I took his friends from my pocket and put them down next to the first man. They all quickly ran away, shouting loudly. I later found out that the guards had told the King about my kindness to the people who had tried to hurt me, and I think this helped my situation. The King decided to make me a bed. he asked workmen to fit together six hundred beds which I could sleep on, and my nights became more comfortable. During the next few weeks, people came from all over the land to see me. The King became worried because some of the villages were now so empty that there were not enough people to work in the fields. So he made a new law saying that no one could see me without a licence, which people had to pay for. I later discovered that the King had other worries about me. He had many meetings with his advisers to ask them what would happen if I escaped and if they could afford to keep me. It was decided that all the people living near the city should supply sixty cows, forty sheep, bread and fruit every morning to help feed me. The King said that another six hundred people would be paid to look after me and that they could live in tents close to my home. Another three hundred people would be employed to make my clothes and six of the King's best advisers would become my teachers, helping me to learn their language. Within about three weeks, I had already begun to speak their language quite well. The King often visited me and was pleased to talk to me and to help me learn more. When I realised that the King could understand me, I asked if he could set me free. "This will take time," he answered. "You must be patient. Gulliver. First-you must allow two of my soldiers to search your clothes for any weapons that may be a danger to me. I hope you understand that 1 must protect my people." The King added that whatever they found in my pockets, they would keep but return to me when 1 left their country, or pay for whatever they didn't return. 1 agreed. I picked up two of the King's soldiers and put them First in my coat pockets and then in my other pockets. The soldiers noted down everything they saw and showed the list to the King. He seemed pleased, although he did not realise that the soldiers had not found a pair of glasses and some other things that I had kept in a secret pocket..the King read that 1 had a sword and some guns, and he looked interested. "Can you show me these weapons?" he asked me. When 1 picked up my sword, the King's men were shocked by its size and cried out in surprise, but the King bravely asked me to put it down on the ground, which I did. I then showed him my two guns. "What are these? What do they do?" he asked. "I'll show you," 1 replied. "But please don't worry," I added and then fired them both into the air without bullets The noise made his soldiers fall onto the ground in fear, and even the brave King looked very nervous. I then put the guns on the ground next to my sword. "Be very careful with them," I told the King. Finally I showed him my watch, which puzzled the King greatly. He did not understand what it was for or why it made a continuous noise. The King asked his soldiers to take these things back to his palace

5 where his experts could examine them. The King's people now understood that I was not a dangerous person and those who came to see me were no longer afraid of me. Sometimes I lay down and let five or six People climb up to dance in my hand. Children played games around me too, I began to hope that soon 1 would be set free and did everything 1 could to please the King. This seemed to be successful, as the King soon invited me to some important events. First, I was invited to watch some of the country's best athletes. Two men held the ends of a long pole and the athletes took turns to jump over the pole. After each successful jump, the pole was put in a higher position. The person who jumped the highest was given a colored ribbon by the King. On another day, the King decided to show me the size of his army. He ordered three thousand of his soldiers to ride their horses in a line between my legs while I stood without moving by the town gates. The people watching loved this and everyone clapped. I had now asked the King almost every day if I could be set free, and finally his advisers suggested that it was possible. One adviser called Skyresh Bolgolam did not want me to be free and only agreed after I made a number of promises. These promises he read out to me in an important voice: "You must promise not to enter the city unless you are asked and you must promise not to step on any of the people of Lilliput. You must walk along roads and not lie down in any fields. You must agree not to leave the country without a licence. Finally, you must promise to fight for the King if there is ever a war with Blefuscu, the country next to ours." I agreed to all of this happily and the chains around my legs were finally unlocked. I was free at last. When I saw the King, I bowed down to him to show my thanks. "I hope you will be a useful servant to me, Gulliver," he said, "and prove that I've been right to feed you and give you clothes." "I will do my best," I promised, and then asked the King if I could sec his great city, which was called Mildendo. "Yes, you can," agreed the King. "But you must be very careful not to damage any of the buildings or hurt any of the people." he then put up a notice warning the people about my visit and told them all to stay indoors. I stepped over the western gate into the city and walked slowly down the main city street. I needed to be careful that my coat did not damage the roofs of the small houses, which all had four or five floors. There were many shops and little markets and in the centre of the city stood the King's palace. I stepped over the wall around the palace into a big open square to look at the beautiful building, which stood almost two metres high. The King wanted me to see inside, but 1 could not climb over the palace walls into a central square without damaging them, and the windows in this part of the palace were too small to see inside. So I visited the King's park, which was nearby, and cut down some of the largest trees I could find. I used a knife to make the trees into two wooden stools. These I carried back to the palace. I stood on one of them and passed the other over the roof of the palace. I

6 was now able to step over the palace without damaging any walls, and I was now inside a small central square. Now I could lie down and look inside the larger windows of the palace and see the King's rooms. I was very pleased to see the beautiful furniture and the King's servants at work. The Queen was also there and she waved at me with a smile. About two weeks later, I was visited by Reldresal, an important official who worked for the King. He said he had something to tell me. I offered to lie down so he could speak to me easily, but he suggested that he stand in my hand instead. "I'm very pleased that you're now free," he said, "but this is only because of the difficult situation in Lilliput." Reldresal then explained what this situation was. He told me that there were two problems at this time. "The first problem is inside the country," he explained. "There has been a great argument between the two main political groups. One group, the Tramecksan, believe that people should wear high heels on their shoes because this is the country's tradition. The other group, the Slamecksan, believe that you should wear low heels because this is more modern. The King wants to wear low heels and has told all his men to do the same, although his son the Prince likes to wear high heels." "So what has happened?" I asked. "Well, now the two political groups refuse to talk to each other," he said. "There are more people in the Tramecksan group, but the King's group, the Slamccksan, is more powerful." "The other problem is outside the country," continued Reldresal. "The King is worried that his country will be attacked by our enemies from Blefuscu." Reldresal said that this island was nearly as large and as powerful as Lilliput and the countries had been fighting each other for many years. He then explained how the war began. "The traditional way to break an egg before you eat it is to break it at the larger end. However, the King's grandfather, when he was a boy, cut his finger when opening an egg in this way. So he introduced a law that said that everyone should break an egg at the smaller end. He ordered that people who open an egg at the larger end shall be punished. "This law is not at all popular and there have been many rebellions because of it. The rebellions have never been successful, and the people who take part in them always run away to Blefuscu, where they are welcomed as friends." Because of this, Reldresal said, a war began between the two countries. He explained how Lilliput had lost at least forty ships and around thirty thousand soldiers. Although Blefuscu had lost a similar number of people, it seemed likely that they were planning to attack Lilliput any day soon. "The King asked me to tell you about this problem because he wants you to help us," Reldresal said. "I am ready to help to defend your country from any coming attack," I told him. Reldresal said that he was very pleased to hear this and would inform the King at once. The time for fighting was near. Chapter 3 Blefuscu was an island about 800metres to the northeast of Lilliput. I had not yet seen the island and, after Reldresal had told me about a possible attack, I decided not to go to

7 that side of the island in case I was seen by the enemies of Lilliput. 1 heard that there was no communication between the two countries, so they did not yet know anything about me. One day, I told the King that I had an idea. My plan was that I could easily take all of Blcfuscu's fleet of ships, which a spy from Lilliput told us were prepared to attack us. I asked one of the King's best sailors how deep the water was between the two islands, and he told me that the sea was about two metres deep at most. That afternoon, I walked to the northeast of Lilliput and lay down on some fields next to the coast so that I could not be seen from Blefuscu. I used my pocket telescope to look at the island next to ours. I could see about fifty ships, together with some smaller boats, in a small harbour. I returned to the city and asked for some strong chains and fifty metal poles. I shaped the poles into large hooks and fastened these onto the chains before returning to the northeast coast. I then took off my shoes and socks and walked into the cold sea, carrying the chains and hooks. I could walk for most of the way, although 1 had to swim a little where it was deepest, before arriving in Blcfuscu's harbour about half an hour later. When the people of Blefuseu saw me, they were terrified. Sailors jumped from the ships and swam as fast as they could to the shore. Meanwhile, 1 fastened the metal hooks onto each ship and tied the chains together. While I was doing this, Blefuscu's soldiers started to shoot arrows at me from the shore. The arrows hit my arms and hands, but my main worry was for my eyes, so I put on the glasses which were hidden in my pocket. These protected my eyes from any arrows while I began to pull the chains. At first, the ships would not move and 1 realised that they were all tied up to the habour wall. So I took out a knife and cut all the ropes. More arrows were hitting my hands now, but they did not stop me. I was able to pull all fifty boats away from the harbour. The soldiers suddenly stopped shooting and watched in great surprise when they realised what was happening. I heard little cries behind me, but they could do nothing. Soon, I was back in deep water. 1 removed some of the arrows from my hands and prepared to swim back to Lilliput. The King later told me that back in Lilliput, he was waiting nervously with his men on the northeast coast. A soldier called out to say he could sec some ships, but not me. Surely the enemy fleet was attacking and the plan had not succeeded. The King said he thought I had drowned. but at that moment, my feet could touch the bottom of the sea and I stood up and shouted, "Long live the king of Lilliput!" The King saw me and laughed. I was welcomed back like a hero and the King gave me the most important medal in the land. Later, the King told me that, with my help, he could easily take control of all of BIcfuscu and put all of his enemies in prison, including the people from Lilliput who still wanted to open their eggs at the larger end. "Your Majesty, I do not want the free people of Blefuscu to become prisoners. I cannot help you with your ambitions," I told him. The king did not look pleased. I was surprised how quickly the King's opinion of me changed. He knew he could not make me help him attack BIcfuscu, so he told me that I was no longer a hero. I soon found out that, although some of his advisers agreed with me, I was beginning to get

8 many enemies. Despite my brave visit to Blefuscu, my situation in Lilliput had become more dangerous. Around three weeks later, a group of six officials from Blefuscu came to meet the King. They asked what they could do to end the war peacefully and they also asked if they could meet the enormous man who had taken their ships. When they saw me, they thanked me for not hurting any of their people and told me how strong and brave I had been. They said how they would love me to meet their own King and invited me to their country. I told them that I would be happy to do this. I did not realise that my promise would later create many problems for me. One night, an adviser to the King visited me without warning with some important news. He told me what many of the King's other advisers were suggesting, and it did not sound very promising. Flimnap, the treasurer, had told the King that I was costing too much money and it would be better if they removed me from the land. A top person in the navy was angry with me because, now that Blefuscu did not have a fleet of ships, his job was no longer important. And Skyresh Bolgolam, who had never liked me, said that 1 had not kept many of the promises I had agreed to when they set me free. But my biggest problem was that many of the King's advisers told him I was planning to work with the King of Blefuscu against Lilliput. Because of this, they wanted to punish me. I was extremely worried when I heard what they were planning to do to punish me. Some of my enemies said I should be shot with poisonous arrows, others suggested that it would be easier if they set fire to my house, with me inside. The King, however, did not want to kill me so it was agreed that I would be made blind. In this way, I would still be strong enough to help the King if necessary, but I would not be a danger. However, the treasurer, Flimnap, said that if I was blind, I would still need to be given food and clothes and this would cost too much. So it was finally agreed that I should no longer be given any food, as this would save the King money. "But if I am not given any food, 1 will soon die of hunger," I said to my visitor. "Yes, you are right," he answered, "and I am very sorry. But I have done what I can to tell you of what is planned for you. You can now be prepared for what is to come" I thanked him for warning me and thought of my options. I could easily fight the King and his men: if I threw a few stones at the city, I could easily destroy it. But I remembered the ordinary people who lived there and also the fact that the King had been kind to me when I first arrived. So I made a different plan. I sat down and wrote a letter to the King, and then quickly walked to the other side of the island before it got light. There, I took one of the largest ships I could find, took off my clothes and put them inside the ship. I then swam across to Blefuscu, pulling the ship behind me. Then, when I arrived at Blefuscu, I put on my dry clothes again before finding my way to their capital city. The King of Blefuscu was called by his guards and about an hour later, he came out to welcome me with his family and advisers. I was surprised that none of his family seemed at all frightened of me. "Your Majesty, I am very pleased to meet you and will happily help you in any way I can," I said to the King. I said nothing of the problems I had left behind me in Lilliput.

9 I later had an uncomfortable night on hard ground because there was no building as large as the one that was my home in Lilliput. During the next few days, I explored the small island, which was not very different from Lilliput. One morning, 1 was walking along the northeast coast of the island when 1 saw something in the sea. I looked carefully and suddenly felt excited: it was a real boat, big enough for me to go in! However, a storm had turned the boat over and it was floating some way off the coast. I hurried back to the city and asked the King if I could borrow some of his ships. Of course I had taken most of his ships to Lilliput, but he found twenty other ships, which his best sailors agreed to sail around the coast. I walked back to where I had seen the boat, which was now closer to the island. The King's ships sailed as close as they could to the boat, then I swam into the water and succeeded in carrying several ropes from the ships to the front of the boat. I then tied the ropes to the boat and called for the ships to try and pull the boat towards the coast. I helped by pushing the boat in the water as I swam. The wind helped us, and soon the boat was pushed onto a long beach. With the help of one thousand men and many ropes, we turned the boat over and I examined it carefully. I could see there was little damage. I spent the next few days repairing the boat and making new oars from the island's biggest trees, and then 1 was ready to row the boat round to the city. A crowd of amazed people came to see me arrive in my new boat. "This boat is exactly what I need to return to the country where I was born,'! I told the King. "If you can help me find some materials, 1 will soon be able to leave." The King seemed happy to agree to my request. The next day, however, I found that the King of Blefuscu was less certain about what to do with me. he had just received a letter from the King of Lilliput, in which he wrote that I had escaped punishment and should be sent back to Lilliput. he added that if I was not tied up and returned to Lilliput at once, the war between the two countries would begin again. The King of Blefuscu spoke for some time with his advisers. Finally, he wrote a letter to the King of Lilliput saying that it was impossible for him to send me back. Although I had taken a fleet of his ships, I had helped to stop the fighting between the two countries and had hurt no one. He also explained that now I had found a boat, I would soon be gone and would no longer be a problem for either country. After he had sent this letter, he promised to protect me if I would continue to help him. However, I no longer felt sure it was a good idea to help either of the kings and I asked to be allowed to leave. The King agreed to this and he even asked his men to help me to prepare my boat. Five hundred of them were employed to make new sails using hundreds of sheets, and after about a month, the boat was ready. One morning, the King came down to the beach with his family to say goodbye to me. Before I left, he gave me a painting of himself, which I put inside my glove to stop it from getting wet during the journey. He also gave me some tiny cows and sheep to supply me with enough food and drink for several weeks at sea, and I finally left Blefuscu on 24 September 1701 at six in the morning. The wind took me north and I passed a small island. The first night was clear and 1

10 slept well before another day's sailing in the same direction. The next day I saw no land at all, but the day after that I saw another boat not far from me, 1 tried for some time to catch up with the boat and after many hours, it finally saw my sails. As I got closer, I was happy to see the boat had an English flag, and it was not a tiny ship but the correct size. I was safe! The boat belonged to a trader called John Biddel, who was" travelling back to London from Japan. He had around fifty sailors, and they were very kind to me when I got onto their boat. John Biddel then asked me where I had been, so I told him about my adventures. 1 could see that he thought I was completely mad, so 1 showed him the tiny cows and sheep that I had in my pocket and the painting inside my glove. He was amazed. I said he could keep the sheep to give to his children when he got home. He was very pleased by this, and he fed the sheep on his best sea biscuits. In April 1702, we finally arrived back in England and I was very happy to see my wife and family again. How tall my children had become! I sold my small animals for a lot of money and soon I was able to help my family to move to a larger house in an expensive part of the town. My family were comfortable and happy, but I found life in the city difficult and work was hard to find. So after just two and a half months back in England, I was offered a new job on a ship called the Adventure. I accepted the job and prepared for another journey. The Adventure was a good name for my ship, too, because I was about to have an even bigger adventure on the seas. Chapter 4 On 20 June 1702,1 left England once again on the Adventure under the ship's captain, Captain John Nicholas. We were planning to go to India and at first; the winds were kind to us: we easily reached the south of Africa, where we stopped for fresh water. There we discovered that the ship had a hole in its side which had to be repaired, and soon after this the captain fell ill. Because of this, we stayed in the south of Africa for most of the winter until the captain had recovered and the ship was ready for the seas once more. In March, we set off again, first headed east, passing the island of Madagascar. We continued to the north of the island, when the wind began to get stronger, so it was a difficult journey. For twenty days we sailed against the winds, moving slowly until finally the wind and the sea became calm. "I'm glad the winds have stopped," I told the captain. "Don't be too glad," he replied. "My experience tells me a great storm is coming. Prepare yourself." The captain was right. Two days later we were indeed hit by a great wind from the south. we took down some of the sails and did all that we could to control the ship, but the storm drove our ship east, until even our most experienced sailors did not know where we were. Luckily, our ship was strong after its repairs, and we had good supplies of food. Our only problem was that we did not have much fresh water. We decided to continue in the direction the wind had taken us, rather than try to find our way back to our planned route. On 16 June 1703, a sailor called out to say that he could see land some distance away. A day later, we were much closer and we could all see a great island or continent in the distance (we did not know it). As we got even nearer, we saw a bay, but the captain did not think it was deep enough to take our ship, so we put down the anchor near the coast.

11 Our captain ordered twelve men to go ashore in a small boat with containers to try to get some fresh water. Once we had this, we would be ready to continue on our journey. I told the captain that I liked to visit different countries and 1 asked for permission to go with the men. The captain agreed. We soon arrived on a beach, but we could not see any people, nor any fresh water. So the sailors decided to walk along the beach to look for a stream or a spring. While they did this, I walked alone for about a kilometre away from the beach. This side of the land did not look very interesting: it had no trees and was mostly dry and full of rocks. Because there was not very much to see, 1 decided to return to the beach As I got near to the beach again, I realised the sailors were already in the small boat, rowing back towards the ship. Could they have forgotten me? I was going to call out to them, when suddenly I saw something that I could not believe! A huge giant was walking into the sea towards the small boat as fast as he could. I did not wait to see what happened to them, but turned around and ran away from the beach. I climbed a small hill and when I reached the top, I sat down and looked to see what I could find. I was surprised to see many fields, but the grass in the fields was very long, perhaps six metres high. 1 walked down to a wide, rough road which went through fields filled with wheat which was about twelve metres high. After about an hour,! Finally reached the end of this enormous field. It ended with a wall that was at least forty metres tall, with trees behind it that were even taller. There were steps over the wall but it was impossible for me to use them because every step was two metres high. I was looking for a way through this enormous wall when I saw another giant, of the same size as the person on the beach. This person was quickly walking up the road towards the place where I stood. I was terrified and ran into the field of corn to hide. I watched as he easily climbed the steps onto the top of the wall, where he stopped. he said something in a voice which was as loud as thunder, and soon seven more giants appeared each carrying enormous scythes. Their clothes were less well made than the first giant's, and I understood the men to be his workers. The first giant gave them an order and they began to cut the wheat in the field where I was hiding. I tried to get away from them through the field, but it was difficult to walk quickly or far, as the plants were very close together. Eventually, 1 found myself in a part of the field where the wind or rain had pushed the plants flat. I realised there was nowhere for me to go without being seen, but I could hear the giants with their scythes moving closer and closer. I lay down with exhaustion and thought about my poor family who would soon be without a father and husband. Why had I come on this voyage? My friends had told me not to go. I remembered Lilliput, a place where I had thought I was so strong and important. And now I would perhaps be food for enormous giants. I realised that nothing is big or small unless you compare it with something else. Perhaps there is another land where even these giants may feel small and unimportant. Suddenly I saw that one of the giants was walking towards me. I was worried that he had not seen me and would surely stand on me at any moment, so 1 called out as loudly as I could. The giant stopped and looked around in surprise, before he looked down and

12 saw me. He seemed to he thinking about what to do, as 1 have done when I have seen a small, dangerous animal in front of me. Then he decided to carefully pick me up with his fingers to look at me closely. 1 thought quickly and decided the safest thing for me to do was to not move, although his fingers hurt my back and I realised I was twenty metres above the ground. Then I looked up at the sun and began to pray, worried that he would throw me onto the ground. Luckily he seemed pleased and also surprised that I was talking, although he clearly did not understand what I was saying. "I'm very sorry, but you are hurting me," I then said and pointed to my back. The giant seemed to understand. He carefully put me in his pocket and ran off to find his master, the farmer-who I had seen earlier. The farmer looked at me inside the man's pocket and told his other workers to look at me, too, and then he asked them if they had ever seen an animal like this before. Next, he put me on the ground and they all watched me in amazement as I walked up and down to show that I was not going to run away. I took off my hat and bowed to the farmer and, taking a bag of gold coins from my pocket, I offered it to him. He emptied the bag and looked at the tiny coins in his hand, but did not seem very interested, and through signs he told me to put the coins back. I tried to talk to him, and although I spoke in many different languages, we could not understand each other. Finally, the farmer told his workers to go back to work and he put me inside his enormous handkerchief. He used the soft handkerchief to carry me home to show his wife. In a short time, I felt the giant open the handkerchief so that his wife could see me, but she immediately screamed like a child who has seen a big spider. Her husband showed her that I could stand up and talk and was nothing to be frightened of, and slowly the wife looked at me with interest. Later that day, a servant arrived with plates of food to feed the giant and his family: his wife, his three children and their grandmother. The farmer put me next to him on the table, but I was very worried 1 would fall because the table was at least ten metres high. The wife then put some bread and meat on a plate for me. Luckily I had my own knife and fork in my pocket and I took these out to eat the food, which greatly pleased the children. They then gave me some water in a cup, which was so big that 1 found it difficult to lift it. I was thirsty and it was good to drink, however, so I thanked them in English. "Thank you very much for your kindness," 1 said to them in English. When they heard me talking, they laughed so loudly that it hurt my ears. The farmer's son was about ten years old and seemed very interested in me. He picked me up and held me by my legs so high in the air that I was terrified I would fall. His father quickly took me from his son and put me back on the table, saying something angrily to the boy. 1 was worried that the son would not like me after this, so through signs I tried to tell the farmer not to punish him but to be kind.the farmer seemed to understand and smiled at his son. Suddenly a cat appeared, which was three times the sizc of a cow. I understood that animals do not usually attack you if you show you are not afraid of them, so I watched it carefully and then walked up and down in front of it. 1 was right. It did not seem interested

13 in me at all and soon walked away. I was more worried when I saw a young woman carry a baby girl into the room. As soon as the baby saw me, she pointed at me and clearly wanted to play with me, perhaps thinking I was a small toy. The mother picked me up and held me near the baby, who quickly took me in her hand. 1 had not been hurt by adult giants or by a ten-year-old boy giant, and even a giant cat had not been interested in me. But the baby giant filled me with fear. I quickly found out I was right to worry because I could see that the baby was about to put me in her mouth. "No, stop!" I cried out loudly, but this was not a very good idea. The baby was so surprised to hear me shout that she dropped me as if I were a hot rock. I was at least ten metres from the ground and I began to fall fast towards the hard floor of their house. Chapter 5 I was in a room full of giants and a baby giant had just dropped me some ten metres from the ground. The fall would surely have broken my neck, but I was lucky. I did not hit the hard door but landed on a soft blanket which the mother held around the baby. The farmer picked me up and looked at me closely to sec if I was hurt. It was strange to see his face so close. When he smiled at me, I could sec great big lines in his skin and his hairs looked like the branches of small trees. Did I look like this to the little people of Lilliput? The farmer then said something to his wife and went outside. The wife carefully picked me up and carried me to a bed, where she put me down with a handkerchief over my legs. I slept well but dreamt of my family, which made me feel very sad when J woke up some hours later. I looked around me and found that I was alone on an enormous bed in a giant room. The bed was perhaps eight metres high and I did not know how to get down to the floor. I thought about calling out to the farmer's wife, but my voice would be too quiet for anyone to hear. Suddenly I saw two rats, the size of large dogs, running across the floor and towards the bed. When they saw me, they easily jumped up onto the bed and began to attack me. I held up my knife to defend myself and succeeded in hurting one of the rats, which gave a loud cry and ran away. Its horrible friend looked surprised, then worried, and quickly followed it out of the room. When the farmer's wife entered the room a few minutes later, she looked very surprised to see me sitting on the bed with a knife. Through signs I tried to explain what had happened. She seemed to understand, and took me outside into the garden so 1 could breathe some fresh air. That evening, the farmer's daughter, Glumdalclitch, who was nine years old, helped her mother to prepare a tiny bed for me. They put the bed inside a cupboard which was to be my bedroom for the time I stayed with these people, a place that was safe from any rats. The young girl loved sewing, and she made me clothes and dressed me like a doll. She also taught me her language by pointing to things and telling me what they were called. She was very kind and called me Grildrig, a name that all her family used for me. I later found out that the name means "puppet". After a few weeks, all the farmer's neighbours had heard that he had found a tiny human

14 that could speak and walk and do what he was asked. One day, an old man who was a friend of the farmer arrived and asked to see me. So the farmer put me on his kitchen table and told me to do things for him: I walked up and down and named the objects that he pointed to in their language. The old man put on his glasses to see me better, but when I looked at him I thought that his eyes look like two giant moons seen through two enormous windows, and this made me laugh. The old man looked angry and asked why I was laughing at him. Although the farmer tried to explain, he did not look happy. "If he's so clever," he said to the farmer, "you should make him work so that you can earn some money from him. Why don't you take him to the market? People will pay to see him there." Unfortunately, the farmer agreed to this idea and planned to take me to the market the next day. When Glumdalclitch heard about these plans, she was very worried about mc. She thought that the people in the market would not be kind to me and she did not want me to perform for strangers. She asked her father if she could be my guard, to check that people did not hurt me, and. I was pleased to hear her father agree. The next day, the farmer and Glunulalclitch put me in a small wooden box for the half-hour ride to the market in a nearby town. The box had three small holes in it for me to breathe, and also so I could look out. Although Glumdalclitch had put some of her dolls' soft blankets on the floor of the box, it was a very uncomfortable journey for me. The horse went about fourteen metres with each step and moved so much that I felt as if I was on a ship in a storm. Finally we arrived at an inn next to the market, where the farmer asked a friend to advertise what he had inside the box: a tiny human who could say things and perform for the public. I was put on a table in the largest room inside the inn. Glumdalclitch sat on a chair next to me, to look after me and to tell me what to do. The farmer allowed thirty people at a time to come into the room to see me. My job was to welcome the people when they came into the room, and I walked up and down when I was asked. I answered Glumdalclitch's questions using the words that I knew and said goodbye when the people left the room. People in the market soon heard all about the amazing little human inside the inn and more and more people wanted to see me although the farmer stopped people from going too close to me, at one time a school boy threw a nut which nearly hit my head. It would surely have killed me, and I was pleased to see that the boy was sent out of the room. During my time in that room, I was shown to twelve different groups of people and did the same things for each group. When my work was finally finished, I was exhausted. The farmer put up a sign saying that we would return the next day, but 1 was so tired when I got back to the farmer's house that 1 had to rest for three days. However, even at the farmer's home I could not rest completely. All the farmer's neighbours had now heard of me, and each day, people paid the farmer to come and see me in his home. There were usually at least thirty people in his home at any time.

15 The farmer was very happy because he was now getting a lot of money, and he decided it would be a good idea to take me to all the cities in the land. So he prepared for a long journey, and on 17 August 1703, the farmer, Glumdalclitch and I set off for the capital city. It was about three thousand kilometres from the farm where I had stayed to the capital, and I was carried in the box which Glumdalclitch had now filled with many of her dolls' soft blankets. The farmer planned to show me in all of the towns and Some of the villages that we passed on the way to the capital, Gilimulalclitch often told her father that she was tired and wanted to rest. Then she would take me out of the box to give me some air, sometimes spending some time teaching me more of their language. She also liked to show me where we were travelling. 1 saw many enormous buildings and five or six rivers that were wider than the Nile. After ten weeks, we finally arrived in the capital city, which was called Lorbrulgrud.Thc farmer found a hotel in the main street and put up signs to advertise what I could do. Then he hired a room with a table in the middle where I could perform, then appeared every day before the people of the capital. Thanks to Glumdalclitch's language lessons, I could now understand everything the people said, and I knew they were all amazed and happy to see me. The farmer continued to earn lots of money, but the more he earned, the more he wanted people to see me. He did not realise how tiring I found the work. After a few weeks, I had lost a lot of weight and felt ill and tired. The farmer saw that I looked like skeleton and was worried I would die. But luck was with me, because at this moment, a servant arrived from the palace and said that the farmer should go at once to show me to the Queen. So I was taken to the palace, where I bowed down to the queen of the country. She smiled when she saw me and then asked me some questions about my own land. "Would you like to come and live in the palace with me and my family?" she asked finally. "I work for the farmer, Your Majesty," I answered. "But I would be happy to live with you if he allows it." The farmer, knowing that I was ill and thinking that perhaps would soon die, immediately said that he would be happy to sell me for a thousand pieces of gold. The Queen clapped her hands and soon servants arrived Chapter 6 It was my first day in the palace and the first time I had met the King. He looked angry and did not know what to think of me. So he decided he should ask for the advice of the best scholars in the land. Three men arrived and they examined me carefully. They did not understand how I could be so small and yet stay alive in their country. I was not very strong or very fast, and my teeth were too small to eat anything without help, unless I ate insects. "There are many people like me in my country," I explained to the King. "We live as easily as the people of your land." The scholars laughed and said that this was impossible. Surely I had been taught to say this by the farmer. When the king heard this, he asked to see the farmer at once, and by chance, he was still in the city.

16 When the farmer arrived, the King asked him, his daughter and the Queen more questions about me, and finally decided that what I said was true. He could see that Glumdalclitch liked me greatly and agreed that she could stay as my teacher. She was given her own room in the palace, as well as her own teacher and two servants. The Queen then asked the palace carpenter to make me a comfortable home, the size of the box that I had been carried in by the farmer. This he did, and soon I had a lovely house with a door and large windows. The roof could be lifted so a comfortable bed could be put inside. I also had two little chairs, two tables and some cupboards to put things in. The walls were soft, so that when anyone carried the house I would not hurt myself. A key (the smallest thing ever made in the palace) was also made for my door, so I could lock it and stop any rats or insects from entering. They also made me some new clothes which, although they used the best cotton, felt rough and uncomfortable. The Queen was now very keen on me and asked for me to sit with her when she ate. I sat at a small table by her arm and ate from a silver plate. We were with Glumdalclitch and the Queen's two daughters, who were aged sixteen and thirteen. It was strange for me to see them eat. A meal for one of the daughters was big enough to feed twenty farmers in my land. Every Wednesday, the King would join us. He enjoyed talking to me and asked me all about my country's education and government, what we did for entertainment, how we worked and where we lived. He listened to me talk and then began to laugh. "I can't believe that people who are so small can have houses and cities," he said as he turned to an adviser. "And they have clothes and jobs, rewards and prizes, arguments and fights!" I realised that he was laughing at my own country and began to feel angry. I also understood, however, that I was too small to do anything about this. Then I also realised that his own country was, in fact, very like my own country: it was just much, much bigger. Most people in the palace were kind to me, but there was one servant who did not like me. One day, when no one was looking, he picked me up and dropped me into a bowl of cream, and then ran away as quickly as he could. It is lucky that I am a good swimmer or I would have drowned. Glumdalclitch then saw me and rescued me by picking me up. I was put to bed, and when the Queen heard what had happened, she punished the servant by asking him to wash all the cream from my clothes. A bigger problem for me was bees. These insects were enormous to me. They came into the palace during the summer when we ate fruit or sweet things. The Queen thought I was not very brave because I was frightened of these insects, but although they were nothing to her, they were very dangerous to me. One day, when I was eating some cake in my home, three bees flew in through my window. One of them carried a cake away and the others flew around my head. I pulled out my sword and attacked them, cutting off their stings, and eventually they flew away. I quickly closed the window, although it was hot and there was not much air. The King later told me more about his country. "In the north there are mountains that are forty kilometres high. You cannot pass these mountains because many of them are volcanoes and no one in my country knows what lies north of them," he said. The rest of the land has sea all around it, but there is not one harbour in all the country. The seas are all too rough for boats to go out into them, so no one has ever travelled to other

17 countries. "Our rivers are full of fish," he told me. "So we don't need to get fish from the seas." I learnt from the King that there are fifty-one cities in his country and a great many towns and villages. The capital city, Lorbnilgrucl, lies on a river and has 80,000 houses. On some days, Glumdalclitch took me out with her for rides on her horse through the city and into the city parks. She carried me in a special box that the Queen's carpenter had made for me. Inside the box was a table and two chairs, fastened to the floor so they did not move. People in the city knew who we were and often asked to sec me, and Glumdalclitch often took me out of the box and put me in her hand while the people pointed and smiled at me. One day, Glumdalclitch carried my box with me inside and went into the palace gardens. She then took me out of the box and put me down on the ground under some apple trees. Meanwhile, the servant who had put me in the bowl of cream was watching me, although I did not realise this at the time. When he saw that I was under the trees, he shook the branches and about twelve apples fell down. One of them hit me on the back and another hit my face, but luckily I was not badly hurt. The servant ran away again without anyone seeing him but me. I had many other accidents in that garden, always when Giumdnlclitch had left me alone. Once, a bird almost picked me up before I frightened it away with my sword. Another time, I fell into a huge hole that had been made by some animal and found it very difficult to get out of it. On another day, Glumdalclilch went for a walk through the gardens-and left me on the grass. Suddenly, it began to hail. Each hail stone was the size of a tennis ball and it hurt greatly when they hit me. 1 was quickly knocked to the ground and had to hide under a tree or 1 would have surely died. I had so many bruises that I could not walk for many days. My worst accident, however, happened one morning when Glumdalclitch was in another part of the garden. A dog arrived and smelled me immediately, quickly taking me in its mouth before I could move. The dog then ran to its master who worked in the garden. Luckily the dog dropped me by his servant's feet, and he quickly picked me up before the dog could do me any damage. The servant asked me if I was all right and ran up to Glumdalclitch to tell her what had happened. She was horrified but she did not tell the Queen, thinking she would be angry. "I'm so sorry, Grildrig," Glumdalclitch said to me. "1 promise that from this moment on, I will never leave you alone again." This was not something that 1 was very pleased to hear, however. One day, the Queen, who liked to hear about my travels on the seas, asked me if 1 would like a boat. "1 would like that very much, Your Majesty, but I cannot use any of your boats because they are too big," I said to her. So she asked her carpenter to make me one, and soon she gave me a small sailing boat. At first, she put the boat in a bath, but there was not much room so she asked her servants to make me a small lake in her gardens. The Queen and her ladies liked to watch me sailing up and down this small lake and they sometimes made some wind by waving their hands for me to sail more quickly. I enjoyed these sailing trips, although danger was never far away. One day, a frog jumped into the lake and made a wave that was so big that it nearly turned over my boat. The biggest danger for me at that time, however, was from a monkey that belonged to one

18 of the servants. I was sitting inside my house with the windows open one morning when I heard a noise. I looked out of the windows and saw the monkey exploring the room where my house had been put. When he saw my house, he looked pleased and ran up to take a closer look. He then saw me through the windows, and tried to reach me with his long arms. I tried to hide, but eventually the monkey got hold of my jacket and pulled me towards him. He held me in his arms, as a mother does with a baby, and when I tried to escape, he squeezed me so hard that I thought it was best not to move. At that moment Glumdalclitch opened the door into the room, so he quickly jumped out of the window and climbed up onto the roof of the palace, still holding me with one hand. I heard Glumdalclitch shout something behind me, and soon servants were running outside to get ladders. Now the monkey was sitting at the highest point of the roof, holding me like a baby and trying to feed me some nuts that it had found. When I did not eat them, the monkey patted me gently and I could hear some of the servants laughing far below. I heard some of the servants getting ready to climb up the ladders, but it was clear that the ladders would only reach the bottom of the roof. The monkey heard the servants as well and decided to put me down, before it quickly ran away. I was now sitting at the very top of the roof. It was a very long way down to the bottom of the roof, and even further to the ground, and the wind was now blowing strongly. I prayed that the servants could get me down before the wind blew me down. Chapter 7 The highest point of the palace roof was very high, and I was in danger of being blown off by the wind. The monkey that had carried me there had now disappeared, and I waited nervously while the queen's servants tried to rescue me. After some time, a brave servant reached up from his ladder, put me in his pocket and carried me back down to the ground. After this adventure, I was so ill that I had to stay in bed for two weeks. The king and queen often visited me to see how I was, and I was told that the monkey had been sent away from the palace. 1 did not need to worry about it ever again. When I was better, I visited the king and he asked me what I would have done if a monkey had take me in my own country. "We don't have any monkeys in my country, Your Majesty," I told him. "But if we did, I would not be frightened of them at all. They are so small that they would not be a problem for me." The King thought that this was very funny and asked to hear more about my country. So I told him all about England: its government and its weather, about the arts and our education and about our own kings and queens. I explained England's legal system and told him all about the events in the country's history. The King was very interested in everything I told him, and took notes while I talked. After each of these talks, the King then used his notes to ask me questions, heseemed to think that my country's legal system was very weak and the government was extremely strange, and slowly 1 began to see my country through his eyes. he asked me where my country got its money from, and why we had so many wars. I told him about our weapons that could easily kill people and destroy buildings. "Would you like me to show you how to make such weapons yourself, Your Majesty?" I

19 asked him. The King looked horrified. "I am very interested in science," 'he said, "but I cannot believe that you would want to have such terrible things. I never want to hear about weapons again!" My country, which I was so proud of, suddenly seemed small, unimportant and badly run. "I feel very sorry for your people," the King said. "You are lucky because you have escaped to a better place, where people want to grow food rather than make war." I discovered that the King's country of Brobdingnag was very different to our own. They did not need weapons, but also they did not have many books. The King's library, the largest in the land, had only a thousand books in it. The King said that I could borrow anything that I wanted to read, and asked his carpenter to make me a ladder so I could reach the top shelves. When I found a book that I was interested in, I pushed it open against a wall. I then used the ladder to climb to the top of the page so I could read the first line, then slowly walked down the ladder until I had read all the page. Then I used both hands to turn the page and did the same thing again. Because their language does not have many words, I could read the books easily and soon I had read most of the books in the library. I learned a lot about the country's ideas and beliefs and understood that, although they never had wars with other countries, they did sometimes have rebellions between different areas inside the country. I had now been in Brobdingnag for two years and I began to think more and more about my own country. 1 wanted to see my family again, but how could I get home? The ship that 1 arrived on was the first to arrive on the coast from another land, but perhaps another one would arrive one day. The King soon found out what I was thinking about. "If another ship like yours is found," he said, "it shall be brought at once to the capital. Then you will have friends of your own size and they can live in the palace with you." However, 1 did not like the idea of more people being kept to please the King and Queen. I decided I wanted to speak to people who shared my ideas and who I could talk to without worrying about a giant stepping on me, or a bird taking me away. For that to happen, I needed to leave Brobdingnag. One day, Glumdalclitch and I were travelling with the King and Queen in the south of Brobdingnag. As usual, I was carried in my wooden box until we arrived at one of the King's palaces which was about thirty kilometres from the coast. Glumdalclitch and I were very tired, and Glumdalclitch felt a little ill. "1 think 1 am going to bed, Grildrig," she told me. "Can 1 go to the beach to get some fresh air?" I asked her before she left the room, knowing that we were near to the sea. "Yes, of course," she said, and asked a young servant boy to take me there in the wooden box. When we arrived at the beach, I was very pleased to see the sea again after such a long time. 1 looked out of the windows of my box and thought about my country, which was somewhere to the west. After a few minutes, the sea air made me feel