The Voyage of Gulliver Learn English through story level 3

chapter one

a voyage to lilliput

i was born in nottinghamshire

and was the third of five sons

father was not a rich man

but he was able to send me to cambridge

university

where i studied for three years

when i left college

i continued my studies and became a

doctor

but i always wanted to travel

and so i made several voyages as a

ship’s doctor

when i married my wife mary however

i planned to stay at home for a while

but after a few years

i discovered i was not earning enough

money from my patients

i decided to go to sea again

and this time

i joined a ship sailing to the islands

in the south pacific ocean

we started our journey from bristol

on may the 4th

at first our voyage went well

we sailed across the atlantic

round the coast of africa

and into the indian ocean

but before we could reach the pacific

a violent storm hit us

and drove us to the northwest of

tasmania

the wind drove our ship onto a rock

which broke the ship in half

some of the sailors and i

managed to get a boat into the water

and we rode away to look for land

but when we were too tired to row

anymore

a great wave hit our small boat

and we all fell into the sea

i do not know what happened to my

companions

but i suppose they were all drowned

the wind and waves pushed me along as i

struggled to keep my head above water

i became very tired

and soon felt i could not swim anymore

luckily

just then my feet touched the ground

i walked out of the sea

and onto a beach

where there was no sign of any people or

houses

i was so exhausted

that i lay down

and went to sleep

when i woke up next morning and tried to

get up i could not move i was lying on

my back

and my whole body my arms and legs

were strongly fastened to the ground

even my hair which was long and thick

was tied to the ground

the sun began to grow hot

and i was very uncomfortable

soon

i felt something alive moving along my

leg

and up my body to my face

and when i looked down

i saw a very small human being

only 15 centimeters tall

he had a bow and arrow in his hands

and there were forty more of these

little men following him

i was so surprised that i gave a great

shout

they all jumped back very frightened

and some hurt themselves by falling off

my body

meanwhile

i was struggling to unfasten myself

but just as i managed to pull my left

arm free of the ropes

i felt a hundred arrows land on my free

hand

and more arrows on my face and body

this was very painful

and made me cry aloud

i lay quietly

to see what would happen next

when they saw i was no longer struggling

they quickly built a platform next to my

head

and an official climbed up there to

speak to me

although i could not understand his

language

i understood that they would be friendly

towards me if i did not try to harm them

by now i was extremely hungry

so i used sign language

to beg the official for food

he seemed to understand me

because immediately ladders were put

against my sides

and little men climbed up with baskets

of food and drink

they were surprised at how much i could

eat and drink

in just one mouthful

i ate three of their meat dishes

and three of their loaves of bread

i drank two of their barrels of wine and

was still thirsty

because that was only half a liter

while they were bringing me food

i wondered whether to pick up a handful

of the little men

and throw them to their death

but i was afraid they would shoot at me

again

and anyway

i was grateful for their kindness in

giving me food and drink

so i did not move

after some time

another official climbed up to the

platform and spoke to me

from his signs

i understood that they were going to

move me

the king of this country which was

called lilliput

had ordered his people to carry me to

the capital city about a kilometer away

i made signs to ask whether i could be

untied

but the official politely refused

while i was eating a platform had been

prepared to carry me

the people of lilliput

known as the lilliputians

are very intelligent and clever with

their hands

for me

500 men built a special wooden platform

with 22 wheels

900 of the strongest men worked for

about three hours to lift me on to the

platform

and 1

500 of the king’s largest horses

each 11 and a half centimeters high

pulled me to the capital

i did not know about any of this

because they had put a sleeping powder

in my wine

and i was in a deep sleep

the king had decided i would stay in the

largest available building

just outside the city gates

its door was only a meter high and half

a meter wide

so i could only just get inside on my

hands and knees

my guards put 91 chains on my left leg

so that i could not escape

then they cut the ropes that tied me and

i was able to get to my feet

as i stood up i heard cries of

astonishment all around me

i felt rather miserable

but at least i could walk about now

in a two meter circle

i was certainly an interesting sight for

the lilliputians

who had come out of the city in crowds

of several thousand to see me

now i had a good view of the countryside

the fields looked like flower beds in a

garden

and even the tallest trees were only two

meters high

i was soon visited by the king himself

he has a strong handsome face

and is very popular among his people

he arrived with his queen his children

and his lords and ladies all dressed in

beautiful golden silver clothes

in order to make conversation easier

i lay on my side so that my face was

close to him

i spoke to him in all the languages i

knew

but we still could not understand each

other

the king ordered his people to make me a

bed

using 600 lilliputian beds

it was not very comfortable

but it was better than sleeping on the

stone floor

he ordered the crowds of sightseers to

go back to their homes

so that the work of the country could

continue

and i would not be annoyed

for a long time he discussed with his

lords in private

what should be done with me

i was told all this later by a good

friend of mine

clearly such a large person could be a

danger to his small people

at last it was decided that as i had

behaved so well up to now

i would be kept alive

food and drink would be brought to me

every day from all the villages

600 people would be my servants

300 men would make me a new suit

and six teachers

would teach me their language

and so

in about three weeks

i began to speak the language of

lilliput

the king often visited me

and every time he came i asked him to

take off my chains

he explained

that first

i must promise not to fight against

lilliput

or hurt lilliputians

and that i must be searched for weapons

i agreed to both these things

and carefully picked up two of his

officers in my hands

i put them first in one pocket

then move them to all my other pockets

except two

which i kept secret

as they searched they wrote down in a

notebook

details of all the things they found

afterwards

i read some of their report

in the second coat pocket

we found two

very large pieces of wood

and inside them

were great pieces of metal

very sharp

in another pocket

there was a most wonderful engine

at the end of a long chain

the engine was inside a huge round

container

which was made half of silver

and half of another metal

this second metal

was very strange

as we could see through it to some

mysterious

writing and pictures

the engine made a continuous loud noise

the officers could not guess what these

things were

but they were of course my two pocket

knives and my watch

they also found my comb

a purse with several gold and silver

coins

my gun and bullets

the king wanted to know what the gun was

used for

bring it out he ordered me and show me

how it works

i took the gun out and put a bullet into

it

don’t be afraid i warned the king

then i fired the gun into the air

it was the loudest noise the

lilliputians had ever heard

hundreds of them thought they were dead

and fell down

the king himself was very frightened

as i gave my gun to the officials to

keep i warned them to be careful with it

they allowed me to keep all my other

things

and i hoped

that one day soon

i would be free

[Music]

chapter 2

life in lilliput

i was careful to behave as well as

possible

to persuade the king to give me my

freedom

lilliputians soon began to lose their

fear of me

they called me

the man mountain

sometimes

i lay down and let them dance on my hand

and from time to time children came to

play games in my hair

by now

i was able to speak their language well

one day

the king invited me to watch the regular

entertainments

which are greatly enjoyed by him

his family

and his lords and ladies

i was most interested in the rope

dancing

a very thin rope is fixed 30 centimeters

above the ground

people who want to become the king’s

most important officials jump and dance

on this rope

and whoever jumps highest

without falling

gets the best job

sometimes the king orders his lords to

dance on the rope to show that they can

still do it

this sport is of course

rather dangerous

and there are occasional deaths as a

result

it seems a strange way of choosing

officials

there was another interesting

entertainment

the king

holds a stick in front of him

and sometimes moves it up and down

one by one

people come up to him and jump over the

stick or crawl under it

they go on jumping and crawling as the

king moves the stick

the winner is the one who jumps and

crawls for the longest time

and he receives a blue ribbon to wear

around his waist

the second best receives a red ribbon

and the third best gets a green one

many of the lilliput lords wear their

ribbons proudly at all times

i had certainly never seen entertainment

like this in any of the countries i had

visited before

some days later

a strange black thing was seen on the

beach where i had first arrived in

lilliput

when the people realized it was not

alive

they decided that it must belong to the

man mountain

and the king ordered them to bring it to

me

i thought i knew what it was

when it arrived it was rather dirty

because it had been pulled along the

ground by horses

but i was delighted to see that it was

in fact my hat

i had lost it in the sea when swimming

away from the ship

i begged the king so often for my

freedom

that at last he and his lords agreed

that i need not be a prisoner any longer

however

i had to promise certain things

to help the lilliputians in war and

peace

to give two hours warning before a visit

to their capital

so that people could stay indoors

to be careful not to step on any

lilliputians or their animals

to carry important messages for the king

if necessary

to help the king’s workmen carry heavy

stones to stay in lilliput until the

king allowed me to leave

on his side the king promised i would

receive food and drink

enough for

1724 lilliputians

i agreed to everything at once

my chains were broken

and i was free at

last the first thing i did was visit the

capital city

the people were warned so that they

would not be in danger

i stepped carefully over the city wall

which was less than a meter high and

walked slowly through the two main

streets

it is usually a very busy city with

shops and markets full of people

but today

the streets were empty

there were crowds watching me from every

window

in the middle of the city is the king’s

palace

the king had invited me to enter it

so i stepped over the surrounding wall

into the palace garden

but unfortunately the palace itself has

walls a metre and a half high around it

i did not want to damage these walls by

trying to climb over them

so i walked carefully back out of the

city

and into the king’s park

here i cut down several of the largest

trees with my knife and made two wooden

boxes

when i returned to the palace with my

boxes

i was able to stand on one box on one

side of the wall

and step onto the other box on the other

side

i lay down on the ground and looked

through the windows right into the

king’s rooms

you cannot imagine a more beautiful

place to live in

the rooms and furniture are perfect in

every detail

as i was looking in

i could see the queen surrounded by her

lords and ladies

she kindly put her hand out of the

window for me to kiss

i think i should give you some general

information about lillyput

most lilliputians are about 15

centimeters tall

the birds and animals are of course much

smaller than the people

and the tallest trees are only a little

taller than i am

all crimes here are punished

but if someone is accused of a crime

and then it is proved that the accuser

is lying

the accuser is immediately killed

lilliputians believe that there are two

sides to the law

criminals must be punished

but people of good character must be

rewarded

so if a man can prove that he has obeyed

every law for six years

he receives a present of money from the

king

they also believe that any man who is

honest truthful and good

can serve his king and country

it is more important to have a good

character than to be clever or

intelligent

however

only those who believe in god

are allowed to be the king’s officials

many of their laws and customs are very

different from ours

but human nature is the same in every

country

the lilliputians like us

have learnt bad ways

choosing officials because they are able

to dance on a rope is just one example

now i shall return to my adventures in

lilliput

about two weeks after my first visit to

the capitol

i was visited by one of the king’s most

important officials

his name was rael drasol

and he had helped me many times since i

had arrived in lilliput

i started the conversation

i’m so glad they’ve taken away my chains

i told him

well my friend he answered

let me tell you something

you’re only free

because the king knows we’re in a very

dangerous situation

dangerous i cried

what do you mean

lily put has enemies at home and abroad

he explained

for six years now

we’ve had two political groups

the high heels and the low heels

perhaps the high heels were more popular

in the past but as you can see

our present king and all his officials

wear the lowest heels

the two groups hate each other

and a high heel will refuse to speak to

a low heel

that’s the problem in lilliput

now we are getting information that the

people of blefuscu are going to attack

us have you heard of blefuscu

it’s an island very near us

almost as large and important as

lilliput

they’ve been at war with us for three

years you see but how did this war start

i asked

well you know of course that most people

used to break their boiled eggs at the

larger end

but our king’s grandfather

once cut a finger while breaking his egg

this way

and so his father the king

ordered all lilliputians from then on

to break the smaller end of their eggs

people who do that are called small

endians

but lily pusians feel strongly about

this

and some big endians have fought angrily

against this law

as many as 11 000 people have been

killed because they refused to break

their eggs at the smaller end

some of the big endians have escaped to

join our enemies in blefuscu

the king of blefuscu has always wanted

to defeat lilliput in war

and now we hear

that he’s prepared a large number of

ships

which will attack us very soon

so you see my friend

how much our king needs your help

in order to defeat his enemies

i did not hesitate for a moment

please tell the king

i answered warmly

that i am ready to give my life to save

him or his country

[Music]

chapter three

lily put at war

the island of bliffasco

is only about a kilometer to the north

of lilliput

i knew that just beyond the narrow sea

separating the two countries

there were at least

50 warships

ready to attack us

with many other smaller ships

but i had kept away from that side of

the coast

so that the people of nyphuscu would not

see me

i had a secret plan

from the king’s workmen

i ordered 50 heavy metal hooks

each fastened to a piece of strong rope

i took off my coat and shoes and walked

into the sea with the hooks and ropes in

my hands

the water was deep in the middle

so i had to swim for a few meters

but it only took me half an hour to get

to blifascu

when the bliffascon saw me they were so

frightened

they jumped out of their ships and swam

to the beach

i then used one hook for each ship

and tied all the ropes together at one

end

while i was doing this the enemy shot

thousands of arrows at me

which caused me a lot of pain

i was afraid of getting an arrow in my

eyes

but i suddenly remembered

i still had an old pair of reading

glasses in my pocket

so i put them on

and continued my work

when i was ready

i started walking into the shallow water

away from the fescue

as i walked through the waves

i pulled the enemy’s warships behind me

when the people of blefuscu realized

that all their warships were

disappearing

their cries were terrible to hear

as i came nearer to lilliput i saw the

king and all his lords and ladies

standing on the beach

they could only see blefuscu’s warships

coming closer

as i was swimming and my head was

occasionally under the water therefore

they supposed that i had drowned and

that the brefuscan ships were attacking

but when they saw me walking out of the

sea

they welcomed me warmly with cries of

astonishment and delight

the king himself came down to the water

to meet me

everyone in lilliput is grateful to you

he cried

for your bravery

you will be one of my lords from now on

thank you sir i replied

and now

he continued

go back and steal all the enemy ships

so that we can defeat bliphuscu forever

we’ll destroy the big endians

and i’ll become king of the whole world

but i would not agree to this plan sir i

replied

i will never help to take a brave

nation’s freedom away

lilliput and blefuscu should live in

peace now

the king could not persuade me

and unfortunately he never forgot that i

had refused to do what he wanted

although i had saved his country from

attack by befusking warships

he preferred to remember my refusal

from this time on

i heard from my friends

there were secret conversations in the

palace between the king and some of his

lords who were jealous of me

these conversations

nearly led to my death in the end

about three weeks later

the king of blefuscu sent his officials

to ask for peace between the two

countries

after the glyphuscans had arranged

everything with the lilliputian

officials

they came to visit me

they had heard how i had prevented the

king from destroying

all their ships

after thanking me

they invited me to visit their country

however

when i asked the king of lilliput if i

could visit blefuscu

he agreed but very coldly

i learned later that he and some of his

lords

considered i was wrong to have a

conversation with enemies of lilliput

now i was beginning to understand how

difficult and dangerous political life

can be

a few days later

i had another chance to help the king

i was woken at midnight by the cries of

hundreds of lilliputians outside my

house

fire

fire they shouted

the queen’s rooms in the palace are

burning

come quickly man mountain

so i pulled on my clothes and hurried to

the palace

a large part of the building was in

flames

people were climbing ladders up the

walls and throwing water on the flames

but the fire was burning more strongly

every minute

at least

the queen and her ladies had escaped

but there seemed to be no way of saving

this beautiful palace

suddenly

i had an idea

the evening before

i had drunk a lot of good wine

and very luckily

i had not made water since then

in three minutes i managed to put out

the whole fire

and the lovely old building was safe

i went home without waiting for the

king’s thanks

because i was not sure what he would say

although i had certainly saved the

palace

i knew it was a crime

punishable by death

to make water anywhere near the palace

i heard later that the queen was so

angry that she refused to enter any of

the damaged rooms ever again and

promised to take her revenge on me

[Music]

chapter four

gulliver escapes from lilliput

i soon discovered that flimnap

one of the king’s highest officials

was my secret enemy

he had always disliked me

although he pretended to like me

but now

he began to suspect his wife of visiting

me privately

and he became jealous

of course his wife didn’t visit me

but always with her daughters and other

ladies who came for regular afternoon

visits

when visitors arrived at my house

i used to bring the coaches and horses

inside

and put them carefully on my table

there was a high edge round the table so

that nobody would fall off

i sat in my chair with my face close to

the table

and while i was talking to one group of

visitors

the others used to drive round the table

i spent many hours like this

in very enjoyable conversation

in the end flimnap realized that his

wife was not in love with me

and had not done anything wrong

but he was still angry with me

there were other lords who also disliked

me

and together

they managed to persuade the king

that i was a danger to lilliput

i knew they were discussing me in

private

but i was seriously alarmed

when i discovered what they had decided

luckily as well as rel dress all

i had another good friend among the

king’s officials

late one night

he visited me secretly

in order to warn me

you know

he began

that you’ve had enemies here for some

time

many of the lords are jealous of your

great success against bifuscu

and flimnap still hates you

they accuse you of crimes against

lilliput

crimes punishable by death

but i cried that’s not right

i only want to help lily put

listen he said

i must tell you what i’ve heard

although my life is in danger if i do

they’ve accused you

of making water in the king’s palace

refusing to take all the enemy’s ships

refusing to destroy all the big endians

the enemy’s officials privately

and planning to visit blefuscu

in order to help the enemy against

lilliput

this is unbelievable i cried

i must say

continued my friend

that our king reminded his lords how

much you had helped the country

but your enemies wanted to destroy you

and they suggested setting fire to your

house at night

then you would die in the fire

what i shouted angrily

be quiet nobody must hear us

anyway

the king decided not to kill you

and that’s when your friend real result

started speaking

he agreed you’d made mistakes

but said that a good king should always

be generous

as our king is

and he suggested

that a suitable punishment would be for

you to lose your sight

you’d still be strong enough to work for

us

but you wouldn’t be able to help the big

endians

i covered my eyes with my hands

i had wanted to help these people and

their king

how could they decide to punish me as

cruelly as this

your enemies were most disappointed

with real results plan

my friend went on

they said

you were a big endian in your heart

and reminded the king how much you

costly put in food and drink

real drusol spoke again

to suggest saving money by giving you a

little less food every day

in this way

you’d become ill

and in a few months you’d die

and so they all agreed

in three days relda saul will be sent to

explain your punishment to you

he’ll inform you

that the king has been very kind to you

and that you’re lucky to lose only your

eyes

you will be tied down

and very sharp arrows will be shot into

your eyes

the king’s doctors

will make sure that you can no longer

see

this is terrible news i said

but thank you for warning me my dear

friend

you alone must decide what to do

he replied

now i must leave you so that nobody

suspects me of warning you

when i was alone

i thought about the situation for a long

time

perhaps i was wrong but i could not see

that the king was being kind and

generous in ordering such an inhuman

punishment

what should i do

i could ask for a trial

but i was not confident of the judge’s

honesty

i could attack the capital and kill all

the lilliputians

but when i remembered the king’s past

kindness to me

i did not want to do that

at last

i decided to escape

and so before realdressault came to tell

me of my punishment

i went to the north of lilliput where

our ships lay

i took my clothes off

and put them into one of the largest

warships

i also put a blanket into it

then i stepped into the sea and swam to

blefuscu

by pulling the lilliput warship behind

me

i kept my clothes and blanket dry

when i arrived the king of blefuscu sent

two guides to show me the way to the

capitol

there i met the king

the queen

and the lords and ladies in their

coaches

i explained that i had come to visit

bliefuscue as i had been invited

however

i did not say anything about the

punishment waiting for me in lilliput

they welcomed me warmly

that night

as there was no building big enough for

me

i slept on the ground

covered by my blanket

it was not as comfortable as my bed in

lilliput but i did not mind

i did not spend long in blefuscu

only three days after my arrival

i noticed a boat in the sea

near the beach

it was a real boat

large enough for me

perhaps it had been driven there by a

storm

i swam out to it and tied ropes to it

then

with the help of twenty oblifuscu ships

and three thousand sailors

i pulled it onto the beach

it was not badly damaged

and it was exciting to be able to start

planning my journey back to england and

my home

during this time

the king of lilliput had written to ask

the king of bifuscu

to send me back

as a prisoner

so that i could receive my punishment

the king of blifascu however replied

that i was too strong to be taken

prisoner

and that i would soon be returning to my

country anyway

secretly

he invited me to stay and help him in

blefuscu

but i no longer believed in the promises

of kings or their officials

so i politely refused

i was now impatient to start my voyage

home

and the king ordered his workmen to

repair the boat and prepare everything i

needed

i had the meat of 100 cattle

and 300 sheep to eat on the journey

and i also had some live animals to show

to my friends in england

about one month later

i left blefuscu on september the 24th

1701

the king the queen

and their lords and ladies

all came down to the beach

to wave goodbye

after sailing all day

i reached a small island where i slept

that night

on the third day

september the 26th

i saw a sail

and was delighted to discover that it

was an english ship on its way home to

england

the captain picked me up and i told him

my story

at first he thought i was mad

but when i took the live animals out of

my pocket to show him

he believed me

we arrived home at last on april the

13th

1702

and i saw my dear wife and children

again

at first i was delighted to be at home

again

i earned quite a lot of money by showing

my lilliputian animals to people

and in the end

i sold them for a high price

but as the days passed

i became restless

and wanted to see more of the world

and so

only two months later

i said goodbye to my family

and sailed away again

[Music]

chapter 5

a voyage to brobdingnag

i left bristol

on june the 20th

1702

in a ship which was sailing to india

we had good sailing weather until we

reached the cape of good hope in south

africa

where we landed to get fresh water

we had to stay there for the winter

however because the ship needed repairs

and the captain was ill

in the spring we left africa

and sailed around the island of

madagascar

into the indian ocean

but on the 19th of april

the wind began to blow very violently

from the west

and we were driven to the east of the

malacca islands

on the 2nd of may

the wind stopped blowing

and the sea was calm

but our captain

who knew that part of the world very

well

warned us that there would be a storm

the next day

so we prepared the ship as well as we

could

and waited

the captain was right

on the third of may the wind began to

get stronger

it was a wild dangerous wind blowing

from the south this time

we had to take down our sails as the

storm hit our ship

huge waves crashed down onto us

and the wind drove our helpless ship

eastwards

into the pacific ocean

for several days we struggled with the

wind and waves

but at last

the storm died away

and the sea was calm again

luckily our ship was not badly damaged

but we had been driven over 2 000

kilometers to the east

none of us knew exactly where we were

so the captain decided to continue

sailing eastwards

where we had never been before

we sailed on for another two weeks

finally

on the 16th of june 1703

we saw a large island

with a small piece of land joined to it

i later discovered that this country was

called brobdingnag

the captain sent some of his sailors in

a boat to land there

and bring back some fresh water

i went with them because i was

interested in seeing a new country

we were delighted to be on land again

and while the men looked for a river or

a lake

i walked for about a kilometer away from

the beach

when i returned to my astonishment i saw

that the sailors were already in the

boat

they were rowing as fast as they could

towards the ship

i was going to shout to tell them they

had forgotten me

when suddenly

i saw a huge creature

walking after them into the sea

i realized he could not catch them

because they had nearly gone to the ship

but i did not wait to see the end of

that adventure

i ran away from him as fast as possible

and did not stop

until i found myself in some fields

the grass was about seven meters high

and the corn about 13 meters high

it took me an hour to cross just one

field

which had a hedge at least 40 meters

high

the trees were much taller than that

just as i was trying to find a hole in

the hedge

so that i could get into the next field

i saw another giant coming towards me

he seemed as tall as a mountain

and every one of his steps measured

about 10 meters

in fear and astonishment

i hid in the corn

and hoped he would not notice me

he shouted in a voice like thunder

and seven other giants appeared

they seemed to be his servants

when he gave the order

they began to cut the corn in the field

where i was hiding

as they moved towards me

i moved away

but at last

i came to a part of the field where rain

had knocked down the corn

there was no longer anywhere for me to

hide

and i knew i would be cut to pieces

by the giant’s sharp knives

i lay down

and prepared to die

i could not stop myself thinking of

lilliput

there

i myself had been a giant

an important person

who had become famous for helping the

people of that small country

here

it was the opposite

i was like a lilliputian in europe

and i began to understand

how a very small creature feels

suddenly

i noticed that one of the giants was

very close to me

as his huge foot rose over my head

i screamed as loudly as i could

he looked around on the ground

and finally saw me

he stared at me for a moment

and very carefully

he picked me up with finger and thumb

and looked at me

i was now 20 meters up in the air

and i desperately hoped he would not

decide to throw me to the ground

i did not struggle

and spoke politely to him

although i knew he did not understand

any of my languages

he took me to the farmer

who soon realized that i was not an

animal

but an intelligent being

he carefully put me in his pocket

and took me home to show to his wife

when she saw me she screamed and jumped

back in fear perhaps thinking i was an

insect

but in a little while

she became used to me

and was very kind to me

[Music]

chapter six

gulliver and his master

soon after we arrived

the whole family sat down at the table

for dinner

there was a large piece of meat on a

plate about eight meters

across the farmer put me on the table

with some small pieces of bread and meat

in front of me

i was very frightened of falling off the

edge of the table

which was 10 meters from the ground

the farmer and his family were delighted

to watch me eating food with my own

small knife and fork

but when i started walking across the

table to the farmer his youngest son

a boy of about ten

picked me up by the legs

he held me so high in the air that my

whole body trembled

fortunately his father took me away at

once

and angrily hit the boy hard on the head

but i remembered how cruel children can

be to small animals

and i did not want the boy to take his

revenge on me

so i fell on my knees

and asked them not to punish the child

anymore

they seemed to understand

just then

i heard a noise behind me

it sounded like 12 machines running at

the same time

i turned my head

and saw a huge cat

three times larger than one of our cows

the farmer’s wife held it in her arms

so that it could not jump at me

but in fact

because i showed no fear

there was no danger

and the cat even seemed a little afraid

of me

at the end of dinner

the servant came in with the farmer’s

one-year-old son in her arms

he immediately started crying and

screaming

because he wanted to play with me

his mother smiled and put me in his hand

when he picked me up and put my head in

his mouth

i shouted so loudly that he dropped me

luckily i was not hurt

but it showed me how dangerous life was

going to be

after eating

the farmer

or my master as i shall now call him

went back to his work in the fields

i think he told his wife to take good

care of me

because she put me carefully on her bed

and locked the bedroom door

i was exhausted

and slept for two hours

when i woke up

i felt very small and lonely in such a

huge room

and on such a large bed

suddenly

i saw two huge rats run towards me

across the bed

one came right up to my face

so i pulled out my sword and cut open

his stomach

the other

ran away at once

i walked up and down on the bed to

control my trembling legs

and looked at the dead rat

it was as large as a big dog

and its tail measured two meters

when my master’s wife came into the room

some time later

i showed her how i had killed the rat

she was delighted that i was not hurt

and threw the dead rat out of the window

my master had a daughter

who was about nine years

old she was given the special

responsibility of taking care of me

and i owe her my life

during my stay in her country we were

always together and she saved me from

many dangerous situations

i called her glum dal glitch which means

little nurse

she was good at sewing and managed to

make some clothes for me in the thinnest

material available

she also made me a small bed

which was placed on a shelf too high for

rats to reach

perhaps the most useful thing she did

was to teach me the language

so that in a few days

i could speak it quite well

soon

all my master’s neighbors were talking

about the strange little creature he had

found in a field

one of them came to see me

and as i walked towards him across the

table

he put on his glasses

his eyes behind the glasses

looked like the full moon shining into

two windows

i thought this was very funny and

laughed loudly

unfortunately

that made him very angry

i heard him whispering to my master all

evening

and i was sorry i had laughed at him

next day

glum dog clitch came to me in tears

you’ll

never guess

what’s happened

she told me

sadly our neighbor

has advised father

to show you to people

for money

father’s going to take you to market

tomorrow

where there’ll be crowds of people

ready to pay for entertainment

oh i’m so ashamed

and perhaps you’ll get hurt

other people won’t be as careful with

you as i am

don’t worry dumb dull clitch i replied

as i’m a stranger here

i don’t mind being shown to people like

a strange wild animal i must do what

your father wants

i was secretly hoping

i would one day find a way of escaping

and returning to my own country

so the next day

my master and his daughter

got on their huge horse

glendale clitch carried me inside a

small box which had hair holes so that i

could breathe

when we arrived at the market town

my master hired the largest room in the

public house

and placed me upon the table there

his daughter stayed close to me to make

sure that nobody hurt me

i was told to speak in their language

pull out my sword

drink from a cup

and do other things to amuse the crowd

only 30 people were allowed in to see me

at one time

on that first day everybody wanted to

see me

and i was shown to over 350 people

my master’s plan was so successful

that he arranged to show me again

on the next market day

i did not look forward to this at all

i was so tired with the journey

and the entertainment

that i could only walk and speak with

difficulty

for the next three days

even when we were at home

neighbors and friends from all parts of

the country

came to look at me

and my master made me work hard to amuse

them

so i had almost

no rest

my master finally realized that he could

make a fortune by showing me to people

all over the country

so about two months after my arrival in

brobdingnag

we left the farm

and started our journey to the capitol

as before glumdalclitch came with us to

take care of me

on the way we stopped in many towns and

villages

so that i could be shown to people

at last

after a journey of nearly 5 000

kilometers

we arrived at the capitol

now i had to work even harder

as people came to look at me

10 times a day

[Music]

chapter 7

of the king’s palace

although glom del clinch tried to make

things as comfortable as possible for me

such an exhausting life was beginning to

have a bad effect on my health

i was becoming thinner

and thinner

when my master noticed this

he thought i would not live much longer

but it was clear that he wanted to make

as much money out of me as he could

while he was thinking how to do this he

was asked to bring me to the palace

the queen and her ladies had heard about

me and wanted to see me

when we arrived in front of the queen

i fell on my knees and begged to be

allowed to kiss her foot

but she kindly held out her hand to me

i took her little finger in both my arms

and put it very politely to my lips

she seemed very pleased with me and

finally she said

would you enjoy living here in the

palace do you think

great queen i answered

i must do what my master wants

but if i were free

i would want to spend my whole life

obeying your orders

she immediately arranged to buy me from

my master

he was delighted to receive a good price

for me especially as he felt sure i

would not live longer than a month

i also begged the queen to let glum dog

clitch stay with me

because she had always taken such good

care of me

the queen agreed

and glumdo klitsch could not hide her

happiness

when my master had left the palace alone

the queen said to me

why didn’t you say goodbye to him

and why did you look at him so coldly

madam i must tell you i replied

but since he found me

my master has used me as an easy way of

making money for himself

he’s made me work so hard that i feel

tired and ill

he sold me to you only because he thinks

i’m going to die soon

but i feel better already

now that i belong to such a great and

good queen

the queen was clearly surprised to hear

such intelligent words from such a small

creature

and decided to show me to her husband

when the king saw me

he thought at first that i must be a

mechanical toy

however

when he heard my answers to his

questions

he realized i must be alive

and he could not hide his astonishment

to discover what kind of animal i was

he sent for three of his cleverest

professors

after looking at me carefully

they decided that i was a creature

outside the laws of nature

i was much too small to climb their

trees

or dig their fields

or kill and eat their animals

they could not understand where i had

come from

or how i could possibly survive

and when i told them that in my country

there were millions just like me

they did not believe me

but just smiled

however

the king was more intelligent than they

were

after speaking to gumdel clitch and

questioning me again

he realized that my story must be true

they took very good care of me

the queen’s workman made a special

bedroom for me

it was a wooden box with windows a door

and two cupboards

the ceiling could be lifted off

so that dog clitch could change my

sheets and tidy my room

the workman even made me two little

chairs and a table

and a lock for the door

so that no rats could get in the queen

became so fond of me that she could not

eat without me

my small table and chair were always

placed on the dinner table near her left

elbow

and glumdalclitch stood near me

in case i needed her help

i ate off tiny silver plates

with silver knives and forks

but i never got used to seeing the queen

eat

in one mouthful

she ate as much as 12 english farmers

could eat in a whole meal

she drank from a cup as big as one of

our barrels

and her knives were like huge swords

i was quite frightened of them

on wednesday which is a day of rest in

brobdingnag like our sunday

the king and queen always had dinner

together with their children

in the king’s rooms

i was usually invited too

my little chair and table were at the

king’s left elbow

he enjoyed very much hearing me talk

about england

our laws our universities are great

buildings

he listened so politely that i perhaps

talked a little too much

about my dear country

in the end he looked at me kindly

but could not stop himself laughing

he turned to one of his lords

how amusing it is

he said to him

that an insect like this should talk of

such important matters

he thinks his country is so highly

developed

but i suppose even tiny creatures like

him

have a hole in the ground that they call

a home

they argue they love

they fight and they die

as we do

but of course the poor little animals

aren’t on our level

i could not believe what i was hearing

he was laughing at my country a country

famous for its beautiful cities and

palaces it’s great kings and queens it’s

brave and honest people

however

there was nothing i could do about it

and i simply had to accept the situation

the worst problem i had at the palace

was the queen’s dwarf

until i arrived

he had always been the smallest person

in the country

he was about 10 meters tall

as i was much smaller than him

he was very rude to me and behaved very

badly especially when nobody was looking

once he took a large bone from the table

and stood it on the queen’s plate

then he took me in both hands

and pushed my legs into the top of the

bone

i could not pull myself out

and had to stay there feeling

and looking extremely stupid

when the queen finally saw me

she could not stop herself laughing

but she was angry with the dwarf at the

same time

in brobdingnag there are large numbers

of flies in summer

and these awful insects each as big as

an english bird

gave me no peace

the dwarf used to catch some in his

hands

and then let them out suddenly under my

nose

he did this both to frighten me

and amuse the queen

i had to use my knife to cut them to

pieces as they flew around me

another time

the dwarf picked me up and dropped me

quickly into a bowl of milk on the table

luckily i am a good swimmer so i managed

to keep my head out of the milk

as soon as grumdilclitch saw i was in

danger

she ran from the other side of the room

to rescue me

i was not hurt

but this time the dwarf was sent away

from the palace as a punishment

i was very pleased

i would now like to describe brobdingnag

the people who draw our european maps

think there is nothing but sea between

japan and america

but they are wrong

brobdingnag is quite a large country

joined onto northwest america

but separated from the rest of america

by high mountains

it is about 10 000 kilometers long

and from 5 to eight thousand wide

the sea around it is so rough

and there are so many rocks in the water

that no large ships can land on any of

the beaches

this means that the people of

brobdingnag do not normally have

visitors from other parts of the world

there are 51 cities

and a large number of towns and villages

the capital stands on both sides of a

river

and has more than 80 000 houses

it covers

340 square kilometers

the king’s palace covers about 11 square

kilometers

the main rooms are 80 meters high

the palace kitchen is huge

if i described it with its great pots on

the fire and the mountains of food on

the tables

perhaps you would not believe me

travellers are often accused of not

telling the truth when they return

to avoid this happening to me

i am being careful to describe what i

saw as exactly and carefully as possible

[Music]

chapter eight

more adventures in brobdingnag

because i was so small

i had several dangerous accidents

during my stay at the palace

one day

gumdel klitsch put me down on the grass

in the palace garden

while she went for a walk with some of

the queen’s ladies

a small white dog which belonged to one

of the gardeners appeared

and seemed very interested in me

he took me in his mouth

and carried me to his master

luckily he had been well trained and did

not try to bite me so i was not hurt

one day

the queen said to me

it would be good for your health to do

some rowing or sailing

what do you think

would you like me to arrange it for you

madam i answered

i’d love to row or sail a little every

day

but where can we find a boat that’s

small enough

leave that to me

she replied and called for her workmen

she ordered them to make a tiny boat

with sails

they also made a wooden container

about a hundred meters long

seventeen meters wide and three meters

deep

this container was filled with water

and i was carefully placed in my boat on

the water

every day i used to row or sail there

while the queen and her ladies watched

there was no wind of course

but the ladies blew hard to move my boat

along

i nearly lost my life again

when a lady picked me up to put me in

the boat

she was not careful enough and dropped

me

with horror

i felt myself falling through the air

but instead of crashing to the ground i

was caught by my trousers

on a pin in her clothes

i had to stay there without moving a

finger until

clitch came running to rescue me

but the greatest danger to me in

brobdingnag

came

from a monkey

one day

gumdel clitch left me alone in her

bedroom

while she visited some of the ladies

it was a warm day

and her window was open

i was in the box which i used as my

bedroom with a door open

suddenly

i heard the noise of an animal jumping

through the window

and immediately i hid at the back of my

box

the monkey which appeared huge to me

very soon discovered my hiding place

he picked me up

and held me close to him like a baby

when he heard someone opening the

bedroom door

he jumped out of the window and ran onto

the roof

i thought i had never been in such great

danger

he was running on three legs and holding

me in the fourth

at any moment he could let me fall

and we were at least 300 meters above

the ground

i could hear a lot of shouting in the

palace

the servants had realized what was

happening

and brought ladders to climb up onto the

roof

glumdalclitch was crying

and hundreds of people were watching

from the garden

meanwhile

the monkey was sitting calmly on top of

the roof

he was taking food from his mouth and

trying to push it into my mouth

he still seemed to think i was his baby

i suppose it was an amusing sight for

the crowd below

but i was in terrible fear of falling

finally

several servants climbed on the roof

and as they came nearer

the monkey put me down

and ran away

i was rescued and brought down to the

ground

i had to stay in bed for two weeks after

this

before i felt well enough to meet people

again

the monkey was caught

and killed

when i next saw the king he asked me

about this experience

how did you feel

he said when the monkey was holding you

up on the roof

sir i replied bravely

i was afraid that’s true

but next time an animal like that

attacks me i shall not hesitate

i’ll pull out my sword like this

and i showed him what i would do

and give the creature such a wound that

it will never come near me again

but while i waved my tiny sword in the

air

the king and his lords laughed loudly

i had wanted to prove my bravery

but i failed

because to them

i was only an unimportant little

creature

i realized later

that this often happens in england

when we laugh at someone of no family

fortune or intelligence

who pretends to be as important as our

great leaders

in the next few weeks

i began to have some very interesting

conversations with the king

he was an intelligent understanding

person

tell me more about your country

he said to me one day

i would like to hear about your laws

your political life and your customs

tell me everything

there may be something that we can

usefully copy here in brobdingnag

i shall be delighted sir

i answered proudly

our king controls our three great

countries scotland ireland and england

we grow much of our own food

and our weather is neither too hot nor

too cold

there are two groups of men who make our

laws

one is called the house of lords

they are men from the oldest and

greatest families in the country

the other is called the house of commons

these are the most honest

intelligent and sensible men in the

country and are freely chosen by the

people

we have judges to decide punishments for

criminals

and we have a large army which cannot be

defeated by any other in the world

while i was talking the king was making

notes

for several days i continued my

explanation

and i also described british history

over the last hundred years

then the king asked me a large number of

questions

these were some of them

how do you teach and train young people

of good family

if the last son of an old family dies

how do you make new lords for the house

of lords

are these lords really the most suitable

people to make the country’s laws

and in the house of commons

are these men really so honest and

intelligent

do rich men

never buy their way into this house

you say the lawmakers receive no pay

but are you sure

that they never accept bribes

then he asked questions about our law

courts

why are your trials so long and so

expensive

how much do your lawyers and judges

really know about the laws

how carefully do they decide between

right and wrong

and why

he went on

are you so often at war

either you enjoy fighting or you have

very difficult neighbors

why do you need an army at all

you would not be afraid of any other

country if you were peaceful people

and in the last hundred years

you’ve done nothing but rob

fight and murder

your recent history shows the very worst

effects of cruelty

jealousy

dishonesty and madness

i tried to answer the king as well as i

could

but he did not think our system was a

good one

no

my little friend

he said kindly but seriously

i’m sorry for you

you’ve proved to me

that your country has nothing valuable

to offer us

perhaps once in the past

your political life was adequately

organized

but now it is clear

that there is laziness and selfishness

in every part of the system

your politicians can be bribed

your soldiers aren’t really brave

your judges and lawyers are neither

reasonable nor honest

and your law makers themselves

know little

and do less

i sincerely hope that you

who have spent most of your life

traveling

have a better character than most

englishmen

but from what you’ve told me

i’m afraid that your countrymen

are the worst little nation of insects

that has ever crawled upon the ground

i am very sorry to have to report these

words of the kings

and i only do so

because of my love of the truth

i must tell you exactly what happened

even if i do not agree with it

i had to listen patiently

while he was giving his extraordinary

opinions of my dear country

we must remember however

that this king

lives in a country almost completely

separate from the rest of the

world because he does not know other

countries systems or customs

he has a certain narrowness of thinking

which we europeans do not have of

course you will find it difficult to

believe what happened next

sir

i said

i’d like to give you something

to thank you for your kindness to me

since i arrived at the palace

three or four hundred years ago

we europeans discovered how to make a

special powder

when you set fire to it

it burns and explodes immediately

with a noise louder than thunder

you can use it to shoot heavy balls of

metal from large guns

it can destroy the largest ships

it can kill a whole army

it can cut men’s bodies in half

it can destroy the strongest walls

it’s called gunpowder

and it’s easy and cheap to make

to show you how grateful i am to you

i’m offering to explain how to make it

then you will be able to destroy all

your enemies

i was very surprised by the king’s reply

no

he cried in horror

don’t tell me

i don’t want to know how to murder

people like that

i would rather give half my country away

than know the secret of this powder

how can a tiny creature like you have

such inhuman cruel ideas

never speak to me of this again

how strange that such an excellent king

should not take the chance i was

offering him

no european king would hesitate for a

moment

but he had other strange ideas

he believed very simply that every

problem can be solved by honest

sensible people

and that the political life of a country

must have no secrets and must be open

for all to see and understand

of course

we know that this is impossible

so perhaps his opinion of us

is not worth considering

[Music]

chapter nine

gulliver escapes from brobdingnag

i was still hoping to return to england

one day

but the ship in which i had arrived in

brobdingnag

was the first that had ever come near

the coast

so i could not see how i could get away

i began to think more and more about my

family and my home

by now

i had been in brobdingnag for about two

years

when the king and queen traveled to the

south coast

gumdelklich and i went with them

i really wanted to be close to the sea

again

which i had not seen or even smelt for

so long

as glom del klitsch was ill

i asked a young servant to take me down

to the beach for some fresh air

the boy carried me in my traveling box

and put me down on the beach

while he looked for birds eggs among the

rocks

i looked sadly at the sea

but stayed in my box

and after a while

i fell asleep

i was woken suddenly when my box was

lifted high in the air

i can only suppose

that a large bird took hold of the ring

on top of the box with his talons

and flew away with it

through the windows i could see the sky

and clouds passing by

and i could hear the noise of the bird’s

wings

then

i was falling

so fast that i felt quite breathless

there was a loud crash as the box fell

into the sea

perhaps the bird had been attacked by

others

and so had to drop what he was carrying

luckily

the box had been well made

and not much sea water came in

but i do not think any traveler has ever

been in a worse situation than i was

then

i wondered how long i would survive

with no food or drink

in the middle of the ocean

i felt sure i would never see poor glum

dull clitch again

and i knew how sad she would be to lose

me

several hours passed

and then i suddenly heard a strange

noise above my head

people were fastening a rope to the ring

then my box was pulled through the water

was it a ship that was pulling me along

help

help

i shouted as loudly as i could

i was delighted to hear english voices

reply

who’s there

they cried

i’m english

i shouted back desperately

please help me to get out of here

just put your finger

into the ring on top of the box

and lift it out of the water

quickly

there were great shouts of laughter

he’s mad

i heard one man say

ten men couldn’t lift that huge box

said another

there was more laughter

indeed

because i had been with giants for so

long

i had forgotten that my countrymen were

as small as me

the only thing the sailors could do

was to cut a hole in the top of my box

and help me to climb out

i was exhausted and unable to walk far

they took me to their captain

welcome to my ship

he said kindly

you’re lucky we found you

my men saw that huge box on the water

and we decided to pull it along behind

the ship

then we realized there was a man inside

why were you locked up in there

was it a punishment for some terrible

crime

but tell me all about it later now you

need to sleep

and then eat

when i told him my story a few hours

later

he found it difficult to believe

but after a while

he began to accept that what i told him

must be true

but why do you shout so loudly

he asked

we can hear you perfectly well if you

speak normally

you see

i explained

for two years

i’ve had to shout to make myself

understood by the giants

i was like a man in the street

who was trying to talk to another man

at the top of a very tall building

and another thing

your sailors all seem very small to me

because i’ve been used to looking up at

people

20 meters tall

you shook his head

wow

what a story

i think you should write a book about it

when you get home

i stayed on the ship for several months

as we sailed slowly home to england

finally

we arrived in bristol on june the 3rd

when i reached home

my wife made me promise

never to go to sea again

and i thought

my adventures had come

to an end

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

chapter 10

the flying island of laputa

i had only been at home

for about 10 days

when a friend of mine

asked me to join him on a journey to the

east indies

i still wanted to see more of the world

and as he was offering to give me double

the usual pay

i managed to persuade my wife to let me

go

the voyage took eight months

and after stopping for a short time in

malaysia

we arrived in the gulf of tonkin

i’ll have to stay here for a while on

business

my friend the captain told me

but you can take the ship and some of

the sailors

go and see what you can buy and sell in

the islands around here

that sounded interesting to me

so i agreed

unfortunately

we sailed straight into a terrible storm

which drove us many miles eastward

then

by a very unlucky chance

we were seen and chased by two pirate

ships

our ship was not fast enough to escape

and the pirates caught us

they decided to keep the sailors to help

sail the ship

but they did not need me

i suppose i was lucky they did not kill

me

instead

they left me alone in a small boat in

the middle of the ocean

with only enough food for a few days

while they sailed away

i’m sure the pirates thought i would die

however

i saw land some hours later

and i managed to sail the boat to it

as i stepped out of the boat and walked

up the beach

i noticed that

although the sun had been very hot the

air

suddenly seemed cooler

at first i thought a cloud was passing

over the sun

but when i looked up i saw

to my great astonishment

a large island in the sky

between me and the sun

it was moving towards me

and there were people running around on

it

i waved my arms and shouted as loudly as

possible

help

help

i cried

rescue me

when the island was about a hundred

meters over my head

they let down a seat on a chain

i sat on it

and was pulled up to the island

i had discovered

the flying island of laputa

the putins

are certainly strange looking people

their heads

always turn either to right or left

one of their eyes turns inwards

the other upwards

their main interests are music and

mathematics

they spend so much time thinking about

mathematical problems

that they do not notice what is

happening around them

in fact

rich leputians

employ a servant

whose job is to follow his master

everywhere

the servant warns him if he is going to

step into a hole

and reminds him to reply

if someone speaks to

him i was taken to see the king

but had to wait for at least an hour

while he struggled with a difficult

mathematical question

however

when he had finished he spoke politely

to me

and ordered his servants to show me to a

room

for dinner

they gave me three kinds of meat

a square of beef

a triangle of chicken

and a circle of lamb

even the bread was cut into mathematical

shapes

in the evening

a teacher arrived to help me learn the

language and in a few days

i was able to make conversation with the

island people

laputa

is a circle of land about eight

kilometers across

covered with houses and other buildings

it is moved by a simple machine

which uses magnets to pull the island

closer to land

or push it higher into the sky

the island always moves slowly

it can only fly over the country called

bellnibabi

which belongs to the king of laputa

it is difficult talking to laputans as

they have little interest in anything

except music and mathematics

they are however

very worried about the future of the

earth

the sun

and the stars

and they often discuss this

i heard a conversation about this

shortly before i left laputa

how are you my friend

one man asks another

as well as can be expected

came the reply

and how is the sun do you think

i thought he looked rather feverish this

morning

i’m afraid he’ll get too hot and destroy

himself one day

if he goes on like this

i know

it’s very worrying

and what about the earth

it’s only 30 years until the next

falling star comes this way

and the earth was very nearly destroyed

by the last one

that’s right

we know that the next falling star is

almost certain to get too close to the

sun

and catch fire

and when the earth passes through that

fire

it’ll be destroyed immediately

only 30 years

that’s not much to look forward to is it

and the two men shook their heads sadly

after several months on the island

i asked if i could visit the country

underneath us

the king agreed and ordered his

officials to put me down on bell nibabi

and show me around the capital legato

the most interesting place i saw there

was the university

which was full of very clever men with

very clever ideas

they were all working hard to find

better

faster cheaper

easier ways of doing and making things

they had ideas

for building houses from the roof

downwards

turning rocks into soft material

making rivers run uphill

and saving sunshine in bottles

i cannot remember half of the

astonishingly clever ideas which they

were working on

one day

they told me

they would find the answers to all these

problems

and then their country would be the most

wonderful place in the world

meanwhile

i noticed the people looked hungry and

miserable

their clothes were old and full of holes

their houses were badly built and

falling down

there were no vegetables or corn growing

in the fields

when i visited the school of mathematics

i could not understand why the students

looked so unhappy

what’s the matter young man

i asked one of them

you look quite ill

yes sir

he answered

you see

we’ve only just eaten our lessons for

today

and it’s made us feel

rather sick

eaten them

i repeat it in surprise

why did you do that

oh

that’s the way we learn here sir

he replied

our professors write mathematical

questions and answers on paper

then we eat the paper

after that

we’re only supposed to have bread and

water for three days

while the information moves upwards to

our heads

but it’s awful sir not eating much for

three days

and we often feel sick

up

excuse me sir

and he ran past me out of the room

this highly developed system of teaching

did not seem to be working well

[Music]

chapter 11

glob dub drib and lugnag

although the laputans were kind to me

i did not want to spend a long time in

their country

therefore

i decided to travel from belnie baby

to the island of lagnag

from there to japan and then home to

england

but before i went to lagnag

an official i had met in legato

persuaded me to visit the small island

of glob dub drib

you’ll find it a very interesting place

you told me

glub dub drib

means the island of magicians

all the important people there are good

at magic you see

the president is the best magician of

them all

but i must warn you

he has some very strange

they’re all ghosts

by using magic

he can order the ghost of any dead

person

to be his servant for 24 hours

and the ghost must obey

it seemed unbelievable

but it was true

when we arrived on the island

we were invited to the president’s

palace

his servants

certainly looked strange to me

there was a smell of

death about them

when the president no longer needed them

he waved a hand

and they simply disappeared

i visited the president every day during

my stay

and soon got used to seeing the ghosts

one day

the president said gulliver

would you like to call a ghost

it could be anyone

from the beginning of the world up to

the present day

you could ask them questions about their

lives

and you can be sure they’ll tell the

truth

ghosts always do

that’s very kind of you sir i replied

and thought hard for a moment

first i’d like to see alexander the

great please

the president pointed out of the window

there

in a large field

was the ghost of alexander with his huge

army

this famous king lived long ago in

macedonia in northern greece

his kingdom covered many countries

from greece to egypt

from persia to parts of india

but he died very young

when he was only 33

and no one knew why

the president called him into the room

great king

i said to him

just tell me one thing

were you murdered

or did you die naturally

young man he replied

nobody murdered me

i drank too much

and died of a fever

so

in these few words

i had learnt one of the secrets of

history

i turned to the president

and now

may we see

julius caesar and brutus

the two romans took alexander’s place

brutus of course

had killed julius caesar in rome on the

15th of march 44 bc

one of the most famous murders in

history

it is terrible to die by the hand of a

friend

great caesar i said

how do you feel about your murderer

brutus

do not call him that

replied caesar

he is a brave

good man

the best in rome

and he did

the right thing

for rome

by killing me

in death

as in life

he has always been my friend

i cannot remember

how many more ghosts i called to appear

i was very interested in their answers

to my questions

which often seemed to offer a different

view of history

from the one i had been taught at school

however

it was soon time to leave glob dub drib

and sail to lagnag

a much larger island to the southeast of

japan

the lagnagians are polite and generous

people

and i stayed here for three months

i made many friends among them

one day

one of them asked me

have you ever seen any of our strolled

drugs

i don’t think so

i replied

what’s that

well

a strolled brug is a human being who

will never die

but will live forever

if a lug nuggium baby is born with a

round spot above its left eye

which never disappears

it’s a strolledbrag

we have over a thousand of them in the

country

how wonderful i cried

how exciting

how lucky you are in lugnag

where a child has a chance of living

forever

and how especially lucky the strolled

drugs are

disease

disaster and death can never touch them

and imagine how much we can learn from

them

i expect they’re among the most

important people in the country

they’ve lived through history and know

so much

which they’re certain to pass on to the

rest of us

if i had the chance

i’d like to spend my whole life

listening to the intelligent

conversation of these

extraordinary people here in lugnag

well of course

answered my lugnuggian friend with a

smile

we’ll be delighted if you stay longer

with us

but

i’d like to know how you would plan your

life if you were a strolled brugg

oh that’s easy

i replied

first

i’d work hard

and earn a lot of money

in about 200 years

i’d be the richest man in lugnag

i’d study too

so that i knew more about everything and

the cleverest professors

i’d also

write down everything important that

happened over the years

so that students of history would come

to me for help

i’d teach young people what i had

learned

but most of my time

i’d spend with other strong drugs

friends of mine

together

we could help to destroy crime in the

world and begin to build a new and

better life for everyone

i had only just finished describing the

happiness of endless life

when i realized

that my friend’s shoulders were shaking

and tears of laughter were running down

his face

i really must explain

he said you see

you’ve made a very

understandable mistake

you suppose

that if someone lives forever

he is young

healthy

and strong forever too

and that doesn’t happen

our strolled bruggs have a terrible life

after living for about 80 years

they become ill and miserable

they have no friends and they can’t

remember much of the past

at that age the law considers them to be

dead

so their children inherit their houses

and money

then they sometimes have to beg

to get enough food to eat

they lose their teeth and hair

they forget the names of their families

and the only thing they want is to die

but that’s impossible

i realized how stupid i had been

and felt very sorry for the poor

strolled bruggs

i finally left lugnag on a boat sailing

to japan

from there i found a ship which was

returning to england

my voyage to laputa

belnibarbi

glub dubdrib and lugnag

had taken me away from home

for five and a half years

[Music]

chapter 12

a voyage to the country of the whoms

it was not long before i started my next

voyage

on the 7th of september

1710

as captain of my own ship this time

the owner of the ship wanted me to sail

to the indian ocean

to do some business for him there

but i was very unlucky

on the way

i had to employ some new sailors from

barbados

but they were men a very bad character

i heard them whispering to the other

sailors several times

but i did not suspect what they were

planning

one morning

as we were sailing around the cape of

good hope

they attacked me

and tied me up

they told me they were going to take

control of the ship

and become pirates

there was nothing i could do

they left me alone

on the beach of a small island

in the middle of the indian ocean

as the ship sailed away

i realized i had no idea where i was

i found a road away from the beach

and walked very quietly and carefully

along

in case i was attacked

several

strange-looking animals were lying in a

field

and some were sitting in a tree

their heads and chests were covered in

hair

and they had beards as well

they walked sometimes on two

and sometimes on four legs

and could climb trees

they were certainly the ugliest animals

i had ever seen in all my travels

when i met one of these creatures on the

road

his face showed great surprise

and he lifted a foot high in the air

i did not know if he was going to attack

me or not

but i hit him hard with the side of my

sword

he screamed so loudly that all the other

animals ran to help him

there were about 40 of them around me

i kept them away by waving my sword in

the air

but their wild cries frightened me

and the horrible smell from their bodies

made me feel sick

suddenly

they all ran away

i noticed that a horse was coming along

the road

so i suppose the animals were afraid of

him

the horse stopped when he saw me

and seemed very surprised

he made several times in a very

intelligent gentle way

and i almost wondered if he was speaking

in his own language

when another horse came along

the two horses walked up and down

together while naying to each other

they seemed like two important people

discussing a difficult problem

i watched this with astonishment

and decided that if the animals in this

country seemed so sensible

the human beings must be the most

intelligent in the world

the two horses then came close to me

looking at my face and clothes with

great interest

they talked to each other again

and then the first horse made clear

signs for me to follow him

he led me to a long low building

inside there were several large airy

rooms with no furniture

other horses were sitting or lying

comfortably on the floor on clean

blankets

but where was the master of the house

were these horses his servants

i began to wonder if i was going mad

then i realized

that the house did not belong to a human

but to the horse who had brought me here

in this country horses

not people were in control

i started learning a little of their

language

their word huinam means a horse

and the word itself sounds very like the

noise a horse makes

i found it very difficult to say this

word

and so i decided to shorten it and call

them who is

their servants were the horrible looking

animals i had seen earlier

they did all the hard work

and lived in dirty little rooms in

another building

where they were tied to the walls

to my horror these ugly animals called

yahoos

had human faces which looked very

similar to mine

i did not want anyone to think i was a

yahoo

so i tried to make it clear that my

habits were very different from theirs

at least

i was allowed to sleep in a separate

room from them

at first

i thought i would die of hunger

as i could not eat the yahoo’s dirty

meat or the who is grass and corn

but i soon learned how to bake little

cakes made of corn which i ate with warm

milk

sometimes i caught a bird and cooked it

or picked leaves of plants to eat with

my bread

my hui master was very interested in me

and as soon as i could speak the

language he asked me to explain where i

had come from

well master

i need

i’ve come from a country on the other

side of the world

and you may not believe this

but in my country

all the important people look like

yahoos

but

how is that possible

he asked gently

you’re who is

surely wouldn’t allow unintelligent

creatures like yahoos

to control the country it may seem

strange i agreed

but you see

i was surprised to find that in this

country the who is

are the sensitive and intelligent

creatures

and if i’m lucky enough to return home

i’ll tell my friends all about it

but

i’m afraid they may accuse me of lying

my master looked quite worried

what is lying yes

in their language there is no word which

means telling lies

and my master had great difficulty in

understanding me

i tried to explain

oh

he answered still unsure

but why does anyone tell a lie

there’s no reason for doing it

we use language in this country

in order to understand each other

and to give and receive information

if you don’t tell the truth

how can people understand each other

i began to see how different hooey life

was from what i was used to

but

tell me

he continued

about your country

i was delighted to describe recent

english history to him especially some

of our most successful wars

but

why does one country attack another he

asked

there are many reasons i replied

a king

or his lords may want more land

or there may be a difference of opinion

between two countries

for example

whether uniform should be black

white red

more grey

sometimes we fight because the enemy’s

too strong

sometimes because he isn’t strong enough

sometimes our neighbors want the things

we have

or have the things we want

so we both fight until they take ours or

give us theirs

we often attack our best friend if we

want some of his land

there’s always a war somewhere

for this reason

being a soldier is one of the best jobs

you can have

a soldier

repeated my master

i’m not quite sure what that is

a soldier is a yahoo who works for his

king and country

his orders are to kill as many people as

he can i answered

people

who’ve never hurt him

asked the hui

that’s right i said pleased that he

seemed to understand at last

soldiers have killed thousands of people

in recent history

you shook his head and looked sad

i think you must be

what was your word

ah yes

lying to me

how could you

and your countrymen

kill so many other yahoos

and why would you want to

i smiled as i replied proudly sir

you don’t know much about european war

with our guns and bullets and gunpowder

we can destroy a thousand ships a

hundred cities and twenty thousand men

you see

be quiet

he ordered

i’ve heard enough

i know yahoos are bad

but i didn’t realize they could possibly

do such terrible things

after these conversations

i began to wonder whether the who is

were right

why do we humans so often fight wars and

tell lies

peace and truth

began to seem more important than making

war or making money

i became more and more used to the who

is ideas and way of life

as the whois did

i hated the yahoos for their dirty

habits and unpleasant character

by the time i had been there a year

i walked and nade like the who is

i felt

such a strong love for them

that i planned to spend the rest of my

life among them

and to try to become more like them

it is a great sadness to me even today

that this was not possible

one day

my huey master said

can you explain something to me

why are the yahoos so violently fond of

those shining stones in the fields

they dig for days to get them out of the

ground

and hide them jealously from other

yahoos

i expect they found pieces of gold or

silver i said

because he did not seem to understand i

added we use them as money to pay for

things you see

how strange he replied

we share everything here

know who he needs

what do you call it

money

perhaps you can imagine how i felt

i knew i could be happy forever with

these sensible gentle creatures who

never lied or stole

in a country which had no disease no

crime

no wars

but this perfect happiness

did not last long

i’m sorry

said my master one day

my friends and i

have decided you can’t stay here any

longer

you see

you’re neither one of us nor a yahoo

no

i cried desperately

don’t send me away

how can i go back to england to live

with those awful yahoos

i’m afraid you must

he replied gently

my servants will help you make a boat

and so

two months later

although i was very sad to leave i said

goodbye to my dear master and his family

and rode away from the land of the who

is

i knew

that i would never find happiness

anywhere else

after several days traveling eastwards

i arrived in australia

and from there managed to find a ship

returning to europe

i did not enjoy the voyage

the sailors all laughed at me because i

walked and nade like a horse

they looked just like those horrible

yahoos and at first i could not let them

touch me or come near me

their ugly faces and unpleasant smell

made me feel quite ill

and when i arrived home in england

after being away for five years

my wife and children were delighted to

see me because they had thought i was

dead

but to my horror

they looked and smelled like yahoos too

and i told them to keep away from me

even now

five years later

i do not let my children get close to me

although i sometimes allow my wife to

sit with me while i eat

i try to accept my countrymen now

but the proud ones who are so full of

their own self-importance

well

they had better not come near me

how sad that people cannot learn from

the who is

i was hoping that perhaps human beings

would change their ways

after reading the stories of my life

with the who is

but they accused me of lying in my book

and now

i realize that people still lie

steal and fight

just as they have always done and

probably will always do

i will say no more

clearly

there is no hope for human beings

i was stupid to think that i could bring

reason and truth into their lives and

thoughts

humans are all yahoos

and yahoos

they will remain

[Music]

you