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09 - Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift · Adventure Books Collection

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Part two, A voyage tobrobed in Nag. Chapter one, a great storm
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described the longboat sent to fetch water. The author goes with it to discover
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the country. He is left on shore, is seized by one of the
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natives and carried to a farmer's house. His reception, with several accidents that
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happened there a description of the inhabitants having been condemned by nature and fortune to
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active and restless life. In two months after my return, I again left
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my native country and took shipping in the Downs. On the twentieth day of
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June seventeen o two, in the adventure Captain John Nicholas, a cornish Man
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commander, bound for Surrat. We at a very prosperous gale till we arrived
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at the Cape of Good Hope, where we landed for fresh water. But
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discovering a leek, we unshipped our goods and wintered there. For the captain,
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falling sick of an agu we could not leave the cape till the end
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of March. We then set sail and had a good voyage till we passed
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the Straits to Madagascar, But having got northward of that island and to about
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five degrees south latitude. The winds which in those seas are observed to blow
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a constant equal gale between the north and west from the beginning of December to
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the beginning of May. On the nineteenth of April began to blow with much
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greater islands and more westerly than usual, continuing so for twenty days together,
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during which time we were driven a little to the east of the Morocco Islands,
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and about three degrees northwards of that line, as our captain found by
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an observation. He took the second of May, at which time the wind
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ceased, and it was a perfect calm whereat I was not a little rejoiced,
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But he, being a man well experienced in the navigation of those seas,
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bid us all prepare against a storm, which accordingly happened the day followed,
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for the southern wind, called the Southern Monsoon, began to set in.
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Finding it was likely to overblow, we took in our sprit sail and
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stood by two hands the foresail. But making foul weather. We looked the
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guns were all fast and handed the mizzen. The ship lay very broad off,
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so we thought it better spooning before the sea than trying or hulling.
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We reefed the foresail and set him and hauled aft the foresheet. The helm
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was harder weather. The ship wore bravely. We belayed the fore down haul,
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but the sail was split, and we hauled down the yard and got
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the sail into the ship and unbound all the things clear of it. It
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was a very fierce storm. The sea broke strange and dangerous. We hauled
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off upon the lanyard of the whipstaff and helped the man at the helm.
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We would not get down our topmast, but let it stand, because she
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scuddered before the sea very well, and we knew that the top mast being
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alone the ship was the wholesomer and made better way through the sea, seeing
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as we had serum. When the storm was over, we set foresail and
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mainsail and brought the ship too. Then we set the mizzen main topsail and
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the foretopsail. Our course was east northeast, the wind was at southwest.
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We got the starboard tax aboard. We cast off our weather braces and lifts.
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We set in the lee braces and hauled forward by the weather bowings and
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hauled them tight and belayed them, and hauled over the mizzen track to windward,
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and kept her full and by as near as she would lie. During
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this storm, which was followed by a strong wind west southwest, we were
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carried, by my computation, about five hundred leagues to the east, so
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that the oldest sailor on board could not tell him what part of the world
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we were. Our provisions held out well, our ship was staunch, and
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our crew all in good health, but we lay in the utmost distressful water.
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We thought it best to hold on the same course, rather than turn
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more northerly, which might have brought us to the northwest part of Great Tartary
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and into the frozen sea. On the sixteenth day of June seventeen o three,
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a boy in the top mast discovered land. On the seventeenth we came
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in full view of a great island or continent, for we knew not whether
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on the south side whereof was a small neck of land jutting out into the
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sea, and a creek too shallow to hold a ship of above one hundred
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tons. We cast anchor within a league of this creek, and our captain
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sent a dozen of his men well armed in the long boat with vessels for
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water if any could be found. I desired his leave to go with them,
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that I might see the country and make what discoveries I could. When
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we came to land, we saw no river or spring, nor any sign
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of inhabitants. Our men thereof wandered on the shore to find out some fresh
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water near the sea, and I walked alone about a mile on the other
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side, where I observed the country all barren and rocky. I now began
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to be weary, and seeing nothing to entertain my curiosity, I returned gently
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down towards the creek, and the sea, being full in my view,
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I saw our men already got out into the boat and rowing for life to
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the ship. I was going to holler after them, although it had been
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to little purpose when I observed a huge creature walking after them in the sea
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as fast as he could. He weighed not much deed within his knees,
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and he took prodigious strides. But our men had the start of him half
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a league, and the sea thereabouts being full of sharp pointed rocks, the
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monster was not able to overtake the boat. This I was afterwards told,
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for I Durst not stay to see the issue of the adventure, but ran
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as fast as I could the way I first went, and then climbed up
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a steep hill, which gave me some prospect of the country. I found
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it fully cultivated, But that which first surprised me was the length of the
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grass, which, in those grounds that seemed to be kept for hay,
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was about twenty feet high. I fell into a high road, for so
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I took it to be, though it served the inhabitants only as a footpath
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through a field of barley. Here I walked on for some time, but
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could see little on either side, it now being near harvest and the corn
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rising at least forty feet I was an hour walking to the end of this
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field, which was fenced in with a hedge of at least one hundred twenty
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feet high, and the trees so lofty that I could make no computation of
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their altitude. There was a style to pass from this field into the next.
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It had four steps and a stone to cross over when you came to
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the uppermost. It was impossible for me to climb this stile, because every
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step was six feet high and the upper stone about twenty I was endeavoring to
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find some gap in the hedge, when I discovered one of the inhabitants in
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the next field advancing towards the style of the same size with him whom I
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saw in the sea pursuing our boat. He appeared as tall as an ordinary
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spy deeeple, and took about ten yards at every stride. As near as
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I could guess, I was struck with the utmost fear and astonishment, and
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ran to hide myself in the corn. Whence I saw him at the top
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of the stile, looking back into the next field on the right hand,
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and heard him call in a voice many degrees louder than a speaking trumpet.
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But the noise was so high in the air that at first I certainly thought
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it was thunder. Whereupon several monsters like himself came towards him with reaping hooks
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in their hands, each hook about the largeness of six scythes. These people
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were not so well clad as the first, whose servants or labor as they
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seemed to be, for upon some words he sped, they went to reap
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the corn in the field where I lay. I kept from them at a
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great distances I could but was forced to move with extreme difficulty, for the
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stalks of the corn were sometimes not above a foot distant, so that I
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could hardly squeeze my body betwixt them. However, I made a shift to
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go forward till I came to a part of the field where the corn had
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been laid by the rain and wind. Here it was impossible for me to
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advance a step, for the stalks were so interwoven that I could not creep
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through, and the beards of the fallen ear so strong and pointed that they
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pierced through my clothes into my flesh. At the same time, I heard
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the reapers not a hundred yards behind me. Being quite dispirited with toil and
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wholly overcome by grief and despair, I lay down between two ridges, and
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heartily wished I might there end my days. I bemoaned my desolate widow and
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fatherless children. I lamented my own folly and wulfulness in attempting a second voyage,
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against the advice of all my friends and relations. In this terrible agitation
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of mind, I could not forbear thinking of Lilliput, whose inhabitants looked upon
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me as the great prodigy that ever appeared in the world we are, I
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was able to draw an imperial fleet to my hand and perform these other actions,
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which will be recorded for ever in the chronicles of that empire, while
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posterity shall hardly believe them, although attested by millions. I reflected, what
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a mortification it must proved to me to appear as inconsiderable in this nation,
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as one single lillipution would be among us. But this, I conceived was
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to be the least of my misfortunes. For as human creatures are observed to
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be more savage and cruel in proportion to their bulk, what could I expect
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but to be a morsel in the mouth of the first among these enormous barbarians
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that should happen to seize me. Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when
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they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by com Harrison.
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It might have pleased fortune to have let the Luputians find some nation where the
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people were as diminutive with respect to them as they were to me. And
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who knows but that even this pritigious race of mortals might be equally overmatched in
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some distant part of the world. Whereof we have yet no discovery. Scared
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and confounded as I was, I could not forbear going on with these reflections.
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When one of the reapers, approaching within ten yards of the ridge where
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I lay, made me apprehend that with the next step I should be squashed
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to death under his foot or cut in two with his reaping hook. And
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therefore, when he was again about to move, I screamed as loud as
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fear could make me. Whereupon the huge creature trod short, and looking round
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about under him for some time, at last despied me. As I lay
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on the ground. He considered a while with the caution of one who endeavors
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to lay hold on a small dangerous animal in such a manner that it shall
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not be able either to scratch or bite him, as I myself have sometimes
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done with the weasel in England. At length he ventured to take me behind
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by the middle between his forefinger and thumb, and brought me within three yards
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of his eyes, that he might behold my shape more perfectly. I guessed
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his meaning, and my good fortune gave me so much presents of mind that
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I resolved not to struggle in the least as he held me in the air
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above sixty feet from the ground. Although he grievously pinched my sides for fear
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I should slip through his fingers, all I ventured was to raise mine eyes
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towards the sun and place my hands together in a supplicating posture, and to
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speak some words in a humble, melancholy tone suitable to the condition I was
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then in. For I apprehended every moment that he would dash me against the
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ground, as we usually do a little hateful animal which we have a mind
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to destroy. But my good Star would have it that he appeared please with
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my voice and gestures, and began to look upon me as a curiosity.
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Much wandering to him. He pronounced articulate words, although he could not understand
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them. In the meantime, I was not able to forbear, groaning and
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shedding tears, and turning my head towards my sides, letting him know as
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well as I could, how cruelly I was hurt by the pressure of his
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thumb and finger. He seemed to apprehend my meaning for lifting up the lappet
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of his coat, he put me gently into it, and immediately ran along
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with me to his master, who was a substantial farmer and the same person
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I had first seen in the field. The farmer, having, as I
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supposed by their talk, received such an account of me as his servant could
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give him, took a piece of small straw, about the size of a
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walking staff, and therewith lifted up the lapets on my coat, which it
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seems he thought to be some kind of covering that nature had given me.
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He blew my hairs as to take a better view of my face. He
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called his hands about him and asked them, as I afterwards learned, whether
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they had ever seen in the fields any little creature that resembled me. He
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then placed me softly on the ground upon all fours. But I immediately got
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up and walked slowly backwards and forward to let the people see I had no
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intent to run away. They all sat down in a circle about me,
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the better to observe my motions. I pulled off my hat and made a
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low bow towards the farmer. I fell on my knees and lifted up my
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hands and eyes, and spoke several words as loud as I could. I
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took a purse of gold out of my pocket and humbly presented it to him.
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He receded on the palm of his hand, then applied it close to
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his eyes to see what it was, and afterwards turned it several times with
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the point of a pin, which he took out of his sleeve, but
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could make nothing of it, whereupon I made a sign that he should.
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He placed his hand on the ground. I then took the purse, and,
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opening it, poured all the gold into his palm. There were six
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Spanish pieces of four pistoles each, besides twenty or thirty smaller coins. I
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saw him wet the tip of his little finger upon his tongue and take up
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one of my largest pieces, and then another, but he seemed to be
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wholly ignorant of what they were. He made me a sign to put them
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again into my purse, and the purse again into my pocket, which,
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after offering it to him several times, I thought it best to do.
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The farmer, by this time was convinced I must be a rational creature.
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He spoke often to me, but the sound of his voice pierced my ears
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like that of a water mill. Yet his words were articulate enough. I
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answered as loud as I could, in several languages, and he often laid
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his ear within two yards of me, but all in for you were wholly
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unintelligible to each other. He then sent his servants to their work, and,
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taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, he doubled and spread it on
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his left hand, which he placed flat on the ground with the palm upwards,
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making me a sign to step into it, as I could easily do,
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for it was not above a foot in thickness. I thought it my
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part to obey, and, for fear of falling, laid myself at full
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length upon the handkerchief, with the remainder of which he lapped me up to
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the head for further security, and in this manner carried me home to his
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house. There he called his wife and showed me to her, but she
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screamed and ran back, as women in England do at the sight of a
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toad or a spider. However, when she had a while seen my behavior
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and how well I observed the signs her husband made, she was soon reconciled,
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and by degrees grew extremely tender of me. It was about twelve at
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noon, and a servant brought in dinner. It was only one substantial dish
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of meat fit for the plain condition of a husbandman in a dish of about
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four and twenty feet diameter. The company were the farmer and his wife,
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three children, and an old grandmother. When they were sat down, the
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farmer placed me at some distance from him on the table, which was thirty
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feet high from the floor. I was in a terrible fright and kept as
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far as I could from the edge for fear of falling. The wife minced
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a bit of meat, then crumbled some bread on a trencher and placed it
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before me. I made her a low bow, took out my knife and
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fork, and fell to eat, which gave them exceeding delight. The mistress
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sent her made for a small dram cup, which held about two gallons,
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and filled it with a drink. I took up the vessel, with much
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difficulty in both hands, and in a most respectful manner, drank to her
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ladyship health, expressing the words as loud as I could in English, which
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made the company laugh so heartily that I was almost deafened with the noise.
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This liqueur tasted like a small cider and was not unpleasant. Then the master
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made me a sign to come to his trencher's side. But as I walked
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on the table, being in great surprise all the time, as the indulgent
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reader will easily conceive an excuse, I happened to stumble against a crust and
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fell flat on my face, but received no hurt. I got up immediately,
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and, observing the good people to be in much concern, I took
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my hat, which I held under my arm out of good manners, and
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waving it over my head, made through his hours to show I had got
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no mischief by the fall. But advancing forwards towards my master, as I
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shall henceforth call him, his youngest son, who sat next to him,
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an arch boy of about ten years old, took me up by the legs
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and held me so high in the air that I trembled every limb. But
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his father snatched me from him, and at the same time gave him such
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a box to the left ear as would have felt an European troop of horse
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to the earth, ordering him to be taken from the table, But being
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afraid the boy might owe me a spite, and well, remembering how mischievous
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all children among us naturally are, to sparrows, rabbits, young kittens and
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puppy dogs. I fell on my knees, and, pointing to the boy,
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made my master to understand as well as I could, that I desired
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his son might be pardoned. The father complied, and the lad took his
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seat again, whereupon I went to him and kissed his hand, which my
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master took and made him stroke me gently with it. In the midst of
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dinner, my mistress's favorite cap leaped into her lap. I heard a noise
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behind me, like that of a dozen stocking weavers at work, and turning
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my head, I found it proceeded from the pauring of that animal, who
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seemed to me three times larger than an ox as I computed by the view
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of her head and one of her paws, while her mistress was feeding and
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stroking her. The fierceness of this creature's countenance altogether discomposed me, though I
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stood at the farther end of the table above fifty feet off, and although
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my mistress held her fast for fear she might give a spring and seize me
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in her talons. But it happened there was no danger, for the cat
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took not the least notice of me. When my master placed me within three
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yards of her, and as I have always been told and found true by
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experience in my travels, that flying or discovering fear before a fierce animal is
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a certain way to make it pursue or attack you. So I resolved,
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in this dangerous juncture to show no manner of concern. I walked with intrepidy
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five or six times before the very head of the cat, and came within
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half a yard of her, where she drew herself back, as if she
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were more afraid of me. I had less apprehension concerning the dogs, whereof
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three or four came into the room, as it is usual in a farmer's
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house, one of which was a mastiff equal in bulk to four elephants,
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and another a greyhound somewhat taller than the mastiff, but not so large.
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When dinner was almost done, the nurse came in with a child of a
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year old in her arms, who immediately spied me and began a squall that
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you might have heard from London Bridge to Chelsea. After the usual oratory of
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infants to get me for a plaything, the mother, out of pure indulgence,
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took me up and put me towards the child, who presently seized me
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by the middle, and got my head into his mouth, where I roared
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so loud that the urchin was frightened and let me drop. And I should
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infallibly have broke my neck if the mother had not held her apron under me.
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The nurse to quiet her babe made use of a rattle, which was
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a kind of hollow vessel, filled with great stones, and fastened by a
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cable to the child's waist, but all in vain, so that she was
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forced to apply the last remedy by giving it suck. I must confess no
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object ever disgusted me so much as the sight of her monstrous breast, which
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I cannot tell what to compare with, so as to give the curious reader
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an idea of its bulk, shape, and color. It stood prominent six
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feet and could not be less than sixteen in circumference. The nipple was about
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half the bigness of my head, and the hue both of that and the
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dog so varied with spots, pimples, and freckles, that nothing could appear
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more nauseous. For I had a near sight of her, she sitting down
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the more conveniently to give suck, and I standing on the table. This
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made me reflect upon the fair skins of our English ladies, who appear so
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beautiful to us only because they are of our own size, and their defects
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not to be seen but through a magnifying glass, where we find by experiment
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that the smoothest and whitest skins look rough and coarse and ill colored. I
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remember, when I was at a Liliput, the complexion of those diminutive people
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appeared to me the fairest in the world. And talking upon the subject with
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the person of learning there, who was an intimate friend of mine, he
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said that my face appeared much fairer and smoother when he looked on me from
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the ground than it did upon a nearer view. When I took him up
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in my hand and brought him close, which he confessed was at first a
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very shocking sight. He said he could discover great holes in my skin,
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that the stumps of my beard were ten times stronger than the bristles of a
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boar, and my complexion made up several colors altogether disagreeable. Although I must
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beg leave to save myself, that I am as fair as most of my
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sex and country, and very little sun burned by all my travels on the
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other side, discoursing of the ladies of that emperor's court, he used to
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tell me one had freckles, another too wide a mouth, a third too
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large a nose, nothing of which I was able to distinguish. I confess
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this reflection was obvious enough, which, however, I could not forbear lest
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the reader might think those vast creatures were actually deformed. For I must do
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them the justice to say they are a comely race of people, and particularly
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the features of my master's countenance, although he was but a farmer when I
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beheld him from the height of sixty feet, appeared very well proportioned. When
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dinner was done, my master went out to his laborers, and, as
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I could discover by his voice and gesture, gave his wife strict charge to
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take care of me. I was very much tired and disposed to sleep,
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which my mistress, perceiving, she put me on her own bed and covered
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me with a clean white handkerchief, but larger and coarser than the mainsail of
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a man of war. I slept about two hours and dreamt I was at
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home with my wife and children, which aggravated my sorrows. When I waked
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and found myself alone in a vast room between two and three hundred feet wide
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and above two hundred high, lying in a bed twenty yards wide. My
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mistress was gone about her household affairs and had locked me in. The bed
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was eighty yards from the floor. Some natural necessities required me to get down.
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I durst not presume to call, and if I had, it would
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have been in vain with such a voice as mine, at so great a
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distance from the room where I lay to the kitchen where the family kept.
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While I was under these circumstances, two rats crept up the curtain and ran,
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smelling backwards and forwards on the bed. One of them came up almost
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to my face, whereupon I rose in affright and drew out my hanger to
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defend myself. These horrible animals had the boldness to attack me on both sides,
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and one of them held his fore feet at my collar, but I
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had the good fortune to rip up his belly before he could do me any
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mischief. He fell down at my feet, and the other, seeing the
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fate of his comrade, made his escape, but not without one good wound
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on the back, which I gave him, as if fled and made the
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blood run trickling from him. After this exploit, I walked gently to and
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fro on the bed to recover my breath and loss of spirits. These creatures
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were the sides of a large mastiff, but infinitely more nimble and fierce,
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so that if I had taken off my belt before I went to sleep,
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I must have infallibly been torn to pieces and devoured. I measured the tail
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of the dead rat and found it to be two yards long, wanting an
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inch, but it went against my stomach to drag the carcass of the bed
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where it lay, still bleeding. I observed it yet had some life,
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but with a strong slash across the neck, I thoroughly dispatched it. Soon
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after, my mistress came into the room, who, seeing me all bloody,
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ran and took me up in her hand. I pointed to the dead
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rat, smiling and making other signs to show I was not hurt, whereat
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she was extremely rejoiced, calling to the maid to take up the dead rat
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with a pair of tongs and throw it out of the window. Then she
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set me on a table where I showed her my hanger, all bloody and
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wiping it on the lappet of my coat, returned it to the scabbard.
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I was pressed to do more than one thing which another could not do for
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me, and therefore endeavored to make my mistress understand that I desired to be
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set down on the floor, which, after she had done my bashfulness,
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would not suffer me to express myself farther. Then my pointing to the door
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and bowing several times, the good woman, with much difficulty, at last
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perceived what I would be at, and, taking me up again in her
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hand, walked into the garden, where she set me down. I went
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on one side about two hundred yards, and, beckoning to her not to
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look, not to follow me, I hid myself between two leaves of sorrow,
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and there discharged the necessities of nature. I hope the gentle reader will
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excuse me for dwelling on these and the like particulars, which, however insignificant
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they may appear to groveling vulgar minds, yet will certainly help a philosopher to
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enlarge his thoughts and imagination and apply them to the benefit of public as well
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as private life, which was my sole design in presenting this and other accounts
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of my travels to the world, wherein I have been chiefly studious of truth,
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without effecting any ornaments of learning or of style. But the whole scene
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of this voyage made so strong an impression on my mind, and is so
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deeply fixed in my memory, that in committing it to paper, I did
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not omit one material circumstance. However, upon a strict review, I blotted
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out several passages of Less Moment which were in my first copy, for fear
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of being censored as tedious and trifling, whereof travelers are often, perhaps not
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without justice accused. End of Chapter one, Part two,