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02 - Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift · Classic Adventure Books Collection

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Chapter two, the Emperor of Liliput, attended by several of the nobility,
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comes to see the author in his confinement. The Emperor's person and habits described
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learned men appointed to teach the author their language. He gains favor by his
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mild disposition. His pockets are searched, and his sword and pistols taken from
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him. When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me,
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and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around appeared
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like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generally forty feet
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square, resembled so many beds of flowers. These fields were intermingled with woods
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of half a stang, and the tallest trees, as I could judge,
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appeared to be seven feet high. I viewed the town on my left hand,
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which looked like the painted scene of a city in a theater. I
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had been for some hours extremely pressed by the necessities of nature, which was
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no wonder it, being almost two days since I had last disburdened myself.
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I was under great difficulties between urgency and shame. The best expedient I could
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think of was to creep into my house, which I accordingly did and shut
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in the gate after me. I went as far as the length of my
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chain would suffer, and discharge my body of that uneasy load. But this
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was the only time I was ever guilty of so uncleanly, an action for
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which I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance after who is
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maturely and impartially considered my case and the distress I was in. From this
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time my constant practice was as soon as I rose to perform that business in
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open air at the full extent of my chain, and due care was taken
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every morning before company came, that the offensive matter should be carried off in
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wheelbarrows by two servants appointed for that purpose. I would not have dwelt so
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long upon a circumstance that, perhaps at first sight, may appear not very
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momentous if I had not thought it necessary to justify my character in point of
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cleanliness to the world, which I am told some of my maligners have been
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pleased upon this and other occasions to call into question. When this adventure was
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at an end, I came back out of my house, having an occasion
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for fresh air. The Emperor was already descended from the tower and advancing on
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horseback towards me, which had liked to have cost him dear. For the
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beast, though very well trained, yet wholly unused to such a sight,
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which appeared as if a mountain moved before him, reared up on his hind
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feet. But that Prince, who is an excellent horseman, kept his seat
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till his attendants ran in and held the bridle, while his majesty had time
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to dismount. When he alighted, he surveyed me round with great admiration,
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but kept beyond the length of my chain. He ordered his cooks and butlers,
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who were already prepared to give me victuals and drink, which they pushed
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forward in a sort of vehicle upon wheels till I could reach them. I
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took these vehicles and soon emptied them. All twenty of them were filled with
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meat, and ten with liqueur. Each of the former afforded me two or
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three good mouthfuls, And I emptied the liqueur of ten vessels, which was
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contained in irven vials, into one vehicle, drinking it off at a draft.
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And so I did with the rest. The Empress and young princes of
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the blood of both sexes. Attended by many ladies, sat at some distance
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in their chairs, but upon the accident that happened to the Emperor's horse,
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they alighted and came near his person, which I am now going to describe.
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He is taller, by almost the breadth of my nail than any of
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his court, which alone is enough to strike an oar into the beholders.
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His features are strong and masculin, with an Austrian lip and arched nose,
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his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbs well proportioned,
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all his motions graceful, and his deportment majestic. He was then past his
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prime, being twenty eight years and three quarters old, of which he had
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reigned about seven, in great felicity and generally victorious. For the better convenience
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of beholding him, I lay on my side so that my face was parallel
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to his, and he stood but three yards off. However, I have
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had him since many times in my hand, and therefore cannot be deceived in
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the description. His dress was very plain and simple, and the fashion of
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it between the Asia Static and the European. But he had on his head
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a light helmet of gold, adorned with jewels and a plume on the crest.
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He held a sword drawn in his hand to defend himself if I should
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happen to break loose. It was almost three inches long. The hills and
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scabbard were gold and rich with diamonds. His voice was shrill, but very
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clear and articulate, and I could distinctly hear it when I stood up.
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The ladies and courtiers were all magnificently clad, so that the spot they stood
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upon seemed to resemble a petticoat spread upon the ground, embroidered with figures of
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gold and silver. His Imperial Majesty spoke often to me, and I returned
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answers, but neither of us can understand its syllable. There were several of
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his priests and lawyers present, as I conjectured by their habits, who were
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commanded to address themselves to me, and I spoke to them in many languages,
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as I had the least smattering of which were high and low Dutch,
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Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Lingu Francars, but all to
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no purpose. After about two hours, the court retired, and I was
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left with a strong guard to prevent the impertinence, and probably the malice of
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the rabble, who were very impatient to crowd about me as near as they
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durst, and some of them had the impudence to shoot their arrows at me
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as I sat on the ground by the door of my house, where one
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very narrowly missed my left eye. But the colonel ordered six of the ring
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leaders to be seized, and thought no punishment so proper as to deliver them
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bound into my hands, which some of his soldiers accordingly did, pushing them
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forward with the buttons of their pikes into my reach. I took them in
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my right hand, put five of them into my coat pocket. I nursed
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to the sixth. I made a countenance as if I would eat him alive.
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The poor man scrawled terribly, and the colonel and his officers were in
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much pain, especially when they saw me take out my pen knife. But
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I soon put them out of fear for looking mildly, and immediately cutting the
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strings he was bound with. I set him gently on the ground, and
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away he ran. I treated the rest in the same manner, taken them
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one by one out of my pocket, and I observed both the soldiers and
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people were highly delighted at this mark of my clemency, which was represented very
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much to my advantage at court. Towards night, I got with some difficulty
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into my house, where I lay on the ground, and continued to do
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so about a fortnight, during which time the Emperor gave orders to have a
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bed prepared for me. Six hundred beds of the common measure were brought in
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carriages and worked up in my house. A hundred and fifty of their beds,
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sewn together, made up the breadth and length, and these were four
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double, which however, kept me but very indifferently from the hardness of the
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floor that was a smooth stone. By the same computation, they provided me
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with sheets, blankets, and coverlets, tolerable enough for one who had been
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so long inured to hardships. As the news of my arrival spread through the
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kingdom, it brought prodigious numbers of rich, idle and curious people to see
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me, so that the villages were almost emptied, and a great neglect of
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tillage and household affairs must have ensued if his Imperial Majesty had not provided by
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several proclamations and orders of state against this inconveniency, he directed that those who
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had already beheld me should return home and not presumed to come within fifty yards
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of my house without license from the Court, whereby the secretaries of State got
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considerable fees. In the meantime, the Emperor held frequent councils to debate what
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course should be taken with me, and I was afterwards assured by a particular
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friend, a person of great quality, who was as much in the secret
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as any, that the Court was under many difficulties concerning me. They apprehended
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my breaking loose, that my diet would be very expensive and might cause a
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famine. Sometimes they determined to starve me, or at least to shoot me
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in the face and head hands with poisoned arrows, which would soon dispatch me.
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But again they considered that the stent of so large a carcass might produce
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a plague in the metropolis and probably spread through the whole kingdom. In the
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midst of these consultations, several officers of the army went to the door of
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the Great Council Chamber, and two of them, being admitted, gave an
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account of my behavior to the six criminals above mentioned, which made so favorable
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an impression in the breast of His Majesty and the whole board in my behalf,
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that an imperial commission was issued out, obliging all the villages nine hundred
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yards around the city to deliver in every morning six beaves, forty sheep,
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and other victuals for my sustenance, together with a proportional quantity of bread and
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wine, and other liqueurs, for the due payment of which His Majesty gave
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assignments upon his treasury. For this Prince lives chiefly upon his own demensies,
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seldom, except upon great occasions, raised any subsidies upon his subjects, who
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were bound to attend him in his wars at their own expense. An establishment
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was also made of six hundred persons to be my domestics, who had broad
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wages allowed for their maintenance, and tents built for them very conveniently on each
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side of my door. It was likewise ordered that three hundred tailors should make
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me a suit of clothes after the fashion of the country, that six of
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His Majesty's greatest scholars should be employed to instruct me in their language. And
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lastly, that the Emperor's horses and those of the nobility and troops of the
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guards should be frequently exercised, in my sight to accustom themselves to me.
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All these orders were duly put in execution, and in about three weeks I
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made a great progress in learning their language, during which time the Emperor frequently
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honored me with his visits and was pleased to assist my masters in teaching me.
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We began already to converse together in some sort, and the first words
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I learnt were to express my desire that he would please give me my liberty,
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which I every day repeated on my knees. His answer, as I
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could comprehend, it, was that this must be the work of time,
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not to be thought on without the advice of his counsel. And at first
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I must lumas kelmyn pessot desmarleon eposso that is, swear a piece with him
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and his kingdom. However, that I should be used with all kindness,
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and he advised me to acquire, by my patience and discreet behavior the good
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opinion of himself and his subjects he desired. I would not take it ill
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if he gave orders to certain proper officers to search me, for probably I
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might carry about me several weapons, which must needs be dangerous things. If
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they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person, I said, his majesty
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should be satisfied, for I was ready to strip myself, and turned my
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pockets before him. This I delivered, part in words and part in signs.
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He replied that by the laws of the kingdom, I must be searched
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by two of his officers. That he knew this could not be done without
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my consent and assistance, and he had so good an opinion of my generosity
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and justice as to trust their persons in my hands, that whatever they took
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from me should be returned when I left the country, or paid were at
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the rate which I would set upon them. I took up the two officers
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in my hands, put them first in my coat pockets, and then into
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every other pocket about me, except my two fobs and another secret pocket,
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which I had no mind should be searched, wherein I had some little necessities
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that it were of no consequence to any but myself. In one of my
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fobs there was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of
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gold in a purse. These gentlemen, having pen ink and paper about them
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made an exact inventory of everything they saw, and when they had done desired,
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I would set them down that they might deliver it to the Emperor.
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This inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is word a word as follows
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impromise in the right coat pocket of the great man Mountain, for so I
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interpret the words quimbus flesterin After the strictest search, we found only one great
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piece of coarse cloth, large enough to be a foot cloth for your Majesty's
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chief room of state. In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest
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with the cover of the same metal, which we, the search us,
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were not able to lift. We desired it should be opened, and one
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of us, stepping into it, found himself up to the mid leg in
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a sort of dust, some part whereof flying up to our faces set us
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both as sneezing for several times together. In his right waistcoat pocket we found
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a prodigious bundle of white, thin substances, folded one over another, about
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the bigness of three men, tied with a strong cable, and marked with
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black figures, which we humbly conceived to be writings. Every letter almost half
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as large as the palm of our hands. In the left there was a
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sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twenty long poles,
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ressembling the palisadoes before your Majesty's court, wherewith we conjectured the man mounting combs
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his head, for we did not always trouble him with questions, because we
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found it a great difficulty to make him understand us. In the large pocket,
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on the right side of his middle cover, so I translated the word
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and ran fullo, by which they meant my breeches, we saw a hollow
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pillow of iron about the length of a man, fastened to a strong piece
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of timber larger than the pillar. And upon one side of the pillar were
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huge pieces of iron sticking out, cut into strange figures, which we know
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not what to make of. In the left pocket another engine of the same
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kind. In the smaller pocket on the right side were several round, flat
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pieces of white and red metal of different bulk. Some of the white,
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which seemed to be silver, were so large and heavy that my comrade and
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I could hardly lift them. In the left pocket were two black pillars,
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irregularly shaped. We could not with difficulty reach the top of them, as
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we stood at the bottom of his pocket. One of them was covered and
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seemed all of a piece, but at the upper end of the other there
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appeared a white, round substance about twice the bigness of our heads. Within
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each of these were enclosed a prodigious plate of steel, which, by our
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orders we obliged him to show us, because we apprehended they might be dangerous
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engines. He took them out of their cases and told us that in his
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own country his practice was to shave his beard with one of these and cut
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his meat with the other. There were two pockets which we could not enter.
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These he caught his fobs. They were two large slits cut into the
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top of his middle cover, but squeezed close by the pressure of his belly.
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Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain with a wonderful kind
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of engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever was at
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the end of that chain, which appeared to be a globe half silver and
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half of some transparent metal. Four On the transparent side, we saw certain
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strange figures circularly drawn, and thought we could touch them, till we found
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our figures stopped by the lucid substance. He put this engine into our ears,
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which made an incessant noise like that of a water mill. And we
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in conjecture it is either some unknown animal or the god that he worships.
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But we are more inclining to the latter opinion, because he assured us,
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if we understood him right, for expressed himself very imperfectly, that he seldom
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did anything without consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said it
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pointed out the time for every action of his life. From the left fob
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he took out a net almost large enough for a fisherman, but contrived to
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open and shut like a purse, and served him for the same use.
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We found therein several massy pieces of yellow metal, which, if they be
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real gold, must be of immense value. Having thus, in obedience to
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your Majesty's commands, diligently searched all his pockets, we observed a girdle about
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his waist made of the hide of some prodigious animal, from which on the
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left side hung a sword of the length of five men, and on the
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right a bag or pouch divided into two cells, each cell capable of holding
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three of your Majesty's subjects. In each of these cells were several globes or
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walls of a most ponderous metal, about the bigness of our heads, and
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requiring a strong hand to lift them. The other cell contained a heap of
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black grains, but of no great bulk or weight, for we could hold
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above fifty of them in the palm of our hands. This is an exact
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inventory of what we found about the body of the man Mountain who used us
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with great civility and due respect to your Majesty's commission, signed and sealed on
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the fourth day of the eighty ninth moon of your Majesty's auspicious rain, Clefren
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Freelock Marsy Freelock. When this inventory was read over to the Emperor, he
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directed me, although in very gentle terms, to deliver up several particulars.
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He first called for my cimetar, which I took out, scabbard and all.
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In the meantime, he ordered three thousand of his choicest troops, who
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then attended him to surround me at a distance with their bows and arrows just
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ready to discharge. But I did not observe it, for mine eyes were
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wholly fixed upon his majesty. He then desired me to draw my cimitar,
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which, although he had got some rust by the sea water, was in
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most parts exceedingly bright. I did so, and immediately all the troops gave
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a shout between terror and surprise, for the sun shone clear, and the
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reflection dazzled their eyes. As I waved the scimeter to and fro in my
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hand. His Majesty, who is a most magnanimous prince, was less daunted
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than I could expect. He ordered me to return it into the scabbard and
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cast it on the ground as gently as I could, about six feet from
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the end of my chain. The next thing he demanded was of the hollow
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iron pillars, by which he meant my pocket pistols. I drew it out,
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and at his desire, as well as I could breath, to him
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the use of it, and charging it only with powder, which, by
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the closeness of my pouch, happened to escape wetting in the sea, an
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inconvenience against which all prudent mariners take special care to provide. I first cautioned
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the Emperor not to be afraid, and then I let it off in the
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air. The astonishment here was much greater than at the sight of my cimeter.
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Hundreds fell down as if they had been struck dead, and even the
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Emperor, although he stood his ground, could not recover himself. For some
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time. I delivered up both my pistols in the same manner as I had
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done my cimeter, and then my pouch of powder and bullets, begging him
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that the former might be kept from fire, for it would kindle with the
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smallest spark and blow up his imperial palace into the air. I likewise delivered
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up my watch, which the Emperor was very curious to see, and commanded
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two of his tallest yeoman guards to bear it on a pole upon their shoulders.
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Draymond in England do a barrel of ale. He was amazed at the
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continual noise it made and the motion of the minute hand, which he could
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easily discern, for their sight is much more acute than ours. He asked
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the opinions of his learned men about it, which were various and remote,
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as the reader may well imagine, without my repeating, although indeed I could
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not very perfectly understand them. I then gave up my silver and copper money,
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my purse with nine large pieces of gold, and some smaller ones.
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My knife and razor, my comb and silver snuff box, my handkerchief and
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journal book, my cimitar, pistols, and pouch were conveyed in carriages to
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His Majesty's stores, but the rest of my goods were returned to me.
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I had, as I before, observed, one private pocket which escaped their
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search. Wherein there was a pair of spectacles, which I sometimes use for
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the weakness of mine eyes, a pocket perspective, and some other little conveniences,
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which, being of no consequence to the Emperor, I did not think
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myself bound in honor to discover, and I apprehended they might be lost or
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spoiled if I ventured them out of my possession. End of Chapter two,
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Part one,