UTEL [ History of English | English Composition | Literary Authors | Literary Works | Literary Criticism ]
|
Gulliver's Travels (1726) |
Jonathan Swift |
| 1 | WHEN I found myself on my Feet, I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining Prospect. The Country round appeared like a continued Garden, and the inclosed Fields, which were generally forty Foot square, resembled so many Beds of Flowers. These Fields were intermingled with Woods of half a Stang, and the tallest Trees, as I could judge, appeared to be seven foot high. I viewed the Town on my left hand, which looked like the painted Scene of a City in a Theatre. | ||||||||||
| 2 | I had been for some Hours extremely pressed by the Necessities of Nature; which was no wonder, it being almost two Days since I had last disburthened myself. I was under great Difficulties between Urgency and Shame. The best Expedient I could think on, was to creep into my House, which I accordingly did; and shutting the Gate after me, I went as far as the length of my Chain would suffer, and discharged my Body of that uneasy Load. But this was the only time I was ever guilty of so uncleanly an Action; for which I cannot but hope the candid Reader will give some Allowance, after he hath maturely and impartially considered my Case, and the Distress I was in. From this time my constant Practice was, as soon as I rose, to perform that Business in open Air, at the full extent of my Chain, and due Care was taken every Morning before Company came, that the offensive Matter should be carried off in Wheel-barrows by two Servants appointed for that purpose. I would not have dwelt so long upon a Circumstance, that perhaps at first sight may appear not very momentous, if I had not thought it necessary to justify my Character in point of Cleanliness to the World; which I am told some of my Maligners have been pleased, upon this and other Occasions, to call in question. | ||||||||||
| 3 | WHEN this Adventure was at an end, I came back out of my House, having occasion for fresh Air. The Emperor was already descended from the Tower, and advancing on Horse-back towards me, which had like to have cost him dear; for the Beast, though very well trained, yet wholly unused to such a Sight, which appeared as if a Mountain moved before him, reared up on his hinder Feet: But that Prince, who is an excellent HorseMan, kept his Seat, till his Attendants ran in, and held the Bridle, while his Majesty had time to dismount. When he alighted, he surveyed me round with great Admiration, but kept without the length of my Chain. He ordered his Cooks and Butlers, who were already prepared, to give me Victuals and Drink, which they pushed forward in a sort of Vehicles upon Wheels till I could reach them. I took those Vehicles, and soon emptied them all; twenty of them were filled with Meat, and ten with Liquor, each of the former afforded me two or three good Mouthfuls, and I emptied the Liquor of ten Vessels, which was contained in earthen Vials, into one Vehicle, drinking if off at a Draught, and so I did with the rest. The Empress, and young Princes of the Blood, of both Sexes, attended by many Ladies, sate at some distance in their Chairs; but upon the Accident that happened to the Emperor's Horse, they alighted, and came near his Person, which I am now going to describe. He is taller by almost the breadth of my Nail, than any of his Court, which alone is enough to strike an Awe into the Beholders. His Features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian Lip and arched Nose, his Complexion olive, his Countenance erect, his Body and Limbs well proportioned, all his Motions graceful, and his Deportment majestick. He was then past his Prime, being twentyeight Years and three Quarters old, of which he had reigned about seven, in great Felicity, and generally victorious. For the better convenience of beholding him, I lay on my side, so that my Face was parallel to his, and he stood but three Yards off: However, I have had him since many times in my Hand, and therefore cannot be deceived in the Description. His Dress was very plain and simple, and the Fashion of it between the Asiatick and the European; but he had on his Head a light Helmet of Gold, adorned with Jewels, and a Plume on the Crest. He held his Sword drawn in his Hand, to defend himself, if I should happen to break loose; it was almost three Inches long, the Hilt and Scabbard were Gold enriched with Diamonds. His Voice was shrill, but very clear and articulate, and I could distinctly hear it when I stood up. The Ladys and Courtiers were all most magnificently clad, so that the Spot they stood upon seemed to resemble a Petticoat spread on the Ground, embroidered with Figures of Gold and Silver. His Imperial Majesty spoke often to me, and I returned Answers, but neither of us could understand a Syllable. There were several of his Priests and Lawyers present (as I conjectured by their Habits) who were commanded to address themselves to me, and I spoke to them in as many Languages as I had the least smattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Lingua Franca; but all to no purpose. After about two Hours the Court retired, and I was left with a strong Guard, to prevent the Im pertinence, and probably the Malice of the Rabble, who were very impatient to croud about me as near as they durst, and some of them had the Impudence to shoot their Arrows at me as I sate on the Ground by the Door of my House, whereof one very narrowly missed my left Eye. But the Colonel ordered six of the Ring-leaders to be seized, and thought no Punishment so proper as to deliver them bound into my Hands, which some of his Soldiers accordingly did, pushing them forwards with the But-Ends of their Pikes into my reach; I took them all in my right Hand, put five of them into my Coat-Pocket, and as to the sixth, I made a Countenance as if I would eat him alive. The poor Man squalled terribly, and the Colonel and his Officers were in much pain, especially when they saw me take out my Penknife: But I soon put them out of fear; for, looking mildly, and immediately cutting the Strings he was bound with, I set him gently on the Ground, and away he ran; I treated the rest in the same manner, taking them one by one out of my Pocket, and I observed both the Soldiers and People were highly obliged at this Mark of my Clemency, which was represented very much to my Advantage at Court. | ||||||||||
| 4 | TOWARDS Night I got with some difficulty into my House, where I lay on the Ground, and continued to do so about a Fortnight; during which time the Emperor gave Orders to have a Bed prepared for me. Six Hundred Beds of the common Measure were brought in Carriages, and worked up in my House, an hundred and fifty of their Beds sown together made up the Breadth and Length, and these were four double, which however kept me but very indifferently from the Hardness of the Floor, that was of smooth Stone. By the same Computation they provided me with Sheets, Blankets, and Coverlets, tolerable enough for one who had been so long enured to Hardships as I. | ||||||||||
| 5 | AS the News of my Arrival spread through the Kingdom, it brought prodigious Numbers of rich, idle, and curious People to see me; so that the Villages were almost emptied, and great Neglect of Tillage and Houshold Affairs must have ensued, if his Imperial Majesty had not provided by several Proclamations and Orders of State against this Inconveniency. He directed that those, who had already beheld me, should return home, and not presume to come within fifty Yards of my House without Licence from Court; whereby the Secretarys of State got considerable Fees. | ||||||||||
| 6 |
IN the mean time, the Emperor held
frequent Councils to debate what Course
should be taken with me; and I was afterwards assured by a particular Friend, a
Person of great Quality, who was looked
upon to be as much in the Secret as
any, that the Court was under many
Difficulties concerning me. They
apprehended my breaking loose, that my
Diet would be very expensive, and might
cause a Famine. Sometimes they determined to starve me, or at least to shoot
me in the Face and Hands with poisoned
Arrows, which would soon dispatch me:
But again they considered, that the Stench
of so large a Carcase might produce a
Plague in the Metropolis, and probably
spread through the whole Kingdom. In
the midst of these Consultations, several
Officers of the Army went to the Door
of the great Council-Chamber; and two
of them being admitted, gave an account
of my Behaviour to the six Criminals above-mentioned, which made so favourable an Impression in the Breast of his
Majesty and the whole Board in my behalf, that an Imperial Commission was
issued out, obliging all the Villages nine
hundred Yards round the City, to deliver
in every Morning six Beeves, forty Sheep,
and other Victuals for my Sustenance; together with a proportionable Quantity of
Bread, and Wine, and other Liquors:
for the due Payment of which, his Majesty gave Assignments upon his Treasury. For this Prince lives chiefly upon
his own Demesnes, seldom except upon
great Occasions raising any Subsidies upon his Subjects, who are bound to attend
him in his Wars at their own Expence.
An Establishment was also made of six
hundred Persons to be my Domesticks,
who had Board-Wages allowed for their
Maintenance, and Tents built for them
very conveniently on each side of my
Door. It was likewise ordered, that three
hundred Taylors should make me a Suit
of Cloaths after the Fashion of the Country: That six of his Majesty's greatest
Scholars should be employ'd to instruct me in their Language: And, lastly, that the Emperor's Horses, and those
of the Nobility, and Troops of Guards
should be frequently exercised in my sight,
to accustom themselves to me. All these
Orders were duly put in execution, and
in about three Weeks I made a great Progress in learning their Language; during
which time, the Emperor frequently honoured me with his Visits, and was pleased to assist my Masters in teaching me.
We began already to converse together
in some sort; and the first Words I learnt
were to express my desire that he would
please to give me my Liberty, which I
every day repeated on my Knees. His
Answer, as I could apprehend it, was,
that this must be a Work of Time, not
to be thought on without the Advice of
| 7 |
IMPRIMIS, In the right Coat-Pocket
of the Great Man Mountain (for so I
interpret the Words Quinbus Flestrin)
after the strictest search, we found only
one great Piece of coarse Cloth, large
enough to be a Foot-Cloth for your Majesty's chief Room of State. In the left
Pocket, we saw a huge Silver Chest, with
a Cover of the same Metal, which we
the Searchers were not able to lift. We
desired it should be opened, and one of
us stepping into it, found himself up to
the mid Leg in a sort of Dust, some part
whereof flying up to our Faces, set us
both a sneezing for several times together. In his right Waistcoat-Pocket, we
found a prodigious Bundle of white thin
| 8 |
HAVING thus, in obedience to your
Majesty's Commands, diligently searched
all his Pockets, we observed a Girdle
about his Waist made of the Hide of
some prodigious Animal; from which, on
the left Side, hung a Sword of the length
of five Men; and on the right, a Bag or
Pouch divided into two Cells, each Cell
capable of holding three of your Majesty's
Subjects. In one of these Cells were several Globes or Balls of a most ponderous
Metal, about the bigness of our Heads,
and required a strong Hand to lift them:
The other Cell contained a Heap of certain black Grains, but of no great Bulk
or Weight, for we could hold above fifty
of them in the Palms of our Hands.
| 9 |
THIS is an exact Inventory of what
we found about the Body of the ManMountain, who used us with great Civility, and due Respect to your Majesty's
Commission. Signed and Sealed on the
fourth Day of the eighty ninth Moon of
your Majesty's auspicious Reign.
Clefren Frelock, Marsi Frelock.
| 10 |
WHEN this Inventory was read over
to the Emperor, he directed me, although in very gentle Terms, to deliver
up the several Particulars. He first called
for my Scymiter, which I took out, Scabbard and all. In the mean time he ordered three thousand of his choicest
Troops (who then attended him) to surround me at a distance, with their Bows
and Arrows just ready to discharge: but
I did not observe it, for mine Eyes were
wholly fixed upon his Majesty. He then
desired me to draw my Scymiter, which,
although it had got some Rust by the SeaWater, was in most parts exceeding
bright. I did so, and immediately all the
Troops gave a Shout between Terror and
Surprize; for the Sun shone clear, and
the Reflexion dazled their Eyes as I waved
the Scymiter to and fro in my Hand.
His Majesty, who is a most magnanimous
Prince, was less daunted than I could expect; he ordered me to return it into the
Scabbard, and cast it on the ground as
gently as I could, about six foot from the
end of my Chain. The next thing he
demanded was one of the hollow Iron
Pillars, by which he meant my PocketPistols. I drew it out, and at his desire,
as well as I could, expressed to him the
Use of it; and charging it only with
Powder, which by the closeness of my
Pouch happened to scape wetting in the
Sea, (an Inconvenience against which all
prudent Mariners take special care to provide) I first cautioned the Emperor not to
be afraid, and then I let if off in the Air.
The Astonishment here was much greater
than at the sight of my Scymiter. Hundreds
fell down as if they had been struck dead;
and even the Emperor, although he stood
his ground, could not recover himself in
some time. I delivered up both my Pistols in the same manner, as I had done
my Scymiter, and then my Pouch of
Powder and Bullets; begging him that the
former might be kept from the Fire, for
it would kindle with the smallest Spark,
and blow up his Imperial Palace into the
Air. I likewise delivered up my Watch,
which the Emperor was very curious to
see, and commanded two of his tallest
Yeomen of the Guards to bear it on a
Pole upon their Shoulders, as Dray-men
in England do a Barrel of Ale. He was
amazed at the continual Noise it made,
and the Motion of the Minute-hand,
which he could easily discern; for their
Sight is much more acute than ours:
and asked the Opinions of his learned
Men about him, which were various and
remote, as the Reader may well imagine
without my repreating; although indeed
I could not very perfectly understand them.
I then gave up my Silver and Copper
Money, my Purse with nine large Pieces
of Gold, and some smaller ones; my
Knife and Razor, my Comb and Silver
Snuff-Box, my Handkerchief and Journal Book. My Scymiter, Pistols, and
Pouch, were conveyed in Carriages to
his Majesty's Stores; but the rest of my
Goods were returned me.
| 11 |
I had, as I before observed, one private Pocket which escaped their Search,
wherein there was a pair of Spectacles
(which I sometimes use for the weakness
of mine Eyes) a Pocket Perspective, and
several other little Conveniencies; which
being of no consequence to the Emperor, I did not think my self bound in
Honour to discover, and I apprehended
they might be lost or spoiled if I ventured
them out of my Possession.
| |
UTEL [ History of English | English Composition | Literary Authors | Literary Works | Literary Criticism ]