A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.

The emperor of Lilliput, attended by several of the nobility, comes tornsee the author in his confinement. The emperor’s person and habitrndescribed. Learned men appointed to teach the author their language. Herngains favour by his mild disposition. His pockets are searched, and hisrnsword and pistols taken from him.rnrnrnWhen I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess Irnnever beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around appearedrnlike a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generallyrnforty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers. These fields werernintermingled with woods of half a stang, [301] and the tallest trees,rnas I could judge, appeared to be seven feet high. I viewed the town onrnmy left hand, which looked like the painted scene of a city in arntheatre.rnrnI had been for some hours extremely pressed by the necessities ofrnnature; which was no wonder, it being almost two days since I had lastrndisburdened myself. I was under great difficulties between urgency andrnshame. The best expedient I could think of, was to creep into my house,rnwhich I accordingly did; and shutting the gate after me, I went as farrnas the length of my chain would suffer, and discharged my body of thatrnuneasy load. But this was the only time I was ever guilty of sornuncleanly an action; for which I cannot but hope the candid reader willrngive some allowance, after he has maturely and impartially consideredrnmy case, and the distress I was in. From this time my constant practicernwas, as soon as I rose, to perform that business in open air, at thernfull extent of my chain; and due care was taken every morning beforerncompany came, that the offensive matter should be carried off inrnwheel-barrows, by two servants appointed for that purpose. I would notrnhave dwelt so long upon a circumstance that, perhaps, at first sight,rnmay appear not very momentous, if I had not thought it necessary tornjustify my character, in point of cleanliness, to the world; which, Irnam told, some of my maligners have been pleased, upon this and otherrnoccasions, to call in question.rnrnWhen this adventure was at an end, I came back out of my house, havingrnoccasion for fresh air. The emperor was already descended from therntower, and advancing on horseback towards me, which had like to haverncost him dear; for the beast, though very well trained, yet whollyrnunused to such a sight, which appeared as if a mountain moved beforernhim, reared up on its hinder feet: but that prince, who is an excellentrnhorseman, kept his seat, till his attendants ran in, and held thernbridle, while his majesty had time to dismount. When he alighted, hernsurveyed me round with great admiration; but kept beyond the length ofrnmy chain. He ordered his cooks and butlers, who were already prepared,rnto give me victuals and drink, which they pushed forward in a sort ofrnvehicles upon wheels, till I could reach them. I took these vehiclesrnand soon emptied them all; twenty of them were filled with meat, andrnten with liquor; each of the former afforded me two or three goodrnmouthfuls; and I emptied the liquor of ten vessels, which was containedrnin earthen vials, into one vehicle, drinking it off at a draught; andrnso I did with the rest. The empress, and young princes of the blood ofrnboth sexes, attended by many ladies, sat at some distance in theirrnchairs; but upon the accident that happened to the emperor’s horse,rnthey alighted, and came near his person, which I am now going torndescribe. He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any ofrnhis court; which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders.rnHis features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian lip and archedrnnose, his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbsrnwell proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportmentrnmajestic. He was then past his prime, being twenty-eight years andrnthree quarters old, of which he had reigned about seven in greatrnfelicity, and generally victorious. For the better convenience ofrnbeholding him, I lay on my side, so that my face was parallel to his,rnand he stood but three yards off: however, I have had him since manyrntimes in my hand, and therefore cannot be deceived in the description.rnHis dress was very plain and simple, and the fashion of it between thernAsiatic and the European; but he had on his head a light helmet ofrngold, adorned with jewels, and a plume on the crest. He held his swordrndrawn in his hand to defend himself, if I should happen to break loose;rnit was almost three inches long; the hilt and scabbard were goldrnenriched with diamonds. His voice was shrill, but very clear andrnarticulate; and I could distinctly hear it when I stood up. The ladiesrnand courtiers were all most magnificently clad; so that the spot theyrnstood upon seemed to resemble a petticoat spread upon the ground,rnembroidered with figures of gold and silver. His imperial majesty spokernoften to me, and I returned answers: but neither of us could understandrna syllable. There were several of his priests and lawyers present (as Irnconjectured by their habits), who were commanded to address themselvesrnto me; and I spoke to them in as many languages as I had the leastrnsmattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish,rnItalian, and Lingua Franca, but all to no purpose. After about twornhours the court retired, and I was left with a strong guard, to preventrnthe impertinence, and probably the malice of the rabble, who were veryrnimpatient to crowd about me as near as they durst; and some of them hadrnthe impudence to shoot their arrows at me, as I sat on the ground byrnthe door of my house, whereof one very narrowly missed my left eye. Butrnthe colonel ordered six of the ringleaders to be seized, and thought nornpunishment so proper as to deliver them bound into my hands; which somernof his soldiers accordingly did, pushing them forward with thernbutt-ends of their pikes into my reach. I took them all in my rightrnhand, put five of them into my coat-pocket; and as to the sixth, I maderna countenance as if I would eat him alive. The poor man squalledrnterribly, and the colonel and his officers were in much pain,rnespecially when they saw me take out my penknife: but I soon put themrnout of fear; for, looking mildly, and immediately cutting the stringsrnhe was bound with, I set him gently on the ground, and away he ran. Irntreated the rest in the same manner, taking them one by one out of myrnpocket; and I observed both the soldiers and people were highlyrndelighted at this mark of my clemency, which was represented very muchrnto my advantage at court.rnrnTowards night I got with some difficulty into my house, where I lay onrnthe ground, and continued to do so about a fortnight; during whichrntime, the emperor gave orders to have a bed prepared for me. Sixrnhundred beds of the common measure were brought in carriages, andrnworked up in my house; a hundred and fifty of their beds, sewnrntogether, made up the breadth and length; and these were four double:rnwhich, however, kept me but very indifferently from the hardness of thernfloor, that was of smooth stone. By the same computation, they providedrnme with sheets, blankets, and coverlets, tolerable enough for one whornhad been so long inured to hardships.rnrnAs the news of my arrival spread through the kingdom, it broughtrnprodigious numbers of rich, idle, and curious people to see me; so thatrnthe villages were almost emptied; and great neglect of tillage andrnhousehold affairs must have ensued, if his imperial majesty had notrnprovided, by several proclamations and orders of state, against thisrninconveniency. He directed that those who had already beheld me shouldrnreturn home, and not presume to come within fifty yards of my house,rnwithout license from the court; whereby the secretaries of state gotrnconsiderable fees.rnrnIn the mean time the emperor held frequent councils, to debate whatrncourse should be taken with me; and I was afterwards assured by arnparticular friend, a person of great quality, who was as much in thernsecret as any, that the court was under many difficulties concerningrnme. They apprehended my breaking loose; that my diet would be veryrnexpensive, and might cause a famine. Sometimes they determined tornstarve me; or at least to shoot me in the face and hands with poisonedrnarrows, which would soon despatch me; but again they considered, thatrnthe stench of so large a carcass might produce a plague in thernmetropolis, and probably spread through the whole kingdom. In the midstrnof these consultations, several officers of the army went to the doorrnof the great council-chamber, and two of them being admitted, gave anrnaccount of my behaviour to the six criminals above-mentioned; whichrnmade so favourable an impression in the breast of his majesty and thernwhole board, in my behalf, that an imperial commission was issued out,rnobliging all the villages, nine hundred yards round the city, torndeliver in every morning six beeves, forty sheep, and other victualsrnfor my sustenance; together with a proportionable quantity of bread,rnand wine, and other liquors; for the due payment of which, his majestyrngave assignments upon his treasury:—for this prince lives chiefly uponrnhis own demesnes; seldom, except upon great occasions, raising anyrnsubsidies upon his subjects, who are bound to attend him in his wars atrntheir own expense. An establishment was also made of six hundredrnpersons to be my domestics, who had board-wages allowed for theirrnmaintenance, and tents built for them very conveniently on each side ofrnmy door. It was likewise ordered, that three hundred tailors shouldrnmake me a suit of clothes, after the fashion of the country; that sixrnof his majesty’s greatest scholars should be employed to instruct me inrntheir language; and lastly, that the emperor’s horses, and those of thernnobility and troops of guards, should be frequently exercised in myrnsight, to accustom themselves to me. All these orders were duly put inrnexecution; and in about three weeks I made a great progress in learningrntheir language; during which time the emperor frequently honoured mernwith his visits, and was pleased to assist my masters in teaching me.rnWe began already to converse together in some sort; and the first wordsrnI learnt, were to express my desire “that he would please give me myrnliberty;” which I every day repeated on my knees. His answer, as Irncould comprehend it, was, “that this must be a work of time, not to bernthought on without the advice of his council, and that first I mustrn_lumos kelmin pesso desmar lon emposo_;” that is, swear a peace withrnhim and his kingdom. However, that I should be used with all kindness.rnAnd he advised me to “acquire, by my patience and discreet behaviour,rnthe good opinion of himself and his subjects.” He desired “I would notrntake it ill, if he gave orders to certain proper officers to search me;rnfor probably I might carry about me several weapons, which must needsrnbe dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious arnperson.” I said, “His majesty should be satisfied; for I was ready tornstrip myself, and turn up my pockets before him.” This I delivered partrnin words, and part in signs. He replied, “that, by the laws of thernkingdom, I must be searched by two of his officers; that he knew thisrncould not be done without my consent and assistance; and he had so goodrnan opinion of my generosity and justice, as to trust their persons inrnmy hands; that whatever they took from me, should be returned when Irnleft the country, or paid for at the rate which I would set upon them.”rnI took up the two officers in my hands, put them first into myrncoat-pockets, and then into every other pocket about me, except my twornfobs, and another secret pocket, which I had no mind should bernsearched, wherein I had some little necessaries that were of nornconsequence to any but myself. In one of my fobs there was a silverrnwatch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a purse. Theserngentlemen, having pen, ink, and paper, about them, made an exactrninventory of every thing they saw; and when they had done, desired Irnwould set them down, that they might deliver it to the emperor. Thisrninventory I afterwards translated into English, and is, word for word,rnas follows:rnrnrn“_Imprimis_: In the right coat-pocket of the great man-mountain” (forrnso I interpret the words _quinbus flestrin_,) “after the strictestrnsearch, we found only one great piece of coarse-cloth, large enough tornbe a foot-cloth for your majesty’s chief room of state. In the leftrnpocket we saw a huge silver chest, with a cover of the same metal,rnwhich we, the searchers, were not able to lift. We desired it should bernopened, and one of us stepping into it, found himself up to the mid legrnin a sort of dust, some part whereof flying up to our faces set us bothrna sneezing for several times together. In his right waistcoat-pocket wernfound a prodigious bundle of white thin substances, folded one overrnanother, about the bigness of three men, tied with a strong cable, andrnmarked with black figures; which we humbly conceive to be writings,rnevery letter almost half as large as the palm of our hands. In the leftrnthere was a sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twentyrnlong poles, resembling the pallisados before your majesty’s court:rnwherewith we conjecture the man-mountain combs his head; for we did notrnalways trouble him with questions, because we found it a greatrndifficulty to make him understand us. In the large pocket, on the rightrnside of his middle cover” (so I translate the word _ranfulo_, by whichrnthey meant my breeches,) “we saw a hollow pillar of iron, about thernlength of a man, fastened to a strong piece of timber larger than thernpillar; and upon one side of the pillar, were huge pieces of ironrnsticking out, cut into strange figures, which we know not what to makernof. In the left pocket, another engine of the same kind. In the smallerrnpocket on the right side, were several round flat pieces of white andrnred metal, of different bulk; some of the white, which seemed to bernsilver, were so large and heavy, that my comrade and I could hardlyrnlift them. In the left pocket were two black pillars irregularlyrnshaped: we could not, without difficulty, reach the top of them, as wernstood at the bottom of his pocket. One of them was covered, and seemedrnall of a piece: but at the upper end of the other there appeared arnwhite round substance, about twice the bigness of our heads. Withinrneach of these was enclosed a prodigious plate of steel; which, by ourrnorders, we obliged him to show us, because we apprehended they might berndangerous engines. He took them out of their cases, and told us, thatrnin his own country his practice was to shave his beard with one ofrnthese, and cut his meat with the other. There were two pockets which werncould not enter: these he called his fobs; they were two large slitsrncut into the top of his middle cover, but squeezed close by thernpressure of his belly. Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain,rnwith a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We directed him to drawrnout whatever was at the end of that chain; which appeared to be arnglobe, half silver, and half of some transparent metal; for, on therntransparent side, we saw certain strange figures circularly drawn, andrnthought we could touch them, till we found our fingers stopped by thernlucid substance. He put this engine into our ears, which made anrnincessant noise, like that of a water-mill: and we conjecture it isrneither some unknown animal, or the god that he worships; but we arernmore inclined to the latter opinion, because he assured us, (if wernunderstood him right, for he expressed himself very imperfectly) thatrnhe seldom did any thing without consulting it. He called it his oracle,rnand said, it pointed out the time for every action of his life. Fromrnthe left fob he took out a net almost large enough for a fisherman, butrncontrived to open and shut like a purse, and served him for the samernuse: we found therein several massy pieces of yellow metal, which, ifrnthey be real gold, must be of immense value.rnrn“Having thus, in obedience to your majesty’s commands, diligentlyrnsearched all his pockets, we observed a girdle about his waist made ofrnthe hide of some prodigious animal, from which, on the left side, hungrna sword of the length of five men; and on the right, a bag or pouchrndivided into two cells, each cell capable of holding three of yourrnmajesty’s subjects. In one of these cells were several globes, orrnballs, of a most ponderous metal, about the bigness of our heads, andrnrequiring a strong hand to lift them: the other cell contained a heaprnof certain black grains, but of no great bulk or weight, for we couldrnhold above fifty of them in the palms of our hands.rnrn“This is an exact inventory of what we found about the body of thernman-mountain, who used us with great civility, and due respect to yourrnmajesty’s commission. Signed and sealed on the fourth day of therneighty-ninth moon of your majesty’s auspicious reign.rnrnrn Clefrin Frelock, Marsi Frelock.”rnrnWhen this inventory was read over to the emperor, he directed me,rnalthough in very gentle terms, to deliver up the several particulars.rnHe first called for my scimitar, which I took out, scabbard and all. Inrnthe mean time he ordered three thousand of his choicest troops (whornthen attended him) to surround me at a distance, with their bows andrnarrows just ready to discharge; but I did not observe it, for my eyesrnwere wholly fixed upon his majesty. He then desired me to draw myrnscimitar, which, although it had got some rust by the sea water, was,rnin most parts, exceeding bright. I did so, and immediately all therntroops gave a shout between terror and surprise; for the sun shonernclear, and the reflection dazzled their eyes, as I waved the scimitarrnto and fro in my hand. His majesty, who is a most magnanimous prince,rnwas less daunted than I could expect: he ordered me to return it intornthe scabbard, and cast it on the ground as gently as I could, about sixrnfeet from the end of my chain. The next thing he demanded was one ofrnthe hollow iron pillars; by which he meant my pocket pistols. I drew itrnout, and at his desire, as well as I could, expressed to him the use ofrnit; and charging it only with powder, which, by the closeness of myrnpouch, happened to escape wetting in the sea (an inconvenience againstrnwhich all prudent mariners take special care to provide,) I firstrncautioned the emperor not to be afraid, and then I let it off in thernair. The astonishment here was much greater than at the sight of myrnscimitar. Hundreds fell down as if they had been struck dead; and evenrnthe emperor, although he stood his ground, could not recover himselfrnfor some time. I delivered up both my pistols in the same manner as Irnhad done my scimitar, and then my pouch of powder and bullets; beggingrnhim that the former might be kept from fire, for it would kindle withrnthe smallest spark, and blow up his imperial palace into the air. Irnlikewise delivered up my watch, which the emperor was very curious tornsee, and commanded two of his tallest yeomen of the guards to bear itrnon a pole upon their shoulders, as draymen in England do a barrel ofrnale. He was amazed at the continual noise it made, and the motion ofrnthe minute-hand, which he could easily discern; for their sight is muchrnmore acute than ours: he asked the opinions of his learned men aboutrnit, which were various and remote, as the reader may well imaginernwithout my repeating; although indeed I could not very perfectlyrnunderstand them. I then gave up my silver and copper money, my purse,rnwith nine large pieces of gold, and some smaller ones; my knife andrnrazor, my comb and silver snuff-box, my handkerchief and journal-book.rnMy scimitar, pistols, and pouch, were conveyed in carriages to hisrnmajesty’s stores; but the rest of my goods were returned me.rnrnI had as I before observed, one private pocket, which escaped theirrnsearch, wherein there was a pair of spectacles (which I sometimes usernfor the weakness of my eyes,) a pocket perspective, and some otherrnlittle conveniences; which, being of no consequence to the emperor, Irndid not think myself bound in honour to discover, and I apprehendedrnthey might be lost or spoiled if I ventured them out of my possession.