A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT.

The author diverts the emperor, and his nobility of both sexes, in arnvery uncommon manner. The diversions of the court of Lilliputrndescribed. The author has his liberty granted him upon certainrnconditions.rnrnrnMy gentleness and good behaviour had gained so far on the emperor andrnhis court, and indeed upon the army and people in general, that I beganrnto conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time. I took allrnpossible methods to cultivate this favourable disposition. The nativesrncame, by degrees, to be less apprehensive of any danger from me. Irnwould sometimes lie down, and let five or six of them dance on my hand;rnand at last the boys and girls would venture to come and play atrnhide-and-seek in my hair. I had now made a good progress inrnunderstanding and speaking the language. The emperor had a mind one dayrnto entertain me with several of the country shows, wherein they exceedrnall nations I have known, both for dexterity and magnificence. I wasrndiverted with none so much as that of the rope-dancers, performed uponrna slender white thread, extended about two feet, and twelve inches fromrnthe ground. Upon which I shall desire liberty, with the reader’srnpatience, to enlarge a little.rnrnThis diversion is only practised by those persons who are candidatesrnfor great employments, and high favour at court. They are trained inrnthis art from their youth, and are not always of noble birth, orrnliberal education. When a great office is vacant, either by death orrndisgrace (which often happens) five or six of those candidatesrnpetition the emperor to entertain his majesty and the court with arndance on the rope; and whoever jumps the highest, without falling,rnsucceeds in the office. Very often the chief ministers themselves arerncommanded to show their skill, and to convince the emperor that theyrnhave not lost their faculty. Flimnap, the treasurer, is allowed to cutrna caper on the straight rope, at least an inch higher than any otherrnlord in the whole empire. I have seen him do the summerset severalrntimes together, upon a trencher fixed on a rope which is no thickerrnthan a common packthread in England. My friend Reldresal, principalrnsecretary for private affairs, is, in my opinion, if I am not partial,rnthe second after the treasurer; the rest of the great officers are muchrnupon a par.rnrnThese diversions are often attended with fatal accidents, whereof greatrnnumbers are on record. I myself have seen two or three candidates breakrna limb. But the danger is much greater, when the ministers themselvesrnare commanded to show their dexterity; for, by contending to excelrnthemselves and their fellows, they strain so far that there is hardlyrnone of them who has not received a fall, and some of them two or three.rnI was assured that, a year or two before my arrival, Flimnap wouldrninfallibly have broke his neck, if one of the king’s cushions, thatrnaccidentally lay on the ground, had not weakened the force of his fall.rnrnThere is likewise another diversion, which is only shown before thernemperor and empress, and first minister, upon particular occasions. Thernemperor lays on the table three fine silken threads of six inches long;rnone is blue, the other red, and the third green. These threads arernproposed as prizes for those persons whom the emperor has a mind torndistinguish by a peculiar mark of his favour. The ceremony is performedrnin his majesty’s great chamber of state, where the candidates are tornundergo a trial of dexterity very different from the former, and suchrnas I have not observed the least resemblance of in any other country ofrnthe new or old world. The emperor holds a stick in his hands, both endsrnparallel to the horizon, while the candidates advancing, one by one,rnsometimes leap over the stick, sometimes creep under it, backward andrnforward, several times, according as the stick is advanced orrndepressed. Sometimes the emperor holds one end of the stick, and hisrnfirst minister the other; sometimes the minister has it entirely tornhimself. Whoever performs his part with most agility, and holds out thernlongest in leaping and creeping, is rewarded with the blue-colouredrnsilk; the red is given to the next, and the green to the third, whichrnthey all wear girt twice round about the middle; and you see few greatrnpersons about this court who are not adorned with one of these girdles.rnrnThe horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having beenrndaily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my veryrnfeet without starting. The riders would leap them over my hand, as Irnheld it on the ground; and one of the emperor’s huntsmen, upon a largerncourser, took my foot, shoe and all; which was indeed a prodigiousrnleap. I had the good fortune to divert the emperor one day after a veryrnextraordinary manner. I desired he would order several sticks of twornfeet high, and the thickness of an ordinary cane, to be brought me;rnwhereupon his majesty commanded the master of his woods to giverndirections accordingly; and the next morning six woodmen arrived withrnas many carriages, drawn by eight horses to each. I took nine of thesernsticks, and fixing them firmly in the ground in a quadrangular figure,rntwo feet and a half square, I took four other sticks, and tied themrnparallel at each corner, about two feet from the ground; then Irnfastened my handkerchief to the nine sticks that stood erect; andrnextended it on all sides, till it was tight as the top of a drum; andrnthe four parallel sticks, rising about five inches higher than thernhandkerchief, served as ledges on each side. When I had finished myrnwork, I desired the emperor to let a troop of his best horsesrntwenty-four in number, come and exercise upon this plain. His majestyrnapproved of the proposal, and I took them up, one by one, in my hands,rnready mounted and armed, with the proper officers to exercise them. Asrnsoon as they got into order they divided into two parties, performedrnmock skirmishes, discharged blunt arrows, drew their swords, fled andrnpursued, attacked and retired, and in short discovered the bestrnmilitary discipline I ever beheld. The parallel sticks secured them andrntheir horses from falling over the stage; and the emperor was so muchrndelighted, that he ordered this entertainment to be repeated severalrndays, and once was pleased to be lifted up and give the word ofrncommand; and with great difficulty persuaded even the empress herselfrnto let me hold her in her close chair within two yards of the stage,rnwhen she was able to take a full view of the whole performance. It wasrnmy good fortune, that no ill accident happened in these entertainments;rnonly once a fiery horse, that belonged to one of the captains, pawingrnwith his hoof, struck a hole in my handkerchief, and his foot slipping,rnhe overthrew his rider and himself; but I immediately relieved themrnboth, and covering the hole with one hand, I set down the troop withrnthe other, in the same manner as I took them up. The horse that fellrnwas strained in the left shoulder, but the rider got no hurt; and Irnrepaired my handkerchief as well as I could: however, I would not trustrnto the strength of it any more, in such dangerous enterprises.rnrnAbout two or three days before I was set at liberty, as I wasrnentertaining the court with this kind of feat, there arrived an expressrnto inform his majesty, that some of his subjects, riding near the placernwhere I was first taken up, had seen a great black substance lying onrnthe ground, very oddly shaped, extending its edges round, as wide asrnhis majesty’s bedchamber, and rising up in the middle as high as a man;rnthat it was no living creature, as they at first apprehended, for itrnlay on the grass without motion; and some of them had walked round itrnseveral times; that, by mounting upon each other’s shoulders, they hadrngot to the top, which was flat and even, and, stamping upon it, theyrnfound that it was hollow within; that they humbly conceived it might bernsomething belonging to the man-mountain; and if his majesty pleased,rnthey would undertake to bring it with only five horses. I presentlyrnknew what they meant, and was glad at heart to receive thisrnintelligence. It seems, upon my first reaching the shore after ourrnshipwreck, I was in such confusion, that before I came to the placernwhere I went to sleep, my hat, which I had fastened with a string to myrnhead while I was rowing, and had stuck on all the time I was swimming,rnfell off after I came to land; the string, as I conjecture, breaking byrnsome accident, which I never observed, but thought my hat had been lostrnat sea. I entreated his imperial majesty to give orders it might bernbrought to me as soon as possible, describing to him the use and thernnature of it: and the next day the waggoners arrived with it, but notrnin a very good condition; they had bored two holes in the brim, withinrnan inch and half of the edge, and fastened two hooks in the holes;rnthese hooks were tied by a long cord to the harness, and thus my hatrnwas dragged along for above half an English mile; but, the ground inrnthat country being extremely smooth and level, it received less damagernthan I expected.rnrnTwo days after this adventure, the emperor, having ordered that part ofrnhis army which quarters in and about his metropolis, to be inrnreadiness, took a fancy of diverting himself in a very singular manner.rnHe desired I would stand like a Colossus, with my legs as far asunderrnas I conveniently could. He then commanded his general (who was an oldrnexperienced leader, and a great patron of mine) to draw up the troopsrnin close order, and march them under me; the foot by twenty-fourrnabreast, and the horse by sixteen, with drums beating, colours flying,rnand pikes advanced. This body consisted of three thousand foot, and arnthousand horse. His majesty gave orders, upon pain of death, that everyrnsoldier in his march should observe the strictest decency with regardrnto my person; which however could not prevent some of the youngerrnofficers from turning up their eyes as they passed under me: and, tornconfess the truth, my breeches were at that time in so ill a condition,rnthat they afforded some opportunities for laughter and admiration.rnrnI had sent so many memorials and petitions for my liberty, that hisrnmajesty at length mentioned the matter, first in the cabinet, and thenrnin a full council; where it was opposed by none, except SkyreshrnBolgolam, who was pleased, without any provocation, to be my mortalrnenemy. But it was carried against him by the whole board, and confirmedrnby the emperor. That minister was _galbet_, or admiral of the realm,rnvery much in his master’s confidence, and a person well versed inrnaffairs, but of a morose and sour complexion. However, he was at lengthrnpersuaded to comply; but prevailed that the articles and conditionsrnupon which I should be set free, and to which I must swear, should berndrawn up by himself. These articles were brought to me by SkyreshrnBolgolam in person attended by two under-secretaries, and severalrnpersons of distinction. After they were read, I was demanded to swearrnto the performance of them; first in the manner of my own country, andrnafterwards in the method prescribed by their laws; which was, to holdrnmy right foot in my left hand, and to place the middle finger of myrnright hand on the crown of my head, and my thumb on the tip of my rightrnear. But because the reader may be curious to have some idea of thernstyle and manner of expression peculiar to that people, as well as tornknow the article upon which I recovered my liberty, I have made arntranslation of the whole instrument, word for word, as near as I wasrnable, which I here offer to the public.rnrnrn“Golbasto Momarem Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue, most mightyrnEmperor of Lilliput, delight and terror of the universe, whoserndominions extend five thousand _blustrugs_ (about twelve miles inrncircumference) to the extremities of the globe; monarch of allrnmonarchs, taller than the sons of men; whose feet press down to therncentre, and whose head strikes against the sun; at whose nod thernprinces of the earth shake their knees; pleasant as the spring,rncomfortable as the summer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as winter: hisrnmost sublime majesty proposes to the man-mountain, lately arrived atrnour celestial dominions, the following articles, which, by a solemnrnoath, he shall be obliged to perform:—rnrn“1st, The man-mountain shall not depart from our dominions, without ourrnlicense under our great seal.rnrn“2d, He shall not presume to come into our metropolis, without ourrnexpress order; at which time, the inhabitants shall have two hoursrnwarning to keep within doors.rnrn“3d, The said man-mountain shall confine his walks to our principalrnhigh roads, and not offer to walk, or lie down, in a meadow or field ofrncorn.rnrn“4th, As he walks the said roads, he shall take the utmost care not torntrample upon the bodies of any of our loving subjects, their horses, orrncarriages, nor take any of our subjects into his hands without theirrnown consent.rnrn“5th, If an express requires extraordinary despatch, the man-mountainrnshall be obliged to carry, in his pocket, the messenger and horse a sixrndays journey, once in every moon, and return the said messenger backrn(if so required) safe to our imperial presence.rnrn“6th, He shall be our ally against our enemies in the island ofrnBlefuscu, and do his utmost to destroy their fleet, which is nowrnpreparing to invade us.rnrn“7th, That the said man-mountain shall, at his times of leisure, bernaiding and assisting to our workmen, in helping to raise certain greatrnstones, towards covering the wall of the principal park, and other ourrnroyal buildings.rnrn“8th, That the said man-mountain shall, in two moons’ time, deliver inrnan exact survey of the circumference of our dominions, by a computationrnof his own paces round the coast.rnrn“Lastly, That, upon his solemn oath to observe all the above articles,rnthe said man-mountain shall have a daily allowance of meat and drinkrnsufficient for the support of 1724 of our subjects, with free access tornour royal person, and other marks of our favour. Given at our palace atrnBelfaborac, the twelfth day of the ninety-first moon of our reign.”rnrnrnI swore and subscribed to these articles with great cheerfulness andrncontent, although some of them were not so honourable as I could havernwished; which proceeded wholly from the malice of Skyresh Bolgolam, thernhigh-admiral: whereupon my chains were immediately unlocked, and I wasrnat full liberty. The emperor himself, in person, did me the honour tornbe by at the whole ceremony. I made my acknowledgements by prostratingrnmyself at his majesty’s feet: but he commanded me to rise; and afterrnmany gracious expressions, which, to avoid the censure of vanity, Irnshall not repeat, he added, “that he hoped I should prove a usefulrnservant, and well deserve all the favours he had already conferred uponrnme, or might do for the future.”rnrnThe reader may please to observe, that, in the last article of thernrecovery of my liberty, the emperor stipulates to allow me a quantityrnof meat and drink sufficient for the support of 1724 Lilliputians. Somerntime after, asking a friend at court how they came to fix on thatrndeterminate number, he told me that his majesty’s mathematicians,rnhaving taken the height of my body by the help of a quadrant, andrnfinding it to exceed theirs in the proportion of twelve to one, theyrnconcluded from the similarity of their bodies, that mine must containrnat least 1724 of theirs, and consequently would require as much food asrnwas necessary to support that number of Lilliputians. By which thernreader may conceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well asrnthe prudent and exact economy of so great a prince.