prompt:
Chapter: CHAPTER II.

     THE EMPEROR OF LILLIPUT, ATTENDED BY SEVERAL OF THE NOBILITY, COMES
     TO SEE THE AUTHOR IN HIS CONFINEMENT. THE EMPEROR'S PERSON AND
     HABIT DESCRIBED. LEARNED MEN APPOINTED TO TEACH THE AUTHOR THEIR
     LANGUAGE. HE GAINS FAVOR BY HIS MILD DISPOSITION. HIS POCKETS ARE
     SEARCHED, AND HIS SWORD AND PISTOLS TAKEN FROM HIM.

When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess I
never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around, appeared
like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generally
forty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers. These fields were
intermingled with woods of half a stang,[12] and the tallest trees, as I
could judge, appeared to be seven feet high. I viewed the town on my
left hand, which looked like the painted scene of a city in a theatre.

The emperor was already descended from the tower, and advancing on
horseback 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 hind
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 these vehicles, and soon emptied them all; twenty of them were
filled with meat; each afforded me two or three good mouthfuls. The
empress and young princes of the blood of both sexes, attended by many
ladies, sat at some distance in their chairs;[13] 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 majestic. He was then past his prime, being
twenty-eight 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.

[Illustration]

His dress was very plain and simple, and the fashion of it between the
Asiatic and the European; but he had on his head a light helmet of gold,
adorned with jewels, and a plume an the crest.[14] 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 ladies 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;[15] but all to no purpose.

After about two hours the court retired, and I was left with a strong
guard, to prevent the impertinence, and probably the malice of the
rabble, who were very impatient to crowd about me as near as they durst;
and some of them had the impudence to shoot their arrows at me, as I sat
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 butt-ends of their pikes into my reach. I took them
all on 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
delighted at this mark of my clemency, which was represented very much
to my advantage at court.

[Illustration]

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, sewn 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, which was of
smooth stone. By the same computation, they provided me with sheets,
blankets, and coverlets, which were tolerable enough for one who had
been so long inured to hardships as I.

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
household affairs must have ensued, if his imperial majesty had not
provided, by several proclamations and orders of state, against this
inconvenience. He directed that those who had already beheld me should
return home, and not presume to come within fifty yards of my house
without license from court; whereby the secretaries of state got
considerable fees.

In the meantime, 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 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 despatch 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 behavior to the six criminals
above-mentioned, which made so favorable 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 expense. An establishment was also
made of six hundred persons, to be my domestics, 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 tailors should make me a suit
of clothes, after the fashion of the country; that six of his majesty's
greatest scholars should be employed 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 honored 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 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 his council,
and that first I must _lumos kelmin pesso desmar lon emposo_; that is,
swear a peace with him and his kingdom. However, that I should be used
with all kindness; and he advised me to acquire, by my patience and
discreet behavior, the good opinion of himself and his subjects.

He desired I would not take it ill, if he gave orders to certain proper
officers to search me; for probably I might carry about me several
weapons which must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk
of so prodigious a person. I said his majesty should be satisfied, for I
was ready to strip myself and turn up my pockets before him. This I
delivered, part in words, and part in signs.

He replied, that by the laws of the kingdom, I must be searched by two
of his officers; that he knew this could not be done without my consent
and assistance; that he had so good an opinion of my generosity and
justice, as to trust their persons in my hands; that whatever they took
from me should be returned when I left the country, or paid for at the
rate which I should set upon them. I took up the two officers in my
hands, put them first into my coat-pockets, and then into every other
pocket about me, except my two fobs and another secret pocket, which I
had no mind should be searched, wherein I had some little necessaries
that were of no consequence to any but myself. In one of my fobs there
was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a
purse.

[Illustration: "THESE GENTLEMEN MADE AN EXACT INVENTORY OF EVERYTHING
THEY SAW" P. 30.]

These gentlemen having pen, ink, and paper about them, made an exact
inventory of everything they saw; and, when they had done, desired I
would set them down, that they might deliver it to the emperor. This
inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is word for word as
follows:--

_Imprimis_,[16] 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 number of white thin substances folded one over
another, about the bigness of three men, tied with a strong cable, and
marked with black figures; which we humbly conceive to be writings,
every letter almost half as large as the palm of our hands. In the left,
there was a sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twenty
long poles, resembling the palisadoes before your majesty's court;
wherewith we conjecture the man-mountain combs his head, for we did not
always trouble him with questions, because we found it a great
difficulty to make him understand us. In the large pocket on the right
side of his middle cover (so I translate the word _ranfu-lo_, by which
they meant my breeches), we saw a hollow pillar of iron, about the
length of a man, fastened to a strong piece of timber, larger than the
pillar; and upon one side of the pillar were huge pieces of iron
sticking out, cut into strange figures, which we know not what to make
of. In the left pocket, another engine of the same kind. In the smaller
pocket on the right side were several round flat pieces of white and red
metal, of different bulk; some of the white, which seemed to be silver,
were so large and so heavy, that my comrade and I could hardly lift
them. In the left pocket, were two black pillars irregularly shaped; we
could not without difficulty reach the top of them, as we stood at the
bottom of his pocket. One of them was covered, and seemed all of a
piece; but at the upper end of the other, there appeared a white and
round substance, about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each of
these was enclosed a prodigious plate of steel, which, by our orders, we
obliged him to show us, because we apprehended they might be dangerous
engines. He took them out of their cases, and told us that in his own
country his practice was to shave his beard with one of these, and to
cut his meat with the other. There were two pockets which we could not
enter: these he called his fobs. Out of the right fob hung a great
silver chain, with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We directed
him to draw out whatever was at the end of that chain, which appeared to
be a globe, half silver, and half of some transparent metal; for on the
transparent side we saw certain strange figures, circularly drawn, and
thought we could touch them till we found our fingers stopped by that
lucid substance.[17] He put this engine to our ears, which made an
incessant noise, like that of a water-mill; and we conjecture it is
either some unknown animal, or the god that he worships; but we are more
inclined to the latter opinion, because he assured us (if we understood
him right, for he expressed himself very imperfectly), that he seldom
did anything without consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said it
pointed out the time for every action of his life. From the left fob he
took out a net almost large enough for a fisherman, but contrived to
open and shut like a purse, and served him for the same use; we found
therein several massy pieces of yellow metal, which, if they be real
gold, must be of immense value.

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 about
fifty of them in the palms of our hands.

This is an exact inventory of what we found about the body of the
man-mountain, 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.

                                        CLEFRIN FRELOC.
                                        MARSI FRELOC.

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 scimitar, which I took out, scabbard and all. In
the meantime, 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 scimitar,
which, although it had got some rust by the sea-water, was in most parts
exceedingly bright. I did so, and immediately all the troops gave a
shout between terror and surprise; for the sun shone clear, and the
reflection dazzled their eyes, as I waved the scimitar 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 feet from the end
of my chain.

The next thing he demanded was one of the hollow iron pillars, by which
he meant my pocket-pistols. 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 escape 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 let it off in the air.

The astonishment here was much greater than at the sight of my scimitar.
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 scimitar, and then my pouch of powder and bullets, begging him that
the former might be kept from fire, for it would kindle with the
smallest spark, and blow up his imperial palace into the air.

[Illustration]

I likewise delivered up my watch, which the emperor was very curious to
see, and commanded two of his tallest yeomen of the guards[18] to bear
it on a pole upon their shoulders, as draymen 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. He asked the opinions of his learned men about it,
which were various and remote, as the reader may well imagine without my
repeating; 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 snuffbox, my handkerchief and journal-book. My scimitar, pistols,
and pouch were conveyed in carriages to his majesty's stores; but the
rest of my goods were returned to me.

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,[19] and some other
little conveniences; which, being of no consequence to the emperor, I
did not think myself bound in honor to discover; and I apprehended they
might be lost or spoiled if I ventured them out of my possession.

[Illustration]

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: "A Description of the Farmer's Daughter. The Author carried to a Market-Town, and then to the Metropolis. The Particulars of his Journey. Gulliver is given into the care of the farmer's daughter, Glumdalclitch, who teaches him the language and treats him very well, like a child would care for a favorite doll. In fact, she keeps him in a doll's cradle, which she closes inside a drawer at night to keep him safe from the rats. As word of Gulliver spreads throughout the kingdom, the farmer begins to realize that there is profit to be made and takes Gulliver to the marketplace, where he performs shows for paying patrons. The show is so successful that the farmer decides to take Gulliver on a tour of the kingdom. Gulliver does ten shows a day, which makes him quite tired


prompt:
Chapter: CHAPTER III.

     THE AUTHOR DIVERTS THE EMPEROR AND HIS NOBILITY OF BOTH SEXES IN A
     VERY UNCOMMON MANNER. THE DIVERSIONS OF THE COURT OF LILLIPUT
     DESCRIBED. THE AUTHOR HAS HIS LIBERTY GRANTED HIM UPON CERTAIN
     CONDITIONS.

My gentleness and good behavior had gained so far on the emperor and his
court, and indeed upon the army and people in general, that I began to
conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time, I took all
possible methods to cultivate this favorable disposition. The natives
came by degrees to be less apprehensive of any danger from me. I would
sometimes lie down, and let five or six of them dance on my hand, and at
last the boys and girls would venture to come and play at hide and seek
in my hair. I had now made a good progress in understanding and speaking
their language.

The emperor had a mind, one day, to entertain me with one of the country
shows, wherein they exceed all nations I have known, both for dexterity
and magnificence. I was diverted with none so much as that of the
rope-dancers, performed upon a slender white thread, extended about two
feet, and twelve inches from the ground. Upon which I shall desire
liberty, with the reader's patience, to enlarge a little.

[Illustration]

This diversion is only practised by those persons who are candidates for
great employments and high favor at court. They are trained in this art
from their youth, and are not always of noble birth or liberal
education. When a great office is vacant, either by death or disgrace
(which often happens) five or six of those candidates petition the
emperor to entertain his majesty, and the court, with a dance on the
rope, and whoever jumps the highest, without falling, succeeds in the
office. Very often the chief ministers themselves are commanded to show
their skill, and to convince the emperor that they have not lost their
faculty. Flimnap, the treasurer, is allowed to cut a caper on the
straight rope, at least an inch higher than any lord in the whole
empire. I have seen him do the summersault several times together upon a
trencher,[20] fixed on a rope, which is no thicker than a common
packthread in England. My friend Reldresal, principal secretary for
private affairs, is, in my opinion, if I am not partial, the second
after the treasurer; the rest of the great officers are much upon a par.

These diversions are often attended with fatal accidents, whereof great
numbers are on record. I myself have seen two or three candidates break
a limb. But the danger is much greater when the ministers themselves are
commanded to show their dexterity! for, by contending to excel
themselves and their fellows, they strain so far that there is hardly
one of them who hath not received a fall, and some of them two or three.
I was assured that a year or two before my arrival, Flimnap would have
infallibly broke his neck if one of the king's cushions, that
accidentally lay on the ground, had not weakened the force of his fall.

There is likewise another diversion, which is only shown before the
emperor and empress and first minister, upon particular occasions. The
emperor lays on the table three fine silken threads, of six inches long;
one is purple, the other yellow, and the third white. These threads are
proposed as prizes for those persons whom the emperor hath a mind to
distinguish by a peculiar mark of his favor. The ceremony is performed
in his majesty's great chamber of state, where the candidates are to
undergo a trial of dexterity very different from the former, and such as
I have not observed the least resemblance of in any other country of the
old or new world.

The emperor holds a stick in his hands, both ends parallel to the
horizon, while the candidates, advancing one by one, sometimes leap over
the stick, sometimes creep under it, backwards and forwards several
times, according as the stick is advanced or depressed. Sometimes the
emperor holds one end of the stick, and his first minister the other:
sometimes the minister has it entirely to himself. Whoever performs his
part with most agility, and holds out the longest in leaping and
creeping, is rewarded with the blue-colored silk; the yellow is given to
the next, and the green to the third, which they all wear girt twice
about the middle; and you see few great persons round about this court
who are not adorned with one of these girdles.

The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been
daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very
feet without starting. The riders would leap them over my hand as I held
it on the ground; and one of the emperor's huntsmen, upon a large
courser, took my foot, shoe and all, which was indeed a prodigious leap.

I had the good fortune to divert the emperor one day after a very
extraordinary manner. I desired he would order several sticks of two
feet high, and the thickness of an ordinary cane, to be brought me;
whereupon his majesty commanded the master of his woods to give
directions accordingly; and the next morning six wood-men arrived with
as many carriages, drawn by eight horses to each.

I took nine of these sticks, and fixing them firmly in the ground in a
quadrangular figure, two feet and a half square, I took four other
sticks and tied them parallel at each corner, about two feet from the
ground; then I fastened my handkerchief to the nine sticks that stood
erect, and extended it on all sides, till it was as tight as the top of
a drum; and the four parallel sticks, rising about five inches higher
than the handkerchief, served as ledges on each side.

When I had finished my work, I desired the emperor to let a troop of his
best horse, twenty-four in number, come and exercise upon this plain.
His majesty approved of the proposal, and I took them up one by one in
my hands, ready mounted and armed, with the proper officers to exercise
them. As soon as they got into order, they divided into two parties,
performed mock skirmishes, discharged blunt arrows, drew their swords,
fled and pursued, attacked and retired, and, in short, discovered the
best military discipline I ever beheld. The parallel sticks secured them
and their horses from falling over the stage: and the emperor was so
much delighted that he ordered this entertainment to be repeated several
days, and once was pleased to be lifted up and give the word of command;
and, with great difficulty, persuaded even the empress herself to let me
hold her in her close chair within two yards of the stage, from whence
she was able to take a full view of the whole performance.

It was my good fortune that no ill accident happened in these
entertainments; only once a fiery horse, that belonged to one of the
captains, pawing with his hoof, struck a hole in my handkerchief, and
his foot slipping, he overthrew his rider and himself; but I immediately
relieved them both, and covering the hole with one hand, I set down the
troop with the other, in the same manner as I took them up. The horse
that fell was strained in the left shoulder, but the rider got no hurt,
and I repaired my handkerchief as well as I could; however, I would not
trust to the strength of it any more in such dangerous enterprises.

About two or three days before I was set at liberty, as I was
entertaining the court with feats of this kind, there arrived an express
to inform his majesty that some of his subjects riding near the place
where I was first taken up, had seen a great black substance lying on
the ground, very oddly shaped, extending its edges round as wide as his
majesty's bed-chamber, and rising up in the middle as high as a man;
that it was no living creature, as they had at first apprehended, for it
lay on the grass without motion; and some of them had walked round it
several times; that, by mounting upon each other's shoulders, they had
got to the top, which was flat and even, and, stamping upon it, they
found it was hollow within; that they humbly conceived it might be
something belonging to the man-mountain; and if his majesty pleased,
they would undertake to bring it with only five horses.

[Illustration]

I presently knew what they meant, and was glad at heart to receive this
intelligence. It seems, upon my first reaching the shore after our
shipwreck, I was in such confusion that, before I came to the place
where I went to sleep, my hat, which I had fastened with a string to my
head while I was rowing, and had stuck on all the time I was swimming,
fell off after I came to land; the string, as I conjecture, breaking by
some accident which I never observed, but thought my hat had been lost
at sea. I intreated his imperial majesty to give orders it might be
brought to me as soon as possible, describing to him the use and nature
of it; and the next day the wagoners arrived with it, but not in a very
good condition; they had bored two holes in the brim, within an inch and
a half of the edge, and fastened two hooks in the holes; these hooks
were tied by a long cord to the harness; and thus my hat was dragged
along for above half an English mile; but the ground in that country
being extremely smooth and level, it received less damage than I
expected.

Two days after this adventure, the emperor, having ordered that part of
the army which quarters in and about his metropolis to be in readiness,
took a fancy of diverting himself in a very singular manner. He desired
I would stand like a colossus, with my legs as far asunder as I
conveniently could. He then commanded his general (who was an old,
experienced leader and a great patron of mine) to draw up the troops in
close order and march under me; the foot by twenty-four abreast and the
horse by sixteen, with drums beating, colors flying, and pikes advanced.
This body consisted of three thousand foot and a thousand horse.

I had sent so many memorials and petitions for my liberty, that his
majesty at length mentioned the matter, first in the cabinet, and then
in full council; where it was opposed by none, except Skyrris Bolgolam
who was pleased, without any provocation, to be my mortal enemy. But it
was carried against him by the whole board, and confirmed by the
emperor. That minister was _galbet_, or admiral of the realm, very much
in his master's confidence, and a person well versed in affairs, but of
a morose and sour complexion. However, he was at length persuaded to
comply; but prevailed, that the articles and conditions upon which I
should be set free, and to which I must swear, should be drawn up by
himself.

These articles were brought to me by Skyrris Bolgolam in person,
attended by two under-secretaries, and several persons of distinction.
After they were read, I was demanded to swear to the performance of
them, first in the manner of my own country, and afterwards in the
method prescribed by their laws; which was, to hold my right foot in my
left hand, and to place the middle finger of my right hand on the crown
of my head, and my thumb on the tip of my right ear.

But because the reader may be curious to have some idea of the style and
manner of expression peculiar to that people, as well as to know the
articles upon which I recovered my liberty, I have made a translation of
the whole instrument, word for word, as near as I was able, which I here
offer to the public.

_Golbasto Momaren Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue_, Most Mighty
Emperor of Lilliput, delight and terror of the universe, whose dominions
extend five thousand _blustrugs_ (about twelve miles in circumference) to
the extremities of the globe; monarch of all monarchs, taller than the
sons of men; whose feet press down to the centre, and whose head strikes
against the sun; at whose nod the princes of the earth shake their
knees; pleasant as the spring, comfortable as the summer, fruitful as
autumn, dreadful as winter. His most sublime majesty proposeth to the
man-mountain, lately arrived at our celestial dominions, the following
articles, which by a solemn oath he shall be obliged to perform.

First. The man-mountain shall not depart from our dominions without our
license under our great seal.

Second. He shall not presume to come into our metropolis, without our
express order, at which time the inhabitants shall have two hours
warning to keep within doors.

Third. The said man-mountain shall confine his walks to our principal
high roads, and not offer to walk or lie down in a meadow or field of
corn.[21]

Fourth. As he walks the said roads, he shall take the utmost care not to
trample upon the bodies of any of our loving subjects, their horses or
carriages, nor take any of our subjects into his hands without their own
consent.

Fifth. If an express requires extraordinary despatch, the man-mountain
shall be obliged to carry in his pocket the messenger and horse a
six-days' journey once in every moon, and return the said messenger back
(if so required) safe to our imperial presence.

Sixth. He shall be our ally against our enemies in the island of
Blefuscu, and do his utmost to destroy their fleet, which is now
preparing to invade us.

Seventh. That the said man-mountain shall at his times of leisure be
aiding and assisting to our workmen, in helping to raise certain great
stones, towards covering the wall of the principal park, and other our
royal buildings.

Eighth. That the said man-mountain shall, in two moons time, deliver in
an exact survey of the circumference of our dominions, by a computation
of his own paces round the coast.

Lastly. That upon his solemn oath to observe all the above articles, the
said man-mountain shall have a daily allowance of meat and drink
sufficient for the support of 1724 of our subjects, with free access to
our royal person, and other marks of our favor. Given at our palace at
Belfaborac, the twelfth day of the ninety-first moon of our reign.

I swore and subscribed to the articles with great cheerfulness and
content, although some of them were not so honorable as I could have
wished; which proceeded wholly from the malice of Skyrris Bolgolam, the
high admiral; whereupon my chains were immediately unlocked, and I was
at full liberty. The emperor himself in person did me the honor to be by
at the whole ceremony. I made my acknowledgments, by prostrating myself
at his majesty's feet: but he commanded me to rise; and after many
gracious expressions, which, to avoid the censure of vanity, I shall not
repeat, he added, that he hoped I should prove a useful servant, and
well deserve all the favors he had already conferred upon me, or might
do for the future.

The reader may please to observe, that, in the last article for the
recovery of my liberty, the emperor stipulates to allow me a quantity of
meat and drink sufficient for the support of 1724 Lilliputians. Some
time after, asking a friend at court, how they came to fix on that
determinate number, he told me, that his majesty's mathematicians having
taken the height of my body by the help of a quadrant,[22] and finding
it to exceed theirs in the proportion of twelve to one, they concluded,
from the similarity of their bodies, that mine must contain at least
1724 of theirs, and consequently would require as much food as was
necessary to support that number of Lilliputians. By which the reader
may conceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as the
prudent and exact economy of so great a prince.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: "The Author sent for to Court. The Queen buys him of his Master the Farmer, and presents him to the King. He disputes with his Majesty's great Scholars. An Apartment at Court provided for the Author. He is in high Favour with the Queen. He stands up for the Honour of his own Country. His Quarrels with the Queen's Dwarf. Having heard about the wondrous little creature that is making his way around the kingdom, the queen sends for him and his master to come to court. Gulliver immediately impresses the queen with his compliments and general manner, so she asks the farmer if he would be willing to sell Gulliver. The farmer, believing that Gulliver will die in about a month because he has lost so much weight from performing, quickly names a price. Gulliver is happy to live at court and be done with performing. He asks only that Glumdalclitch stay as well to continue taking care of him. Afterward the queen carries Gulliver to the king's chamber. The king at first believes that Gulliver is some sort of mechanical creature, but he eventually believes that Gulliver is just helpless. Gulliver tries to explain that where he is from, everything is proportionate to him. The queen has a small apartment built and new fine clothes tailored for Gulliver. She enjoys his company very much. Gulliver often comments that watching the Brobdingnag people eat or getting too close to their faces is quite repulsive. Gulliver and the king spend a great deal of time discussing politics. Gulliver explains how things work where he is from. The king laughs at English politics, which puts Gulliver off at first. Soon, however, Gulliver realizes that his adventures have begun to sway him to the same opinion; his perspective has begun to change. Gulliver finds an enemy in the queen's dwarf, who seems to be jealous of all the attention Gulliver is getting


prompt:
Chapter: CHAPTER IV.

     MILENDO, THE METROPOLIS OF LILLIPUT, DESCRIBED TOGETHER WITH THE
     EMPEROR'S PALACE. A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND A PRINCIPAL
     SECRETARY, CONCERNING THE AFFAIRS OF THAT EMPIRE. THE AUTHOR OFFERS
     TO SERVE THE EMPEROR IN HIS WARS.

The first request I made, after I had obtained my liberty, was, that I
might have license to see Milendo, the metropolis; which the emperor
easily granted me, but with a special charge to do no hurt, either to
the inhabitants or their houses. The people had notice, by proclamation,
of my design to visit the town.

The wall, which encompassed it, is two feet and a half high, and at
least eleven inches broad, so that a coach and horses may be driven very
safely round it; and it is flanked with strong towers at ten feet
distance. I stept over the great western gate, and passed very gently,
and sideling, through the two principal streets, only in my short
waistcoat, for fear of damaging the roofs and eaves of the houses with
the skirts[23] of my coat. I walked with the utmost circumspection, to
avoid treading on any stragglers who might remain in the streets;
although the orders were very strict, that all people should keep in
their houses at their own peril. The garret-windows and tops of houses
were so crowded with spectators, that I thought in all my travels I had
not seen a more populous place.

The city is an exact square, each side of the wall being five hundred
feet long. The two great streets, which run across and divide it into
four quarters, are five feet wide. The lanes and alleys, which I could
not enter, but only viewed them as I passed, are from twelve to eighteen
inches. The town is capable of holding five hundred thousand souls; the
houses are from three to five stories; the shops and markets well
provided.

The emperor's palace is in the centre of the city, where the two great
streets meet. It is enclosed by a wall of two foot high, and twenty foot
distant from the buildings. I had his majesty's permission to step over
this wall; and the space being so wide between that and the palace, I
could easily view it on every side.

The outward court is a square of forty feet, and includes two other
courts; in the inmost are the royal apartments, which I was very
desirous to see, but found it extremely difficult; for the great gates
from one square into another were but eighteen inches high, and seven
inches wide. Now the buildings of the outer court were at least five
feet high, and it was impossible for me to stride over them without
infinite damage to the pile, though the walls were strongly built of
hewn stone, and four inches thick.

At the same time, the emperor had a great desire that I should see the
magnificence of his palace; but this I was not able to do till three
days after, which I spent in cutting down, with my knife, some of the
largest trees in the royal park, about an hundred yards distance from
the city. Of these trees I made two stools, each about three feet high,
and strong enough to bear my weight.

[Illustration: "HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY WAS PLEASED TO SMILE VERY GRACIOUSLY
UPON ME" P. 50.]

The people having received notice a second time, I went again through
the city to the palace, with my two stools in my hands. When I came to
the side of the outer court, I stood upon one stool, and took the other
in my hand; this I lifted over the roof, and gently set it down on the
space between the first and second court, which was eight feet wide. I
then stept over the building very conveniently, from one stool to the
other, and drew up the first after me with a hooked stick. By this
contrivance I got into the inmost court; and, lying down upon my side, I
applied my face to the windows of the middle stories, which were left
open on purpose, and discovered the most splendid apartments that can be
imagined. There I saw the empress and the young princes in their several
lodgings, with their chief attendants about them. Her imperial majesty
was pleased to smile very graciously upon me, and gave me out of the
window her hand to kiss.

But I shall not anticipate the reader with farther descriptions of this
kind, because I reserve them for a greater work, which is now almost
ready for the press, containing a general description of this empire,
from its first erection, through a long series of princes, with a
particular account of their wars and politics, laws, learning, and
religion, their plants and animals, their peculiar manners and customs,
with other matters very curious and useful; my chief design, at present,
being only to relate such events and transactions as happened to the
public, or to myself, during a residence of about nine months in that
empire.

One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my liberty,
Reldresal, principal secretary (as they style him) for private affairs,
came to my house, attended only by one servant. He ordered his coach to
wait at a distance, and desired I would give him an hour's audience;
which I readily consented to, on account of his quality and personal
merits, as well as of the many good offices he had done me during my
solicitations at court. I offered to lie down, that he might the more
conveniently reach my ear; but he chose rather to let me hold him in my
hand during our conversation.

He began with compliments on my liberty; said he might pretend to some
merit in it. But however, added, that if it had not been for the present
situation of things at court, perhaps I might not have obtained it so
soon. For, said he, as flourishing a condition as we may appear to be in
to foreigners, we labor under two mighty evils: a violent faction at
home, and the danger of an invasion, by a most potent enemy, from
abroad. As to the first, you are to understand, that, for above seventy
moons past, there have been two struggling parties in this empire, under
the names of _Tramecksan_ and _Slamecksan_, from the high and low heels
of their shoes, by which they distinguish themselves. It is alleged,
indeed, that the high heels are most agreeable to our ancient
constitution; but, however this may be, his majesty hath determined to
make use only of low heels in the administration of the government, and
all offices in the gift of the crown, as you cannot but observe: and
particularly, that his majesty's imperial heels are lower, at least by a
_drurr_, than any of his court (_drurr_ is a measure about the
fourteenth part of an inch). The animosities between these two parties
run so high, that they will neither eat nor drink nor talk with each
other. We compute the _Tramecksan_, or high heels, to exceed us in
number; but the power is wholly on our side. We apprehend his imperial
highness, the heir to the crown, to have some tendency towards the high
heels; at least, we can plainly discover that one of his heels is higher
than the other, which gives him a hobble in his gait. Now, in the midst
of these intestine disquiets, we are threatened with an invasion from
the island of Blefuscu, which is the other great empire of the universe,
almost as large and powerful as this of his majesty. For, as to what we
have heard you affirm, that there are other kingdoms and states in the
world, inhabited by human creatures as large as yourself, our
philosophers are in much doubt, and would rather conjecture that you
dropped from the moon or one of the stars, because it is certain, that
an hundred mortals of your bulk would, in a short time, destroy all the
fruits and cattle of his majesty's dominions. Besides, our histories of
six thousand moons make no mention of any other regions than the two
great empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu. Which two mighty powers have, as
I was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war for
six-and-thirty moons past. It began upon the following occasion: It is
allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we
eat them, was upon the larger end; but his present majesty's
grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it
according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers.
Whereupon the emperor, his father, published an edict, commanding all
his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their
eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell
us, there have been six rebellions raised on that account, wherein one
emperor lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions
were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they
were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is
computed, that eleven thousand persons have, at several times, suffered
death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many
hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy, but the
books of the Big-endians have been long forbidden, and the whole party
rendered incapable, by law, of holding employments. During the course of
these troubles, the Emperors of Blefuscu did frequently expostulate, by
their ambassadors, accusing us of making a schism in religion, by
offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great prophet Lustrog,
in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which is their
Alcoran)[24] This, however, is thought to be a mere strain upon the
text; for the words are these: That all true believers break their eggs
at the convenient end. And which is the convenient end, seems, in my
humble opinion, to be left to every man's conscience, or, at least, in
the power of the chief magistrate to determine. Now, the Big-endian
exiles have found so much credit in the emperor of Blefuscu's court, and
so much private assistance and encouragement from their party here at
home, that a bloody war hath been carried on between the two empires for
six-and-thirty moons, with various success; during which time we have
lost forty capital ships, and a much greater number of smaller vessels,
together with thirty thousand of our best seamen and soldiers; and the
damage received by the enemy is reckoned to be somewhat greater than
ours. However, they have now equipped a numerous fleet, and are just
preparing to make a descent upon us; and his imperial majesty, placing
great confidence in your valor and strength, hath commanded me to lay
this account of his affairs before you.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

I desired the secretary to present my humble duty to the emperor, and to
let him know that I thought it would not become me, who was a foreigner,
to interfere with parties; but I was ready, with the hazard of my life,
to defend his person and state against all invaders.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: "The Country described. A Proposal for correcting modern Maps. The King's Palace, and some Account of the Metropolis. The Author's way of travelling. The chief Temple described. Gulliver spends a great deal of time describing the landscape of Brobdingnag, the palace that he now lives in and his manner of traveling in a small traveling box designed especially for him. He also sees and describes the largest temple in Brobdingnag, which he does not find impressive in its size


prompt:
Chapter: CHAPTER V.

     THE AUTHOR, BY AN EXTRAORDINARY STRATAGEM, PREVENTS AN INVASION. A
     HIGH TITLE OF HONOR IS CONFERRED UPON HIM. AMBASSADORS ARRIVE FROM
     THE EMPEROR OF BLEFUSCU, AND SUE FOR PEACE. THE EMPRESS'S APARTMENT
     ON FIRE, BY ACCIDENT; THE AUTHOR INSTRUMENTAL IN SAVING THE REST OF
     THE PALACE.

The empire of Blefuscu is an island, situate to the north northeast of
Lilliput, from whence it is parted only by a channel of eight hundred
yards wide. I had not yet seen it; and upon this notice of an intended
invasion, I avoided appearing on that side of the coast, for fear of
being discovered by some of the enemy's ships, who had received no
intelligence of me, all intercourse between the two empires having been
strictly forbidden during the war, upon the pain of death, and an
embargo[25] laid by our emperor upon all vessels whatsoever.

I communicated to his majesty a project I had formed, of seizing the
enemy's whole fleet; which, as our scouts assured us, lay at anchor in
the harbor, ready to sail with the first fair wind. I consulted the most
experienced seamen upon the depth of the channel, which they had often
plumbed; who told me, that in the middle, at high water, it was seventy
_glumgluffs_ deep, which is about six feet of European measure; and the
rest of it fifty _glumgluffs_ at most. I walked towards the northeast
coast, over against Blefuscu; where, lying down behind a hillock, I took
out my small perspective glass, and viewed the enemy's fleet at anchor,
consisting of about fifty men-of-war, and a great number of transports;
I then came back to my house, and gave orders (for which I had a
warrant) for a great quantity of the strongest cable and bars of iron.
The cable was about as thick as packthread, and the bars of the length
and size of a knitting needle. I trebled the cable, to make it stronger;
and, for the same reason, I twisted three of the iron bars together,
bending the extremities into a hook.

Having thus fixed fifty hooks to as many cables, I went back to the
northeast coast, and putting off my coat, shoes, and stockings, walked
into the sea in my leathern jerkin, about half an hour before
high-water. I waded with what haste I could, and swam in the middle
about thirty yards, till I felt ground; I arrived at the fleet in less
than half an hour. The enemy were so frightened, when they saw me, that
they leaped out of their ships, and swam to shore, where there could not
be fewer than thirty thousand souls: I then took my tackling, and
fastening a hook to the hole at the prow of each, I tied all the cords
together at the end.

While I was thus employed, the enemy discharged several thousand arrows,
many of which stuck in my hands and face; and, besides the excessive
smart, gave me much disturbance in my work. My greatest apprehension was
for mine eyes, which I should have infallibly lost, if I had not
suddenly thought of an expedient. I kept, among other little
necessaries, a pair of spectacles, in a private pocket, which, as I
observed before, had escaped the emperor's searchers. These I took out,
and fastened as strongly as I could upon my nose, and thus armed, went
on boldly with my work, in spite of the enemy's arrows, many of which
struck against the glasses of my spectacles, but without any other
effect, farther than a little to discompose them.[26] I had now fastened
all the hooks, and, taking the knot in my hand, began to pull: but not a
ship would stir, for they were all too fast held by their anchors; so
that the boldest part of my enterprise remained. I therefore let go the
cord, and, leaving the hooks fixed to the ships, I resolutely cut with
my knife the cables that fastened the anchors, receiving above two
hundred shots in my face and hands; then I took up the knotted end of
the cables, to which my hooks were tied, and, with great ease, drew
fifty of the enemy's largest men-of-war after me.

The Blefuscudians, who had not the least imagination of what I intended,
were at first confounded with astonishment. They had seen me cut the
cables, and thought my design was only to let the ships run adrift, or
fall foul on each other: but when they perceived the whole fleet moving
in order, and saw me pulling at the end, they set up such a scream of
grief and despair as it is almost impossible to describe or conceive.
When I had got out of danger, I stopped awhile to pick out the arrows
that stuck in my hands and face: and rubbed on some of the same ointment
that was given me at my first arrival, as I have formerly mentioned. I
then took off my spectacles, and waiting about an hour, till the tide
was a little fallen, I waded through the middle with my cargo, and
arrived safe at the royal port of Lilliput.

The emperor and his whole court stood on the shore, expecting the issue
of this great adventure. They saw the ships move forward in a large
half-moon, but could not discern me, who was up to my breast in water.
When I advanced to the middle of the channel, they were yet more in
pain, because I was under water to my neck. The emperor concluded me to
be drowned, and that the enemy's fleet was approaching in an hostile
manner: but he was soon eased of his fears; for the channel growing
shallower every step I made, I came in a short time within hearing; and
holding up the end of the cable, by which the fleet was fastened, I
cried in a loud voice, Long live the most puissant[27] emperor of
Lilliput! This great prince received me at my landing, with all possible
encomiums, and created me a _nardac_ upon the spot, which is the highest
title of honor among them.

His majesty desired I would take some other opportunity of bringing all
the rest of his enemy's ships into his ports. And so immeasurable is the
ambition of princes, that he seemed to think of nothing less than
reducing the whole empire of Blefuscu into a province, and governing it
by viceroy; of destroying the Big-endian exiles, and compelling that
people to break the smaller end of their eggs, by which he would remain
the sole monarch of the whole world. But I endeavored to divert him from
this design, by many arguments, drawn from the topics of policy, as well
as justice. And I plainly protested, that I would never be an instrument
of bringing a free and brave people into slavery. And when the matter
was debated in council, the wisest part of the ministry were of my
opinion.

[Illustration: "AND CREATED ME A _NARDAC_ UPON THE SPOT." P. 58.]

This open, bold declaration of mine was so opposite to the schemes and
politics of his imperial majesty, that he could never forgive me; he
mentioned it, in a very artful manner, at council, where, I was told,
that some of the wisest appeared, at least by their silence, to be of my
opinion; but others, who were my secret enemies, could not forbear some
expressions, which by a side-wind reflected on me. And, from this time
began an intrigue between his majesty and a junto[28] of ministers
maliciously bent against me, which broke out in less than two months,
and had like to have ended in my utter destruction. Of so little weight
are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a
refusal to gratify their passions.

About three weeks after this exploit, there arrived a solemn embassy
from Blefuscu, with humble offers of peace; which was soon concluded,
upon conditions very advantageous to our emperor, wherewith I shall not
trouble the reader. There were six ambassadors, with a train of about
five hundred persons; and their entry was very magnificent, suitable to
the grandeur of their master, and the importance of their business. When
their treaty was finished, wherein I did them several good offices, by
the credit I now had, or at least appeared to have at court, their
excellencies, who were privately told how much I had been their friend,
made me a visit in form. They began with many compliments upon my valor
and generosity, invited me to that kingdom, in the emperor their
master's name, and desired me to show some proofs of my prodigious
strength, of which they had heard so many wonders; wherein I readily
obliged them, but shall not trouble the reader with the particulars.

[Illustration]

When I had for some time entertained their Excellencies, to their
infinite satisfaction and surprise, I desired they would do me the honor
to present my most humble respects to the emperor their master, the
renown of whose virtues had so justly filled the whole world with
admiration, and whose royal person I resolved to attend, before I
returned to my own country. Accordingly, the next time I had the honor
to see our emperor, I desired his general license to wait on the
Blefuscudian monarch, which he was pleased to grant me, as I could
plainly perceive, in a very cold manner; but could not guess the reason,
till I had a whisper from a certain person, that Flimnap and Bolgolam
had represented my intercourse with those ambassadors as a mark of
disaffection, from which, I am sure, my heart was wholly free. And this
was the first time I began to conceive some imperfect idea of courts and
ministers.

It is to be observed, that these ambassadors spoke to me by an
interpreter, the languages of both empires differing as much from each
other as any two in Europe, and each nation priding itself upon the
antiquity, beauty, and energy of its own tongue, with an avowed contempt
for that of its neighbor; yet our emperor, standing upon the advantage
he had got by the seizure of their fleet, obliged them to deliver their
credentials, and make their speech in the Lilliputian tongue.

And it must be confessed, that, from the great intercourse of trade and
commerce between both realms; from the continual reception of exiles,
which is mutual among them; and from the custom in each empire, to send
their young nobility, and richer gentry, to the other, in order to
polish themselves, by seeing the world, and understanding men and
manners; there are few persons of distinction, or merchants, or, seamen,
who dwell in the maritime parts, but what can hold conversation in both
tongues, as I found some weeks after, when I went to pay my respects to
the Emperor of Blefuscu, which, in the midst of great misfortunes,
through the malice of my enemies, proved a very happy adventure to me,
as I shall relate in its proper place.

The reader may remember, that when I signed those articles, upon which I
recovered my liberty, there were some which I disliked, upon account of
their being too servile; neither could anything but an extreme necessity
have forced me to submit. But, being now a _nardac_ of the highest rank
in that empire, such offices were looked upon as below my dignity, and
the emperor, to do him justice, never once mentioned them to me.
However, it was not long before I had an opportunity of doing his
majesty, at least as I then thought, a most signal service. I was
alarmed at midnight with the cries of many hundred people at my door, by
which, being suddenly awaked, I was in some kind of terror. I heard the
word _burglum_ repeated incessantly.

Several of the emperor's court, making their way through the crowd,
entreated me to come immediately to the palace, where her imperial
majesty's apartment was on fire, by the carelessness of a maid of honor,
who fell asleep while she was reading a romance. I got up in an instant;
and orders being given to clear the way before me, and it being likewise
a moonshine night, I made a shift to get to the palace, without
trampling on any of the people. I found they had already applied ladders
to the walls of the apartment, and were well provided with buckets, but
the water was at some distance. These buckets were about the size of a
large thimble, and the poor people supplied me with them as fast as they
could; but the flame was so violent that they did little good. I might
easily have stifled it with my coat, which I unfortunately left behind
me for haste, and came away only in my leathern jerkin. The case seemed
wholly desperate and deplorable, and this magnificent palace would have
infallibly been burnt down to the ground, if, by a presence of mind
unusual to me, I had not suddenly thought of an expedient by which in
three minutes the fire was wholly extinguished, and the rest of that
noble pile, which had cost so many ages in erecting, preserved from
destruction.

[Illustration]

It was now daylight, and I returned to my house, without waiting to
congratulate with the emperor; because, although I had done a very
eminent piece of service, yet I could not tell how his majesty might
resent the manner by which I had performed it: for, by the fundamental
laws of the realm, it is capital in any man, of what quality soever, to
even touch the empress or the royal princesses without invitation. But I
was a little comforted by a message from his majesty, that he would give
orders to the grand justiciary for passing my pardon in form, which,
however, I could not obtain. And I was privately assured that the
empress, conceiving the greatest abhorrence of me, and, in the presence
of her chief confidants, could not forbear vowing revenge.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: "Several Adventures that happened to the Author. The Execution of a Criminal. The Author shews his Skill in Navigation. Serving in Brobdingnag proves difficult for Gulliver. He experiences a series of dangers because of his small size-and because the dwarf relishes in making Gulliver's life difficult. The ladies at court treat Gulliver like a toy, dressing and undressing him and undressing themselves in front of him. Gulliver again mentions how offensive he finds the skin and smell of the Brobdingnagians. He remembers the Lilliputians' similar reaction to his smell, which he did not understand at the time. Gulliver nearly drowns when a toad jumps onto the boat the queen has had made for him. He is also carried to the top of the palace by a monkey and narrowly survives. The monkey is killed, and it is declared that monkeys will no longer be allowed in the palace


prompt:
Chapter: CHAPTER VI.

     OF THE INHABITANTS OF LILLIPUT; THEIR LEARNING, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS;
     THE MANNER OF EDUCATING THEIR CHILDREN. THE AUTHOR'S WAY OF LIVING
     IN THAT COUNTRY.

Although I intend to leave the description of this empire to a
particular treatise, yet, in the meantime, I am content to gratify the
curious reader with some general ideas. As the common size of the
natives is somewhat under six inches high, so there is an exact
proportion in all other animals, as well as plants and trees: for
instance, the tallest horses and oxen are between four and five inches
in height, the sheep an inch and a half, more or less; their geese about
the bigness of a sparrow, and so the several gradations downwards, till
you come to the smallest, which, to my sight, were almost invisible; but
nature hath adapted the eyes of the Lilliputians to all objects proper
for their view; they see with great exactness, but at no great distance.
And, to show the sharpness of their sight, towards objects that are
near, I have been much pleased with observing a cook pulling[29] a lark,
which was not so large as a common fly; and a young girl threading an
invisible needle with invisible silk.

Their tallest trees are about seven feet high; I mean some of those in
the great royal park, the tops whereof I could but just reach with my
fist clenched. The other vegetables are in the same proportion; but this
I leave to the reader's imagination.

I shall say but little at present of their learning, which, for many
ages, hath flourished in all its branches among them: but their manner
of writing is very peculiar, being neither from the left to the right
like the Europeans; nor from the right to the left, like the Arabians;
nor from up to down, like the Chinese, but aslant, from one corner of
the paper to the other, like ladies in England.

They bury their dead with their heads directly downwards, because they
hold an opinion, that in eleven thousand moons they are all to rise
again, in which period the earth (which they conceive to be flat) will
turn upside down, and by this means they shall, at the resurrection, be
found ready, standing on their feet. The learned among them confess the
absurdity of this doctrine, but the practice still continues, in
compliance to the vulgar.

There are some laws and customs in this empire very peculiar; and, if
they were not so directly contrary to those of my own dear country, I
should be tempted to say a little in their justification. It is only to
be wished they were as well executed. The first I shall mention relates
to informers. All crimes against the state are punished here with the
utmost severity; but, if the person accused maketh his innocence plainly
to appear upon his trial, the accuser is immediately put to an
ignominious death; and, out of his goods, or lands, the innocent person
is quadruply recompensed for the loss of his time, for the danger he
underwent, for the hardship of his imprisonment, and for all the charges
he hath been at in making his defence, or, if that fund be deficient,
it is largely supplied by the crown. The emperor also confers on him
some public mark of his favor, and proclamation is made of his innocence
through the whole city.

They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom
fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance,
with a very common understanding, may preserve a man's goods from
thieves, but honesty has no fence against superior cunning; and, since
it is necessary that there should be a perpetual intercourse of buying
and selling, and dealing upon credit, where fraud is permitted and
connived at, or hath no law to punish it, the honest dealer is always
undone, and the knave gets the advantage. I remember, when I was once
interceding with the king for a criminal, who had wronged his master of
a great sum of money, which he had received by order, and run away with,
and happening to tell his majesty, by way of extenuation, that it was
only a breach of trust, the emperor thought it monstrous in me, to offer
as a defence the greatest aggravation of the crime; and, truly, I had
little to say in return, farther than the common answer, that different
nations had different customs; for, I confess, I was heartily ashamed.

Although we usually call reward and punishment the two hinges upon which
all government turns, yet I could never observe this maxim to be put in
practice by any nation except that of Lilliput. Whoever can there bring
sufficient proof that he hath strictly observed the laws of his country
for seventy-three moons, hath a claim to certain privileges, according
to his quality and condition of life, with a proportionable sum of out
of a fund appropriated for that use; he likewise acquires the title of
_snillpall_, or _legal_, which is added to his name, but doth not
descend to his posterity. And these people thought it a prodigious
defect of policy among us, when I told them that our laws were enforced
only by penalties, without any mention of reward. It is upon this
account that the image of Justice, in their courts of judicature, is
formed with six eyes, two before, as many behind, and on each side one,
to signify circumspection, with a bag of gold open in her right hand,
and a sword sheath in her left, to show she was more disposed to reward
than to punish.

In choosing persons for all employments, they have more regard to good
morals than to great abilities; for, since government is necessary to
mankind, they believe that the common size of human understanding is
fitted to some station or other, and that Providence never intended to
make the management of public affairs a mystery, to be comprehended only
by a few persons of sublime genius, of which there seldom are three born
in an age; but they suppose truth, justice, temperance, and the like, to
be in every man's power, the practice of which virtues, assisted by
experience, and a good intention, would qualify any man for the service
of his country, except where a course of study is required. But they
thought the want of moral virtues was so far from being supplied by
superior endowments of the mind, that employments could never be put
into such dangerous hands as those of persons so qualified; and at
least, that the mistakes committed by ignorance, in a virtuous
disposition, would never be of such fatal consequences to the public
weal as the practices of a man whose inclinations led him to be corrupt,
and who had great abilities to manage, to multiply, and defend his
corruptions.

In like manner, the disbelief of a Divine Providence renders a man
incapable of holding any public station; for, since kings avow
themselves to be the deputies of Providence, the Lilliputians think
nothing can be more absurd than for a prince to employ such men as
disown the authority under which he acts.

In relating these and the following laws, I would only be understood to
mean the original institutions, and not the most scandalous corruptions
into which these people are fallen, by the degenerate nature of man.
For, as to that infamous practice of acquiring great employments by
dancing on the ropes, or badges of favor and distinction by leaping over
sticks, and creeping under them, the reader is to observe, that they
were first introduced by the grandfather of the emperor, now reigning,
and grew to the present height by the gradual increase of party and
faction.

Ingratitude is, among them, a capital crime, as we read it to have been
in some other countries; for they reason thus, that whoever makes ill
returns to his benefactor, must needs be a common enemy to the rest of
mankind, from whom he hath received no obligation, and therefore such a
man is not fit to live.

Their notions relating to the duties of parents and children differ
extremely from ours. Their opinion is, that parents are the last of all
others to be trusted with the education of their own children; and,
therefore, they have, in every town, public nurseries, where all
parents, except cottagers and laborers, are obliged to send their
infants of both sexes to be reared and educated, when they come to the
age of twenty moons, at which time they are supposed to have some
rudiments of docility. These schools are of several kinds, suited to
different qualities, and to both sexes. They have certain professors,
well skilled in preparing children for such a condition of life as
befits the rank of their parents, and their own capacities as well as
inclinations. I shall first say something of the male nurseries, and
then of the female.

The nurseries for males of noble or eminent birth are provided with
grave and learned professors, and their several deputies. The clothes
and food of the children are plain and simple. They are bred up in the
principles of honor, justice, courage, modesty, clemency, religion, and
love of their country; they are always employed in some business, except
in the times of eating and sleeping, which are very short, and two hours
for diversions, consisting of bodily exercises. They are dressed by men
till four years of age, and then are obliged to dress themselves,
although their quality be ever so great; and the women attendants, who
are aged proportionably to ours at fifty, perform only the most menial
offices. They are never suffered to converse with servants, but go
together in smaller or greater numbers to take their diversions, and
always in the presence of a professor, or one of his deputies; whereby
they avoid those early bad impressions of folly and vice, to which our
children are subject. Their parents are suffered to see them only twice
a year; the visit to last but an hour; they are allowed to kiss the
child at meeting and parting; but a professor, who always stands by on
those occasions, will not suffer them to whisper, or use any fondling
expressions, or bring any presents of toys, sweetmeats, and the like.

The pension from each family, for the education and entertainment of a
child, upon failure of due payment, is levied by the emperor's officers.

The nurseries for children of ordinary gentlemen, merchants, traders,
and handicrafts, are managed proportionally after the same manner; only
those designed for trades are put out apprentices at eleven years old,
whereas those persons of quality continue in their exercises till
fifteen, which answers to twenty-one with us; but the confinement is
gradually lessened for the last three years.

In the female nurseries, the young girls of quality are educated much
like the males, only they are dressed by orderly servants of their own
sex; but always in the presence of a professor or deputy, till they come
to dress themselves, which is at five years old. And if it be found that
these nurses ever presume to entertain the girls with frightful or
foolish stories, or the common follies practised by the chambermaids
among us, they are publicly whipped thrice about the city, imprisoned
for a year, and banished for life to the most desolate part of the
country. Thus, the young ladies there are as much ashamed of being
cowards and fools as the men, and despise all personal ornaments beyond
decency and cleanliness: neither did I perceive any difference in their
education, made by their difference of sex, only that the exercises of
the women were not altogether so robust, and that some rules were given
them relating to domestic life, and a smaller compass of learning was
enjoined them: for their maxim is that, among people of quality, a wife
should be always a reasonable and agreeable companion, because she
cannot always be young. When the girls are twelve years old, which
among them is the marriageable age, their parents or guardians take
them home, with great expressions of gratitude to the professors, and
seldom without tears of the young lady and her companions.

In the nurseries of females of the meaner sort, the children are
instructed in all kinds of works proper for their sex and their several
degrees; those intended for apprentices are dismissed at seven years
old, the rest are kept to eleven.

The meaner[30] families who have children at these nurseries are
obliged, besides their annual pension, which is as low as possible, to
return to the steward of the nursery a small monthly share of their
gettings, to be a portion[31] for the child; and, therefore, all parents
are limited in their expenses by the law. For the Lilliputians think
nothing can be more unjust than for people to leave the burden of
supporting their children on the public. As to persons of quality, they
give security to appropriate a certain sum for each child, suitable to
their condition; and these funds are always managed with good husbandry
and the most exact justice.

The cottagers and laborers keep their children at home, their business
being only to till and cultivate the earth, and therefore their
education is of little consequence to the public; but the old and
diseased among them are supported by hospitals; for begging is a trade
unknown in this empire.

And here it may perhaps divert the curious reader to give some account
of my domestic,[32] and my manner of living in this country, during a
residence of nine months and thirteen days. Having a head for
mechanics, and being likewise forced by necessity, I had made for myself
a table and chair, convenient enough, out of the largest trees in the
royal park. Two hundred sempstresses were employed to make me shirts,
and linen for my bed and table, all of the strongest and coarsest kind
they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together in
several folds, for the thickest was some degrees finer than lawn. Their
linen is usually three inches wide, and three feet make a piece.

The sempstresses took my measure as I lay on the ground, one standing at
my neck, and another at my mid-leg, with a strong cord extended that
each held by the end, while a third measured the length of the cord with
a rule of an inch long. Then they measured my right thumb, and desired
no more; for, by a mathematical computation, that twice round the thumb
is once round the wrist, and so on to the neck and the waist, and by the
help of my old shirt, which I displayed on the ground before them for a
pattern, they fitted me exactly. Three hundred tailors were employed in
the same manner to make me clothes; but they had another contrivance for
taking my measure. I kneeled down, and they raised a ladder from the
ground to my neck; upon this ladder one of them mounted, and let fall a
plumb-line from my collar to the floor, which just answered the length
of my coat; but my waist and arms I measured myself. When my clothes
were finished, which was done in my house (for the largest of theirs
would not have been able to hold them), they looked like the patchwork
made by the ladies in England, only that mine were all of a color.

[Illustration: "THREE HUNDRED TAILORS WERE EMPLOYED TO MAKE ME CLOTHES"
P. 74.]

I had three hundred cooks to dress my victuals, in little convenient
huts built about my house, where they and their families lived, and
prepared me two dishes a-piece. I took up twenty waiters in my hand, and
placed them on the table; an hundred more attended below on the ground,
some with dishes of meat, and some with barrels of wine and other
liquors, flung on their shoulders; all of which the waiters above drew
up, as I wanted, in a very ingenious manner, by certain cords, as we
draw the bucket up a well in Europe. A dish of their meat was a good
mouthful, and a barrel of their liquor a reasonable draught. Their
mutton yields to ours, but their beef is excellent, I have had a sirloin
so large that I have been forced to make three bites of it; but this is
rare. My servants were astonished to see me eat it, bones and all, as in
our country we do the leg of a lark. Their geese and turkeys I usually
eat at a mouthful, and I must confess they far exceed ours. Of their
smaller fowl, I could take up twenty or thirty at the end of my knife.

One day his imperial majesty, being informed of my way of living,
desired that himself and his royal consort, with the young princes of
the blood of both sexes, might have the happiness, as he was pleased to
call it, of dining with me. They came accordingly, and I placed them in
chairs of state upon my table, just over against me, with their guards
about them. Flimnap, the lord high treasurer, attended there likewise,
with his white staff; and I observed he often looked on me with a sour
countenance, which I would not seem to regard, but eat more than usual,
in honor to my dear country, as well as to fill the court with
admiration. I have some private reasons to believe that this visit from
his majesty gave Flimnap an opportunity of doing me ill offices to his
master. That minister had always been my secret enemy, though he
outwardly caressed me more than was usual to the moroseness of his
nature. He represented to the emperor the low condition of his treasury;
that he was forced to take up money at a great discount; that exchequer
bills[33] would not circulate under nine per cent, below par; that I had
cost his majesty above a million and a half of _sprugs_ (their greatest
gold coin, about the bigness of a spangle); and, upon the whole, that it
would be advisable in the emperor to take the first fair occasion of
dismissing me.

[Illustration: "THE HAPPINESS ... OF DINING WITH ME." P. 76.]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: "Several Contrivances of the Author to please the King and Queen. He shews his Skill in Musick. The King enquires into the State of Europe, which the Author relates to him. The King's Observations thereon. Gulliver salvages several of the king's hairs from his shaving cream and makes himself a comb. He then makes the seat of a chair from the queen's hair but refuses to sit on it because doing so would be insulting to her. He also makes Glumdalclitch a small purse. Gulliver spends the evening at a concert in Brobdingnag. For him the music is so loud that he cannot enjoy it unless his traveling box is brought as far away as possible and all of the windows and doors are closed. Gulliver often goes to see the king, who requests a detailed description of the government of England, which Gulliver relates. The king asks him many questions, challenging various aspects of the government and having particular difficulty with England's violent past. In the end the king concludes that the English are well below the Brobdingnagians, calling them "the most pernicious Race of Little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth


prompt:
Chapter: CHAPTER VII.

     THE AUTHOR, BEING INFORMED OF A DESIGN TO ACCUSE HIM OF HIGH
     TREASON, MAKES HIS ESCAPE TO BLEFUSCU. HIS RECEPTION THERE.

Before I proceed to give an account of my leaving this kingdom, it may
be proper to inform the reader of a private intrigue which had been for
two months forming against me.

I had been hitherto all my life a stranger to courts, for which I was
unqualified by the meanness of my condition. I had indeed heard and read
enough of the dispositions of great princes and ministers, but never
expected to have found such terrible effects of them in so remote a
country, governed, as I thought, by very different maxims from those in
Europe.

When I was just preparing to pay my attendance on the emperor of
Blefuscu, a considerable person at court (to whom I had been very
serviceable, at a time when he lay under the highest displeasure of his
imperial majesty) came to my house very privately at night, in a close
chair,[34] and without sending his name, desired admittance. The
chairmen were dismissed; I put the chair, with his lordship in it, into
my coat-pocket; and, giving orders to a trusty servant to say I was
indisposed and gone to sleep, I fastened the door of my house, placed
the chair on the table, according to my usual custom, and sat down by
it. After the common salutations were over, observing his lordship's
countenance full of concern, and inquiring into the reason, he desired I
would hear him with patience, in a matter that highly concerned my honor
and my life. His speech was to the following effect, for I took notes of
it as soon as he left me:--

You are to know, said he, that several committees of council have been
lately called in the most private manner on your account; and it is but
two days since his majesty came to a full resolution.

You are very sensible that Skyrris Bolgolam (_galbet_ or high-admiral)
hath been your mortal enemy almost ever since your arrival: his original
reasons I know not; but his hatred is increased since your great success
against Blefuscu, by which his glory, as admiral, is much obscured. This
lord, in conjunction with Flimnap the high treasurer, whose enmity
against you is notorious, Limtoc the general, Lalcon the chamberlain,
and Balmuff the grand justiciary, have prepared articles of impeachment
against you, for treason, and other capital crimes.

This preface made me so impatient, being conscious of my own merits and
innocence, that I was going to interrupt; when he entreated me to be
silent, and thus proceeded.

[Illustration: "HE DESIRED I WOULD HEAR HIM WITH PATIENCE." P. 80.]

Out of gratitude for the favors you have done for me, I procured
information of the whole proceedings, and a copy of the articles;
wherein I venture my head for your service.

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST QUINBUS FLESTRIN, THE MAN-MOUNTAIN.

ARTICLE I.

     Whereas, by a statute made in the reign of his Imperial Majesty
     Calin Deffar Plune, it is enacted, That whoever shall lay hands
     upon the empress, or upon any of the royal children, shall be
     liable to the pains and penalties of high treason. Notwithstanding,
     the said Quinbus Flestrin, in open breach of the said law, under
     color of extinguishing the fire kindled in the apartment of his
     Majesty's most dear imperial consort, did maliciously, and
     traitorously, pull her by the arms, and lift her high in the air in
     both his hands, against the statute in that case provided, &c.,
     against the duty, &c.

     ARTICLE II.

     That the said Quinbus Flestrin, having brought the imperial fleet
     of Blefuscu into the royal port, and being afterwards commanded by
     his imperial majesty to seize all the other ships of the said
     empire of Blefuscu, and reduce that empire to a province, to be
     governed by a viceroy from hence, and to destroy and put to death,
     not only all the Big-endian exiles, but likewise all the people of
     that empire who would not immediately forsake the Big-endian
     heresy. He, the said Flestrin, like a false traitor against his
     most auspicious, serene, imperial majesty, did petition to be
     excused from the said service, upon pretence of unwillingness to
     force the consciences or destroy the liberties and lives of an
     innocent people.

     ARTICLE III.

     That, whereas certain ambassadors arrived from the court of
     Blefuscu, to sue for peace in his majesty's court; he, the said
     Flestrin, did, like a false traitor, aid, abet, comfort, and divert
     the said ambassadors, although he knew them to be servants to a
     prince who was lately an open enemy to his imperial majesty, and in
     open war against his said majesty.

     ARTICLE IV.

     That the said Quinbus Flestrin, contrary to the duty of a faithful
     subject, is now preparing to make a voyage to the court and empire
     of Blefuscu, for which he hath received only verbal license from
     his imperial majesty; and under color of the said license, doth
     falsely and traitorously intend to take the said voyage, and
     thereby to aid, comfort, and abet the emperor of Blefuscu, so late
     an enemy, and in open war with his imperial majesty aforesaid.

There are some other articles, but these are the most important, of
which I have read you an abstract.

In the several debates upon this impeachment, it must be confessed that
his majesty gave many marks of his great lenity, often urging the
services you had done him, and endeavoring to extenuate your crimes. The
treasurer and admiral insisted that you should be put to the most
painful and ignominious death, by setting fire on your house at night;
and the general was to attend, with twenty thousand men armed with
poisoned arrows, to shoot you on the face and hands. Some of your
servants were to have private orders to strew a poisonous juice on your
shirts and sheets, which would soon make you tear your own flesh, and
die in the utmost torture. The general came into the same opinion; so
that for a long time there was a majority against you: but his majesty
resolving, if possible, to spare your life, at last brought off the
chamberlain.

Upon this incident, Reldresal, principal secretary for private affairs,
who always approved himself your true friend, was commanded by the
emperor to deliver his opinion, which he accordingly did; and therein
justified the good thoughts you have of him. He allowed your crimes to
be great, but that still there was room for mercy, the most commendable
virtue in a prince, and for which his majesty was so justly celebrated.
He said, the friendship between you and him was so well known to the
world, that perhaps the most honorable board might think him partial;
however, in obedience to the command he had received, he would freely
offer his sentiments; that if his majesty, in consideration of your
services, and pursuant to his own merciful disposition, would please to
spare your life, and only give orders to put out both your eyes, he
humbly conceived that, by this expedient, justice might in some measure
be satisfied, and all the world would applaud the lenity of the emperor,
as well as the fair and generous proceedings of those who have the honor
to be his counsellors: that the loss of your eyes would be no impediment
to your bodily strength, by which you might still be useful to his
majesty: that blindness is an addition to courage, by concealing dangers
from us: that the fear you had for your eyes was the greatest difficulty
in bringing over the enemy's fleet: and it would be sufficient for you
to see by the eyes of the ministers, since the greatest princes do no
more.

[Illustration]

This proposal was received with the utmost disapprobation by the whole
board. Bolgolam, the admiral, could not preserve his temper, but rising
up in fury, said he wondered how the secretary durst presume to give his
opinion for preserving the life of a traitor: that the services you had
performed were, by all true reasons of state, the great aggravation of
your crimes: that you, who extinguished the fire in that unprincipled
manner, might at another time inundate and drown the whole palace; and
the same strength, which enabled you to bring over the enemy's fleet,
might serve, upon the first discontent, to carry it back: that he had
good reasons to think you were a Big-endian in your heart; and, as
treason begins in the heart, before it appears in overt acts, so he
accused you as a traitor on that account, and therefore insisted you
should be put to death.

The treasurer was of the same opinion. He showed to what straits his
majesty's revenue was reduced, by the charge of maintaining you, which
would soon grow insupportable. That the secretary's expedient of putting
out your eyes was so far from being a remedy against this evil, that it
would probably increase it, as is manifest from the common practice of
blinding some sort of fowls, after which they fed the faster, and grew
sooner fat. That his sacred majesty, and the council, who are your
judges, were to their own consciences fully convinced of your guilt,
which was a sufficient argument to condemn you to death without the
formal proofs required by the strict letter of the law.

But his imperial majesty, fully determined against capital punishment,
was graciously pleaded to say, that since the council thought the loss
of your eyes too easy a censure, some other might be inflicted
hereafter. And your friend, the secretary, humbly desiring to be heard
again, in answer to what the treasurer had objected concerning the great
charge his majesty was at in maintaining you, said that his excellency,
who had the sole disposal of the emperor's revenue, might easily provide
against that evil, by gradually lessening your establishment; by which,
for want of sufficient food, you would grow weak and faint, and lose
your appetite, and consume in a few months; neither would the stench of
your carcase be then so dangerous when it should become more than half
diminished; and, immediately upon your death, five or six thousand of
his majesty's subjects might in two or three days cut your flesh from
your bones, take it away by cart-loads, and bury it in distant parts, to
prevent infection, leaving the skeleton as a monument of admiration to
posterity.

Thus, by the great friendship of the secretary, the whole affair was
compromised. It was strictly enjoined that the project of starving you
by degrees should be kept a secret, but the sentence of putting out your
eyes was entered on the books, none dissenting except Bolgolam, the
admiral, who, being a creature of the empress, was perpetually
instigated by her majesty to insist upon your death, she having borne
perpetual malice against you, on account of that illegal method you took
to remove her and her children the night of the fire.

In three days, your friend the secretary will be directed to come to
your house and read before you the articles of impeachment; and then to
signify the great lenity and favor of his majesty and council, whereby
you are only condemned to the loss of your eyes, which his majesty doth
not question you will gratefully and humbly submit to; and twenty of his
majesty's surgeons will attend, in order to see the operation well
performed, by discharging very sharp-pointed arrows into the balls of
your eyes as you lie on the ground.

I leave to your prudence what measures you will take; and, to avoid
suspicion, I must immediately return, in as private a manner as I came.

His lordship did so, and I remained alone, under many doubts and
perplexities of mind.

It was a custom, introduced by this prince and his ministry (very
different, as I have been assured, from the practices of former times),
that after the court had decreed any cruel execution either to gratify
the monarch's resentment or the malice of a favorite, the emperor always
made a speech to his whole council, expressing his great lenity and
tenderness, as qualities known and confessed by all the world. This
speech was immediately published through the kingdom; nor did anything
terrify the people so much as those encomiums on his majesty's mercy;
because it was observed that, the more these praises were enlarged and
insisted on, the more inhuman was the punishment, and the sufferer more
innocent. Yet, as to myself, I must confess, having never been designed
for a courtier, either by my birth or education, I was so ill a judge of
things that I could not discover the lenity and favor of this sentence,
but conceived it (perhaps erroneously) rather to be rigorous than
gentle, I sometimes thought of standing my trial; for although I could
not deny the facts alleged in the several articles, yet I hoped they
would admit of some extenuation. But having in my life perused many
state-trials, which I ever observed to terminate as the judges thought
fit to direct, I durst not rely on so dangerous a decision, in so
critical a juncture, and against such powerful enemies. Once I was
strongly bent upon resistance, for, while I had liberty, the whole
strength of that empire could hardly subdue me, and I might easily with
stones pelt the metropolis to pieces; but I soon rejected that project
with horror, by remembering the oath I had made to the emperor, the
favors I received from him, and the high title of _nardac_ he conferred
upon me. Neither had I so soon learned the gratitude of courtiers as to
persuade myself that his majesty's present seventies acquitted me of all
past obligations.

At last I fixed upon a resolution, for which it is probable I may incur
some censure, and not unjustly; for I confess I owe the preserving mine
eyes, and consequently my liberty, to my own great rashness and want of
experience; because if I had then known the nature of princes and
ministers, which I have since observed in many other courts, and their
methods of treating criminals less obnoxious than myself, I should with
great alacrity and readiness have submitted to so easy a punishment.
But, hurried on by the precipitancy of youth, and having his imperial
majesty's license to pay my attendance upon the emperor of Blefuscu, I
took this opportunity, before the three days were elapsed, to send a
letter to my friend the secretary, signifying my resolution of setting
out that morning for Blefuscu pursuant to the leave I had got; and,
without waiting for an answer, I went to that side of the island where
our fleet lay. I seized a large man-of-war, tied a cable to the prow,
and lifting up the anchors, I stript myself, put my clothes (together
with my coverlet, which I carried under my arm) into the vessel, and
drawing it after me, between wading and swimming arrived at the royal
port of Blefuscu, where the people had long expected me; they lent me
two guides to direct me to the capital city, which is of the same name.
I held them in my hands until I came within two hundred yards of the
gate, and desired them to signify my arrival to one of the secretaries,
and let him know I there waited his majesty's command. I had an answer
in about an hour, that his majesty, attended by the royal family and
great officers of the court, was coming out to receive me. I advanced a
hundred yards. The emperor and his train alighted from their horses, the
empress and ladies from their coaches, and I did not perceive they were
in any fright or concern. I lay on the ground to kiss his majesty's and
the empress's hand.

[Illustration]

I told his majesty that I was come, according to my promise, and with
the license of the emperor, my master, to have the honor of seeing so
mighty a monarch, and to offer him any service in my power consistent
with my duty to my own prince, not mentioning a word of my disgrace,
because I had hitherto no regular information of it, and might suppose
myself wholly ignorant of any such design; neither could I reasonably
conceive that the emperor would discover the secret while I was out of
his power, wherein however it soon appeared I was deceived.

I shall not trouble the reader with the particular account of my
reception at this court, which was suitable to the generosity of so
great a prince; nor of the difficulties I was in for want of a house and
bed, being forced to lie on the ground, wrapped up in my coverlet.

[Illustration]

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: "The Author's Love of his Country. He makes a Proposal of much Advantage to the King, which is rejected. The King's great Ignorance in Politicks. The Learning of that Country very imperfect and confined. Their Laws, and military Affairs, and Parties in the State. Gulliver is offended by the manner in which the king has dismissed the English as a lowly society. He tries to impress the king by telling him about some of the many great inventions of England, beginning with gunpowder. Gulliver goes into great detail about the power and effect of gunpowder and what the king could accomplish with it, saying that he could easily control everyone in Brobdingnag with gunpowder. The king is "struck with Horror" and disgusted by Gulliver's proposals. He tells Gulliver that if he values his life, he should never mention gunpowder again. Gulliver cannot believe that the king would reject such an immense opportunity. Gulliver then discusses the general ignorance of the Brobdingnag people, including their simple laws and practices