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@ulliver's' Travels';L.ill~uf 1

Gulliverawakesto find himselftiedto the ground,unableto move.Helooksuponly to realisethat hiscaptorsare diminutive peopleno biggerthanhisforefinger.

..

Vaugh,~~ VAUGHAN COLLECTION

U,U('¡IIANCOUICIIQN

@uUiver's' --- Travels':!Ju!Pu1

@ulliver's' Travels': LiII!puf

In presentingus witha worldon its head, Swift'sclassicadventurestory parodies andquestionsthe customsof our own civilization.

ByJonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels: Lilliput

Chapter 1

We set saiP from Bristol, England on May 4,1699, and our voyage started out very well. However, close to the East Indies, a violent storm pushed us to the northwest of Van Diemen's Land. Twelve of our crew died because of the hard work and bad food. The rest 9f us, the only survivors, were left very,very weak. On November 5, which was the beginning of summer in that part of the world, the strong winds blew our ship up onto a large rock that was half as long as our ship; the ship split into two pieces and only six of us were able to escape on a smalllife boato We rowed2 for about fourteen kilometers until we couldn't row anymore. We were at the merey of the sea, and in about half an hour some strong waves sank' our litde boato 1 don't know what happened to my companions in the boat, or those who were left in the split ship, but 1 assumed they were all dead. 1 swam for my life, and was pushed in every direction by the wind and waves. When 1was finally unable to swim any longer, 1 discovered that 1was in shallow water and 1waIked almost a mile in the water before 1 got to the shore at about eight o'clock in the evening. 1 waIked for about half a mile, but could not discover any sign ofhouses or inhabitants. But 1was so weak that even if they were there,I didn't see them. 1 was exhausted and lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft, and slept more deeply than ever before in my life. 1 think 1 slept for about nine hours because when 1 woke up the sun was just starting to rise. 1 tried to sit up, but 1.1'0 sel sail - Soltar amarra..

2.1'0 TU,,"- Remar. 3,1'0 .ink - HOlldir.

- .'3-

Vaughan Systems

Gulliver's Travels: LilJiput

they all ran back, terrified, and some of them, 1 was told later, were hurt by falling from my sides down to the ground. However, they all soon retumed, and one of them, who was able to get a good look at my face, cried out with admiration, Hekinah deg;ul!The others repeated the same words several times, but 1 didn't understand what they meant. 1 lay there the whole time, as you can imagine, in great pain. With great effort 1was able to break the strings that held my left arm to the ground. Next, with a violent pull that hurt tremendously, 1was able to loosen the strings that tied down my hair on the left side, so that 1 was able to tum my head about five centimeters.

1/

But when the inhabitants saw that 1was being quiet, they didn't shoot any more arrows. 1nstead, 1 heard a knocking" sound about two meters from my right ear that continued for more than an hour. When 1 strained my eyes to the right to see, 1 saw they had built a platform about one meter tall, capable ofholding four of the inhabitants, with two or three ladders9 leaning against it.

couldn't move. 1 was lying on my back and discovered that my arms and legs were firmly attached on each side to the ground. My hair, which was long and thick, was tied down in the same way. 1 also felt several thin ropes across my body, from my armpits. to my thighs5. 1 couldn't tum my head to the side; 1 could only look up and the sunlight hurt my eyes. 1 heard noise and sensed confusion around me, but in the position 1 was in 1 couldn't see anything. A few minutes later, 1 felt something moving on my left lego 1t moved onto my chest, and then up to my chino 1 looked down with my eyes as much as 1 could, and saw what looked like ahuman crea10re fifteen centimeters high, with a bow and arrow6 in his hands. 800n, 1 felt at least forty more of the same type of creature following the first. 1 was astonished by this and yelled so loudly that

4. Annl,its - A.,íIJS. 5. Thighs - Muslos. 6. 80w and arrow - \rco)' flechJ.

- 4-

Before 1 could grab any of the creatures with my hand, they ran away and then 1 heard a lot of noise that sounded like yelling. After it stopped, 1 heard one of them cry Talgo Phonic!; in an instant 1 felt a hundred needles hit my left hand. They shot another hundred of their arrows into the air and many of them fell on my body and some on my face, which 1 immediately covered with my left hand to protect it from the pain. When 1 tried to break free, some of them tried to stick me in my sides with little spears7. Luckily, 1 still had my leather vest on, which the spears couldn't pierce.

J

On the platform, an official-lookingcrea10remade a long speech that 1 didn't understand. Beforehe began his speech, he cried out three times,Lang;rodehul san! and they immediatelycut the strings that fastened the left side of my head, which let me 10m it to the right so 1 could see the person better. He looked middle aged, and was a bit longer than my middle finger,but he was taller than his three attendants. The crea10reacted like a king, and during his speech, 1 heard some things that sounded like threatslOand others that sounded like ,promises.1answered in a fewwords, but in a very obedient manner.

7. S.,ear

LJma.

8. Knocking - De g;olpcs. 9. Ladder - Escalera.

-5-

lO. Threat - \lIIcnaza.

Vaughan Systems

Gulliver's Travels: Lilliput

I hadn't eaten for several hours before leaving the ship and was so hungry that I put my finger to my mouth, to signal that I wanted food, even though I was embarrassed to do so. The hurgo (for so they call a great lord, as I learned later) understood me very well. He climbed down &om the platform ladder, and several more ladders were placed on my sides and a hundred of the inhabitants climbed up towards my mouth, holding baskets full of meato I saw the flesh of several animals, but couldn't figure outll what they were by taste. There were shoulders, legs and loins, shaped like those of a sheep, but all smaller than the wings of a tiny bird. I put several of them in my mouth, and ate three loaves of bread, about as large as bullets, at a time. They fed me as fast as they could, expressing wonder and astonishment at my giant size and appetite. Then I made a sign that I wanted something to drink. Because they were very intelligent and creative people, they threw, with great skill, one of their largest barrels onto my chest and rolled it towards my hand. I drank its liquid in one swallow, which was easy to do because the barrel only held half a pint ofliquid that tasted like a good Burgundy wine, but was much more delicious. They brought me a second barrel, which I drank in the same manner, and signaled for more; but they had no more to give me. When I was performing these 'wonders', they shouted for joy, and danced upon my chest, repeating several times as they did at first, Hekinah degul! They made a sign asking me to throw down the two barreIs and warned the people below to stand out of the way with Borach molevah! When I threw the barreIs into the air, the several hundred people around me shouted Hekinah degul! I was tempted to grab forty or fifty of them when they were on my body and throw them to the ground. But the memory of the arrows, which might not be the worst weaponI2 they had, and the fact that I admired them for some strange reason made me forget these temptations. Besides I thought, I should respect their hospitality; they had treated me with great expense - the food alone must have cost a fortune. I was amazed by the bravery of these tiny humans, who dared to get up and walk on my body while one of my hands was free!

After a while, when I didn't ask for any more meat or drink, I felt something on my right legoHis Excellency, a person of apparently high rank, walked &om my right knee up to my face, with twelve of his assistants and held out his royal credentials close to my eyes for my inspection. He spoke for about ten minutes without anger, but often pointed with emphasis towards what I learned later was the capital city, about half a mile away. I assumed he wanted to take me there. I answered him by putting my free left hand over to my right hand to signal that I wanted to be set free. It appeared that His Excellency understood me well enough, because he shook his head to say 'no', and held his hand up in a way to indicate that I must be carried there as a prisoner. However, he made other signs to indicate I would have enough to eat and drink and would be treated very well.

11

800n, I heard the words Peplom selan! shouted and I felt hundreds of people on my left side releasing the cords enough for me to turn onto my right side so I could urinate, to the great astonishment of the people who irnmediately moved far away to avoid the noise of this raging river! But before I did this, they rubbed my face and hands with an ointment, which, in a few minutes, removed the pain of their arrows. I slept about eight hours, they told me later. It was because the physicians, by the Emperor's orders, had put a drug in the barreIs of wine.

,

These people were excellent mathematicians; hundreds of carpenters and engineers irnmediately started to build a huge engine to carry me to their capital. It was a wooden frame six centimeters above the ground, about three meters long and one and a half meters wide that rolled on twenty-two wheels. They put it next to where I lay, but the big problem was to figure out how to put me on it. Eighty poles were erected for this purpose, and the cords connected to them were tied around my neck, hands, body and legs. Nine hundred of their strongest men tightened and attached the cords to the poles. In less than three hours, I was tied onto the engine. I was asleep during this operation, thanks to more of the physicians' medicine. Fifteen hundred of the Emperor's largest horses, each about twelve centÍmeters high, were used to pull me towards the city.

11. '1'0 fi¡¡;urc out - Averiguar. 12. \Vcal'0ll - Arma.

-6-

- 7-

Gulliver's Travels: Lilliput

Vaughan Systems

About four hours after we began our joumey, two or three of the young natives wanted to see what 1 looked like when 1 was asleep. They climbed up onto the engine, and crawled onto my face. 1 woke up instandy when one of them, an officer, put the end ofhis spear into my left nostril, which tickledl3 and made me sneeze. The next moming at sunrise we continued, and were at the city gates by noon. The Emperor of the kingdom and all ofhis court carne out to greet us; but his cautious officers wouldn't let His Majesty get up on my body. The city gates were next to an ancient temple, the largest in the entire kingdom. Someone had been murdered there several years before and so now it was only for public use and its decorations had been removed. They decided to use this temple as my prison. The entrance gate was about one and a half meters high and one meter wide, enough space for me to easily crawl inside. Next to the temple there was a tower at least two meters high, from where the Emperor could watch me. So many people carne to look at me that a law was soon passed which made it illegal to get on my body. The guards cut my cords and put eighty chains and locks around my left leg that were long enough to let me lie down and walk around the temple. When 1 finally got up, 1was as depressed as 1 have ever been in my life. But when the people saw me get up and walk, their cheersl4 and astonishment made me feel better.

Y, '4

Chapter 2

When 1 crawledl out of my house in the morning to look around, the view was beautiful. The countryside looked like a huge garden, and the fields were separated by small forests in which the tallest trees were only about seven feet tallo

"

1 desperately needed to relieve myself. It had been almost two days since 1 had last gone to the bathroom. The best solution 1 could think of was to crawl back into my house and close the gate. 1went as far as my chain allowed and relieved myself in the comer. This was the only time in my life that 1 was ever guilty2 of such rude behavior. 1 hope the reader will forgive me for it when he considers what physical stress 1 was in. After this embarrassing event, 1 changed my routine. 1 decided to go in the open air, outside of my palace. Two servants carne every morning to take away my waste in several wheelbarrows3. When the Emperor carne to see me later that morning on his horse, (the beast was very upset by my size!) he looked at me with great admiration but stayed far away from me. He ordered his cooks to give me food and drink, which they pushed towards me in litde wagons. Twenty of them were filled with meat, and ten with liquor. 1 ate the meat in three bites and drank the liquor in one long swallow while the Empress and the young princes and ladies of the court watched with amazement.

13. To tickle . Hacer cosquillas.

14. Clteers. Aclamaciones.

- 8-

1. '1'0crawl . Arraslr¡lrse. 2. Guilty . Culpable.

3. Wheclharrow

- 9-

. Carretilla.

Vaughan Systems

Gulliver's Travels: Lilliput

1 arn now going to describe the Emperor. He is taller than anyone in his court and looks quite impressive. His features are strong and masculine, with a strong nose and mouth and he has an olive complexion. His posture is excellent and his body is well proportioned. His movements are graceful, and he has a certain majestic quality. At the sarne time he was already past his youth, at almost twenty-nine years old. He had been a respected emperor for seven years. In order to see and hear him better 1 lay on my side, so that my face was only one meter away &om his. Since our first meeting, 1 have held him in my hand many times and know that my first impression ofhim was accurate. He was dressed simply in a mixture of Asiatic and European fashion, but he had a helmet of gold on his head with a feather coming out of the topo He held his sword4 in his hand to defend himself, in case 1 broke &ee. It was almost six centimeters long and was made of gold covered with diarnonds. His voice was sharp, but very clear; 1 could hear him quite easily when 1 stood up. He talked a lot, but 1 couldn't understand one syllable.

1 spoke in as many languages as 1 knew - Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and Lingua Franca, but none of them worked. The guards tried to protect me &om the crowd, who were very impatient to get as near me as possible. On the right side were four prisoners being taken tojail, whose hands were tied behind their backs. 1picked them up and put them in my pocket. 1 took one out and then brought my hand up to my mouth to suggest 1was going to eat him alive. The poor man screarned in terror, as did the colonel and his officers when they saw me take out my pocketknife5. But 1calmly cut the strings he was tied with and put him gently on the ground and he ran away.1 treated the rest in the sarne manner, taking them one by one out of my pocket. 1could see that both the guards and the people were higWy delighted with my display of merey.

Huge numbers ofrich or curious people carne to see me. IfHis Majesty hadn't ordered the others to go home, the society would have collapsed, because no one would have taken care of things. In the meantime, the Emperor had many meetings to decide what to do with me. A mend, who knew certain 'secrets', told me later that the court was very concerned about me. They were a&aid 1 might break loose and that my diet would be very expensive and cause a famine. They considered starving7 me or shooting me in the face and hands with poisoned arrows to kill me, but they were a&aid that my carcass might produce a plague in the capital city that could spread through the whole kingdom. During one of these meetings, two arrny officers told the court about my act of mercy with the criminals and the court was so impressed by this that they ordered all of the villages within five hundred meters around the city to deliver six beehives8, forty sheep, bread and wine to me every morning. They hired six hundred people to be my servants, and built tents for them on each side of my door. Three hundred tailors were hired to make a suit for me, similar to the local fashion, and they appointed six of His Majesty's best professors to teach me their language. They also decided that the arrny's horses should be exercised in &ont of me every day so they could get used to me.

At night 1 crawled back into my house where 1continued to sleep on the ground for the next fifteen days. On the sixteenth day, the Emperor gave orders to have a bed made for me. Six hundred beds were brought in carriages and sewn6 together to keep me above the hard stone floor.

1 made great progress in learning their language in only three weeks, during which time the Emperor &equendy visited me and assisted my masters in teaching me. We were already able to converse, sort of, and the first words 1 learned were to express my desire for him to "please give me my liberty;" which 1 repeated every day on my knees. His answer, as 1 understood it, was, "it will take time, and will need to be discussed with the council," and that first 1 must "lumos kelmin pesso desmar lon emposo;" that is, promise to be peaceful with him and his kingdom; if 1 did this, 1 would be treated with kindness. He hoped that 1 wouldn't be offended ifhe ordered his officers to search9 me for weapons, which would be very dangerous things if they belonged to such a gigantic person.I said, "His Majesty will be pleased to know that 1 am willing to take my clothes off in &ont of you and show you the contents of all of my pockets." This

4. Sword . Espada. 5. Pocketknife . Nav~ja. 6. Sewn . Cosido,

7. To slan'c . Privar de comida hasta la muerte.

- 10-

S.Beehivc. Colmcna. - 11 -

9. To seareh . Cachear.

Gulliver's Travels: LilIiput

Vaughan Systems

I said part in words, and part in gestures. He replied, "By the laws of our kingdom, you must be searched by two of my officers,"and said that he had such a high opinion of me that he trusted them in my hands. I picked up the two officersand put them into my coat pockets, and then into every other one of my pockets, except my secret pocket, which I didn't think would be searched; this one contained only some small necessities that only mattered to me. In one of my pockets there was a silverwatch, and in the other a smallquantity ofgold in a purse. These gendemen made an exact inventoryof everythingthey saw on a sheet of paper and when they were finished, asked me to put them down so that they could give their report to the Emperor. I translated this inventory,much later,into English:

......................................................... "In the right coat-pocket of the great man-mountain (my translation of the words quinbus jkstrin,) we found only one great piece of coarseclothlO,large enough to be a carpet for Your Majesty's palace ballroom. "In his right vest pocket we found a giant package of thin white substances, folded one over another, about the size of three men, tied with a strong cable and marked with black figures; which we think might be writing; every letter is almost half as large as the palm of your hand. In the left vest pocket there was a sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twenty long poles that we think the manmountain combs his hair with. We didn't ask him many questions, though, because it was very difficult to make him understand us. "There were two coat pockets which we could not enter: they were two large slitsll cut into the top of his jacket, but squeezed closed by the pressure ofhis stomach. Out of the right one hung a great silver chain, with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We asked him to pull out whatever was at the end of the chain, which appeared to be a globe - half silver, and half of some transparent metal. On the transparent

side, we saw certain strange circular figures and thought we could touch them, but our fingers were stopped by the clear substance. He put this engine up to our ears and we heard an incredible noise. He told us he never did anything without looking at it. From the left slit he took out a net almost large enough for a fisherman, but it opened and closed like a purse. Inside it we found severa! heavy pieces of yellow metal, which, if they are real gold, must be of great value. "This is an exact inventory of what we found on the body of the manmountain, who treated os very courteously. Signed and sealed on the fourth day of the eighty-ninth moon ofYour M¡Yesty'sprosperous reign, Clefrin Frelock & Marsi Frelock."

......................................................... Mter this report was received by the Emperor, he ordered me, although very gendy, to give up several items. He asked for my sword, which I took off my belt. At the same time he ordered three thousand ofhis soldiers to surround me at a distance, with their bows and arrows ready to firel2. He then asked me to take my sword out of its holder, which I did. Immediately all the troops gave a shout between terror and surprise; the reflection of the sun on the metal hurt their eyes. His Majesty, who is a very brave king, was less fearful than I expected: he ordered me to put it back in the holder, and I put it on the ground as gendy as I could, about six feet from the end of my chain.

The next thing he demanded was one of my "hollowu iron pillars", by which he meant my pocket pistols. I took it out and eXplained as well as I could how to use it. I loaded it only with gun powder, which I had kept dry in a special pouchl\ something all smart seamen have. I first warned the Emperor not to be afraid, and then I shot it into the air. Their astonishment was even greater than when they saw my sword. Hundreds of the soldiers fell down as if they had been struck dead; and even the Emperor, although he didn't fall down, couldn't recover for several minutes. I gave up both of

12.10 tire - Disp;Il'.SOlllersault

- Vnltercta.

2.1'0 nurllll'e - Alimentar. 3. lIidc-and-seek 6. In a row - Seguido.

- 17 -

- El escondite. 4. Thread - Hilo.

Gulliver's Travels: LiJliput

Vaughan Systems

Emperor holds a stick in his hands, paralIel to the ground, and the candidate jumps over the stick, or under it, as the stick is raised or lowered. Whoever performs the best is rewarded with the blue-colored thread; the red is given to the next, and the green to the third. Most of the people you see in the court are wearing one of these colo red threads around their waists. The horses of the army and royalty, which were now used to me, would come up to my feet without fear. Their riders would ask them to jump over my hand, as 1 held it over the ground. About two or three days before 1 was set free, 1 was entertaining the court when a courier arrived and told His Majesty that some Lilliputians, riding near the place on the beach where 1was found, had seen a great black object lying on the sand, circular in shape and as wide as His M'Úesty's bedroom. It was as high in the middle as a man but they didn't think it was alive because it didn't move. Some of them had walked around it several times and, by getting on each other's shoulders, got to the top, which was flat and even. They jumped on it and discovered that it was hollow inside. They thought it might belong to the manmountain and offered to bring it to His M'Úesty.

thicker than a piece of thread from England. My friend Reldresal, principal secretaryforprivate affairs,is, in my opinion, the second best afterFlimnap. There are often fatal accidents; 1, myself,have seen two or three candidates break a limb7.1was told that, a year or two before my arrival, Flinmap would have broken his neck, if one of the Emperor's pillows on the ground nearby hadn't broken his fallo

1 suddenly knew what they were talking about, and was happy to hear this news. It seems that they had found my hat, which 1 had fastened to my head while 1 was rowing and swimming to the shore; it fell off after 1 landed on the beach. It was brought to the palace in a wagon, but wasn't in very good condition. The drivers had made two holes in it, and had put two hooks through the holes. These hooks were tied by a long cord to the horses' harness, and my hat was dragged8 along for more than one kilometer.

There is also another form of entertainment, which is only performed in front of the Emperor and Empress on special occasions: stick dancing. The Emperor lays three threads six inches long on a table; one is blue, one is red, and one is green. These threads are awarded as prizes for the people who dance the best. The ceremony is performed in His Majesty's great Chamber of State. The

Two days later, the Emperor asked me to stand like a statue, with my legs as far apart as possible. He then commanded his soldiers to march under me, twenty-four men across, beating their drums with their flags raised. There were three thousand men on foot, and a thousand on horses. His Majesty gave strict orders that every soldier should be completely respectful of my body; however, that didn't prevent some of the younger officers from looking

7. Limb - Miembro.

8. '1'0 drag - Arra'trar.

- 18 -

- 19-

Vaughan Systems

Gulliver's Travels: Lilliput

up as they passed under me. To be perfecdy honest, my pants were in such poor condition that they gave many of the soldiers opportunities for both laughter and admiration. 1 sent so many letters to His Majesty asking for my freedom, that he finally mentioned the subject to the council, where no one opposed it, except Skyresh - Skyresh Bolgolarn - who was proud to be my mortal enemy. The council specified conditions for my freedom, which 1 had to agree to. Mter the conditions were read, 1was asked to sweaf'!on the honor of my own country to followthem. Next, according to their ceremony,1 had to hold my right foot in my left hand, and to place the middle fingerof my right hand on the top of my head, and my thumb on the tip of my right ear. Because readers may be curious to know what 1 agreed to in order to be set free, 1 have made a translation of the whole document, word for word, to the best of my abilities:

7th: The man-mountain will, even when he's resting, help our workmen to raise huge stones to build the wall of our public park, and our other royal buildings. 8th: The man-mountain will, in two moons' time, give us an exact measurement of the circumference of our kingdom, by taking measurements ofhis own walks around the coast ofLilliput.

And Last, that, if he agrees to the terms above, the man-mountain will have a daily supply of meat and drink equal to that of 1,724 people, with open access to our Emperor, and his other friends of the court. Some time later, 1 asked a friend at court how they carne up with that number of Lilliputians. He told me that His M