Gulliver's Travels in an abridged version online. Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels (retold for children)

Jonathan Swift

The country to which the storm brought Gulliver was called Lilliput. Lilliputians lived in this country.

The tallest trees in Lilliput were no taller than our currant bush, the largest houses were lower than the table. No one has ever seen such a giant as Gulliver in Lilliput.

The emperor ordered him to be brought to the capital. This is why Gulliver was put to sleep.

Five hundred carpenters built a huge cart on twenty-two wheels by order of the emperor.

The cart was ready in a few hours, but it was not so easy to put Gulliver on it.

This is what Lilliputian engineers came up with for this.

They placed the cart next to the sleeping giant, at his very side; Then they drove eighty posts into the ground with blocks on top and threaded thick ropes with hooks at one end onto these blocks.

The ropes were no thicker than ordinary twine.

When everything was ready, the Lilliputians got to work. They wrapped Gulliver's torso, both legs and both arms with strong bandages and, hooking these bandages with hooks, began to pull the ropes through the blocks.

Nine hundred selected strongmen were collected for this work from all over Lilliput.

They pressed their feet into the ground and, sweating profusely, pulled the ropes with both hands with all their might.

An hour later they managed to lift Gulliver from the ground by half a finger, after two hours - by a finger, after three - they put him on a cart.

Fifteen hundred of the largest horses from the court stables, each as tall as a newborn kitten, were harnessed to a cart, ten in a row.

The coachmen waved their whips, and the cart slowly rolled along the road to the main city of Lilliput - Mildendo.

Gulliver was still sleeping. He probably would not have woken up until the end of the journey if one of the officers of the imperial guard had not accidentally woken him up.

It happened like this.

The wheel of the cart came off. I had to stop to adjust it.

During this stop, several young people decided to see what Gulliver's face looks like when he sleeps. The two climbed onto the cart and quietly crept up to his very face. And the third - a guards officer - without dismounting his horse, rose in the stirrups and tickled his left nostril with the tip of his pike.

Gulliver involuntarily wrinkled his nose and sneezed loudly.

"Apchi!" - repeated the echo.

The brave men were definitely blown away by the wind.

And Gulliver woke up, heard the drivers cracking their whips, and realized that he was being taken somewhere.

All day long, lathered horses dragged the bound Gulliver along the roads of Lilliput.

Only late at night the cart stopped and the horses were unharnessed to be fed and watered.

All night, a thousand guardsmen stood guard on both sides of the cart: five hundred with torches, five hundred with bows at the ready.

The shooters were ordered to shoot five hundred arrows at Gulliver if he only decided to move.

When morning came, the cart moved on.

Not far from the city gates on the square stood an ancient abandoned castle with two corner towers. No one has lived in the castle for a long time.

The Lilliputians brought Gulliver to this empty castle.

It was the largest building in all of Lilliput. Its towers were almost human height. Even such a giant as Gulliver could freely

crawl on all fours through his door, and in the main hall he would probably be able to stretch out to his full height.

But Gulliver did not know this yet. He lay on his cart, and crowds of Lilliputians ran towards him from all sides.

Horse guards drove away the curious, but still a good ten thousand people managed to walk along Gulliver’s legs, along his chest, shoulders

and knees while he lay tied up.

Suddenly something hit him on the leg. He raised his head slightly and saw several midgets with rolled up sleeves and black aprons.

Tiny hammers glittered in their hands.

From the wall of the castle to his leg they stretched ninety-one chains of the same thickness as they usually make for watches, and locked them on his ankle with thirty-six padlocks. The chains were so long that Gulliver could walk around the area in front of the castle and freely crawl into his house.

The blacksmiths finished their work and left. The guards cut the ropes, and Gulliver rose to his feet.

“Ah-ah,” the Lilliputians shouted, “Quinbus Flestrin!” Quinbus Flestrin!

In Lilliputian this means: “Mountain Man!” Man Mountain!

Gulliver carefully shifted from foot to foot so as not to crush any of the local residents, and looked around.

Gulliver was so engrossed that he did not notice how almost the entire population of the capital had gathered around him.

The Lilliputians swarmed at his feet, fingered the buckles of his shoes and lifted their heads so high that their hats fell to the ground,

The boys were arguing which of them would throw a stone all the way to Gulliver’s nose,

Scientists discussed among themselves where Quinbus Flestrin came from.

“It is written in our old books,” said one scientist, “that a thousand years ago the sea threw a terrible monster onto our shore.” I think that Quinbus Flestrin also emerged from the bottom of the sea.

“No,” answered another scientist, “the sea monster must have gills and the tail of Quiibus Flestrin fell from the Moon.”

The Lilliputian sages did not know that there were other countries in the world, and thought that only Lilliputians lived everywhere.

Scientists walked around Gulliver for a long time and shook their heads, but did not have time to decide where Quinbus Flestrin came from.

Riders on black horses with spears at the ready dispersed the crowd.

- I’ve killed the villagers with ashes, without the flames! - the riders shouted.

Gulliver saw a golden box on wheels. The box was carried by six white horses. Nearby, also on a white horse, galloped a man in a golden helmet with a feather.

The man in the helmet galloped straight up to Gulliver's shoe and reined in his horse. The horse began to snore and reared up.

Now several officers ran up to the rider from both sides, grabbed his horse by the bridle and carefully led him away from Gulliver’s leg.

The rider on the white horse was the Emperor of Lilliput. And the empress sat in the golden carriage.

Four pages spread a piece of velvet on the lawn, placed a small gilded armchair and opened the carriage doors.

The Empress came out and sat down in a chair, straightening her dress.

Her court ladies sat around her on golden benches.

They were so magnificently dressed that the whole lawn looked like a spread out skirt, embroidered with gold, silver and multi-colored silks.

The Emperor jumped off his horse and walked around Gulliver several times. His retinue followed him.

To get a better look at the emperor, Gulliver lay down on his side.

His Majesty was at least a whole fingernail taller than his courtiers. He was more than three fingers tall and was probably considered a very tall man in Lilliput.

In his hand the emperor held a naked sword slightly shorter than a knitting needle. Diamonds glittered on its golden hilt and scabbard.

His Imperial Majesty threw his head back and asked Gulliver something.

Gulliver did not understand his question, but just in case, he told the emperor who he was and where he came from.

The Emperor just shrugged.

Then Gulliver said the same thing in Dutch, Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish.

But the emperor of Lilliput, apparently, did not know these languages. He nodded his head to Gulliver, jumped on his horse and rushed back to Mildendo. The Empress and her ladies left after him.

And Gulliver remained sitting in front of the castle, like a chained dog in front of a booth.

By evening, at least three hundred thousand Lilliputians crowded around Gulliver - all city residents and all peasants from neighboring villages.

Everyone wanted to see what Quinbus Flestrin, the Mountain Man, was.

Gulliver was guarded by guards armed with spears, bows and swords. The guards were ordered not to let anyone near Gulliver and to ensure that he did not break free from his chain and run away.

Two thousand soldiers lined up in front of the castle, but still a handful of townspeople broke through the ranks.

Some examined Gulliver's heels, others threw stones at him or aimed their bows at his vest buttons.

A well-aimed arrow scratched Gulliver's neck, and the second arrow almost hit him in the left eye.

The chief of the guard ordered to catch the mischief-makers, tie them up and hand them over to Quinbus Flestrin.

It was worse than any other punishment,

The soldiers tied up six Lilliputians and, pushing the blunt ends of the lance, drove them to Gulliver’s feet,

Gulliver bent down, grabbed everyone with one hand and put them in the pocket of his jacket.

He left only one little man in his hand, carefully took it with two fingers and began to examine it.

The little man grabbed Gulliver's finger with both hands and screamed shrilly.

Gulliver felt sorry for the little man. He smiled affectionately at him and took a penknife from his vest pocket to cut the ropes with which

The midget's hands and feet were tied.

Lilliput saw Gulliver's shining teeth, saw a huge knife and screamed even louder. The crowd below became completely silent in horror.

If he doesn’t escape, the empire will face a terrible famine, because every day he will eat more bread and meat than is needed to feed one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight Lilliputians. This was calculated by one scientist who was invited to the Privy Council because he knew how to count very well.

Others argued that it was as dangerous to kill Quinbus Flestrin as to leave him alive. The decomposition of such a huge corpse could cause a plague not only in the capital, but throughout the entire empire.

Secretary of State Reldressel asked the emperor to speak and said that Gulliver should not be killed at least until

A new fortress wall will not be built around Meldendo. The Mountain Man eats more bread and meat than one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight Lilliputians, but he will probably work for at least two thousand Lilliputians. Moreover, in case of war, it can protect the country better than five fortresses.

The Emperor sat on his throne under the canopy and listened to what the ministers were saying.

When Reldressel had finished, he nodded his head. Everyone understood that he liked the Secretary of State’s words.

But at this time Admiral Skyresh Bolgolam, commander of the entire Lilliput fleet, stood up from his seat.

“Man-Mountain,” he said, “is the strongest of all people in the world, that’s true.” But that is precisely why he should be executed as soon as possible. After all, if during the war he decides to join the enemies of Lilliput, then ten regiments of the imperial guard will not be able to cope with him. Now he

It’s still in the hands of the Lilliputians, and we must act before it’s too late.

Treasurer Flimnap, General Limtok and Judge Belmaf agreed with the admiral's opinion.

The Emperor smiled and nodded his head to the Admiral - and not even once, as to Reldressel, but twice. It was clear that he liked this speech even more.

Gulliver's fate was decided.

But at that time the door opened, and two officers, who were sent to the emperor by the chief of the guard, ran into the chamber of the Privy Council. They knelt before the emperor and reported what happened in the square.

When the officers told how mercifully Gulliver had treated his captives, Secretary of State Reldressel again asked to speak.

He made another long speech in which he argued that Gulliver should not be afraid and that he would be much more useful to the emperor alive than dead.

At the same time, it should be recognized that “The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver...” has almost lost its political relevance, long discussions about this or that government system are tiresome, and most critical and satirical arrows are now aimed at nowhere. But it is also true that many pages of Swift’s immortal novel are perceived surprisingly fresh and even topical. This becomes especially clear now in connection with our discovery...

So, before us are unknown chapters from “The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver...”, significantly supplementing the traditional version, which has long been and not entirely fairly classified as children's literature. We deliberately called this publication of “Travels...” “The Erotic Adventures of Gulliver” in order to immediately warn the reader that this book is by no means for children and youth.

One way or another, today's readers are about to discover a completely different Swift. In a letter dated September 29, 1725, Swift wrote to his friend the poet A. Pope regarding “The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver...”: “They will appear in print when humanity deserves them...”.

These words were written 280 years ago, and 260 years have passed since the great writer passed away. The journey of the real Gulliver to readers turned out to be long. We hope that humanity deserves to get to know him.

Igor Kubersky,

Head of the Department of Linguistic Soitology, Institute of Soitology

Saint Petersburg,

Travel to Lilliput

I, Lemuel Gulliver, born the third of five children into the family of a modest landowner from Nottinghamshire, traveled the world to my heart's content, first as a ship's doctor and then as a captain. I was lucky, and fate favored me, and therefore I was able to return home, having seen many miracles, which I decided to tell my compatriots about, so that they, no matter how weak my gift for writing, could learn about what was happening in those remote corners lands that I was lucky enough to visit.

My notes were given to the publisher, whose name may not desecrate these pages, for the text he published bears the same resemblance to the original as a good piece of beef can have to the same, but which has been in the stomach and naturally came out. And if I was spared by the elements of nature, then I became a victim of English publishers, who made Lemuel Gulliver, a brave traveler and naturalist, a simpleton and a klutz, made him out to be not the creator of his own destiny, but a kind of adrift, figuratively speaking, a loser and a passive observer of other people's lives. .

Some might say that thanks to them, my publishers, I became famous throughout the world. But did I really dream of such glory when I went on long journeys?! My current celebrity is akin to Herostratus. The fame of the long-suffering Job, who turns out to be either a captive of the Lilliputians, or suddenly the toy of a Brobdingnagian girl... But I want to assure my dear reader that everywhere, even in the most incredible circumstances, I lived in accordance with the needs that the Creator laid in us . I have always been Lemuel Gulliver, whom I have the honor to introduce to you in these notes, and wherever fate threw me - either to the land of horses, or to the land of the Laputans, as well as to the lands of Balnibarbi, Luggnegg, Glubbdrobdrib - I remained true to myself. I hope that it will not be difficult for the reader to figure out where the truth is, where the lie is, which of the two Gullivers is real, and which one was created by the attempts of lying and at the same time fearful publishers.

I belong neither to the Cynics, nor to the sybarites, nor to the hedonists, nor to any other pagan sects. But as a doctor, I know that we are endowed with sensuality and desires, without the manifestation of which we cease to be who the Creator created us. And I, Lemuel Gulliver, always remained myself. And even more so when fate threw me into hitherto unknown countries for many months, or even years.

Long after the first edition of my notes appeared, I bombarded book houses with letters, wanting to publish my work in its original form or at least publish an addition to it. But in vain! The answer to me was invariably hypocritical explanations, references to public morality, to society’s supposed rejection of the “risky style” in which my humble creation was written, and so on, so on, so forth.

Well, let them remain with their sanctimonious morality, but I am convinced that someday (even after my death) the truth will triumph: this manuscript will see the light of day, and I will appear before the reading public as I was. Not a conquistador who conquers the weak with fire and sword, not a ruthless sea pirate, not a weakling in the pocket of a giantess girl, but that same Lemuel Gulliver, who always continued to live as the laws of God and the laws of nature, which are one and the same, required of him. However, it’s up to you, my readers, to judge.

The author provides some information about himself and his family. First impulses to travel. He is shipwrecked, escapes by swimming and safely reaches the shore of the country of Lilliput. He is captured and taken into the country.

My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of his five sons. When I was fourteen years old he sent me to Emanuel College, Cambridge. « ...fourteen years old...to Emanuel College, Cambridge...“In those days, this was the usual age for entering universities. Leiden is a Dutch city in the 17th-18th centuries. was famous for its university (especially the medical faculty), which attracted foreign students, including the British., where I stayed for three years, diligently devoting myself to my studies; however, the cost of my maintenance (although I received a very meager allowance) was beyond my father's modest fortune, and therefore I was apprenticed to Mr. James Betts, an eminent surgeon in London, with whom I spent four years. I spent the little money my father sent me from time to time on studying navigation and other branches of mathematics useful to people planning to travel, since I always thought that sooner or later I would have this share. After leaving Mr. Betts, I returned to my father and at home obtained forty pounds sterling from him, from Uncle John and other relatives, and secured a promise that thirty pounds would be sent to me annually to Leiden. In this city, for two years and seven months, I studied medicine, knowing that it would be useful to me on long journeys.

Soon after returning from Leiden, on the recommendation of my venerable teacher, Mr. Betts, I became a surgeon on the ship Swallow, sailing under the command of Captain Abraham Pannel. I served with him for three and a half years, making several trips to the Levant and other countries. Levant - the islands and coast of the eastern Mediterranean in Asia Minor, the center of trade between the West and the East.. On my return to England I decided to settle in London, which I was encouraged to do by Mr. Betts, my teacher, who recommended me to several of his patients. I rented part of a small house in Old Jury and, on the advice of friends, married Miss Mary Burton, second daughter of Mr. Edmund Burton, a stocking merchant in Newgate Street, for whom I received a dowry of four hundred pounds.

But since two years later my good teacher Betts died, and I had few friends, my affairs began to deteriorate: for my conscience did not allow me to imitate the bad practices of many of my brothers. That is why, after consulting with my wife and some acquaintances, I decided to become a sailor again. For six years I was surgeon on two ships and made several voyages to the East and West Indies, which somewhat improved my financial situation. I devoted my leisure hours to reading the best authors, ancient and new, since I always stocked up on books for the trip; on the shore I observed the customs and customs of the natives and studied their language, which, thanks to my good memory, was very easy for me.

The last of these trips was not very successful, and I, tired of sea life, decided to stay at home with my wife and children. I moved from Old Jury to Fetter Lane, and from there to Wappin, hoping to have practice among seamen, but this hope was not realized. After waiting three years for my situation to improve, I accepted the advantageous offer of Captain William Pritchard, owner of the Antelope, to go with him to the South Sea. On May 4, 1699, we weighed anchor at Bristol, and our voyage was at first very successful.

For some reason it would be inappropriate to trouble the reader with a detailed description of our adventures in these seas; it will suffice to say that during the passage to the East Indies we were carried by a terrible storm to the northwest of Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land- a part of Australia, explored in 1642 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman and named by him in honor of the governor of the East Indies, Anthony Van Diemen.. According to observations, we were at 30-2" south latitude. Twelve of our crew died from overwork and bad food; the rest were extremely exhausted. On November 5 (the beginning of summer in these places) there was thick fog, so the sailors only noticed a distance of half a cable from the ship rock; but the wind was so strong that we were carried straight towards it, and the ship instantly crashed. Six of the crew, including me, managed to lower the boat and move away from the ship and the rock. According to my calculations, we were rowing at about three. leagues, until we were completely exhausted, since we were already overtired on the ship. Therefore, we surrendered to the will of the waves, and half an hour later the boat was capsized by a sudden gust of wind that came from the north. What happened to my boat comrades, as well as to those. who found refuge on the rock or remained on the ship, I cannot say; as for me, I swam wherever I could, driven by the wind and the tide. I often lowered my legs, but could not find the bottom; when I was completely exhausted and was no longer able to fight the waves, I felt the earth under my feet, and in the meantime the storm had subsided significantly. The bottom in this place was so sloping that I had to walk about a mile before I reached the shore; according to my assumptions, it happened around eight o'clock in the evening. I walked another half a mile, but could discover no sign of habitation or population; or at least I was too weak to discern anything. I felt extremely tired; From fatigue, the heat, and also from drinking half a pint of cognac on the ship, I was very sleepy. I lay down on the grass, which was very low and soft here, and fell asleep as soundly as I had never slept in my life. According to my calculations, my sleep lasted about nine hours, because when I woke up, it was already quite light. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move; I lay on my back and discovered that my arms and legs on both sides were firmly tied to the ground and my long and thick hair was also attached to the ground “I tried to get up...” - This episode is probably inspired by the story of the ancient Greek writer Philostratus (“Eikoves,” that is, “Pictures”) about how Hercules was tied up by the pygmies who attacked him:

The pygmies wanted to avenge the death of Antaeus. Having found the sleeping Hercules, they gathered all their forces against him. One phalanx attacked his left arm; against the right, stronger, they sent two phalanxes. Archers and slingers, amazed at the enormous size of his thighs, laid siege to Hercules' legs. Around his head, as if around an arsenal, they placed batteries, and the king himself took his place near them. They set his hair on fire, began throwing sickles at his eyes, and so that he could not breathe, they plugged his mouth and nostrils. But all this fuss could only wake him up. And when he woke up, he laughed contemptuously at their stupidity, grabbed them all into a lion’s skin and carried them to Eurystheus.

The reader can imagine in what an uncomfortable position I lay all this time. Finally, after much effort, I was lucky enough to break the ropes and pull out the pegs to which my left hand was tied; bringing it to my face, I realized how they had tied me up. At the same time, jerking with all my might and causing myself unbearable pain, I slightly loosened the laces that fastened my hair to the ground on the left side, which allowed me to turn my head two inches. But the creatures fled a second time before I could catch any of them. Then a piercing scream was heard, and when it died down, I heard one of them loudly repeat: “Tolgo fonak.” At the same moment, I felt that hundreds of arrows rained down on my left hand, pricking me like needles; after this there followed a second volley into the air, similar to how we shoot from mortars in Europe, and, I believe, many arrows fell on my body (although I did not feel it) and several on my face, which I hastened to cover with my left hand. When this hail passed, I groaned with insult and pain and again tried to free myself, but then a third volley followed, stronger than the first, and some of these creatures tried to stab me in the sides with spears, but, fortunately, I was wearing a leather jacket, which they couldn't break through. I decided that the most prudent thing was to lie quietly until nightfall, when it would be easy for me to free myself with the help of my already untied left hand; as for the natives, I had reason to hope that I could cope with any armies that they could bring against me, if only they consisted of creatures of the same size as the one I saw. However, fate decreed otherwise for me. When these people noticed that I was lying quietly, they stopped throwing arrows, but at the same time, from the increased noise, I concluded that their number had increased. At a distance of four yards from me, opposite my right ear, I heard a knocking noise that continued for more than an hour, as if some kind of building was being erected. Turning my head as far as the ropes and pegs that held it would allow, I saw a wooden platform, raised a foot and a half above the ground, on which four natives could fit, and two or three ladders to climb onto it « ...wooden platform...“Here, perhaps, there is a sarcastic allusion to the custom that spread after the revolution of 1688 among the Whig aristocracy of making public speeches during election campaigns in public squares.. From there one of them, apparently a noble person, addressed me with a long speech, of which I did not understand a word. But I must mention that before the start of her speech, the tall lady shouted three times: “Langro de gul san” (these words, as well as the previous ones, were later repeated and explained to me). Immediately after this, about fifty natives came up to me and cut the ropes that attached the left side of the head, which gave me the opportunity to turn it to the right and thus observe the face and gestures of the speaker. He seemed to me to be a middle-aged man, taller than the three others accompanying him; one of the last, slightly larger than my middle finger, probably a page, held his train, the other two stood on the sides as his retinue. He played the role of an orator according to all the rules: some periods of his speech expressed a threat, others - a promise, pity and benevolence. I answered in a few words, but with an air of humility, raising my eyes and left hand to the sun and as if calling the sun to witness; and since I was almost dying of hunger - I ate my last meal several hours before leaving the ship - the demands of nature were so imperative that I could not contain my impatience and (perhaps violating the rules of decency) somewhat I once raised my finger to my mouth, wanting to show that I was hungry. Gurgo (as they call an important dignitary, as I later learned) understood me perfectly. He descended from the platform and ordered several ladders to be placed at my sides, along which more than a hundred natives climbed and headed towards my mouth, loaded with baskets of food, which were prepared and sent by order of the monarch, as soon as the news of my appearance reached him. These dishes included the meat of some animals, but I could not tell which ones by taste. There were shoulders, hams, and fillets that looked like mutton, very well cooked, but each piece was barely the size of a lark's wing. I swallowed two and three pieces at a time, along with three loaves of bread no larger than a rifle bullet. The natives served me very efficiently and expressed their surprise at my height and appetite with thousands of signs.

Then I began to make other signs, indicating that I was thirsty. Based on the amount of food they had eaten, they concluded that it was impossible to satisfy me with little, and, being a very inventive people, they unusually deftly dragged me onto me, and then rolled one of the largest barrels to my hand and knocked the bottom out of it; I drained it without difficulty in one breath, for it held no more than our half-pint. The wine tasted like Burgundy, but was much more pleasant. Then they brought me another barrel, which I drank in the same manner, and made a sign for more, but they had no more. When I performed all the miracles described, the little men screamed with joy and danced on my chest, repeating their first exclamation many times: “Gekina degul.” With signs they asked me to throw both barrels to the ground, but first they ordered those crowding below to move aside, loudly shouting: “Bora mivola”; and when the barrels flew into the air, a unanimous cry was heard: “Gekina degul.” I confess that I was more than once tempted by the desire to grab the first forty or fifty little people that came to hand, as they walked back and forth across my body, and throw them to the ground. But the consciousness that they could cause me even greater troubles than those I had already experienced, as well as the solemn promise I made to them - for this was how I interpreted my submissive behavior - soon drove away these thoughts. On the other hand, I considered myself bound by the law of hospitality to these people, who did not spare me the expense of a magnificent treat. At the same time, I could not sufficiently marvel at the fearlessness of the tiny creatures who dared to climb on my body and walk over it, while one of my hands was free, and who did not feel awe at the sight of such a colossus as I must have appeared to them. After some time, when they saw that I was not asking for more food, a person of high rank appeared to me on behalf of His Imperial Majesty. His Excellency, having mounted the lower part of my right leg, advanced towards my face, accompanied by a dozen retinue. He presented his credentials with the royal seal, bringing them closer to my eyes, and made a speech that lasted about ten minutes and was delivered without the slightest sign of anger, but firmly and decisively, and he often pointed his finger forward, as it turned out later, according to towards the capital, located half a mile away from us, where, by order of His Majesty and the State Council, I was to be transported. I answered in a few words, which remained unintelligible, so that I had to resort to gestures: I pointed with my free hand to the other hand (but made this movement high above His Excellency's head, fearing to touch him or his retinue), then to his head and body, making it clear in such a way that I would be released.

His Excellency probably understood me quite well, because, shaking his head negatively, he explained with gestures that I should be taken to the capital as a prisoner. Along with this, he made other signs, making it clear that they would feed me there, give me water and generally treat me well. Here again the desire arose in me to try to break my bonds; but, feeling still a burning pain on my face and hands, covered with blisters, with many arrows still sticking out in them, and noticing that the number of my enemies was increasing all the time, I made it clear with signs that they could do whatever they wanted with me. Pleased with my agreement, Gurgo and his retinue politely bowed and left with cheerful faces. Soon after this I heard a general rejoicing, among which the words were often repeated: "with the ashes of the villagers," and felt that on the left side the large crowd had loosened the ropes to such an extent that I could turn to the right side and urinate to my heart's content; this need was sent by me in abundance, which plunged the little creatures into great amazement, who, guessing from my movements what I was going to do, immediately parted in both directions so as not to fall into the stream that erupted from me with great noise and force. Even earlier, they anointed my face and hands with some composition of a pleasant smell, which in a few minutes calmed the burning pain caused by their arrows. All this, combined with a hearty breakfast and excellent wine, had a beneficial effect on me and inclined me to sleep. I slept, as I was told later, for about eight hours; This is not surprising, since the doctors, by order of the emperor, mixed the sleeping drink into barrels of wine.

Apparently, as soon as the natives found me sleeping on the ground after the shipwreck, they immediately sent a messenger to the emperor with news of this discovery. A council of state was immediately assembled and a resolution was passed to bind me in the manner described above (which was done at night while I was sleeping), send me large quantities of food and drink, and prepare a car to transport me to the capital. Perhaps such a decision will seem too bold and dangerous, and I am convinced that in a similar case not a single European monarch would have acted this way. However, in my opinion, this decision was as prudent as it was generous. Indeed, let us assume that these people would try to kill me with their spears and arrows while I was sleeping. What would happen? If I felt pain, I would probably immediately wake up and, in a fit of rage, break the ropes with which I was tied, after which they would not be able to resist and expect mercy from me.

These people are excellent mathematicians and have achieved great perfection in mechanics thanks to the encouragement and support of the emperor, a famous patron of science. This monarch has many vehicles on wheels for transporting logs and other large loads. He often builds huge warships, sometimes reaching nine feet in length, in places where timber grows, and from there transports them in these machines three or four hundred yards to the sea. Five hundred carpenters and engineers were immediately tasked with producing the largest cart they had ever made. It was a wooden platform, raised three inches from the ground, about seven feet long and four feet wide, on twenty-two wheels. The exclamations I heard were the greeting of the people on the occasion of the arrival of this cart, which was sent for me, it seems, four hours after I went ashore. She was placed next to me, parallel to my body. The main difficulty, however, was to lift and place me in the described cart. For this purpose, eighty piles were driven in, each one foot high, and very strong ropes as thick as our twine were prepared; These ropes were attached with hooks to numerous bandages with which the workers wrapped around my neck, arms, torso and legs. Nine hundred selected strong men began to pull the ropes with the help of many pulleys attached to the piles, and thus in less than three hours I was lifted, placed in the cart and tightly tied to it. All this was told to me later, since during this operation I slept in a deep sleep, into which I was immersed in a sleeping pill mixed with wine. Fifteen thousand of the largest horses from the court stables, each about four and a half inches high, were needed to bring me to the capital, located, as has already been said, at a distance of half a mile from the place where I lay.

We had been on the road for about four hours when I woke up thanks to a very funny incident. The cart stopped for some repairs; Taking advantage of this, two or three young men were curious to see what I was like when I slept; they climbed onto the cart and quietly crept towards my face; then one of them, a guards officer, thrust the tip of his pike into my left nostril; it tickled like a straw, and I sneezed loudly. The frightened brave men immediately disappeared, and only three weeks later I learned the reason for my sudden awakening. We spent the rest of the day on the road; At night we settled down to rest, and five hundred guardsmen were placed on guard next to me on both sides, half with torches, and the other half with bows ready to shoot at my first attempt to move. At sunrise we set off again, and by noon we were within two hundred yards of the city gates. The emperor and his entire court came out to meet me, but the highest dignitaries resolutely opposed His Majesty’s intention to climb on my body, fearing to endanger his person.

In the square where the cart stopped stood an ancient temple, considered the largest in the entire kingdom. Several years ago this temple was desecrated by a brutal murder, and since then the local population, distinguished by great piety, began to look at it as a place unworthy of a shrine; As a result, it was turned into a public building, and all the furnishings and utensils were removed from it. This building was designated for my residence. The large door, facing north, was about four feet high and almost two feet wide, so that I could crawl through it quite easily. On either side of the door, at a distance of some six inches from the ground, were two small windows; through the left window, the court blacksmiths placed ninety-one chains, like those that our European ladies wear with their watches, and almost the same size; these chains were secured on my left leg with thirty-six padlocks « ...thirty-six padlocks." – Swift named the same numbers in “The Tale of a Barrel,” published more than two decades before “Gulliver”:

I wrote 91 pamphlets under three reigns for the service of 36 factions.

The Emperor of Lilliput, accompanied by numerous nobles, comes to visit the author in his imprisonment. Description of the appearance and clothing of the emperor. The author is assigned teachers to teach the Lilliputian language. With his meek behavior he achieves the favor of the emperor. They search the author's pockets and take away his saber and pistols.

Rising to my feet, I looked around. I must confess that I have never seen a more attractive landscape. The whole surrounding area seemed like a continuous garden, and the enclosed fields, each of which occupied no more than forty square feet, looked like flower beds. These fields alternated with a forest half a foot high, where the tallest trees, as far as I could judge, were no more than seven feet. To the left lay the city, which looked like a theater set.

For several hours now I had been extremely troubled by one natural need, which was not surprising, since the last time I relieved myself was almost two days ago. The feeling of shame was replaced by the most severe urges. The best thing I could think of was to crawl into my house; so I did; closing the doors behind me, I climbed into the depths as far as the chains allowed and freed my body from the heaviness that was bothering it. But this was the only case which can give rise to an accusation of dishonesty on me, and I hope for the indulgence of the impartial reader, especially if he discusses the plight in which I was in a mature and open-minded manner. Subsequently, I discharged the said need early in the morning in the open air, moving away from the temple as far as the chains allowed, and due measures were taken to have two servants appointed for this purpose remove the fetid substance in wheelbarrows before the guests arrived to me. I would not have dwelled so long on a subject that at first glance seemed unimportant if I had not considered it necessary to publicly justify myself in terms of cleanliness, which, as I know, some of my ill-wishers wanted to question, citing this and other cases.

Having finished this matter, I went outside to get some fresh air. The emperor had already descended from the tower and was heading towards me on horseback. This courage almost cost him dearly. The fact is that although his horse was perfectly trained, at such an extraordinary sight - as if a mountain had moved in front of it - it reared up. However, the emperor, being an excellent rider, stayed in the saddle until the servants arrived, who, grabbing the horse by the bridle, helped His Majesty to dismount. Getting off his horse, he looked at me from all sides with great surprise, keeping, however, beyond the length of the chains that chained me. He ordered his cooks and butlers, who stood ready, to serve me food and drink, and they rolled food and wine to me in special carts at such a distance that I could reach them. I took them and quickly emptied them; Twenty of these carts contained food, and ten contained drinks. Each cart of provisions was destroyed by me in two or three gulps, and as for the wine, I poured the contents of ten clay flasks into one cart and drained it at once; I did the same with the rest of the wine. The Empress, the young princes and princesses of the blood, together with the ladies of the court, sat in armchairs at some distance, but after the adventure with the emperor's horse they all stood up and approached his person, whom I now want to describe. He is almost one fingernail taller than all his courtiers « ...one fingernail taller than all his courtiers...“By Lilliput, Swift meant England, and the Lilliputian emperor, according to his plan, was supposed to resemble George I in some features. But the English king was short, awkward, and his manners were devoid of dignity. It is possible that their external difference was emphasized by Swift for reasons of caution, but it is possible that, when creating his satire, he did not strive for portrait resemblance.; This alone is absolutely enough to inspire respectful fear. His facial features are sharp and courageous, Austrian lips, aquiline nose, olive complexion, straight waist, proportional torso, arms and legs, graceful movements, majestic posture « ...Austrian lips...» – Members of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty had a protruding lower lip.. He is no longer in his first youth - he is twenty-eight years and nine months old, and for seven of them he reigns, surrounded by prosperity, and for the most part victoriously. In order to get a better look at His Majesty, I lay down on my side, so that my face was directly opposite him, and he stood at a distance of only three yards from me; in addition, subsequently I picked him up several times and therefore cannot be mistaken in his description. The emperor's clothes were very modest and simple, the style was something between Asian and European, but on his head he wore a light golden helmet, decorated with precious stones and a feather on the top. He held a drawn sword in his hand for protection, in case I broke the chain; This sword was about three inches long, its golden hilt and scabbard were decorated with diamonds. His Majesty's voice is shrill, but clear and so intelligible that even standing I could hear it clearly. The ladies and courtiers were all superbly dressed, so that the place they occupied looked like a spread out skirt embroidered with gold and silver patterns. His Imperial Majesty often addressed me with questions, to which I answered him, but neither he nor I understood a word of what they said to each other. There were also priests and lawyers (as I deduced from their costume), who were ordered to enter into conversation with me; I, in turn, spoke to them in various languages ​​with which I was at least somewhat familiar: German, Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and Lingua Franca Lingua Franca is the dialect of Mediterranean ports, consisting of a mixture of Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic and other words., but all this led to nothing. Two hours later, the court left, and I was left under a strong guard - to protect me from the impudent and, perhaps, even malicious antics of the mob, who persistently tried to squeeze as close to me as they had the courage; some even had the shamelessness to shoot several arrows at me while I was sitting on the ground at the door of my house; one of them almost hit me in the left eye. However, the colonel ordered the capture of the six ringleaders and decided that the best punishment for them would be to tie them up and hand them over to me. The soldiers did just that, pushing the mischievous people toward me with the blunt ends of their lances; I grabbed them all in my right hand and put five of them in my jacket pocket; as for the sixth, I pretended that I wanted to eat him alive. The poor little man screamed desperately, and the colonel and officers became very alarmed when they saw that I had taken a penknife from my pocket. But I soon calmed them down: looking tenderly at my captive, I cut the ropes that bound him and carefully placed him on the ground; he ran away instantly. I did the same with the others, taking them out of my pocket one at a time. And I saw that the soldiers and people were very pleased with my mercy, which was reported at court in a very favorable light for me.

When night fell, I entered my house, not without difficulty, and lay down to sleep on the bare ground. I spent my nights in this way for about two weeks, during which, by order of the emperor, a bed was made for me. Six hundred mattresses of ordinary size were brought, and work began in my house: one hundred and fifty pieces were sewn together, and thus formed one mattress, suitable for me in length and width; Four such mattresses were placed one on top of the other, but the hard floor of smooth stone on which I slept did not become much softer. According to the same calculation, sheets, blankets and bedspreads were made, which were quite bearable for a person who had long been accustomed to deprivation.

As soon as the news of my arrival spread throughout the kingdom, crowds of rich, idle and curious people began to flock from everywhere to look at me. The villages were almost deserted, which would have resulted in great damage to agriculture and households if the timely orders of His Majesty had not prevented the disaster. He ordered those who had already seen me to return home and not to approach my premises closer than fifty yards without special permission from the court, which brought great income to the ministers.

Meanwhile, the emperor held frequent councils, at which the question of how to deal with me was discussed. Later I learned from one of my close friends, a very noble person and quite privy to state secrets, that the court was in great difficulty regarding me. On the one hand, they were afraid that I would break the chains; on the other hand, there was a fear that my maintenance would be too expensive and could cause famine in the country. Sometimes they thought about killing me, or at least covering my face and hands with poisoned arrows in order to send me to the next world as quickly as possible; but then they took into account that the decomposition of such a huge corpse could cause plague in the capital and throughout the kingdom. In the midst of these meetings, several officers gathered at the door of the large council hall, and two of them, being admitted into the meeting, presented a detailed report of my behavior with the six mentioned mischief-makers. This made such a favorable impression on His Majesty and the entire council of state that an order was immediately issued by the emperor, obliging all villages within nine hundred yards of the capital to deliver every morning six oxen, forty rams and other provisions for my table, together with an appropriate quantity of bread, wine and other drinks, at the established rate and from the sums appropriated for this purpose from his Majesty's own treasury. It should be noted that this monarch lives mainly on income from his personal estates and very rarely, in the most exceptional cases, turns to his subjects for subsidies « ...very rarely... applies for a subsidy..."- Swift's allusion to the subsidies requested by the English kings from Parliament for both state needs and personal expenses., who are obliged, at his request, to come to war in their own weapons. In addition, a staff of six hundred servants was established under me, for whom food money was allocated and comfortable tents were built on both sides of my door. An order was also given for three hundred tailors to make a suit of local style for me; so that six of His Majesty's greatest scholars would engage in teaching me the local language and, finally, that exercises would be carried out in my presence as often as possible on the horses belonging to the emperor, the courtiers and the guards, in order to accustom them to me. All these orders were duly carried out, and after three weeks I had made great progress in learning the Lilliputian language. During this time, the Emperor often honored me with his visits and graciously helped my teachers teach me. We could already communicate with each other, and the first words that I learned expressed the desire that His Majesty would deign to grant me freedom; I repeated these words to the emperor every day on my knees. In response to my request, the emperor, as far as I could understand him, said that liberation was a matter of time, that it could not be granted without the consent of the state council, and that first I must “lumoz kelmin pesso demarlon emposo,” that is, take an oath to maintain peace with him and his empire. However, you will treat me with the most kindness; and the emperor advised patience and modesty to earn the kind attitude of both himself and his subjects. He asked me not to be offended if he gave orders to special officials to search me « ...search me...“- The description of the search and confiscation of the completely harmless contents of Gulliver’s pockets is Swift’s mockery of the zeal of English government agents searching for weapons from persons suspected of sympathizing with the Jacobites, that is, supporters of the restoration of the Stuarts, overthrown in 1688 and expelled from England . One of these agents in Ireland handed over “dangerous” items taken from Swift himself to a Dublin prison: a poker, tongs and a dustpan., since he believes that I have a weapon on me, which must be very dangerous if it corresponds to the enormous size of my body. I asked His Majesty to be calm on this score, declaring that I was ready to undress and empty my pockets in his presence. I explained all this partly in words, partly in signs. The emperor answered me that, according to the laws of the empire, the search must be carried out by two of his officials; that he understands that this requirement of the law cannot be implemented without my consent and my help; that, having a high opinion of my generosity and justice, he will calmly transfer these officials into my hands; that the things taken by them will be returned to me if I leave this country, or I will be paid for them, as much as I myself will appoint. I took both officials in my hands and put them first in the pockets of my jacket, and then in all the others, except for two sentries and one secret one, which I did not want to show, because it contained several small things that no one but me needed. In the watch pockets were: in one a silver watch, and in the other a wallet with several gold ones. These gentlemen had paper, pen and ink with them and made a detailed inventory of everything they found « ...a detailed description of everything..."- Swift ridicules the activities of the Secret Committee established by the Prime Minister of the Whig government, Robert Walpole, who replaced Swift's friend Bolingbroke in this post. The spies of this committee conducted surveillance in France and England on the activities of the Jacobites and Bolingbroke, associated with them, who in 1711 entered into secret negotiations with the French government. As a result of these negotiations, the Peace of Utrecht (1713) was concluded, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession.. When the inventory was completed, they asked me to put them on the ground so that they could present it to the emperor. Later I translated this inventory into English. Here it is word for word:

Firstly, in the right pocket of the coat of the great Man of the Mountain (so I convey the words of Quinbus Flestrin), after a careful examination, we found only a large piece of rough canvas, which in its size could serve as a carpet for the main state room of Your Majesty's palace. In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest with a lid made of the same metal, which we, the inspectors, could not lift. When, at our request, the chest was opened and one of us entered it, he was knee-deep in some kind of dust, some of which, rising to our faces, made us both sneeze loudly several times. In the right pocket of the vest we found a huge pile of thin white substances, piled one on top of the other; This pile, three people thick, is tied with strong ropes and dotted with black characters, which, according to our modest assumption, are nothing more than writing, each letter of which is equal to half of our palm. In the left waistcoat pocket was an instrument, to the back of which twenty long poles were attached, reminiscent of a palisade in front of Your Majesty's court; according to our assumption, the Mountain Man combs his hair with this tool, but this is only an assumption: we do not always bother him with questions, because it was very difficult for us to communicate with him. In the large pocket on the right side of the middle cover (as I translate the word "ranfulo", by which they meant pants) we saw a hollow iron pole, as long as a man's height, attached to a strong piece of wood, larger in size than the pole itself; on one side of the pillar stick out large pieces of iron, of a very strange shape, the purpose of which we could not determine. We found a similar machine in the left pocket. In the smaller pocket on the right side were several flat disks of white and red metal, of various sizes; some white discs, apparently silver, were so large and heavy that the two of us could hardly lift them. In the left pocket we found two black columns of irregular shape; standing at the bottom of the pocket, we could only reach the top with great difficulty. One of the columns is enclosed in a tire and is made of solid material, but at the upper end of the other there is some kind of round white body, twice the size of our head. Each column contains a huge steel plate; Believing that these were dangerous tools, we demanded that the Man of the Mountain explain their use. Taking both tools out of the case, he said that in his country one of them is used to shave the beard, and with the other they cut meat. In addition, we found two more pockets on Man Mountain that we could not enter. He calls these pockets sentinels; they represent two wide slits cut in the upper part of its middle cover, and therefore strongly compressed by the pressure of its belly. From the right pocket comes a large silver chain with a strange car lying at the bottom of the pocket. We ordered him to take out everything that was attached to this chain; the object taken out turned out to look like a ball, one half of which was made of silver, and the other of some transparent metal; when we, noticing some strange signs located around the circle on this side of the ball, tried to touch them, our fingers rested on this transparent substance. The Man of Horus brought this machine closer to our ears; then we heard a continuous noise, similar to the noise of the wheel of a water mill. We believe that this is either an animal unknown to us or a deity revered by it. But we are more inclined to the latter opinion, because, according to his assurances (if we have correctly understood the explanation of the Man of the Mountain, who speaks our language very poorly), he rarely does anything without consulting him. He calls this object his oracle and says that it indicates the time of every step of his life. From his left watch pocket the Mountain Man took out a net almost the same size as a fishing net, but designed in such a way that it could be closed and opened like a wallet, which is what it served him; We found several massive pieces of yellow metal online, and if it is real gold, it must be of great value.

Thus, in pursuance of Your Majesty's command, having carefully examined all the pockets of the Man of the Mountain, we proceeded to further examination and discovered on him a belt made of the skin of some huge animal; on this belt hangs on the left side a saber, five times the length of the average human height, and on the right side hangs a bag or sack, divided into two compartments, each of which can accommodate three of Your Majesty’s subjects. We found in one compartment of the bag many balls of extremely heavy metal; each ball, being almost as big as our head, requires great strength to lift it; in another compartment lay a pile of some black grains of not very large volume and weight: we could place up to fifty such grains in the palm of our hand.

This is an accurate description of the Man of the Mountain we found during the search, who behaved politely and with due respect for the executors of Your Majesty's orders. Signatured and sealed on the fourth day of the eighty-ninth moon of Your Majesty's prosperous reign.

Clefrin Frelock,

Marcy Frelock

When this inventory was read to the Emperor, His Majesty demanded, albeit in the most delicate manner, that I hand over some of the items listed in it. First of all, he offered to hand him a saber, which I took off along with the scabbard and everything that was with it. Meanwhile, the emperor ordered three thousand selected troops (who that day were guarding His Majesty) to surround me at a certain distance and keep their bows at gunpoint, which I, however, did not notice, since my eyes were fixed on His Majesty. The emperor wished me to draw the saber, which, although rusty in places from sea water, still shone brightly. I obeyed, and at the same moment all the soldiers let out a cry of horror and surprise: the rays of the sun reflected on the steel blinded them as I swung the saber from side to side. His Majesty, the bravest of monarchs, was less afraid than I could have expected. He ordered me to sheathe the weapon and throw it as carefully as possible to the ground about six feet from the end of my chain. He then demanded to see one of the hollow iron posts, by which he meant my pocket pistols. I took out the pistol and, at the request of the emperor, explained as best I could its use; then, having loaded it only with gunpowder, which, thanks to the hermetically sealed powder flask, turned out to be completely dry (all prudent sailors take special precautions in this regard), I warned the Emperor not to be afraid, and fired into the air. This time the surprise was much stronger than at the sight of my saber. Hundreds of people fell as if struck to death, and even the emperor himself, although he stood on his feet, could not come to his senses for some time. I gave away both pistols in the same way as the saber, and did the same with the bullets and gunpowder, but asked His Majesty to keep the latter away from the fire, since from the slightest spark it could ignite and blow up the imperial palace. In the same way, I handed over the watch, which the emperor examined with great curiosity and ordered two of the sturdiest guards to carry it away, putting it on a pole and putting the pole on their shoulders, the way porters in England carry barrels of ale. What struck the emperor most was the continuous noise of the clock mechanism and the movement of the minute hand, which he could clearly see, because Lilliputians have sharper vision than we do. He invited scientists to express their opinion regarding this machine, but the reader himself will guess that the scientists did not come to any unanimous conclusion, and all their assumptions, which, however, I did not understand well, were very far from the truth; then I handed over silver and copper money, a purse with ten large and several small gold coins, a knife, a razor, a comb, a silver snuff-box, a handkerchief and a notebook. The saber, pistols and bag of gunpowder and bullets were sent on carts to His Majesty's arsenal, the rest of the things were returned to me.

I have already said above that I had a secret pocket which my detectives did not discover; it contained glasses (thanks to my poor eyesight I sometimes use them), a pocket telescope and several other small items. Since these things were of no interest to the emperor, I did not consider it a duty of honor to declare them, especially since I was afraid that they would be lost or damaged if they fell into the wrong hands.

My meekness and good behavior reconciled the emperor, the court, the army and the whole people with me to such an extent that I began to harbor hopes of soon gaining freedom. I tried my best to strengthen this favorable disposition. The population gradually got used to me and became less afraid of me. Sometimes I would lie down on the ground and let five or six midgets dance on my arm. By the end, even the children dared to play hide and seek in my hair. I learned to understand and speak their language quite well. One day the emperor came up with the idea of ​​entertaining me with acrobatic performances, in which the Lilliputians surpassed other peoples known to me in their dexterity and magnificence. But nothing amused me more than the exercises of rope dancers, performed on thin white threads two feet long, stretched at a height of twelve inches from the ground. I want to dwell on this subject in a little more detail and ask the reader for a little patience.

These exercises are performed only by persons who are candidates for high positions and seek the favor of the court. They are trained in this art from a young age and are not always distinguished by noble birth or extensive education. When a vacancy for a high position opens up, due to death or disgrace (which often happens), five or six such applicants petition the Emperor to allow them to entertain His Imperial Majesty and the court with rope dancing; and whoever jumps the highest without falling gets the vacant position. Quite often, even the first ministers are ordered to show their dexterity and testify to the emperor that they have not lost their abilities. Flimnap, Chancellor of the Exchequer, enjoys the reputation of having made a jump on a tight rope at least an inch higher than any other dignitary in the whole empire ever managed. I had to see how he tumbled several times in a row on a small board attached to a rope no thicker than ordinary English twine. My friend Reldresel, Chief Secretary of the Privy Council, in my opinion - unless my friendship for him blinds me - can take second place in this respect after the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The remaining dignitaries are almost at the same level in the said art « ...exercises of rope dancers...» – Here: a satirical depiction of the clever and shameless political machinations and intrigues with which careerists achieved royal favors and government positions. Flimnap. – This image is a satire on Robert Walpole, whom Swift was extremely hostile to and repeatedly ridiculed. Walpole's unscrupulousness and careerism, depicted here by Swift as "jumping on a tightrope", were exposed by both Swift's friend, the poet and playwright John Gay (1685–1752) in his Beggar's Opera (1728), and Henry Fielding (1707–1754) in his political comedy “Historical Calendar for 1756” (1757). Reldresel. – Apparently, under this name the Earl of Stanhope, who briefly succeeded Robert Walpole in 1717, is depicted. Prime Minister Stanhope was more tolerant of the Jacobites and the Tories; among the latter there were many of Swift's friends..

These entertainments are often accompanied by misfortunes, the memory of which is preserved by history. I myself have seen two or three applicants injure themselves. But the danger increases even more when the ministers themselves are ordered to show their dexterity. For, striving to surpass themselves and their rivals, they show such zeal that rarely does one of them fail and fall, sometimes even two or three times. I was assured that a year or two before my arrival Flimnap would certainly have broken his neck if one of the king's pillows, which happened to be lying on the floor, had not softened the blow of his fall. « ...Flimnap would certainly break his neck...“- After the death of Stanhope, thanks to the intrigues of the Duchess of Kendel, one of the favorites of George I, Robert Walpole was again appointed prime minister in 1721. The Duchess of Kendel is here allegorically called the “royal pillow.”.

In addition, on special occasions, another entertainment is given here, which is given in the presence of only the emperor, empress and first minister. The Emperor places three thin silk threads on the table - blue, red and green, each six inches long. These threads are intended as a reward to persons whom the emperor wishes to distinguish with a special sign of his favor. Blue, red and green- the colors of the English Orders of the Garter, Bath and St. Andrew. The ancient Order of the Bath, founded in 1559 and ceased to exist in 1669, was restored by Walpole in 1725 specifically for the purpose of awarding it to his minions. Walpole himself was awarded this order in the same year and the Order of the Garter - in 1726, that is, the year the first edition of Gulliver was published. In the first edition of the book, out of caution, instead of the original colors of the orders, others were named: purple, yellow and white. In the second edition, Swift replaced them with the real colors of English orders.. The ceremony takes place in His Majesty's great throne room, where the applicants are subjected to a test of dexterity very different from the previous one and without the slightest resemblance to those that I have seen in the countries of the Old and New Worlds. The emperor holds a stick in his hands in a horizontal position, and the applicants, approaching one after another, either jump over the stick or crawl under it back and forth several times, depending on whether the stick is raised or lowered; sometimes the emperor holds one end of the stick and the other is held by his first minister, sometimes only the last holds the stick. Whoever completes all the described exercises with the greatest ease and agility and excels in jumping and crawling is awarded a blue thread; red is given to the second most dexterous, and green to the third. The donated thread is worn as a belt, wrapped twice around the waist. It is rare to meet a person at court who does not have such a belt.

Every day horses from the regimental and royal stables were led past me, so that they soon ceased to be afraid of me and came right to my feet, without rushing to the side. The riders forced the horses to jump over my hand placed on the ground, and once the imperial hunter on a tall horse even jumped over my booted foot; it was truly an amazing jump.

One day I had the good fortune to amuse the emperor in a most unusual way. I asked to get several sticks two feet long and as thick as an ordinary cane; His Majesty ordered the chief forester to make the appropriate orders, and the next morning seven foresters brought the required goods in seven carts, each of which was harnessed by eight horses. I took nine sticks and drove them firmly into the ground in the form of a square, each side of which was two and a half feet long; at a height of about two feet I tied four other sticks parallel to the ground to the four corners of this square; then on the nine stakes I pulled the handkerchief tight like a drum; four horizontal sticks, rising about five inches above the scarf, formed a kind of railing on each side. Having completed these preparations, I asked the emperor to detach twenty-four of the best cavalrymen for exercises on the site I had arranged. His Majesty approved of my proposal, and when the cavalry arrived, I raised them one by one on horseback and in full armor, along with the officers who commanded them. Having lined up, they divided into two detachments and began maneuvers: they shot blunt arrows at each other, rushed at each other with drawn sabers, now fleeing, now pursuing, now attacking, now retreating - in a word, showing the best military training that I've ever seen. Horizontal poles prevented riders and their horses from falling off the platform. The Emperor was so delighted that he forced me to repeat this entertainment for several days in a row, and one day he deigned to go up to the platform himself and personally command the maneuvers. “The Emperor was so delighted...” - A hint at George I’s predilection for military parades.. Although with great difficulty, he managed to persuade the Empress to allow me to hold her in a closed chair at a distance of two yards from the platform, so that she could clearly see the whole performance. Fortunately for me, all these exercises went well; once the hot horse of one of the officers punched a hole in my handkerchief with its hoof and, stumbling, fell and overturned its rider, but I immediately helped them both out and, covering the hole with one hand, lowered the entire cavalry to the ground with the other hand in the same way as I raised them . The fallen horse sprained its left front leg, but the rider was not injured. I carefully repaired the scarf, but since then I have ceased to trust its strength in such dangerous exercises.

Two or three days before my release, just at the time when I was entertaining the court with my inventions, a messenger arrived to His Majesty with a report that several subjects, passing near the place where I was found, saw some kind of thing on the ground. that huge black body, of a very strange shape, with wide flat edges all around, occupying a space equal to His Majesty’s bedroom, and with the middle raised above the ground to the height of a man; that it was not some living creature, as they had originally feared, for it lay motionless on the grass, and some of them walked around it several times; that, standing on each other’s shoulders, they climbed to the top of the mysterious body, which turned out to be a flat surface, and the body itself was hollow inside, as they were convinced of by stamping their feet on it; that they humbly speculate whether this is not some kind of property of the Man of the Mountain; and if it pleases His Majesty, they undertake to deliver it with only five horses. I immediately guessed what was being said and was heartily glad at this news. Apparently, having reached the shore after the shipwreck, I was so upset that I did not notice how, on the way to my place of accommodation for the night, my hat, which I had tied to my chin with a cord while rowing in the boat, had fallen off and pulled down tightly over my ears when sailed on the sea. I probably didn't notice how the lace broke and decided that the hat had been lost at sea. Having described the properties and purpose of this object, I begged His Majesty to give orders that it should be delivered to me as soon as possible. The next day the hat was brought to me, but in not brilliant condition. The drivers punched two holes in the fields at a distance of an inch and a half from the edge, hooked them with hooks, tied the hooks with a long rope to the harness and thus dragged my headdress for a good half mile. But due to the fact that the soil in this country is unusually level and smooth, the hat received less damage than I expected.

Two or three days after the incident described, the emperor gave orders to the army located in the capital and its environs to be ready to march. His Majesty came up with the fantasy of providing himself with a rather strange entertainment. He wanted me to stand in the pose of the Colossus of Rhodes, spreading my legs as wide as possible « ...in the pose of the Colossus of Rhodes...» – Colossus is a giant bronze statue of the sun god Helios, erected in the harbor of the island of Rhodes in 280 BC. e. The statue's feet rested on the shores on both sides of the harbor. The statue was destroyed by an earthquake 56 years later.. Then he ordered the commander-in-chief (an old experienced general and my great patron) to form the troops in close ranks and lead them in a ceremonial march between my feet - the infantry in twenty-four abreast, and the cavalry in sixteen - with drums beating, banners unfurled and pikes raised. The entire corps consisted of three thousand infantry and a thousand cavalry. His Majesty gave orders that the soldiers, under penalty of death, should behave quite decently towards my person during the ceremonial march, which, however, did not prevent some young officers, passing under me, from raising their eyes; and to tell the truth, my trousers were in such a bad state at that time that they gave some reason to laugh and be amazed.

I submitted so many petitions and memorandums to the emperor to grant me freedom that finally His Majesty brought this issue up for discussion, first in his cabinet, and then in the State Council, where no one raised any objections except for Skyresh Bolgolam, who pleased, without any reason from my hand, become my mortal enemy Skyresh Bolgolam- This refers to the Duke of Argyll, who was offended by Swift's attacks on the Scots, which were contained in his pamphlet "Whig Public Spirit." In one of the poems about himself, Swift mentions a proclamation in which, by order of the Duke of Argyll, a reward was promised for the extradition of the author of this pamphlet.. But, despite his opposition, the matter was decided by the entire council and approved by the emperor in my favor. Bolgolam held the post of galbet, that is, admiral of the royal fleet, enjoyed great confidence of the emperor and was a very knowledgeable man in his field, but gloomy and harsh. However, he was finally persuaded to give his consent, but he insisted that he be entrusted with drawing up the conditions under which I would receive my freedom, after I had taken a solemn oath to sacredly observe them. Skyresh Bolgolam delivered these conditions to me personally, accompanied by two assistant secretaries and several noble persons. When they were read, I had to swear that I would not violate them, and the rite of oath was performed first according to the customs of my homeland, and then according to the method prescribed by local laws, which consisted in holding my right foot in my left hand , placing at the same time the middle finger of the right hand on the crown of the head, and the thumb on the top of the right ear. But perhaps the reader will be curious to get some idea of ​​the style and characteristic expressions of this people, and also to become acquainted with the conditions under which I received my freedom; Therefore, I will give here a complete literal translation of the said document, made by me in the most careful manner.

Golbasto momaren evlem gerdaylo shefinmolliolligu, the most powerful emperor of Lilliput, the joy and horror of the universe, whose domain, occupying five thousand blestregs (about twelve miles in circumference), extends to the extremes of the globe « ...to the extremes of the globe...“- There is an inaccuracy here: it is further said that the Lilliputians considered the earth to be flat.; a monarch above monarchs, the greatest of the sons of men, with his feet resting on the center of the earth, and his head touching the sun; at one wave of which the knees of earthly kings shake; pleasant as spring, beneficial as summer, abundant as autumn and harsh as winter. His Highest Majesty offers the following points to the Mountain Man who has recently arrived in our heavenly domain, which the Mountain Man undertakes to fulfill under a solemn oath:

1. Man Mountain does not have the right to leave our state without our letter of permission with a large seal attached.

2. He has no right to enter our capital without our special command, and residents must be warned two hours in advance in order to have time to take refuge in their homes.

3. The named Man of the Mountain must limit his walks to our main high roads and does not dare to walk or lie down in the meadows and fields.

4. While walking along the named roads, he must carefully watch his step, so as not to trample any of our kind subjects or their horses and carts; he must not take the said subjects into his hands without their consent.

5. If it is necessary to quickly deliver the messenger to his destination, then the Man of Mountain undertakes to carry the messenger and horse in his pocket once a month for a distance of six days' journey and (if necessary) deliver the said messenger safe and sound back to our Imperial Majesty.

6. He must be our ally against the hostile island of Blefuscu and use every effort to destroy the enemy fleet, which is currently being equipped to attack us.

7. The said Man of Mountain, during his leisure hours, undertakes to assist our workers by lifting especially heavy stones in the construction of the wall of our main park, as well as in the construction of our other buildings.

8. The mentioned Man of Mountain must accurately measure the circumference of our possessions within two moons, walking around the entire coast and counting the number of steps taken.

Finally, under a solemn oath, the said Man of Horus undertakes to strictly observe the stated conditions, and then he, the Man of Horus, will receive daily food and drink in quantities sufficient to feed 1728 of our subjects, and will enjoy free access to our august person and other signs our good pleasure. Given at Belfaborak, in our palace, on the twelfth day of the ninety-first moon of our reign.

I took the oath and signed these clauses with great joy and satisfaction, although some of them were not so honorable as I would have liked; they were dictated solely by the malice of Skyresh Bolgolam, the High Admiral. After taking the oath, my chains were immediately removed and I was given complete freedom; the emperor himself honored me with his presence at the ceremony of my liberation. As a sign of gratitude, I fell prostrate at the feet of His Majesty, but the emperor ordered me to stand up and after many merciful words, which I - in order to avoid reproaches of vanity - will not repeat, added that he hoped to find in me a useful servant and a person fully worthy of those mercies , which he has already provided to me and may provide in the future.

Let the reader deign to pay attention to the fact that in the last clause of the conditions for returning my freedom, the emperor decides to give me food and drink in quantities sufficient to feed 1728 Lilliputians. Some time later I asked one of my courtier friends how such an exact figure was established. To this he replied that His Majesty's mathematicians, having determined the height of my height using a quadrant and finding that this height is in such a ratio to the height of Lilliputian as twelve to one, concluded, based on the similarity of our bodies, that the volume of my body is equal to, at least the volume of 1728 Lilliputian bodies, and therefore it requires the same number of times more food. From this the reader can form an idea of ​​both the intelligence of this people and the wise prudence of their great sovereign.

Description of Mildendo, the capital of Lilliput, and the imperial palace. The author's conversation with the first secretary about state affairs. The author offers his services to the emperor in his wars

Having received my freedom, I first of all asked permission to explore Mildendo, the capital of the state. The emperor gave it to me without difficulty, but strictly ordered me not to cause any harm to either the inhabitants or their houses. The population was notified of my intention to visit the city by a special proclamation. The capital is surrounded by a wall two and a half feet high and at least eleven inches thick, so that a carriage drawn by a pair of horses can pass through it with complete safety; This wall is covered with strong towers, rising at a distance of ten feet from one another. Having stepped through the great Western Gate, I walked very slowly, sideways, along the two main streets in one vest, for fear of damaging the roofs and eaves of houses with the hems of my caftan. I moved extremely carefully so as not to trample the careless passers-by who remained on the street despite the strict order given to the residents of the capital not to leave the house for safety. The windows of the upper floors and the roofs of the houses were covered with so many spectators that I think that in none of my travels have I ever seen a more crowded place. The city has the shape of a regular quadrangle, and each side of the city wall is five hundred feet. The two main streets, each five feet wide, intersect at right angles and divide the city into four quarters. The side streets and alleys, which I could not enter and only saw them, are from twelve to eighteen inches wide. The city can accommodate up to five hundred thousand souls. The houses are three- and five-story. Shops and markets are full of goods.

The Imperial Palace is located in the city center at the intersection of two main streets. It is surrounded by a wall two feet high, spaced twenty feet from the buildings. I had His Majesty's permission to step over the wall, and since the distance separating it from the palace was quite large, I could easily examine the latter from all sides. The outer courtyard is a square with a side of forty feet and contains two other courtyards, of which the imperial chambers are located in the inner one. I really wanted to see them, but it was difficult to fulfill this desire, because the main gate connecting one courtyard to the other was only eighteen inches high and seven inches wide. On the other side, the buildings of the outer court are at least five feet high, and therefore I could not step over them without causing considerable damage to the buildings, despite the fact that their walls are strong, of cut stone, and four inches thick. At the same time, the emperor really wanted to show me the splendor of his palace. However, I managed to fulfill our common desire only after three days, which I spent on preparatory work. In the imperial park, a hundred yards from the city, I cut down several of the largest trees with my penknife and made from them two stools, about three feet high and strong enough to bear my weight. Then, after a second announcement warning the inhabitants, I again walked to the palace through the city with two stools in my hands. Approaching from the side of the outer courtyard, I stood on one stool, lifted the other over the roof and carefully placed it on the eight-foot wide platform that separated the first courtyard from the second. Then I freely stepped across the buildings from one stool to another and lifted the first one towards me with a long stick with a hook. With the help of such tricks I reached the inner courtyard itself; there I lay down on the ground and brought my face close to the windows of the middle floor, which were deliberately left open: in this way I had the opportunity to examine the most luxurious chambers imaginable. I saw the Empress and the young princes in their chambers, surrounded by their retinue. Her Imperial Majesty graciously deigned to smile at me and gracefully extended her hand through the window, which I kissed. “Her Imperial Majesty...” – Referring to Queen Anne, who ruled England from 1702–1714..

However, I will not dwell on further details, because I reserve them for a more extensive work, almost ready for publication, which will contain a general description of this empire from the time of its foundation, the history of its monarchs during a long series of centuries, observations regarding their wars and the politics, laws, science and religion of this country; its plants and animals; the morals and customs of its inhabitants and other very interesting and instructive matters. At the present time, my main goal is to describe the events that occurred in this state during my almost nine-month stay in it.

One morning, two weeks after my release, Reldresel, the chief secretary (as he is called here) for secret affairs, came to see me, accompanied by only one footman. Having ordered the coachman to wait aside, he asked me to give him one hour and listen to him. I readily agreed to this out of respect for his rank and personal merits, and also taking into account the numerous services he rendered me at court. I expressed a willingness to lie down on the ground so that his words could reach my ear more easily, but he preferred that I hold him in my hand during our conversation. First of all, he congratulated me on my release, noting that in this matter he also deserved some credit; he added, however, that if it were not for the current state of affairs at court, I probably would not have received freedom so quickly. No matter how brilliant our position may seem to a foreigner, said the secretary, two terrible evils weigh upon us: the most severe discord between parties within the country and the threat of invasion by a powerful external enemy. As for the first evil, I must tell you that about seventy moons ago « ...about seventy moons ago...“- Here, apparently, we must understand “seventy years ago”, that is, if Gulliver’s first journey took place in 1699, this is 1629, which marks the beginning of the conflict between Charles I and the people, which ended in civil war, revolution and the execution of the king. two warring parties were formed in the empire, known as Tremeksenov and Slemeksenov « ...two warring parties... Tremeksenov and Slemeksenov..." - Tories and Whigs. The emperor's passion for low heels is a sign of his patronage of the Whig party., from high and low heels to shoes, by which they differ from each other. They say that high heels are most consistent with our ancient state structure, however, be that as it may, His Majesty decreed that in government offices, as well as in all positions distributed by the crown, only low heels should be worn, which you probably , noticed. You may also have noticed that the heels on His Majesty's shoes are one drerr lower than those of all the courtiers (a drerr is equal to the fourteenth part of an inch). The hatred between these two parties reaches such a point that members of one will neither eat, nor drink, nor talk with members of the other. We believe that the Tremexens, or High Heels, outnumber us, although the power belongs entirely to us « ... the Tremexenes ... outnumber us, although the power belongs entirely to us.” – The Whigs contributed to the accession of George I and therefore during his reign they were in power, supported by the bourgeoisie and that part of the aristocracy that held parliament in their hands. Although the Tories outnumbered the Whigs, there was no unity among them, since some of them were on the side of the Jacobites, who sought to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne.. But we fear that His Imperial Highness, the heir to the throne, has some affection for High Heels; at least it’s not difficult to notice that one heel is higher than the other, as a result of which His Highness’s gait is limping « ...His Highness’s gait is limping.” – The Prince of Wales’s hostility to his father and to the Whigs was the talk of the town. A skilled intriguer, he sought support from Tory leaders and from those Whigs who felt left out. Having become king, he deceived their hopes and left Robert Walpole at the head of the ministry.. And so, in the midst of these civil strifes, we are now threatened with an invasion from the island of Blefuscu - another great empire in the universe, almost as vast and powerful as his majesty's empire. And although you claim that there are other kingdoms and states in the world inhabited by the same enormous people as you, our philosophers strongly doubt this: they are rather ready to admit that you fell from the moon or from some star, since there is no doubt that a hundred mortals of your stature could, in a very short time, destroy all the fruits and all the livestock of his Majesty's possessions. Moreover, our annals for six thousand moons do not mention any other countries except the two great empires - Lilliput and Blefuscu. So, these two powerful powers waged a fierce war between themselves for thirty-six moons. The reason for the war was the following circumstances. Everyone shares the belief that from time immemorial boiled eggs, when eaten as food, were broken at the blunt end; but the grandfather of the present emperor, when a child, cut his finger at breakfast, breaking an egg in the aforesaid ancient way. Then the emperor, the father of the child, promulgated a decree ordering all his subjects, under pain of severe punishment, to break eggs from the sharp end « …break eggs with the sharp end.” – The feud between the blunt-ended and the sharp-pointed is an allegorical depiction of the struggle between Catholics and Protestants, which filled the history of England, France and other countries with wars, uprisings, and executions.. This law embittered the population to such an extent that, according to our chronicles, it was the cause of six uprisings, during which one emperor lost his life and another his crown. « ...one emperor lost his life, and another lost his crown.” – This refers to Charles I Stuart, executed in 1649, and James II Stuart, dethroned and exiled from England after the revolution of 1688.. These rebellions were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu, and after their suppression the exiles always found shelter in this empire. There are up to eleven thousand fanatics who during this time went to execution, just so as not to break the eggs from the sharp end. Hundreds of huge volumes devoted to this controversy have been printed, but the books of the Blunders have long been banned, and the entire party is deprived by law of the right to hold public office. During these troubles, the emperors of Blefuscu often warned us through their envoys, accusing us of church schism by violating the fundamental dogma of our great prophet Lustrog, set forth in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundekral (which is their Alcoran). Meanwhile, this is simply a violent interpretation of the text, the original words of which read: Let all true believers break their eggs from the end that is most convenient. The decision of the question: which end is considered more convenient, in my humble opinion, should be left to the conscience of everyone or, in extreme cases, to the power of the supreme judge of the empire « ...the authority of the supreme judge of the empire." - An allusion to the act (law) of religious tolerance, issued in England in 1689, which stopped the persecution of the religious sect of dissenters.. The expelled Blunt-Tips gained such strength at the court of the Emperor of Blefuscu and found such support and encouragement from their like-minded people within our country that for thirty-six moons the two emperors waged a bloody war with varying success. During this time we lost forty battleships and a huge number of small ships with thirty thousand of the best sailors and soldiers « ...we lost forty battleships..." - In the pamphlet “The Conduct of the Allies” (1711), Swift condemned the war with France. England suffered great losses, and the war placed a heavy burden on the people. This war was supported by the Whigs and the commander of the English army, the Duke of Marlborough.; They believe that the enemy's losses are even greater. But, despite this, the enemy has equipped a large new fleet and is preparing to land troops on our territory. That is why His Imperial Majesty, fully trusting your strength and courage, ordered me to make a real statement of our state affairs.

I asked the secretary to show the emperor my deepest respects and to inform him that, although I, as a foreigner, should not interfere in the discord of parties, nevertheless I am ready, without sparing my life, to defend his person and state from any foreign invasion .

The author, thanks to an extremely witty invention, prevents the invasion of the enemy. He is given a high title. The ambassadors of the Emperor of Blefuscu appear and ask for peace. A fire in the Empress's chambers due to negligence and a way invented by the author to save the rest of the palace

The Empire of Blefuscu is an island located north-northeast of Lilliput and separated from it only by a strait eight hundred yards wide. I have not yet seen this island; Having learned about the proposed invasion, I tried not to show myself in that part of the coast for fear of being noticed from the ships of the enemy, who had no information about my presence, since during the war all relations between the two empires were strictly prohibited under penalty of death and our emperor imposed an embargo on the exit of all ships without exception from the harbors. I communicated to His Majesty the plan I had drawn up for the capture of the entire enemy fleet, which, as we learned from our scouts, lay at anchor, ready to set sail at the first favorable wind. I inquired of the most experienced sailors regarding the depth of the strait, which they often measured, and they informed me that with high water, this depth in the middle part of the strait is equal to seventy glumgleffs - which is about six European feet - but in all other places it does not exceed fifty glumgleffs. I went to the north-eastern coast, located opposite Blefuscu, lay down behind the hillock and pointed my telescope at the enemy fleet at anchor, in which I counted up to fifty warships and a large number of transports. Returning home, I ordered (I had the authority to do so) that as much of the strongest rope and iron bars as possible be delivered to me. The rope turned out to be as thick as twine, and the beams were the size of our knitting needle. To give this rope greater strength, I twisted it in three and, for the same purpose, twisted three iron bars together, bending their ends in the form of hooks. Having attached fifty of these hooks to the same number of ropes, I returned to the north-eastern shore and, taking off my caftan, shoes and stockings, in a leather jacket, entered the water half an hour before high tide. At first I waded quickly, and near the middle I swam about thirty yards, until I again felt the bottom under me; so in less than half an hour I reached the fleet.

Seeing me, the enemy was so horrified that he jumped from the ships and swam to the shore, where at least thirty thousand of them had gathered. Then, taking out my shells and hooking the bow of each ship, I tied all the ropes into one knot. During this work the enemy showered me with a cloud of arrows, and many of them pierced my hands and face. In addition to the terrible pain, they greatly interfered with my work. Most of all I was afraid for my eyes and probably would have lost them if I had not immediately come up with a means of protection. Among other little things I needed, I still had glasses, which I kept in a secret pocket, which, as I noted above, escaped the attention of the imperial examiners. I put on these glasses and tied them tightly. Armed in this way, I boldly continued my work, despite the enemy’s arrows, which, although they hit the glasses, did not cause them much harm. When all the hooks were adjusted, I took the knot in my hand and began to pull; however, not a single one of the ships moved, because they were all firmly anchored. Thus the most dangerous part of my enterprise remained for me to accomplish. I released the ropes and, leaving the hooks in the ships, boldly cut the anchor ropes with a knife, and more than two hundred arrows hit me in the face and hands. After this, I grabbed the knotted ropes to which my hooks were attached, and easily dragged fifty of the enemy's largest warships along with me. « ... and easily dragged fifty of the largest enemy warships along with him.” – Swift is referring to the terms of the Peace of Utrecht between England and France, which ensured England’s dominance on the seas..

The Blefuscuans, who had not the slightest idea of ​​my intentions, were at first confused in amazement. Seeing me cutting the anchor ropes, they thought that I was going to set the ships free to the wind and waves, or to push them against each other; but when the whole fleet moved in order, carried away by my ropes, they fell into indescribable despair and began to fill the air with sorrowful cries. Finding myself out of danger, I stopped to remove the arrows from my hands and face and rub the wounded places with the previously mentioned ointment, which the Lilliputians gave me upon my arrival in the country. Then I took off my glasses and, after waiting about an hour for the water to subside, I forded the middle of the strait and arrived safely with my cargo at the imperial port of Lilliput. The Emperor and his entire court stood on the shore awaiting the outcome of this great enterprise. They saw the ships approaching in a wide crescent, but they did not notice me, since I was chest-deep in the water. When I passed the middle of the strait, their anxiety increased even more, because I was immersed in water up to my neck. The Emperor decided that I had drowned and that the enemy fleet was approaching with hostile intentions. But soon his fears disappeared. With every step the strait became shallower, and I could even be heard from the shore. Then, lifting up the end of the ropes to which the fleet was tied, I loudly shouted: “Long live the most powerful Emperor of Lilliput!” When I stepped ashore, the great monarch showered me with all sorts of praise and immediately granted me the title of nardak, the highest in the state.

His Majesty expressed his desire that I should find an opportunity to capture and bring into his harbor all the remaining enemy ships. The ambition of monarchs is so immeasurable that the emperor apparently planned no more and no less than to turn the entire empire of Blefuscu into his own province and rule it through his governor, exterminating the Blunt Ends hiding there and forcing all the Blefuscuans to break their eggs from the sharp end, as a result of which he would become the sole ruler of the universe. But I tried in every possible way to deviate the emperor from this intention, citing numerous arguments suggested to me both by political considerations and a sense of justice; in conclusion, I resolutely declared that I would never agree to be an instrument of enslavement of a brave and free people. When this issue came up for discussion in the State Council, the wisest ministers were on my side « ...to convert the entire empire of Blefuscu into its own province...“- The English commander the Duke of Marlborough and his supporters - the Whigs - considered the complete conquest of France quite possible. The Tories opposed this and demanded peace. Gulliver's words hint at this: “The wisest ministers were on my side.”.

My bold and frank statement was so contrary to the political plans of His Imperial Majesty that he could never forgive me for it. His Majesty very skillfully made this clear in the council, where, as I learned, its wisest members were apparently of my opinion, although they expressed it only in silence; others, my secret enemies, could not resist making certain remarks indirectly directed against me. From that time on, His Majesty and the group of ministers who were malicious against me began intrigues that, in less than two months, nearly ruined me completely. Thus, the greatest services rendered to monarchs are unable to tip the scales to their side if the other side is denied the indulgence of their passions.

Three weeks after the described feat, a solemn embassy arrived from the Emperor of Blefuscu with a humble offer of peace, which was soon concluded on terms highly favorable to our Emperor, but I will not bore the reader’s attention with them. The embassy consisted of six envoys and about five hundred retinue; the cortege was distinguished by great splendor and was fully consistent with the greatness of the monarch and the importance of the mission. At the end of the peace negotiations, in which, thanks to my then real or at least apparent influence at court, I rendered many services to the embassy, ​​their excellencies, privately aware of my friendly feelings, honored me with an official visit. They began with pleasantries about my courage and generosity, then, on behalf of the emperor, they invited me to visit their country and, finally, asked to show them some examples of my amazing strength, about which they had heard so many wonderful things. I readily agreed to fulfill their wishes, but I will not bore the reader with a description of the details.

Having amused their Excellencies for some time, to their great pleasure and surprise, I asked the ambassadors to testify my deep respects to His Majesty, their sovereign, whose fame of virtues had justly filled the whole world with admiration, and to convey my firm resolution to visit him personally before returning to my fatherland. As a result, at the very first audience with our emperor, I asked his permission to visit the Blefuscoian monarch; Although the emperor gave his consent, he expressed obvious coldness towards me, the reason for which I could not understand until one person told me in confidence that Flimnap and Bolgolam portrayed to the emperor my relations with the embassy as an act of disloyalty, although I can vouch that my conscience in this regard was completely clear. Here, for the first time, I began to form some idea of ​​what ministers and courts were. « ...depicted before the emperor my relations with the embassy as an act of disloyalty...“- Here is an allusion to Bolingbroke and his secret negotiations with France on concluding a separate peace (in addition to England, Austria and Holland participated in the war against France for the Spanish succession). Accused by Walpole of betraying the interests of the country for the sake of party goals, the former minister Bolingbroke, without waiting for trial, fled to France..

It should be noted that the ambassadors spoke to me with the help of an interpreter. The language of the Blefuscuans is as different from the language of the Lilliputians as the languages ​​of the two European peoples are different from each other. Moreover, each of these nations is proud of the antiquity, beauty and expressiveness of its language, treating with obvious contempt the language of its neighbor. And our emperor, taking advantage of his position created by the capture of the enemy fleet, obliged the embassy to present credentials and negotiate in the Lilliputian language. However, it should be noted that the lively trade relations between the two states, the hospitality shown to the exiles of the neighboring state by both Lilliput and Blefuscu, as well as the custom of sending young people from the nobility and rich landowners to their neighbors in order to polish themselves by seeing the world and getting acquainted with life and morals of the people, lead to the fact that here it is rare to meet an educated nobleman, sailor or merchant from a seaside city who does not speak both languages. I was convinced of this a few weeks later when I went to pay my respects to the Emperor of Blefuscu. Among the great misfortunes that befell me thanks to the malice of my enemies, this visit turned out to be very beneficial for me, which I will tell about in its place.

The reader may remember that among the conditions under which I was granted freedom were very humiliating and unpleasant for me, and only extreme necessity forced me to accept them. But now, when I bore the title of Nardak, the highest in the empire, the obligations I had taken would undermine my dignity, and, to be fair to the emperor, he never reminded me of them. However, not long before, I had the opportunity to render His Majesty what, at least it seemed to me at the time, was an outstanding service. Once at midnight the screams of a thousand-strong crowd were heard at the door of my home; I woke up in horror and heard the word “borglum” constantly repeated. Several courtiers, making their way through the crowd, begged me to come immediately to the palace, since Her Imperial Majesty's chambers were engulfed in flames due to the carelessness of one lady-in-waiting, who fell asleep while reading a novel without extinguishing the candles. In an instant I was on my feet. According to the order given, the road was cleared for me; In addition, it was a moonlit night, so I managed to get to the palace without trampling anyone along the way. Ladders had already been placed against the walls of the burning chambers and many buckets had been brought, but the water was far away. These buckets were the size of a large thimble, and the poor Lilliputians served them to me with great zeal; however, the flame was so strong that this zeal brought little benefit. I could have easily put out the fire by covering the palace with my caftan, but unfortunately, in my haste, I only managed to put on a leather jacket. The situation seemed to be in the most deplorable and hopeless situation, and this magnificent palace would undoubtedly have burned to the ground if, thanks to an unusual presence of mind for me, I had not suddenly thought of a means of saving it. The previous evening I drank a great deal of a very excellent wine, known as Limigrim (the Blefuscuans call it Flunec, but ours is superior), which is a strong diuretic. By the luckiest chance, I have never been relieved from drinking. Meanwhile, the heat from the flame and the intense work to extinguish it affected me and turned the wine into urine; I released it in such abundance and so accurately that in just three minutes the fire was completely extinguished, and the remaining parts of the majestic building, erected by the labor of several generations, were saved from destruction.

Meanwhile it became quite light, and I returned home, not expecting gratitude from the emperor, because although I had rendered him a service of great importance, I did not know how His Majesty would react to the manner in which it was provided, especially if we take into account the fundamental laws states according to which no one, including the highest-ranking persons, had the right to urinate in the palace fence, under pain of severe punishment. However, I was a little reassured by His Majesty's information that he would order the great justiciar to issue an official decree for my pardon, which, however, I never achieved. On the other hand, I was confidentially informed that the Empress, terribly indignant at my action, moved to the most remote part of the palace, firmly deciding not to rebuild her previous premises; at the same time, in the presence of her entourage, she vowed to take revenge on me « ...swore to take revenge on me." – Queen Anne was so outraged by the “immorality” of the attacks on the church in the satirical “Tale of the Tub” that, forgetting about Swift’s political services to her ministry, she heeded the advice of the higher clergy and refused to give him the position of bishop. Swift here ridicules the prejudices of the queen and the ladies of the court. In this chapter, Gulliver is no longer an inquisitive traveler in an unfamiliar country - he sets out the theories and thoughts of Swift himself. As many researchers have noted, this chapter diverges from the satirical nature of the entire description of Lilliput, since it describes the reasonable institutions of this country. Noticing this discrepancy, Swift himself considered it necessary to further stipulate that these were the ancient laws of Lilliput, which had nothing to do with “the modern depravity of morals, which is the result of deep degeneration.”.

About the inhabitants of Lilliput; their science, laws and customs; child education system. The author's lifestyle in this country. His rehabilitation of a noble lady

Although I intend to devote a special study to a detailed description of this empire, nevertheless, to satisfy the inquisitive reader, I will now make several general comments about it. The average height of the natives is slightly above six inches, and the size of both animals and plants exactly corresponds to it: for example, horses and oxen are not higher than four or five inches, and sheep are not higher than one and a half inches; geese are equal to our sparrow, and so on down to the smallest creatures, which were almost invisible to me. But nature has adapted the vision of Lilliputians to the objects around them: they see well, but at a short distance. Here is an idea of ​​the acuity of their vision in relation to close objects: it gave me great pleasure to watch the cook plucking a lark, no larger than our fly, and a girl threading a silk thread into the eye of an invisible needle. The tallest trees in Lilliput are no more than seven feet; I mean the trees in the great royal park, the tops of which I could hardly reach with my hand. All other vegetation has corresponding sizes; but I leave it to the reader to make the calculations.

Now I will limit myself to only the most cursory remarks about their science, which for centuries has flourished among this people in all branches. I will only draw attention to the very original manner of their writing: Lilliputians write not like Europeans - from left to right, not like Arabs - from right to left, not like the Chinese - from top to bottom, but like English ladies - diagonally across the page, from one corner to another.

Lilliputians bury the dead by laying the body head down, for they are of the opinion that in eleven thousand moons the dead will rise again; and since at this time the earth (which the Lilliputians consider flat) will turn upside down, the dead at their resurrection will find themselves standing upright. Scientists recognize the absurdity of this belief; nevertheless, for the sake of the common people, the custom continues to this day.

There are very peculiar laws and customs in this empire, and if they were not the complete opposite of the laws and customs of my dear fatherland, I would try to act as their defender. It is only desirable that they be strictly applied in practice. First of all, I’ll point out the law on informers « ...law on informers." – Espionage was widely spread in England during the reign of George I out of fear of the Jacobites, who sought to overthrow the king.. All state crimes are punished here extremely strictly; but if the accused proves his innocence during the trial, then the accuser is immediately subjected to a shameful execution, and his movable and immovable property is recovered fourfold in favor of the innocent for the loss of time, for the danger to which he was exposed, for the hardships he experienced during prison imprisonment, and for all the expenses that his defense cost him. If these funds are not enough, they are generously supplemented by the crown. In addition, the emperor favors the liberated person with some public sign of his favor, and his innocence is announced throughout the state.

Lilliputians consider fraud a more serious crime than theft, and therefore only in rare cases is it not punishable by death. With a certain amount of caution, vigilance and a small dose of common sense, they reason, you can always protect property from a thief, but an honest person has no protection from a clever swindler; and since when buying and selling, trade transactions based on credit and trust are constantly necessary, then in conditions where there is connivance with deception and it is not punished by law, an honest merchant always suffers, and a rogue will benefit. I remember that I once interceded with the monarch on behalf of a criminal who was accused of stealing a large sum of money, which he had received on behalf of his master, and of running away with this money; when I presented to His Majesty as a mitigating circumstance the fact that in this case there was only a breach of trust, the emperor found it monstrous that I would bring an argument in defense of the accused that actually aggravated his crime; To this, to tell the truth, I had nothing to object to, and I limited myself to the stereotyped remark that different peoples have different customs; I must admit, I was very confused.

Although we usually call reward and punishment the two hinges on which the entire government machine rotates, nowhere except Lilliput have I seen this principle applied in practice. Anyone who has provided sufficient evidence that he has strictly observed the laws of the country for seven moons is entitled there to certain privileges corresponding to his rank and social position, and a proportionate sum of money is determined for him from funds specifically allocated for this subject; at the same time, such a person receives the title of snilpel, that is, guardian of the laws; this title is added to his surname, but does not pass on to his descendants. And when I told the Lilliputians that the execution of our laws is guaranteed only by fear of punishment and nowhere is there any mention of a reward for their observance, the Lilliputians considered this a huge flaw in our government. That is why in the local judicial institutions justice is depicted as a woman with six eyes - two in front, two behind and one on each side - which signifies her vigilance; in her right hand she holds an open bag of gold, and in her left hand a sheathed sword as a sign that she is ready to reward rather than punish “...a sword in a sheath...” - Usually the goddess of justice was depicted with a drawn sword, threatening punishment to criminals..

When selecting candidates for any position, more attention is paid to moral qualities than to mental talents. Lilliputians think that since humanity needs governments, all people of average mental development are capable of holding one position or another, and that Providence never intended to create a secret out of the management of public affairs, into which only a very few great geniuses can penetrate , born no more than three per century. On the contrary, they believe that truthfulness, moderation, and similar qualities are available to all, and that the practice of these virtues, together with experience and good intentions, make every man fit for the service of his country in one capacity or another, except those which require special knowledge. In their opinion, the highest mental talents cannot replace moral virtues, and there is nothing more dangerous than entrusting positions to gifted people, for a mistake made out of ignorance by a person full of good intentions cannot have such fatal consequences for the public good as the activities of a person with vicious inclinations, gifted with the ability to hide his vices, multiply them and indulge in them with impunity.

Likewise, lack of faith in divine providence makes a person unfit to hold public office « ...disbelief in divine providence...“Persons in the civil service and holding public positions were required to attend church and perform all religious rituals in England.. And in fact, the Lilliputians think that since monarchs call themselves messengers of providence, it would be extremely absurd to appoint people to government positions who deny the authority on the basis of which the monarch acts.

In describing both these and other laws of the empire, which will be discussed later, I want to warn the reader that my description concerns only the original institutions of the country, which have nothing to do with the modern corruption of morals, which is the result of deep degeneration. So, for example, the shameful custom already known to the reader of appointing to the highest government positions people who skillfully dance on a rope, and giving insignia to those who jump over a stick or crawl under it, was first introduced by the grandfather of the now reigning emperor and has reached its present development thanks to the incessant growth of parties and groups « ...grandfather of the now reigning emperor...“- This refers to King James I, under whom the awarding of orders and titles to persons he liked reached scandalous proportions..

Ingratitude is considered a criminal offense among them (from history we know that such a view also existed among other peoples), and the Lilliputians reason about this as follows: since a person is able to pay evil to his benefactor, then he is necessarily the enemy of all other people from whom he did not receive any favor, and therefore he deserves death.

Their views on the responsibilities of parents and children are profoundly different from ours. Based on the fact that the connection between a male and a female is based on the great law of nature, which has the goal of reproduction and continuation of the species, Lilliputians believe that men and women come together, like other animals, guided by lust, and that the love of parents for children stems from the same natural inclinations; as a result, they do not recognize any obligations of the child either to the father for producing him, or to the mother for giving birth to him, for, in their opinion, taking into account the misfortunes of man on earth, life in itself is not great fortunately, and besides, when creating a child, parents are not at all guided by the intention of giving him life, and their thoughts are directed in the other direction. Based on these and similar reasoning, Lilliputians believe that the upbringing of children can least of all be entrusted to their parents, as a result of which in every city there are public educational institutions where everyone except peasants and workers is obliged to send their children of both sexes, and where they are raised and are brought up from the age of twenty, that is, from the time when, according to the assumption of the Lilliputians, the first rudiments of intelligibility appear in the child Educational institutions.– In Lilliput, the pedagogical ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato are being implemented, who believed that the younger generation should be instilled with high ideas about morality and civic duty.. These schools are of several types, depending on the social status and gender of the children. The upbringing and education are conducted by experienced teachers, who prepare the children for a kind of life suited to the position of their parents and to their own inclinations and abilities. First I will say a few words about educational institutions for boys, and then about educational institutions for girls.

Educational institutions for boys of noble or noble birth are under the direction of respectable and educated teachers and their numerous assistants. Children's clothing and food are modest and simple. They are brought up in the rules of honor, justice, courage; They develop modesty, mercy, religious feelings and love for the fatherland. They are always at work, except for the time required for food and sleep, which is very short, and two recreational hours, which are devoted to bodily exercises. Until the age of four, children are dressed and undressed by servants, but from this age they do both themselves, no matter how noble their origin. Maids, who are hired at least fifty years of age (translated into our years), perform only the most menial tasks. The children are never allowed to talk to the servants, and during rest they play in groups, always in the presence of the teacher or his assistant. They are thus protected from the early impressions of stupidity and vice to which our children are exposed. Parents are allowed visits with their children only twice a year, each visit lasting no more than an hour. They are allowed to kiss the child only upon meeting and farewell; but the teacher, who is always present in such cases, does not allow them to whisper in their ears, speak kind words and bring gifts of toys, treats, and the like.

If parents do not pay timely fees for the maintenance and upbringing of their children, then this fee is collected from them by government officials.

Educational institutions for children of ordinary nobility, merchants and artisans are set up on the same model, with the difference that children destined to be artisans are taught craftsmanship from the age of eleven, while children of noble persons continue general education until the age of fifteen, which corresponds to our twenty one year. However, the rigors of school life have gradually relaxed in the last three years.

In female educational institutions, girls of noble origin are brought up almost the same as boys, only instead of servants they are dressed and undressed by well-behaved nannies, but always in the presence of a teacher or her assistant; When girls reach five years of age, they dress themselves. If it is noticed that the nanny has allowed herself to tell the girls some terrible or absurd tale or amuse them with some stupid trick, which are so common among our maids, then the culprit is publicly flogged three times, imprisoned for a year and then exiled forever to the most deserted part of the country. Thanks to this system of education, young ladies in Lilliput are just as ashamed of cowardice and stupidity as men, and treat with contempt all ornaments, with the exception of decency and neatness. I did not notice any difference in their education due to gender; Only physical exercises for girls are easier and the course of science for them is less extensive, but they are taught the rules of housekeeping. For there it is customary to think that even in the upper classes a wife should be a reasonable and sweet friend of her husband, since her youth is not eternal. When a girl turns twelve years old, that is, in local times, it is time for marriage, her parents or guardians come to school and, having expressed deep gratitude to the teachers, take her home, and the young girl’s farewell to her friends is rarely without tears.

In educational institutions for girls of the lower classes, children are taught all kinds of work appropriate to their sex and social status. Girls destined for crafts remain in the educational institution until they are seven years old, and the rest until they are eleven.

Families of the lower classes pay to the treasurer, in addition to the annual fee, which is extremely insignificant, a small part of their monthly earnings; These contributions form a dowry for the daughter. Thus, the expenses of parents are limited here by law, for the Lilliputians think that it would be extremely unfair to allow a person, in gratification of his instincts, to produce children and then place the burden of their maintenance on society. As for noble persons, they give an obligation to put a certain amount of capital on each child, according to their social status; this capital is always preserved carefully and completely intact.

Peasants and workers keep their children at home “The peasants and workmen keep their children at home...” – In Swift’s time, very few of the “lower” classes were educated.; since they are engaged only in cultivating and cultivating the land, their education is not of particular importance for society. But the sick and old are kept in almshouses, for asking for alms is an activity unknown in the empire.

But perhaps the inquisitive reader will be interested in some details regarding my activities and way of life in this country, where I stayed for nine months and thirteen days. Forced by circumstances, I put my mechanical inclination to use and made myself a rather comfortable table and chair from the largest trees in the royal park. Two hundred seamstresses were entrusted with making shirts, bed and table linen for me from the strongest and coarsest linen they could get; but they had to quilt this too, folding it several times, because the thickest fabric there is thinner than our muslin. Pieces of this cloth are usually three inches wide and three feet long. The seamstresses took my measurements while I was lying on the ground; one of them stood at my neck, the other at my knee, and they stretched the rope between them, each taking its end, while the third measured the length of the rope with a one-inch ruler. Then they measured the thumb of the right hand, and that was all they did; through a mathematical calculation based on the fact that the circumference of the hand is twice the circumference of the finger, the circumference of the neck is twice the circumference of the hand, and the circumference of the waist is twice the circumference of the neck, and with the help of my old shirt, which I spread on the ground in front of them as a sample, they sewed The underwear is just the right size for me. In the same way, three hundred tailors were commissioned to make me a suit, but to take measurements they resorted to a different technique. I knelt down and they put a ladder against my body; along this ladder one of them climbed up to my neck and lowered a plumb line from the collar to the floor, which was the length of my caftan; I measured the sleeves and waist myself. When the costume was ready (and it was sewn in my castle, since their largest house would not have accommodated it), its appearance was very reminiscent of the blankets made by English ladies from scraps of fabric, with the only difference that it was not full of different colors.

Three hundred cooks cooked for me in small comfortable barracks built around my house, where they lived with their families, and were obliged to prepare two dishes for me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I took twenty footmen in my hand and placed them on my table; a hundred of their comrades served below on the floor: some carried food, others carried barrels of wine and all kinds of drinks on their shoulders; the lackeys standing on the table, as needed, very skillfully lifted all this on special blocks, similar to the way in Europe they lift buckets of water from a well. I devoured each of their dishes in one go, and drank each barrel of wine in one gulp. Their lamb is inferior in taste to ours, but the beef is excellent. Once I got such a huge piece of fillet that I had to cut it into three parts, but this is an exceptional case. The servants were very amazed to see me eating beef with bones, just as we eat larks. I usually devoured the local geese and turkeys in one go, and, to be fair, these birds are much tastier than ours. I took twenty or thirty small birds on the tip of the knife at a time.

His Majesty, having heard a lot about my way of life, once declared that he would be happy (as he was pleased to put it) to dine with me, accompanied by his august wife and young princes and princesses. When they arrived, I placed them on the table opposite me in state chairs, with personal guards on either side. Among the guests was also the Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer, Flimnap, with a white staff in his hand; I often caught his unkind glances, but pretended not to notice them, and ate more than usual to the glory of my dear homeland and to the surprise of the court. I have some reason to think that this visit from His Majesty gave Flimnap a reason to lower me in the eyes of his sovereign. The said minister had always been my secret enemy, although outwardly he treated me much more kindly than could be expected from his gloomy disposition. He confronted the emperor with the poor state of the state treasury, saying that he was forced to resort to a loan at high interest rates; that the rate of bank notes fell nine percent below Alpari; that my maintenance cost His Majesty more than one and a half million sprugs (the largest gold coin among the Lilliputians, the size of a small sparkle) and, finally, that the emperor would have acted very wisely if he had taken the first favorable opportunity to expel me outside the empire.

I have the responsibility to clear the honor of one respectable lady who innocently suffered because of me. The Chancellor of the Exchequer came up with the fantasy of making his wife jealous of me on the basis of gossip launched by evil tongues, which told him that her ladyship was inflamed with an insane passion for my person; A rumor created a lot of scandal at court that she had come to see me secretly. I solemnly declare that all this is the most dishonest slander, the only reason for which was an innocent expression of friendly feelings on the part of her ladyship. She really often drove up to my house, but this was always done openly, and three other people were sitting in the carriage with her: a sister, a daughter and a friend; In the same way, other court ladies came to me. I call my numerous servants as witnesses: let one of them say whether he saw a carriage at my door, not knowing who was in it. Usually in such cases I immediately went to the door after my servant's report; Having paid my respects to the newcomers, I carefully picked up the carriage with a pair of horses (if it was drawn by six, the postilion always harnessed four) and placed it on the table, which I surrounded with movable railings five inches high to prevent accidents. Often on my table stood four drawn carriages filled with elegant ladies at once. I myself sat in my chair and leaned towards them. While I was talking in this way to one carriage, others were quietly circling around my table. I spent many afternoons very pleasantly in such conversations, but neither the Chancellor of the Exchequer nor his two spies Klestril and Drenlo (let them do whatever they want, and I will name their names) will ever be able to prove that anyone came to me incognito, except for Secretary of State Reldresel, who visited me once by special order of His Imperial Majesty, as described above. I would not dwell so long on these details if the question did not so closely concern the good name of a high-ranking lady, not to mention my own, although I had the honor of bearing the title of Nardak, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself did not have, for everyone knows that he is only a glum-glum, and this title is as much inferior to mine as the title of marquis in England is inferior to the title of duke; however, I agree to admit that the position he holds puts him above me. These slander, which I later learned about in one incident not worth mentioning, for some time embittered the Chancellor of the Exchequer Flimnap against his wife and even more against me. Although he soon reconciled with his wife, having become convinced of his mistake, I lost his respect forever and soon saw that my position had also shaken in the eyes of the emperor himself, who was under the strong influence of his favorite.

Before telling how I left this state, it is perhaps appropriate to take the reader into the details of the secret intrigues that were carried out against me for two months.

Thanks to my low position, I have hitherto lived far from the royal courts. True, I had heard and read a lot about the morals of great monarchs, but I never expected to encounter such a terrible action in such a distant country, governed, as I thought, in the spirit of rules completely different from those that govern Europe.

Just as I was preparing to go to the Emperor of Blefuscu, a significant personage at court (to whom I rendered a very significant service at a time when she was in great disfavor with His Imperial Majesty) secretly arrived to me late in the evening in a closed sedan chair and, without naming herself, asked to accept her. The porters were sent away, and I put the sedan chair together with His Excellency in the pocket of my caftan, after which, ordering one faithful servant to tell everyone that I was unwell and that I had gone to bed, I locked the door behind me, put the sedan chair on the table and sat down on a chair against him.

As we exchanged mutual greetings, I noticed great concern on His Excellency's face and wished to know the reason for it. Then he asked to listen to him patiently, since the matter concerned my honor and life, and addressed me with the following speech, which immediately after his departure I wrote down exactly.

“I must tell you,” he began, that recently several meetings of special committees have been held regarding you in terrible secrecy, and two days ago His Majesty made the final decision.

You know very well that almost from the day you arrived here, Skyresh Bolgolam (gelbet, or high admiral) became your mortal enemy. I do not know the original reason for this enmity, but his hatred especially intensified after the great victory you won over Blefuscu, which greatly darkened his glory as an admiral. This dignitary, in association with Flimnap, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose hostility towards you because of his wife is known to everyone, General Limtok, Chief Chamberlain Lelken and Chief Judge Belmaf, prepared an act accusing you of high treason and other serious crimes.

This introduction so excited me that, knowing my merits and my innocence, I almost interrupted the speaker out of impatience, but he begged me to remain silent and continued like this:

Driven by a feeling of deep gratitude for the services rendered by you, I obtained detailed information about this case and a copy of the indictment, at the risk of paying for it with my own head Indictment.– The indictment brought against Gulliver is a parody of the official charge of treason against former Tory ministers Ormond, Bolingbroke and Oxford (Robert Harley)..

Indictment

against

Quinbus Flestrin, the mountain man

II. 1

Whereas, although the law issued during the reign of His Imperial Majesty Kelin Defar Plyune, it was decreed that anyone who urinates in the fence of the royal palace is subject to penalties and punishments as for lese majeste; however, notwithstanding this, the said Quinbus Flestrin, in clear violation of the said law, under the pretext of extinguishing a fire that had engulfed the chambers of the dear wife of his imperial majesty, by viciously, treacherously and devilishly releasing urine, extinguished the said fire in the said chambers located in the enclosure of the said royal palace , contrary to the existing law on this subject, in violation of duty, etc., etc.

II. 2

That the said Quinbus Flestrin, having brought the fleet of the Emperor of Blefuscu to the imperial port and having received orders from his imperial majesty to seize all the remaining ships of the said empire of Blefuscu, in order to reduce this empire to a province under the control of our governor, to destroy and execute not only all the Blunt-Tips hiding there, but also all the subjects of this empire who will not immediately renounce the blunt heresy - the said Flestrin, as a treacherous traitor, submitted a petition to his most benevolent and most serene imperial majesty to relieve him, Flestrin, from carrying out the said commission under the pretext of not wanting to use violence in matters of conscience and destroy liberties of the innocent people.

II. 3

That when the famous embassy arrived from the court of Blefuscu to the court of his majesty to ask for peace, he, the said Flestrin, as a treacherous traitor, helped, encouraged, approved and amused the said ambassadors, knowing well that they were the servants of the monarch who had so recently been his open enemy Imperial Majesty and waged open war with the said Majesty.

II. 4

That the said Quinbus Flestrin, contrary to the duty of a loyal subject, is now going to make a journey to the court and to the empire of Blefuscu, for which he received only the verbal permission of his imperial majesty, and that, under the pretext of the said permission, he intends to treacherously and treacherously make the said journey with the purpose of providing assistance, encouragement and encouragement to the Emperor of Blefuscu, who had recently been the enemy of the aforementioned His Imperial Majesty and was in open war with him.

There are more points in the indictment, but the ones I read in the extract are the most significant.

* * *

I must admit that during the long debate over this accusation, His Majesty showed great condescension towards you, very often referring to your services to him and trying to mitigate your crimes. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Admiral insisted on putting you to the most painful and shameful death. They proposed to set fire to your house at night, instructing the general to lead out an army of twenty thousand armed with poisoned arrows intended for your face and hands. The idea also arose to give a secret command to some of your servants to soak your shirts and sheets with poisonous juice, which would soon force you to tear your body and cause you the most painful death. The General joined in this opinion, so that for a long time the majority was against you. But His Majesty, having decided to spare your life if possible, finally attracted the chief chamberlain to his side.

In the midst of these debates, Reldresel, the chief secretary for secret affairs, who has always shown himself to be your true friend, was ordered by his imperial majesty to state his point of view, which he did, fully justifying your good opinion of him. He acknowledged that your crimes are great, but that they still leave room for mercy, that greatest virtue of monarchs, which so justly adorns His Majesty. He said that the friendship existing between him and you is known to everyone, and therefore the venerable assembly may find his opinion biased; however, in obedience to the orders received from His Majesty, he will openly express his thoughts; that if His Majesty would be pleased, in consideration of your merits and in accordance with his characteristic kindness, to spare your life and be content with the command to gouge out both your eyes, then he humbly believes that such a measure, while satisfying justice to some extent, will at the same time lead to the admiration of the whole world, which will applaud as much the meekness of the monarch as the nobility and magnanimity of the persons who have the honor of being his advisers; that the loss of your eyes will not cause any damage to your physical strength, thanks to which you can still be useful to His Majesty; that blindness, by hiding danger from you, will only increase your courage; that the fear of losing your sight was your main obstacle in capturing the enemy fleet and that it will be enough for you to look at everything through the eyes of ministers, since even the greatest monarchs are content with this.

This proposal was met with extreme disapproval by the high assembly. Admiral Bolgolam was unable to keep his cool; jumping up from his seat in a fury, he said that he was surprised how the secretary dared to vote for saving the life of the traitor; that the services you provide, for reasons of state security, further aggravate your crimes; that since you were able to extinguish the fire in Her Majesty's chambers by simply urinating (which he spoke of with disgust), then at another time you will be able to cause a flood in the same way and drown the entire palace; that the very force that allowed you to capture the enemy fleet, at your first displeasure, will serve to cause you to take this fleet back; that he has good reason to think that deep down you are a thick-headed person; and since treason is born in the heart before it manifests itself in action, he accused you on this basis of treason and insisted that you be executed.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was of the same opinion: he showed to what impoverishment his Majesty's treasury had been reduced by the heavy burden on it to support you, which would soon become intolerable, and the Secretary's proposal to gouge out your eyes would not only not cure this evil, but, in all likelihood, , will aggravate it, for, as experience shows, some poultry eat more and quickly become fat after going blind; and if His sacred Majesty and the members of the council, your judges, appealing to their consciences, have come to a firm conviction of your guilt, then this is sufficient reason to sentence you to death, without the difficulty of finding the formal evidence required by the letter of the law.

But His Imperial Majesty spoke decisively against the death penalty, graciously deigning to note that if the council finds the deprivation of your sight a sentence too lenient, then there will always be time to impose another, more severe one. Then your friend the Secretary, respectfully asking permission to hear his objections to the remarks of the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the heavy burden that your maintenance places on His Majesty's treasury, said: since His Majesty's income is entirely at the disposal of his Excellency, it will not be difficult for him to take measures against it evil by gradually reducing your dependent expenses; thus, due to insufficient food, you will become weaker, lose weight, lose your appetite and waste away in a few months; such a measure will also have the advantage that the decomposition of your corpse will become less dangerous, since your body will be reduced in volume by more than half, and immediately after your death five or six thousand of His Majesty’s subjects will be able to separate the meat from the bones in two or three days , put it in carts, take it away and bury it outside the city to avoid infection, and preserve the skeleton as a monument, to the surprise of posterity.

Thus, thanks to the extremely friendly disposition of the secretary towards you, it was possible to come to a compromise solution to your case. The plan to gradually starve you to death was strictly ordered to be kept secret; the sentence of your blindness was entered into the books by the unanimous decision of the members of the council, with the exception of Admiral Bolgolam, the empress’s creature, who, thanks to the incessant instigations of her majesty, insisted on your death; the empress harbored a grudge against you because of the vile and illegal way in which you extinguished the fire in her chambers.

In three days your friend the secretary will receive an order to appear before us and read all these points in the indictment; at the same time, he will explain how great the leniency and favor of His Majesty and the State Council are towards you, thanks to which you are sentenced only to blindness, and His Majesty has no doubt that you will obediently and gratefully submit to this sentence; Twenty of His Majesty's surgeons are appointed to supervise the proper execution of the operation by means of very finely sharpened arrows, which will be shot into your eyeballs while you lie on the ground.

Therefore, leaving it to your prudence to take care of taking appropriate measures, I must, in order to avoid suspicion, immediately leave as secretly as I arrived here.

With these words, His Excellency left me, and I was left alone, overcome by painful doubts and hesitations.

The Lilliputians have a custom, established by the current emperor and his ministers (very different, as I was assured, from what was practiced in former times): if, for the sake of the vindictiveness of the monarch or the malice of the favorite, the court sentences someone to cruel punishment, then the emperor pronounces meeting of the State Council, a speech depicting his great mercy and kindness as qualities known and recognized by everyone. The speech is immediately announced throughout the empire; and nothing frightens the people more than these panegyrics of imperial mercy « ...panegyrics of imperial mercy...“After the suppression of the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and the brutal reprisal of its participants in England, a proclamation was published praising the mercy of George I.; for it has been established that the more extensive and eloquent they are, the more inhumane the punishment was and the more innocent the victim. However, I must admit that, not destined either by birth or upbringing for the role of a courtier, I was a bad judge in such things and could in no way find signs of meekness and mercy in my verdict, but, on the contrary (although, perhaps unfairly), considered him more harsh than soft. Sometimes it occurred to me to appear in person before the court and defend myself, because even if I could not dispute the facts stated in the indictment, I still hoped that they would allow for some mitigation of the sentence. But, on the other hand, judging by the descriptions of numerous political processes « ...judging by the descriptions of numerous political processes...“- A hint at trials in England, which were characterized by violation of the law, intimidation of the accused, witnesses, and jurors., about which I had to read, they all ended in the sense desired by the judges, and I did not dare to entrust my fate in such critical circumstances to such powerful enemies. I was very tempted by the thought of resisting; I understood perfectly well that as long as I enjoyed freedom, all the forces of this empire could not defeat me, and I could easily throw stones at the entire capital and turn it into ruins; but, remembering the oath I had given to the emperor, all his favors to me and the high title of nardak with which he bestowed on me, I immediately rejected this project with disgust. I had difficulty in assimilating the court's views on gratitude, and could not convince myself that His Majesty's present severity freed me from all obligations towards him.

Finally, I settled on a decision for which many will probably condemn me, not without reason. After all, I must admit, I owe the preservation of my vision, and therefore my freedom, to my great rashness and inexperience. Indeed, if at that time I had known as well the character of monarchs and ministers and their treatment of criminals, much less guilty than I was, as I later learned, observing court life in other states, I would have been with the greatest joy and willingly submitted to such a light punishment. But I was young and hot; Having taken advantage of His Majesty's permission to visit the Emperor of Blefuscu, before the end of the three-day period, I sent a letter to my friend the secretary, in which I notified him of my intention to go to Blefuscu that same morning in accordance with the permission I had received. Without waiting for an answer, I headed to the seashore where our fleet was anchored.

Having captured a large warship, I tied a rope to its bow, raised the anchors, undressed and put my dress in the ship (along with a blanket that I brought in my hand), then, leading the ship behind me, partly wading, partly swimming, I reached the royal the port of Blefuscu, where the population had been waiting for me for a long time. They gave me two guides to show me the way to the capital of Blefuscu, which bears the same name as the state. I carried them in my hands until I came within two hundred yards of the city gate; here I asked them to notify one of the secretaries of state about my arrival and tell him that I was awaiting His Majesty’s orders. An hour later I received an answer that His Majesty, accompanied by the august family and the highest court officials, had left to meet me. I got within a hundred yards. The Emperor and his retinue jumped off their horses, the Empress and the ladies of the court got out of their carriages, and I did not notice the slightest fear or anxiety in them. I lay down on the ground to kiss the hand of the Emperor and Empress. I announced to His Majesty that I had arrived here in accordance with my promise and with the permission of the emperor, my lord, in order to have the honor of beholding the most powerful monarch and offering him the services that depend on me, if they do not contradict the duties of my loyal subject; I did not mention a word about the disfavor that had befallen me, because, having not yet received official notification, I could well not have known about the plans against me. On the other hand, I had every reason to assume that the emperor would not want to make my disgrace public if he knew that I was outside his power; however, it soon became clear that I was greatly mistaken in my assumptions.

I will not bore the reader with a detailed description of the reception given to me at the court of the Emperor of Blefuscu, which was fully consistent with the generosity of so powerful a monarch. I will also not talk about the inconveniences that I experienced due to the lack of suitable room and bed: I had to sleep on the bare ground, covered with my blanket.

Three days after arriving in Blefuscu, having gone out of curiosity to the north-eastern coast of the island, I noticed at a distance of half a league in the open sea what looked like an overturned boat. I took off my shoes and stockings, and having waded about two or three hundred yards, I saw the object approaching, thanks to the tide; there was no longer any doubt that this was a real boat, torn off from some ship by a storm. I immediately returned to the city and asked His Imperial Majesty to place at my disposal twenty of the largest ships remaining after the loss of the fleet, and three thousand sailors under the command of the vice admiral. The fleet went around the island, and I took the shortest route back to the place on the shore where I found the boat; During this time, the tide drove her even further. All the sailors were equipped with ropes, which I had previously twisted several times for greater strength. When the ships arrived, I undressed and waded towards the boat, but a hundred yards from it I was forced to swim. The sailors threw me a rope, one end of which I tied to a hole in the front of the boat, and the other to one of the warships, but all this was of little use, because, without reaching the bottom with my feet, I could not work properly. In view of this, I had to swim up to the boat and push it forward as best I could with one hand. With the help of the tide, I finally reached a place where I could stand on my feet, immersed in water up to my chin. After resting for two or three minutes, I continued to push the boat until the water reached my armpits. When, therefore, the most difficult part of the enterprise was completed, I took the remaining ropes laid on one of the ships, and tied them first to the boat, and then to the nine ships accompanying me. The wind was fair, the sailors towed the boat, I pushed it, and we soon came within forty yards of the shore. Having waited for the ebb of the tide, when the boat was on land, I, with the help of two thousand men, equipped with ropes and machines, turned the boat over and found that its damage was insignificant.

I will not bore the reader with a description of the difficulties that had to be overcome in order to row the boat (work on which took me ten days) to the imperial port of Blefuscu, where upon my arrival a countless crowd of people flocked, amazed at the unprecedented spectacle of such a monstrous vessel. I told the emperor that this boat was sent to me by a lucky star so that I could use it to get to a place from where I could return to my homeland; and I asked His Majesty to provide me with the necessary materials for equipping the ship, and also to give permission to leave. After some attempts to convince me to stay, the emperor deigned to give his consent.

I was very surprised that during this time, as far as I knew, the court of Blefuscu did not receive any requests about me from our emperor. However, later I was privately informed that His Imperial Majesty, not for a moment suspecting that I knew his intentions, saw in my departure to Blefuscu a simple fulfillment of a promise, in accordance with the permission given for that, which was well known to our entire court; he was sure that I would return in a few days, when the reception ceremony was completed. But after a while my long absence began to bother him; After consulting with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other members of the clique hostile to me, he sent a noble person to the court of Blefuscu with a copy of my indictment. This messenger had instructions to show the monarch of Blefuscu the great mercy of his master, who was content with imposing on me such a light punishment as blinding, and to announce that I had fled from justice and if I did not return back within two hours, I would be deprived of the title of nardak and declared traitor. The messenger added that, in order to preserve peace and friendship between the two empires, his master hopes that his brother, the Emperor of Blefuscu, will give the order to send me to Lilliput, bound hand and foot, to be punished for treason. « ...to be punished for treason." - An allusion to the frequent representations of the English Ministry to the French Government regarding the patronage provided to the Jacobites who emigrated to France..

The Emperor of Blefuscu, after three days of conferences, sent a very kind reply with many apologies. He wrote that his brother understood the impossibility of sending me to Lilliput tied hand and foot; that, although I have deprived him of his fleet, he considers himself obliged to me for the many good offices rendered by me during the peace negotiations; that, however, both monarchs will soon breathe more freely, since I have found a huge ship on the shore on which I can go to sea; that he gave the order to equip this ship with my help and according to my instructions and hopes that in a few weeks both empires will finally get rid of such an intolerable burden.

With this answer the messenger returned to Lilliput, and the monarch of Blefuscu told me everything that had happened, offering me at the same time (but in the strictest secrecy) his gracious protection if I would like to remain in his service. Although I considered the emperor’s proposal sincere, I decided not to trust the monarchs any more if it was possible to do without their help, and therefore, having expressed gratitude to the emperor for his gracious attention, I respectfully asked His Majesty to excuse me and said that although it is unknown whether fortunately or Because of adversity, fate sent me this ship, but I decided to give myself up to the will of the ocean rather than serve as a cause of discord between two such powerful monarchs. And I did not find that the emperor did not like this answer; on the contrary, I accidentally learned that he was very pleased with my decision, as were most of his ministers.

These circumstances forced me to hurry and leave sooner than I expected. The court, impatiently awaiting my departure, provided me with every assistance. Five hundred people under my leadership made two sails for my boat, quilting the strongest fabric there, folded thirteen times. I took over the production of gear and ropes, twisting together ten, twenty and thirty of the thickest and strongest ropes there. A large stone, accidentally found on the shore after a long search, served as my anchor. They gave me the fat of three hundred cows to lubricate the boat and for other needs. With incredible effort I cut down several of the tallest timber trees for oars and masts; In making them, however, I was given great assistance by His Majesty’s ship carpenters, who leveled and cleaned what I had done in rough form.

After a month, when everything was ready, I went to the capital to receive his Majesty's orders and bid him farewell. The Emperor and his august family left the palace; I fell on my face to kiss his hand, which he very graciously extended to me; the empress and all the princes of the blood did the same. His Majesty gave me fifty purses with two hundred sprugs in each, and a full-length portrait of himself, which I immediately hid in my glove for greater safety. But the whole ceremony of my departure was so complicated that now I will not bore the reader with its description.

I loaded the boat with one hundred oxen and three hundred mutton carcasses, a corresponding quantity of bread and drinks, and as much roasted meat as four hundred cooks could prepare. In addition, I took with me six live cows, two bulls and the same number of sheep and rams to bring them to my homeland and start breeding them. To feed these cattle on the way, I took with me a large bundle of hay and a bag of grain. I really wanted to take a dozen natives with me, but the emperor would never agree to this; not content with the most thorough inspection of my pockets, His Majesty obliged me with my word of honor not to take any of his subjects with me, even with their consent and at their request.

Having thus prepared myself as best I could for the voyage, I set sail on September 24, 1701, at six o'clock in the morning. Having sailed about four leagues towards the north in a south-east wind, at six o'clock in the evening I noticed a small island to the north-west, at a distance of half a league. I continued on my way and dropped anchor in the lee of the island, which was apparently uninhabited. Having refreshed myself a little, I lay down to rest. I slept well and, according to my assumptions, at least six hours, because I woke up about two hours before daylight. The night was bright. Having had breakfast before sunrise, I raised anchor and, with a fair wind, took the same course as the day before with the help of a pocket compass. My intention was to reach, if possible, one of the islands lying, according to my calculations, to the north-east of Van Diemen's Land. I discovered nothing that day, but about three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, being, according to my calculations, twenty-four miles from Blefuscu, I noticed a sail moving to the south-east; I myself was heading straight to the east. I called out to him, but received no answer. However, the wind soon weakened, and I saw that I could catch up with the ship. I set all the sails, and half an hour later the ship noticed me, threw out a flag and fired a cannon. It is difficult to describe the feeling of joy that overwhelmed me when the hope suddenly appeared to see again my dear fatherland and the people dear to my heart abandoned there. The ship lowered the sails, and I landed at her at six o'clock in the evening on September 26. My heart fluttered with delight when I saw the English flag. Having stuffed the cows and sheep into my pockets, I boarded the ship with all my small cargo. It was an English merchant ship returning from Japan by northern and southern seas; its captain, Mr. John Bill of Deptford, was a most amiable man and an excellent sailor. We were at that time at 50° south latitude. The ship's crew consisted of fifty people, and among them I met one of my old comrades, Peter Williams, who gave the captain a most favorable report of me. The captain gave me a kind welcome and asked me to tell me where I was coming from and where I was going. When I briefly told him this, he thought that I was talking and that the misfortunes I had suffered had clouded my mind. Then I took the cows and sheep out of my pocket; This brought him into extreme amazement and convinced him of my veracity. Then I showed him the gold received from the Emperor of Blefuscu, the portrait of his Majesty and other curiosities. I gave the captain two purses with two hundred octopuses in each and promised to give him, upon his arrival in England, a pregnant cow and a sheep.

But I will not bore the reader with a detailed description of this journey, which turned out to be very successful. We arrived at the Downs on April 15, 1702. On the way I had only one trouble: the ship's rats carried away one of my sheep, and I found its gnawed bones in the crack. I brought all the rest of the cattle safely ashore and set them on the bowling green at Greenwich; The thin and tender grass, beyond my expectations, served as excellent food for them. I would not have been able to preserve these animals during such a long journey if the captain had not given me his best crackers, which I ground into powder, soaked in water and gave them in this form. During my short stay in England I collected a considerable sum of money by showing these animals to many nobles and others, and before the commencement of the second voyage I sold them for six hundred pounds. Returning to England from my last trip, I found a fairly large herd; The sheep have especially proliferated, and I hope that they will bring considerable benefit to the cloth industry thanks to the extraordinary fineness of their wool « ...benefit of the cloth industry...“In order to protect the English wool spinning industry from competition with the Irish one, the English government issued a number of acts that undermined the Irish economy. Incurring the wrath of the ruling party, Swift boldly denounced England’s predatory policy towards Ireland in the pamphlets “A Proposal for the General Use of Irish Manufactures” (1720) and in the now famous “Letters of a Clothmaker” (1724)..

I stayed with my wife and children for no more than two months, because my insatiable desire to see foreign countries did not give me peace and I could not sit at home. I left my wife fifteen hundred pounds and installed her in a good house in Redrif. « ...in Redrif." - So in the 17th and early 18th centuries. was called Roserguys.. I took the rest of my property, partly in money, partly in goods, with me in the hope of increasing my fortune. My eldest uncle John bequeathed to me an estate near Epping, which brought in up to thirty pounds of income a year; I received the same amount of income from my long lease of the Black Bull Tavern in Fetter Lane. Thus, I was not afraid that I was leaving my family in the care of the parish « ...in the care of the parish.” – Caring for the poor was the responsibility of those parishes in which the poor lived. Help from the amounts collected through donations was meager.. My son Johnny, named after his uncle, attended grammar school and was a good student. My daughter Betty (who is now married with children) took a sewing class. I said goodbye to my wife, daughter and son, and the matter was not without tears on both sides, and boarded the merchant ship "Adventure", with a capacity of three hundred tons; his destination was Surat Surat is an important seaport and trading city in India; The first factory in India was built there by the English East India Company., captain - John Nicoles from Liverpool. But the report of this journey will form the second part of my wanderings.

Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels

Part one

Travel to Lilliput

The three-masted brig Antelope was sailing to the Southern Ocean.

The ship's doctor Gulliver stood at the stern and looked through a telescope at the pier. His wife and two children remained there: son Johnny and daughter Betty.

This was not the first time Gulliver went to sea. He loved to travel. While still at school, he spent almost all the money his father sent him on sea maps and books about foreign countries. He diligently studied geography and mathematics, because these sciences are most needed by a sailor.

Gulliver's father apprenticed him to a famous London doctor at that time. Gulliver studied with him for several years, but never stopped thinking about the sea.

Medicine was useful to him: after finishing his studies, he became a ship’s doctor on the ship “Swallow” and sailed on it for three and a half years. And then, after living in London for two years, he made several trips to East and West India.

Gulliver was never bored while sailing. In his cabin he read books taken from home, and on the shore he looked closely at how other peoples lived, studied their language and customs.

On the way back, he wrote down his road adventures in detail.

And this time, going to sea, Gulliver took with him a thick notebook.

On the first page of this book it was written: “On May 4, 1699, we weighed anchor at Bristol.”

The Antelope sailed for many weeks and months across the Southern Ocean. Fair winds were blowing. The trip was successful.

But one day, while sailing to East India, the ship was overtaken by a terrible storm. The wind and waves drove him somewhere unknown.

And in the hold the supply of food and fresh water was already running out.

Twelve sailors died from fatigue and hunger. The rest could barely move their legs. The ship was tossed from side to side like a nutshell.

One dark, stormy night, the wind carried the Antelope straight onto a sharp rock. The sailors noticed this too late. The ship hit the cliff and broke into pieces.

Only Gulliver and five sailors managed to escape in the boat.

They rushed around the sea for a long time and finally became completely exhausted. And the waves became bigger and bigger, and then the highest wave tossed and capsized the boat.

Water covered Gulliver's head.

When he surfaced, there was no one near him. All his companions drowned.

Gulliver swam alone, aimlessly, driven by the wind and tide. Every now and then he tried to feel the bottom, but there was still no bottom. But he could no longer swim: his wet caftan and heavy, swollen shoes pulled him down. He was choking and choking.

And suddenly his feet touched solid ground.

It was a sandbank. Gulliver carefully stepped along the sandy bottom once or twice - and slowly walked forward, trying not to stumble.

The going became easier and easier. At first the water reached his shoulders, then his waist, then only his knees. He already thought that the shore was very close, but the bottom in this place was very sloping, and Gulliver had to wander knee-deep in water for a long time.

Finally the water and sand were left behind.

Gulliver came out onto a lawn covered with very soft and very short grass. He sank to the ground, put his hand under his cheek and fell fast asleep.

When Gulliver woke up, it was already quite light. He was lying on his back, and the sun was shining directly in his face.

He wanted to rub his eyes, but could not raise his hand; I wanted to sit down, but could not move.

Thin ropes entangled his entire body from his armpits to his knees; arms and legs were tightly tied with a rope net; strings wrapped around each finger. Even Gulliver's long thick hair was tightly wound around small pegs driven into the ground and intertwined with ropes.

Gulliver looked like a fish caught in a net.

“That’s right, I’m still sleeping,” he thought.

Suddenly something living quickly climbed up his leg, reached his chest and stopped at his chin.

Gulliver squinted one eye.

What a miracle! There is a little man standing almost under his nose - tiny, but a real little man! He has a bow and arrow in his hands and a quiver behind his back. And he himself is only three fingers tall.

Following the first little man, another four dozen of the same little shooters climbed onto Gulliver.

Gulliver screamed loudly in surprise.

The little people rushed about and ran in all directions.

As they ran, they stumbled and fell, then jumped up and one after another jumped to the ground.

For two or three minutes no one else approached Gulliver. Only under his ear there was a noise all the time, similar to the chirping of grasshoppers.

But soon the little men became brave again and again began to climb up his legs, arms and shoulders, and the bravest of them crept up to Gulliver’s face, touched his chin with a spear and shouted in a thin but distinct voice:

- Gekina degul!

- Gekina degul! Gekina degul! – picked up thin voices from all sides.

But Gulliver did not understand what these words meant, although he knew many foreign languages.

Gulliver lay on his back for a long time. His arms and legs were completely numb.

He gathered his strength and tried to lift his left hand off the ground.

Finally he succeeded. He pulled out the pegs, around which hundreds of thin, strong ropes were wound, and raised his hand.

At that same moment, someone below squeaked loudly:

- Just a flashlight!

Hundreds of arrows pierced Gulliver’s hand, face, and neck at once. The men's arrows were thin and sharp, like needles.

Gulliver closed his eyes and decided to lie still until night came.

“It will be easier to free myself in the dark,” he thought.

But he didn’t have to wait for the night on the lawn.

Not far from his right ear, a frequent, fractional knocking sound was heard, as if someone nearby was hammering nails into a board.

The hammers knocked for an hour. Gulliver turned his head slightly - the ropes and pegs no longer allowed him to turn it - and right next to his head he saw a newly built wooden platform. Several men were adjusting a ladder to it.

Then they ran away, and a man in a long cloak slowly climbed up the steps to the platform.

Behind him walked another, almost half his height, and carried the edge of his cloak. It was probably a page boy. It was no larger than Gulliver's little finger.

The last to ascend the platform were two archers with drawn bows in their hands.

– Langro degul san! – the man in the cloak shouted three times and unrolled a scroll as long and wide as a birch leaf.

Now fifty little men ran up to Gulliver and cut the ropes tied to his hair.

Gulliver turned his head and began to listen to what the man in the cloak was reading. The little man read and talked for a long, long time. Gulliver didn’t understand anything, but just in case, he nodded his head and put his free hand to his heart.

Current page: 1 (book has 8 pages in total) [available reading passage: 2 pages]

Font:

100% +

Jonathan Swift

© Mikhailov M., abridged retelling, 2014

© Slepkov A. G., ill., 2014

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

© The electronic version of the book was prepared by liters

* * *

Gulliver in the land of Lilliput

Chapter 1

* * *

Early on a May morning, the three-masted brig Antelope set sail from the pier of the port of Bristol.

The ship's doctor, Lemuel Gulliver, looked from the stern to the shore through a telescope.

His wife and two children, Johnny and Betty, were used to accompanying the head of the family on sailing trips - after all, more than anything else, he loved to travel.

Already at school, Lemuel studied with particular diligence those sciences that are primarily necessary for a sailor - geography and mathematics. And with the money sent by my father, I mainly bought books about distant countries and nautical maps.

Dreams of the sea did not leave him even during his studies with the famous London doctor. Gulliver studied medicine so diligently that, after completing his studies, he was immediately able to get a job as a ship's doctor on the ship "Swallow". After three years of sailing, he lived in London for two years and during this time managed to make several long journeys.

Gulliver always took with him many books to read while sailing. Going ashore, he looked with curiosity at the life of the local population, became acquainted with customs and morals, and tried to study languages. And he made sure to write down all his observations.

And now, going to the Southern Ocean, Gulliver took with him a thick notebook. The first entry appeared in it:

Chapter 2

The Antelope's voyage had already lasted for several months. Fair winds filled the sails, the weather was clear, and everything was going well.

But when the ship was heading towards East India, a terrible storm arose. The ship lost its course, the waves tossed it around like a nutshell. This went on for several days.

The ship's rigging was damaged. On top of that, the supplies of food and fresh water in the hold had run out. The exhausted sailors began to die from exhaustion and thirst.

And one stormy night, a storm drove the Antelope straight onto the rocks. The weakened hands of the sailors could not cope with the controls, and the ship crashed into pieces on the cliff.

Only five people, along with Gulliver, managed to escape in the boat. But the storm did not subside, and for a long time they were carried along the waves, which rose higher and higher.

Finally, the highest shaft lifted the boat and capsized it.

When Gulliver surfaced, the storm seemed to begin to weaken. But besides him, no one was visible among the waves - all his companions drowned.

Then it seemed to Gulliver that he was being carried along by the tide. With all his might he began to row with the current, from time to time trying to feel the bottom. His wet clothes and swollen shoes made it difficult to swim, he began to choke... and suddenly his feet touched the shallows!

With his last effort, Gulliver rose to his feet and, staggering, moved along the sand. He could barely stand on his feet, but walking became easier with every step. Soon the water only reached the knees. However, the sandbank was very flat, and we had to wander through the shallow water for quite some time.

But finally he stepped on solid ground.

Having reached a lawn overgrown with very short and soft grass, the exhausted Gulliver lay down, put his hand under his cheek and immediately fell asleep.

Chapter 3

Gulliver woke up with the sun shining right in his face. He wanted to cover himself with his palm, but for some reason he could not raise his hand; tried to get up, but something prevented him from even moving or even raising his head.

Squinting his eyes, Gulliver saw that he was entangled from head to toe, as if in a web, with thin ropes wound on pegs driven into the ground. Even strands of his long hair were tied.

He lay there like a fish caught in a net.

“I must not have woken up yet,” Gulliver decided.

Suddenly he felt something climb up his leg, run along his torso and stop on his chest. Gulliver lowered his eyes - and what did he see?

In front of his chin stood a little man - tiny, but very real, in outlandish clothes, and even with a bow in his hands and a quiver over his shoulders! And he was not alone - after him several more armed kids climbed in.

Gulliver cried out in amazement. The little people rushed over his chest, tripping over the buttons, and rolled head over heels to the ground.

For some time no one disturbed Gulliver, but sounds similar to the chirping of insects were constantly heard near his ear.

Soon the little men apparently came to their senses and again climbed up the legs and arms of the giant lying on his back. The bravest of them dared to touch his chin with his spear and squeaked clearly:

- Gekina degul!

- Gekina degul! Gekina degul! – the same mosquito voices were picked up from all sides.

Although Gulliver knew several foreign languages, he heard these words for the first time.

He had to lie down for a long time. When Gulliver felt that his limbs were completely numb, he tried to free his left hand. But as soon as he managed to tear out the pegs with ropes from the ground and raise his hand, an alarming squeak was heard from below:

- Just a flashlight!

And then dozens of pin-sharp arrows pierced his hand and face.

Gulliver barely had time to close his eyes and decided not to take any more risks, but to wait for the night.

“It will be easier to free yourself in the dark,” he reasoned.

However, he did not have the chance to wait for darkness.

To his right he heard the sound of hammers on wood. It lasted almost an hour. Turning his head as far as the pegs would allow, Gulliver saw near his right shoulder a freshly planed platform to which small carpenters were nailing a ladder.

A few minutes later a man in a tall hat and long-brimmed cloak climbed up it. He was accompanied by two guards with spears.

- Langro degül san! – the little man shouted three times and unrolled a scroll the size of a willow leaf.

Immediately fifty children surrounded the giant’s head and untied his hair from the pegs.

Turning his head, Gulliver began to listen. The little man read for a very long time, then said something else, lowering the scroll. It was clear that this was an important person, most likely the ambassador of the local ruler. And although Gulliver did not understand a word, he nodded and put his free hand to his heart. And since he felt very hungry, the first thing he decided to do was ask for some food. To do this, he opened his mouth slightly and raised his finger to it.

Apparently, the nobleman understood this simple sign. He descended from the platform, and at his command, several ladders were placed towards the lying Gulliver.

Less than half an hour later, porters began to climb the steps, loaded with baskets of food. These were whole hams the size of a walnut, rolls no larger than beans, fried chickens smaller than our bee.

Hungry Gulliver swallowed two hams and three rolls at once. They were followed by several roasted bulls, dried rams, a dozen smoked pigs and several dozen geese and chickens.

When the baskets were empty, two huge barrels rolled up to Gulliver's hand - each the size of a glass.

Gulliver knocked the bottom out of each and drained one after the other in one gulp.

The shocked little men gasped and gestured to the guest to throw the empty barrels to the ground. Gulliver smiled and threw them both at once. The barrels, tumbling, flew up, hit the ground with a crash and rolled to the sides.

Loud shouts rang out from the crowd:

– Bora mevola! Bora mevola!

And after drinking the wine, Gulliver felt sleepy. He vaguely felt how little men were scurrying over his chest and legs, sliding down his sides, as if from a slide, tugging at his fingers and tickling him with the tips of their spears.

Gulliver wanted to shake off these jokers so as not to disturb his sleep, but he took pity on these hospitable and generous people. In fact, it would be cruel and ignoble to break their arms and legs in gratitude for the treat. And, besides, Gulliver was admired by the extraordinary courage of these little ones, frolicking on the chest of a giant, who could take the life of any of them with one click.

He decided not to pay attention to them and soon fell into a sweet sleep.

The cunning little men were just waiting for this. They added sleeping powder to the wine in advance to put their huge captive to sleep.

Chapter 4

The country to which the storm brought Gulliver was called Lilliput. Lilliputians lived in it.

Everything here was the same as ours, only very small. The tallest trees were no taller than our currant bush, the largest houses were lower than the table. And, of course, none of the Lilliputians had ever seen such giants as Gulliver.

Having learned about him, the Emperor of Lilliput ordered him to be taken to the capital. For this purpose, Gulliver had to be put to sleep.

Five thousand carpenters built a huge cart on twenty-two wheels in a few hours. Now the most difficult thing lay ahead—to load the giant onto it.

Resourceful Lilliputian engineers figured out how to do this. The cart was rolled up to Gulliver's side. Then they dug eighty pillars into the ground with blocks at the top and passed thick ropes with hooks at the end through the blocks. Although the ropes were no thicker than our twine, there were a lot of them, and they had to withstand.

The sleeping man's torso, legs and arms were tightly tied, then the bandages were hooked, and nine hundred selected strongmen began to pull the ropes through the blocks.

After an hour of incredible effort, they managed to lift Gulliver by half a finger, after another hour - by a finger, then things went faster, and after another hour they loaded the giant onto a cart.

One and a half thousand heavy-duty horses were harnessed to it, each the size of a large kitten. The horsemen waved their whips, and the entire structure slowly moved towards the main city of Lilliput - Mildendo.

But Gulliver never woke up during the loading. Perhaps he would have slept the whole way if not for one of the officers of the imperial guard.

This is what happened.

The wheel of the cart fell off. I had to stop to put it back in place. At this time, several young military men from the escort wanted to take a closer look at the face of the sleeping giant. Two of them climbed onto the cart near his head, and the third - the same guards officer - without getting off his horse, stood up in the stirrups and tickled his left nostril with the end of his spear. Gulliver wrinkled his face and...

- Apchhi! - echoed throughout the neighborhood.

It was as if the brave souls were blown away by the wind. And when Gulliver woke up, he heard the clatter of hooves, the exclamations of the horsemen, and guessed that he was being taken somewhere.

The rest of the way he looked at the strange nature of the country in which he found himself.

And they carried him all day. The lathered heavy trucks dragged their cargo without rest. Only after midnight the cart was stopped and the horses were unharnessed to be fed and watered.

Until dawn, the bound Gulliver was guarded by a thousand guards, half with torches, half with bows at the ready. The shooters were ordered: if the giant decided to move, shoot five hundred arrows straight into his face.

The night passed peacefully, and as soon as morning came, the entire procession continued on its way.

Chapter 5

Gulliver was brought to the old castle, which stood not far from the city gates. No one has lived in the castle for a long time. It was the largest building in the city - and the only one in which Gulliver could fit. In the main hall he would even be able to stretch to his full height.

It was here that the emperor decided to settle his guest.

However, Gulliver himself did not yet know about this; he was still tied to his cart. Although the mounted guards diligently drove away the onlookers who had fled to the square in front of the castle, many still managed to walk over the lying giant.

Suddenly Gulliver felt something lightly hit him on the ankle. Raising his head, he saw several blacksmiths in black aprons operating microscopic hammers. They put him in chains.

Everything was thought out very carefully. Several dozen chains, similar to watch chains, were chained at one end to rings screwed into the castle wall, the other ends were clasped around the giant’s leg, and each of them was secured with a padlock at the ankle. The chains were long enough for Gulliver to walk in front of the castle and crawl into it.

When the blacksmiths finished their work, the guards cut the ropes, and Gulliver rose to his full height.

- Ooo! - the Lilliputians screamed. “Quinbus Flestrin!” Quinbus Flestrin!

In Lilliputian it meant: “Mountain Man!” Man Mountain!

To begin with, Gulliver carefully looked at his feet so as not to crush anyone, and only then raised his eyes and looked around.

Our traveler has visited many countries, but has never seen such beauty anywhere. The forests and fields here looked like a patchwork quilt, the meadows and gardens resembled flowering flower beds. The rivers twisted like silver ribbons, and the nearby city seemed like a toy.

Meanwhile, life was in full swing at the giant’s feet. Almost the entire capital gathered here. No longer restrained by the guards, the townspeople scurried between his shoes, touched his buckles, knocked on his heels - and everyone, of course, raised their heads, dropping their hats and never ceasing to gasp in amazement.

The boys were vying with each other to see who would throw the stone to the giant’s nose. And serious people speculated about where such a creature could have come from.

“One ancient book says,” said the bearded scientist, “that many centuries ago a giant monster washed up on land.” I believe that Quinbus Flestrin also emerged from the depths of the ocean.

“But if so,” another bearded man objected to him, “then where are his fins and gills?” No, it’s more likely that the Mountain Man came down to us from the Moon.

Even the most educated local sages knew nothing about other lands and therefore believed that only Lilliputians lived everywhere.

In any case, no matter how much they shook their heads and pulled their beards, they were unable to come to a common opinion.

But then the armed horsemen again began to disperse the crowd.

- Ashes of the villagers! Ashes of the villagers! - they screamed.

A gilded box on wheels, drawn by four white horses, rolled into the square.

Nearby, also riding a white horse, was a man in a golden helmet with a feather. He galloped up to Gulliver's shoe and reared his horse. He twitched in fear when he saw the giant, began snoring and almost threw his rider off. But the guards ran up and took the horse by the bridle and led it aside.

The rider on the white horse was none other than the Emperor of Lilliput, and the Empress was sitting in the carriage.

Four pages unrolled a velvet carpet the size of a lady's handkerchief, placed a gilded chair on it and opened the carriage doors. The Empress descended onto the carpet and sat down in a chair, and around her, on the prepared benches, the ladies of the court sat down, straightening their dresses.

The entire numerous retinue was so dressed up that the square began to resemble a colorful oriental shawl embroidered with an intricate pattern.

Meanwhile, the emperor got off his horse and, accompanied by bodyguards, walked around Gulliver's feet several times.

Out of respect for the head of state, and also in order to get a better look at him, Gulliver lay down on his side.

His Imperial Majesty was taller than his entourage by a whole fingernail and, apparently, was considered a very tall man in Lilliput.

He was dressed in a colorful robe, and in his hand he held a naked sword that looked like a toothpick. Its scabbard was studded with diamonds.

The Emperor raised his head and said something.

Gulliver guessed that they were asking him about something and, just in case, he briefly said who he was and where he was from. But His Majesty only shrugged his shoulders.

Then the traveler repeated the same thing in Dutch, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish.

However, these languages ​​were apparently unfamiliar to the ruler of Lilliput. Nevertheless, he nodded favorably to the guest, jumped on the horse given to him and galloped back to the palace. And behind him the empress departed in a golden carriage along with her entire retinue.

And Gulliver remained waiting - without knowing why.

Chapter 6

Of course, everyone wanted to see Gulliver. And in the evening, literally all the residents of the city and all the surrounding villagers flocked to the castle.

A two-thousand-strong guard was posted around the Man-Mountain to keep an eye on the giant and also not to let overly curious citizens approach him. But still, several hotheads broke through the cordon. Some of them threw stones at him, and some even began to shoot upward from their bows, aiming for the buttons of his vest. One of the arrows scratched Gulliver's neck, and the other almost stuck in his left eye.

The angry chief of the guard ordered to catch the hooligans. They were tied up and wanted to take them away, but then the idea arose to give them to the Man-Mountain - let him punish them himself. This will probably be worse than the most brutal execution.

The six terrified prisoners began to be pushed with spears at the feet of Quinbus Flestrin.

Gulliver bent down and grabbed the entire group with his palm. He put five of them in his jacket pocket, and carefully took the sixth with two fingers and brought it to his eyes.

The little man, distraught with fear, shook his legs and squealed pitifully.

Gulliver smiled and took a penknife out of his pocket. Seeing bared teeth and a giant knife, the unfortunate midget screamed with good obscenities, and the crowd below fell silent in anticipation of the worst.

Meanwhile, Gulliver cut the ropes with a knife and put the trembling little man on the ground. He did the same with the rest of the prisoners, who were awaiting their fate in his pocket.

– Glum glaive Quinbus Flestrin! – the whole square cried out. This meant: “Long live the Mountain Man!”

Immediately the chief of the guard sent two officers to the palace to report to the emperor about everything that happened in the square in front of the castle.

Chapter 7

Just at this time, in the secret meeting room of the Belfaborak palace, the emperor, together with his ministers and advisers, was deciding what to do with Gulliver. The debate had already lasted nine hours.

Some believed that Gulliver should be killed immediately. If the Mountain Man breaks the chains, he will easily trample all of Lilliput. But even if he does not escape, the entire empire is in danger of starvation, because the giant eats more than one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight Lilliputians - such an accurate calculation was made by one mathematician specially invited to the meeting.

Others were against killing, but only because the decomposition of such a huge corpse would certainly start an epidemic in the country.

Then Secretary of State Reldressel asked to speak. He proposed not to kill Gulliver at least until a new fortress wall around the capital was completed. After all, if he eats so much, then he can work like one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight Lilliputians.

And in case of war it will be able to replace several armies and fortresses.

After listening to the secretary, the emperor nodded approvingly.

But then the commander of the Lilliputian fleet, Admiral Skyresh Bolgolam, rose from his seat.

– Yes, Man-Mountain is very strong. But that is precisely why he needs to be killed as quickly as possible. What if he goes over to the enemy’s side during the war? So we need to end it now, while it is still in our hands.

The admiral was supported by Treasurer Flimnap, General Limtok and Attorney General Belmaf.

Sitting under his canopy, His Majesty smiled at the admiral and nodded again, but not once, as to the secretary, but twice. This meant that he liked Bolgolam’s speech even more.

Thus, Gulliver's fate was decided.

At that moment the door opened, and two officers sent by the chief of the guard entered the secret hall. Kneeling before the emperor, they told about what happened in the square.

After everyone learned about the kindheartedness of the Mountain Man, Secretary of State Reldressel again asked to speak.

This time he spoke warmly and for a long time, assuring those gathered that there was no need to fear Gulliver and that a living giant would bring much more benefit to Lilliput than a dead one.

Then the emperor, after thinking, agreed to pardon Gulliver, but on the condition that the huge knife that the officers mentioned, as well as any other weapon that was found during the search, would be taken away from him.

Chapter 8

Two government officials were sent to Gulliver to conduct a search. They explained to him with gestures what the emperor wanted from him.

Gulliver didn't mind. Taking both officials in his hands, he lowered them into all his pockets in turn and, at their request, took out what they found there.

True, he hid one secret pocket from them. There were glasses, a telescope and a compass. Most of all, he was afraid of losing precisely these items.

The search lasted three whole hours. Using a flashlight, officials examined Gulliver's pockets and compiled an inventory of the items found.

Upon completion of the inspection of the last pocket, they asked to be lowered to the ground, bowed and immediately delivered their inventory to the palace.

Here is its text, later translated by Gulliver:

"INSCRIBER OF OBJECTS,

found in the pockets of the Mountain Man.

1. In the right pocket of the caftan lay a large piece of rough canvas, comparable in size to the carpet of the state hall of the imperial palace.

2. In the left pocket there was a huge metal chest with a lid that we could not even lift. When Man-Mountain opened the lid at our request, one of us climbed inside and plunged knee-deep into an unknown yellow powder. The clouds of this powder that rose up made us sneeze to the point of tears.

3. We found a huge knife in the right pants pocket. Its height, if placed upright, exceeds the height of a person.

4. In the left pocket of my pants we saw a machine made of wood and metal of unknown purpose. Due to its large size and heaviness, we were unable to examine it properly.

5. In the upper right pocket of the vest, a large stack of rectangular sheets of identical size made of an unknown white and smooth material, unlike fabric, was found. The entire stack on one side is stitched with thick ropes. On the top sheets we found black icons - apparently these were notes in a language unknown to us. Each letter is approximately the size of your palm.

6. In the upper left pocket of the vest there was a net, similar to a fishing net, but sewn in the form of a bag and having clasps - the same as those found on wallets.

It contains round and flat disks made of red, white and yellow metals. The red ones, the largest, are probably made of copper. They are very heavy and can only be lifted by two people. The white ones are most likely silver, smaller in size, reminiscent of the shields of our warriors. Yellow ones are undoubtedly golden. Although they are smaller than others, they are the heaviest. If the gold is not fake, they are worth a lot of money.

7. A metal chain, like an anchor, hangs from the lower right pocket of the vest. At one end it is attached to a large round and flat object made of the same metal - apparently silver. What it serves is unclear. One wall is convex and made of transparent material. Through it, twelve black signs are visible, arranged in a circle, and two metal arrows of different lengths, fixed in the center.

Inside the object, apparently, there is some kind of animal sitting, which is regularly knocking either its tail or its teeth. Seeing our bewilderment, the Mountain Man explained to us as best he could that without this device he would not have known when to go to bed, when to get up, when to start work and when to finish.

8. In the lower left pocket of the vest we found something similar to part of the fence of the palace park. The Mountain Man combs his hair with the bars of this lattice.

9. Having completed the inspection of the camisole and vest, we examined the belt of the Mountain Man. It is made from the skin of some giant animal. On the left side hangs on a belt a sword five times longer than the average human height, and on the left there is a bag with two compartments, each of which could easily fit three adult midgets.

One compartment contains many smooth black balls of heavy metal the size of a human head, and the other is filled with some kind of black grains. You could fit dozens of them in the palm of your hand.

This is a complete inventory of the items found during the search of the Mountain Man.

During the search, the aforementioned Man-Mountain behaved politely and assisted in its conduct in every possible way.”

The officials sealed this document and put their signatures:

Clefrin Frelock. Marcy Frelock.