SUMMARY :The
Emperor of Lilliput, attended by several of the Nobility, comes to see
the Author in his Confinement. The Emperor's Person and Habit describ'd.
Learned Men appointed to teach the Author their Language. He gains Favour
by his mild Disposition. His Pockets Are searched, and his Sword and Pistols
taken from
him.
WHEN I found myself on my Feet,
I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining
Prospect. The
Country round appeared like a continued Garden,
and the inclosed Fields, which were generally Forty Foot square, resembled
so many Beds of Flowers. These Fields were intermingled
with Woods of half a Stang, and the tallest Trees, as I could judge,
appeared to be seven Foot high. I viewed the
Town on my left Hand, which looked like the painted Scene of a City in
a
Theatre.
I had been for some Hours extremely pressed by
the Necessities of Nature; which was no Wonder, it being almost two Days
since I had last disburthened myself. I was under
great Difficulties between Urgency and Shame. The best Expedient I could
think on, was to creep into my House, which I
accordingly did; and shutting the Gate after me, I went as far as the Length
of
my Chain would suffer, and discharged my Body
of that uneasy Load. But this was the only Time I was ever guilty of so
uncleanly an Action; for which I cannot but hope
the candid Reader will give some Allowance, after he has maturely and
impartially considered my Case, and the Distress
I was in. From this Time my constant Practice was, as soon as I rose, to
perform that Business in open Air, at the full
Extent of my Chain, and due Care was taken every Morning before Company
came, that the offensive Matter should be carried
off in Wheel-barrows, by two Servants appointed for that Purpose. I would
not have dwelt so long upon a Circumstance, that
perhaps at first sight may appear not very momentous, if I had not thought
it
necessary to justify my Character in point of
Cleanliness to the world; which I am told some of my Maligners have been
pleased, upon this and other Occasions, to call
in question.
When this Adventure was at an end, I came back
out of my House, having occasion for fresh Air. The Emperor was already
descended from the Tower, and advancing on Horse-back
towards me, which had like to have cost him dear; for the Beast,
though very well trained, yet wholly unused to
such a Sight, which appeared as if a Mountain moved before him, he reared
up
on his hinder Feet: But that Prince, who is an
excellent Horse-man, kept his Seat, till his Attendants ran in, and held
the Bridle,
while his Majesty had time to dismount. When
he alighted, he surveyed me round with great Admiration, but kept without
the
length of my Chain. He ordered his Cooks and
Butlers, who were already prepared, to give me Victuals and Drink, which
they
pushed forward in a sort of Vehicles upon Wheels
till I could reach them. I took these Vehicles, and soon emptied them all;
twenty of them were filled with Meat, and ten
with Liquor; each of the former afforded me two or three good Mouthfuls,
and I
emptied the Liquor of ten Vessels, which was
contained in earthen Vials, into one Vehicle, drinking it off at a Draught;
and so I
did with the rest. The Empress, and young Princes
of the Blood, of both Sexes, attended by many Ladies, sat at some distance
in their Chairs; but upon the Accident that happened
to the Emperor's Horse, they alighted, and came near his Person, which
I
am now going to describe. He is taller by almost
the breadth of my Nail, than any of his Court, which alone is enough to
strike
an Awe into the Beholders. His Features are strong
and masculine, with an Austrian lip and arched Nose, his Complexion
olive, his Countenance erect, his Body and Limbs
well proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his Deportment majestic.
He
was then past his Prime, being twenty-eight Years
and three Quarters old, of which he had reigned about seven, in great
Felicity, and generally victorious. For the better
convenience of beholding him, I lay on my Side, so that my Face was parallel
to his, and he stood but three Yards off: However,
I have had him since many Times in my Hand, and therefore cannot be
deceived in the Description. His Dress was very
plain and simple, and the Fashion of it between the Asiatick and the
European; but he had on his Head a light Helmet
of Gold, adorned with Jewels, and a Plume on the Crest. He held his Sword
drawn in his Hand, to defend himself, if I should
happen to break loose; it was almost three Inches long, the Hilt and Scabbard
were Gold, enriched with Diamonds. His Voice
was shrill, but very clear and articulate, and I could distinctly hear
it when I
stood up. The Ladies and Courtiers were all most
magnificently clad, so that the Spot they stood upon seemed to resemble
a
Petticoat spread on the Ground, embroidered with
Figures of Gold and Silver. His Imperial Majesty spoke often to me, and
I
returned Answers, but neither of us could understand
a Syllable. There were several of his Priests and Lawyers present (as I
conjectured by their Habits) who were commanded
to address themselves to me, and I spoke to them in as many Languages
as I had the least smattering of, which were
High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Lingua Franca
; but all
to no Purpose. After about two Hours the Court
retired, and I was left with a strong Guard, to prevent the Impertinence,
and
probably the Malice of the Rabble, who were very
impatient to croud about me as near as they durst, and some of them had
the impudence to shoot their Arrows at me as
I sate on the Ground by the Door of my House, whereof one very narrowly
missed my left Eye. But the Colonel ordered six
of the Ringleaders to be seized, and thought no Punishment so proper as
to
deliver them bound into my Hands, which some
of his Soldiers accordingly did, pushing them forwards with the But-Ends
of
their Pikes into my Reach; I took them all in
my right Hand, put five of them into my Coat-Pocket, and as to the sixth,
I made a
Countenance as if I would eat him alive. The
poor Man squalled terribly, and the Colonel and his Officers were in much
Pain,
especially when they saw me take out my Penknife:
But I soon put them out of fear; for, looking mildly and immediately cutting
the Strings he was bound with, I set him gently
on the Ground, and away he ran; I treated the rest in the same manner,
taking
them one by one out of my Pocket, and I observed
both the Soldiers and People were highly obliged at this Mark of my
Clemency, which was represented very much to
my Advantage at Court.
Towards Night I with some Difficulty got into
my House, where I lay on the Ground, and continued to do so about a Fortnight;
during which Time the Emperor gave Orders to
have a Bed prepared for me. Six hundred Beds of the common Measure were
brought in Carriages, and worked up in my House;
a hundred and fifty of their Beds sewn together made up the Breadth and
Length, and these were four double, which however
kept me but very indifferently from the Hardness of the Floor, that was
of
smooth Stone. By the same Computation they provided
me with Sheets, Blankets, and Coverlets, tolerable enough for one
who had been so long enured to Hardships as I.
As the News of my Arrival spread through the Kingdom,
it brought prodigious Numbers of rich, idle, and curious People to see
me; so that the Villages were almost emptied,
and great Neglect of Tillage and Household Affairs must have ensued, if
his
Imperial Majesty had not provided, by several
Proclamations and Orders of State, against this Inconveniency. He directed
that
those who had already beheld me should return
Home, and not presume to come within fifty Yards of my House without
Licence from Court; whereby the Secretarys of
State got considerable Fees.
In the mean time, the Emperor held frequent Councils
to debate what Course should be taken with me; and I was afterwards
assured by a particular Friend, a Person of great
Quality, who was looked upon to be as much in the Secret as any, that the
Court was under many Difficulties concerning
me. They apprehended my breaking loose, that my Diet would be very
expensive, and might cause a Famine. Sometimes
they determined to starve me, or at least to shoot me in the Face and Hands
with poisoned Arrows, which would soon dispatch
me: But again they considered, that the Stench of so large a Carcass might
produce a Plague in the Metropolis, and probably
spread through the whole Kingdom. In the midst of these Consultations,
several Officers of the army went to the Door
of the great Council Chamber; and two of them being admitted, gave an account
of my Behavior to the six Criminals above-mentioned,
which made so favourable an Impression in the Breast of his Majesty
and the whole Board in my behalf, that an Imperial
Commission was issued out, obliging all the Villages nine hundred Yards
round the City, to deliver in every Morning six
Beeves, forty Sheep, and other Victuals for my Sustenance; together with
a
proportionable Quantity of Bread, and Wine, and
other Liquors: for the due Payment of which, his Majesty gave assignments
upon his Treasury. For this Prince lives chiefly
upon his own Demesnes, seldom, except upon great Occasions, raising any
Subsidies upon his Subjects, who are bound to
attend him in his Wars at their own Expense. An Establishment was also
made
of six hundred Persons to be my Domesticks, who
had Board-Wages allowed for their Maintenance, and Tents built for them
very conveniently on each side of my Door. It
was likewise ordered, that three hundred Taylors should make me a Suit
of
Cloaths after the Fashion of the Country: That
six of his Majesty's greatest Scholars should be employ'd to instruct me
in their
Language: And, lastly, that the Emperor's Horses,
and those of the Nobility, and Troops of Guards, should be frequently
exercised in my sight, to accustom themselves
to me. All these Orders were duly put in Execution, and in about three
Weeks I
made a great progress in learning their Language;
during which time, the Emperor frequently honored me with his Visits, and
was pleased to assist my Masters in teaching
me. We began already to converse together in some sort; and the first Words
I
learnt were to express my Desire that he would
please give me my Liberty, which I every day repeated on my Knees. His
Answer, as I could apprehend it, was, that this
must be a Work of Time, not to be thought on without the Advice of Council,
and that first I must Lumos Kelmin pesso desmar
lon Emposo; that is, swear a Peace with him and his Kingdom. However,
that I should be used with all Kindness; and
he advised me to acquire, by my Patience and discreet Behaviour, the good
Opinion of himself and his Subjects. He desired
I would not take it ill, if he gave Orders to certain proper Officers to
search
me; for probably I might carry about me several
Weapons, which must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the Bulk
of
so prodigious a Person. I said, his Majesty should
be satisfied, for I was ready to strip myself, and turn out my Pockets
before
him. This I delivered part in Words, and part
in Signs. He replied, that by the Laws of the Kingdom I must be searched
by two
of his Officers; that he knew this could not
be done without my Consent and Assistance; that he had so good an Opinion
of my
Generosity and Justice, as to trust their Persons
in my Hands: That whatever they took from me should be returned when I
left
the Country, or paid for at the Rate which I
would set upon them. I took up the two Officers in my Hands, put them first
into
my Coat-Pockets, and then into every other Pocket
about me, except my two Fobs, and another secret Pocket I had no mind
should be searched, wherein I had some little
Necessaries that were of no consequence to any but myself. In one of my
Fobs
there was a silver Watch, and in the other a
small Quantity of Gold in a Purse. These Gentlemen, having Pen Ink, and
Paper
about them, made an exact Inventory of everything
they saw; and when they had done, desired I would set them down, that
they might deliver it to the Emperor. This Inventory
I afterwards translated into English, and is word for word as follows.
IMPRIMIS, In the right
coat Pocket of the Great Man Mountain (for so I interpret the Words Quinbus
Flestrin) after the
strictest search, we found only one great Piece of coarse Cloath, large
enough to be a
Foot-Cloth for your
Majesty's chief Room of State. In the left Pocket we saw a huge Silver
Chest, with a Cover
of the same Metal, which
we the Searchers were not able to lift. We desired it should be opened,
and one of us
stepping into it, found
himself up to the mid Leg in a sort of Dust, some part whereof flying up
to our Faces, set us
both sneezing for several
times together. In his right Waistcoat-Pocket we found a prodigious Bundle
of white thin
Substances, folded one
over another, about the Bigness of three Men, tied with a strong cable,
and marked with
black Figures; which
we humbly conceive to be Writings, every Letter almost half as large as
the Palm of our
Hands. In the left there
was a sort of Engine, from the back of which were extended twenty long
poles, resembling
the palisades before
your Majesty's Court; wherewith we conjecture the Man Mountain combs his
Head, for we
did not always trouble
him with Questions, because we found it a great Difficulty to make him
understand us. In
the large Pocket on
the right side of his middle Cover (so I translate the Word Ranfu-Lo, by
which they meant my
Breeches) we saw a hollow
Pillar of Iron, about the length of a Man, fastened to a strong piece of
Timber, larger
than the Pillar; and
upon one side of the Pillar were huge Pieces of Iron sticking out, cut
into strange Figures,
which we know not what
to make of. In the left Pocket, another Engine of the same kind. In the
smaller Pocket
on the right side, were
several round flat Pieces of white and red Metal, of different Bulk; some
of the white,
which seemed to be silver,
were so large and heavy, that my Comrade and I could hardly lift them.
In the left
Pocket were two black
Pillars irregularly shaped: we could not, without Difficulty, reach the
Top of them as we
stood at the Bottom
of his Pocket. One of them was covered, and seemed all of a Piece: but
at the upper End of
the other, there appeared
a white round Substance, about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each
of these
was inclosed a prodigious
Plate of Steel; which, by our Orders, we obliged him to shew us, because
we
apprehended they might
be dangerous Engines. He took them out of their Cases, and told us, that
in his own
Country his Practice
was to shave his Beard with one of these, and to cut his Meat with the
other. There were
two Pockets which we
could not enter: These he called his Fobs; they were two large Slits cut
into the top of his
middle Cover, but squeez'd
close by the pressure of his Belly. Out of the right Fob hung a great silver
Chain, with
a wonderful kind of
Engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever was fastened
to that Chain;
which appeared to be
a Globe, half Silver, and half of some transparent Metal: for on the transparent
side we saw
certain strange Figures
circularly drawn, and thought we could touch them, till we found our Fingers
stopped by
that lucid Substance.
He put this Engine to our Ears, which made an incessant Noise like that
of a Water-Mill.
And we conjecture it
is either some unknown Animal, or the God that he worships: But we are
more inclined to
the latter Opinion,
because he assured us (if we understood him right, for he expressed himself
very imperfectly)
that he seldom did anything
without consulting it: he called it his Oracle, and said it pointed out
the Time for every
Action of his Life.
From the left Fob he took out a Net almost large enough for a Fisherman,
but contrived to
open and shut like a
Purse, and serve him for the same use: we found therein several massy Pieces
of yellow
Metal, which, if they
be real Gold, must be of immense Value.
Having thus, in obedience
to your Majesty's Commands, diligently searched all his Pockets, we observed
a Girdle
about his Waist made
of the Hide of some prodigious Animal; from which, on the left side, hung
a Sword of the
length of five Men;
and on the right, a Bag or Pouch divided into two Cells, each Cell capable
of holding three of
your Majesty's Subjects.
In one of these Cells were several Globes or Balls of a most ponderous
Metal, about the
bigness of our Heads,
and requiring a strong Hand to lift them: the other Cell contained a Heap
of certain black
Grains, but of no great
Bulk or Weight, for we could hold above fifty of them in the Palms of our
Hands.
This is an exact Inventory
of what we found about the Body of the Man-Mountain, who used us with great
Civility, and due Respect
to your Majesty's Commission.
Signed and Sealed on the fourth Day of the eighty ninth Moon of your Majesty's auspicious Reign.
Clefren Frelock, Marsi Frelock.
When this Inventory was read over to the Emperor,
he directed me, although in very gentle Terms, to deliver up the several
Particulars. He first called for my Scymiter,
which I took out, Scabbard and all. In the meantime he ordered three thousand
of
his choicest Troops (who then attended him) to
surround me at a distance, with their Bows and Arrows just ready to discharge:
but I did not observe it, for mine Eyes were
wholly fixed upon his Majesty. He then desired me to draw my Scymiter,
which,
although it had got some Rust by the Sea-Water,
was in most parts exceeding bright. I did so, and immediately all the Troops
gave a Shout between Terror and Surprise; for
the Sun shone clear, and the Reflection dazzled their Eyes as I waved the
Scymiter to and fro in my Hand. His Majesty,
who is a most magnanimous Prince, was less danted than I could expect;
he
ordered me to return it into the Scabbard, and
cast it on the Ground as gently as I could, about six Foot from the end
of my
Chain. The next thing he demanded was one of
the hollow iron pillars, by which he meant my Pocket-Pistols. I drew it
out, and
at his desire, as well as I could, expressed
to him the Use of it; and charging it only with Powder, which by the closeness
of my Pouch happened to escape wetting in the Sea (an Inconvenience
against which all prudent mariners take special Care to
provide) I first cautioned the Emperor not to
be afraid, and then I let it off in the Air. The Astonishment here was
much greater
than at the sight of my Scymiter. Hundreds fell
down as if they had been struck dead; and even the Emperor, although he
stood
his ground, could not recover himself in some
time. I delivered up both my Pistols in the same Manner as I had done my
Scymiter, and then my Pouch of Powder and Bullets;
begging him that the former might be kept from the Fire, for it would
kindle with the smallest Spark, and blow up his
Imperial Palace into the Air. I likewise delivered up my Watch, which the
Emperor was very curious to see, and commanded
two of his tallest Yeomen of the Guards to bear it on a Pole upon their
shoulders, as Draymen in England do a Barrel
of Ale. He was amazed at the continual Noise it made, and the Motion of
the
Minute-Hand, which he could easily discern; for
their Sight is much more acute than ours; and asked the Opinions of his
learned Men about him, which were various and
remote, as the Reader may well imagine without my repeating; although indeed
I could not very perfectly understand them. I
then gave up my Silver and Copper money, my Purse with nine large Pieces
of
Gold, and some smaller ones; my Knife and Razor,
my Comb and Silver Snuff-Box, my Handkerchief and Journal Book. My
Scymiter, Pistols, and Pouch, were conveyed in
Carriages to his Majesty's Stores; but the rest of my Goods were returned
me.
I had, as I before observed, one private Pocket
which escaped their Search, wherein there was a pair of Spectacles (which
I
sometimes use for the weakness of mine Eyes),
a Pocket Perspective, and several other little Conveniences; which, being
of no
consequence to the Emperor, I did not think myself
bound in Honour to discover, and I apprehended they might be lost or
spoiled if I ventured them out of my Possession.