myself, while she walked at some distance with her governess. In the
meantime there suddenly fell such a violent shower of hail that I was
immediately, by the force of it, struck to the ground: and when I was
down, the hailstones gave me such cruel bangs all over the body, as if
I had been pelted with tennis balls: however, I made a shift to creep
on all four, and shelter myself, by lying flat on my face, on the lee
side of a border of lemon-thyme; but so bruised from head to foot that
I could not go abroad in ten days. Neither is this at all to be
wondered at, because nature, in that country, observing the same
proportion through all her operations, a hailstone is near eighteen
hundred times as large as one in Europe; which I can assert upon
experience, having been so curious as to weigh and measure them.
But a more dangerous accident happened to me in the same garden, when
my little nurse, believing she had put me in a secure place (which I
often entreated her to do, that I might enjoy my own thoughts), and
having left my box at home, to avoid the trouble of carrying it, went
to another part of the garden with her governess and some ladies of
her acquaintance. While she was absent, and out of hearing, a small
white spaniel belonging to one of the chief gardeners, having got by
accident into the garden, happened to range near the place where I
lay; the dog, following the scent, came directly up, and taking me in
his mouth, ran straight to his master, wagging his tail, and set me
gently on the ground. By good fortune he had been so well taught that
I was carried between his teeth without the least hurt, or even
tearing my clothes. But the poor gardener, who knew me well, and had a
great kindness for me, was in a terrible fright; he gently took me up
in both his hands, and asked me how I did, but I was so amazed and out
of breath that I could not speak a word. In few minutes I came to
myself, and he carried me safe to my little nurse, who by this time
had returned to the place where she left me, and was in cruel agonies
when I did not appear, nor answer when she called. She severely
reprimanded the gardener on account of his dog. But the thing was
hushed up, and never known at court, for the girl was afraid of the
queen's anger; and truly, as to myself, I thought it would not be for
my reputation that such a story should go about.
This accident absolutely determined Glumdalclitch never to trust me
abroad for the future out of her sight. I had been long afraid of this
resolution, and therefore concealed from her some little unlucky
adventures that happened in those times when I was left by myself.
Once a kite, hovering over the garden, made a stoop at me, and if I
had not resolutely drawn my hanger, and run under a thick espalier, he
would have certainly carried me away in his talons. Another time,
walking to the top of a fresh molehill, I fell to my neck in the hole
through which that animal had cast up the earth, and coined some lie,
not worth remembering, to excuse myself for spoiling my clothes. I
likewise broke my right shin against the shell of a snail, which I
happened to stumble over as I was walking alone and thinking on poor
England.
I cannot tell whether I were more pleased or mortified to observe, in
those solitary walks, that the smaller birds did not appear to be at
all afraid of me, but would hop about within a yard's distance,
looking for worms and other food, with as much indifference and
security as if no creature at all were near them. I remember a thrush
had the confidence to snatch out of my hand, with his bill, a piece of
cake that Glumdalclitch had just given me for my breakfast. When I
attempted to catch any of these birds, they would boldly turn against
me, endeavoring to pick my fingers, which I durst not venture within
their reach; and then they would hop back unconcerned, to hunt for
worms or snails, as they did before. But one day I took a thick
cudgel, and threw it with all my strength so luckily at a linnet that
I knocked him down, and seizing him by the neck with both my hands,
ran with him in triumph to my nurse. However, the bird, who had only
been stunned, recovering himself, gave me so many boxes with his
wings, on both sides of my head and body, though I held him at arm's
length, and was out of the reach of his claws, that I was twenty times
thinking to let him go. But I was soon relieved by one of our
servants, who wrung off the bird's neck, and I had him next day for
dinner, by the queen's command. This linnet, as near as I can
remember, seemed to be somewhat larger than an England swan.
One day, a young gentleman, who was nephew to my nurse's governess,
came and pressed them both to see an execution. It was of a man who
had murdered one of that gentleman's intimate acquaintance.
Glumdalclitch was prevailed on to be of the company, very much against
her inclination, for she was naturally tender-hearted; and as for
myself, although I abhorred such kind of spectacles, yet my curiosity
tempted me to see something that I thought must be extraordinary. The
malefactor was fixed in a chair upon a scaffold erected for that
purpose, and his head cut off at one blow with a sword of about forty
feet long. The veins and arteries spouted up such a prodigious
quantity of blood, and so high in the air, that the great _jet d'eau_
at Versailles was not equal for the time it lasted; and the head, when
it fell on the scaffold floor, gave such a bounce as made me start,
although I were at least half an English mile distant.
The queen, who often used to hear me talk of my sea voyage, and took
all occasions to divert me when I was melancholy, asked me whether I
understood how to handle a sail or an oar, and whether a little
exercise of rowing might not be convenient for my health. I answered
that I understood both very well: for although my proper employment
had been to be surgeon or doctor to the ship, yet often, upon a pinch,
I was forced to work like a common mariner. But I could not see how
this could be done in their country, where the smallest wherry was
equal to a first-rate man-of-war among us; and such a boat as I could
manage would never live in any of their rivers. Her majesty said, if I
would contrive a boat, her own joiner should make it, and she would
provide a place for me to sail in. The fellow was an ingenious
workman, and by my instructions, in ten days finished a pleasure boat,
with all its tackling, able conveniently to hold eight Europeans. When
it was finished the queen was so delighted that she ran with it in her
lap to the king, who ordered it to be put in a cistern full of water,
with me in it, by way of trial; where I could not manage my two
sculls, or little oars, for want of room. But the queen had before
contrived another project. She ordered the joiner to make a wooden
trough of three hundred feet long, fifty broad, and eight deep; which
being well pitched to prevent leaking, was placed on the floor along
the wall, in an outer room of the palace. It had a cock near the
bottom to let out the water when it began to grow stale; and two
servants could easily fill it in half an hour. Here I often used to
row for my own diversion, as well as that of the queen and her ladies,
who thought themselves well entertained with my skill and agility.
Sometimes I would put up my sail, and then my business was only to
steer, while the ladies gave me a gale with their fans; and when they
were weary, some of the pages would blow my sail forward with their
breath, while I showed my art by steering starboard or larboard as I
pleased. When I had done, Glumdalclitch always carried back my boat
into her closet, and hung it on a nail to dry.
In this exercise I once met an accident which had like to have cost me
my life; for, one of the pages having put my boat into the trough, the
governess who attended Glumdalclitch very officiously lifted me up, to
place me in the boat; but I happened to slip through her fingers, and
should infallibly have fallen down forty feet, upon the floor, if, by
the luckiest chance in the world, I had not been stopped by a
corking-pin that stuck in the good gentlewoman's stomacher; the head
of the pin passed between my shirt and the waistband of my breeches,
and thus I was held by the middle in the air, till Glumdalclitch ran
to my relief.
Another time, one of the servants, whose office it was to fill my
trough every third day with fresh water, was so careless as to let a
huge frog (not perceiving it) slip out of his pail. The frog lay
concealed till I was put into my boat, but then, seeing a
resting-place, climbed up and made it lean so much on one side that I
was forced to balance it with all my weight on the other to prevent
overturning. When the frog was got in, it hopped at once half the
length of the boat, and then over my head, backwards and forwards,
daubing my face and clothes with its odious slime. The largeness of
its features made it appear the most deformed animal that can be
conceived. However, I desired Glumdalclitch to let me deal with it
alone. I banged it a good while with one of my sculls, and at last
forced it to leap out of the boat.
But the greatest danger I ever underwent in that kingdom was from a
monkey, that belonged to one of the clerks of the kitchen.
Glumdalclitch had locked me up in her closet, while she went somewhere
upon business or a visit. The weather being very warm, the closet
window was left open, as well as the windows and the door of my bigger
box, in which I usually lived, because of its largeness and
conveniency. As I sat quietly meditating at my table, I heard
something bounce in at the closet window, and skip about from one side
to the other; whereat although I were much alarmed, yet I ventured to
look out, but not stirring from my seat; and then I saw this
frolicsome animal frisking and leaping up and down, till at last he
came to my box, which he seemed to view with great pleasure and
curiosity, peeping in at the door and every window. I retreated to the
farther corner of my room, or box; but the monkey, looking in at every
side, put me into such a fright that I wanted presence of mind to
conceal myself under the bed, as I might have easily done. After some
time spent in peeping, grinning, and chattering, he at last espied me;
and reaching one of his paws in at the door, as a cat does when she
plays with a mouse, although I often shifted place to avoid him, he at
length seized the lappet of my coat (which being made of that country
silk, was very thick and strong), and dragged me out. He took me up in
his right forefoot, and held me as a nurse does a child, just as I
have seen the same sort of creature do with a kitten in Europe; and
when I offered to struggle, he squeezed me so hard that I thought it
more prudent to submit. I have good reason to believe that he took me
for a young one of his own species, by his often stroking my face very
gently with his other paw. In these diversions he was interrupted by a
noise at the closet door, as if somebody were opening it; whereupon he
suddenly leaped up to the window, at which he had come in, and thence
upon the leads and gutters, walking upon three legs, and holding me in
the fourth, till he clambered up to a roof that was next to ours. I
heard Glumdalclitch give a shriek at the moment he was carrying me
out. The poor girl was almost distracted; that quarter of the palace
was all in an uproar; the servants ran for ladders; the monkey was
seen by hundreds in the court, sitting upon the ridge of a building,
holding me like a baby in one of his forepaws, and feeding me with the
other, by cramming into my mouth some victuals he had squeezed out of
the bag on one side of his chaps, and patting me when I would not eat;
whereat many of the rabble below could not forbear laughing; neither
do I think they justly ought to be blamed, for, without question, the
sight was ridiculous enough to everybody but myself. Some of the
people threw up stones, hoping to drive the monkey down; but this was
strictly forbidden, or else, very probably, my brains had been dashed
out.
The ladders were now applied, and mounted by several men; which the
monkey observing, and finding himself almost encompassed, not being
able to make speed enough with his three legs, let me drop on a ridge
tile and made his escape. Here I sat for some time, five hundred yards
from the ground, expecting every moment to be blown down by the wind,
or to fall by my own giddiness, and come tumbling over and over from
the ridge to the eaves; but an honest lad, one of my nurse's footmen,
climbed up, and putting me into his breeches' pocket, brought me down
safe.
I was so weak and bruised in the sides with the squeezes given me by
this odious animal that I was forced to keep my bed a fortnight. The
king, queen, and all the court sent every day to inquire after my
health; and her majesty made me several visits during my sickness. The
monkey was killed, and an order made that no such animal should be
kept about the palace.
When I attended the king after my recovery, to return him thanks for
his favors, he was pleased to rally me a good deal upon this
adventure. He asked me what my thoughts and speculations were while I
lay in the monkey's paw; how I liked the victuals he gave me; his
manner of feeding; and whether the fresh air on the roof had sharpened
my stomach. He desired to know what I would have done upon such an
occasion in my own country. I told his majesty that in Europe we had
no monkeys except such as were brought for curiosities from other
places, and so small that I could deal with a dozen of them together,
if they presumed to attack me. And as for that monstrous animal with
which I was so lately engaged (it was indeed as large as an elephant),
if my fears had suffered me to think so far as to make use of my
hanger (looking fiercely, and clapping my hand upon the hilt, as I
spoke) when he poked his paw into my chamber, perhaps I should have
given him such a wound as would have made him glad to withdraw it,
with more haste than he put it in. This I delivered in a firm tone,
like a person who was jealous lest his courage should be called in
question. However, my speech produced nothing else besides a loud
laughter, which all the respect due to his majesty from those about
him could not make them contain. This made me reflect, how vain an
attempt it is for a man to endeavor doing himself honor among those
who are out of all degree of equality or comparison with him. And yet
I have seen the moral of my own behavior very frequent in England
since my return; where a little contemptible varlet, without the least
title to birth, person, wit, or common sense, shall presume to look
with importance, and put himself upon a foot with the greatest persons
of the kingdom.
I was every day furnishing the court with some ridiculous story; and
Glumdalclitch, although she loved me to excess, yet was arch enough to
inform the queen whenever I committed any folly that she thought would
be diverting to her majesty.
GULLIVER'S ESCAPE
_By Jonathan Swift_
I had always a strong impulse that I should sometime recover my
liberty, though it was impossible to conjecture by what means, or to
form any project with the least hope of succeeding. The ship in which
I sailed was the first ever known to be driven within sight of that
coast, and the king had given strict orders that if at any time
another appeared, it should be taken ashore, and with all its crew and
passengers brought in a tumbril to Lorbrulgrud. I was indeed treated
with much kindness; I was the favorite of a great king and queen, and
the delight of the whole court; but it was upon such a foot as ill
became the dignity of humankind. I could never forget those domestic
pledges I had left behind me. I wanted to be among people with whom I
could converse upon even terms, and walk about the streets and fields
without being afraid of being trod to death like a frog or a young
puppy. But my deliverance came sooner than I expected, and in a manner
not very common; the whole story and circumstances of which I shall
faithfully relate.
I had now been two years in this country, and about the beginning of
the third, Glumdalclitch and I attended the king and queen in a
progress to the south coast of the kingdom. I was carried as usual in
my traveling box, which, as I have already described, was a very
convenient closet of twelve feet wide. And I had ordered a hammock to
be fixed by silken ropes from the four corners at the top, to break
the jolts when a servant carried me before him on horseback, as I
sometimes desired; and would often sleep in my hammock, while we were
upon the road. On the roof of my closet, not directly over the middle
of the hammock, I ordered the joiner to cut out a hole of a foot
square, to give me air in hot weather as I slept; which hole I shut at
pleasure, with a board that drew backwards and forwards through a
groove.
When we came to our journey's end, the king thought proper to pass a
few days at a palace he hath near Flanflasnic, a city within eighteen
English miles of the seaside. Glumdalclitch and I were much
fatigued,--I had gotten a small cold, but the poor girl was so ill as
to be confined to her chamber. I longed to see the ocean, which must
be the only scene of my escape, if ever it should happen. I pretended
to be worse than I really was, and desired leave to take the fresh air
of the sea, with a page I was very fond of, and who had sometimes been
trusted with me. I shall never forget with what unwillingness
Glumdalclitch consented, nor the strict charge she gave the page to be
careful of me, bursting at the same time into a flood of tears, as if
she had some foreboding of what was to happen. The boy took me out in
my box, about half an hour's walk from the palace towards the rocks on
the seashore. I ordered him to set me down, and, lifting up one of my
sashes, cast many a wistful, melancholy look towards the sea. I found
myself not very well, and told the page that I had a mind to take a
nap in my hammock, which I hoped would do me good. I got in, and the
boy shut the window close down to keep out the cold. I soon fell
asleep, and all I can conjecture is, that while I slept, the page,
thinking no danger could happen, went among the rocks to look for
birds' eggs, having before observed him from my window searching
about, and picking up one or two in the clefts. Be that as it will, I
found myself suddenly awakened with a violent pull upon the ring which
was fastened at the top of my box for the conveniency of carriage. I
felt my box raised very high in the air, and then borne forward with
prodigious speed. The first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my
hammock, but afterwards the motion was easy enough. I called out
several times as loud as I could raise my voice, but all to no
purpose. I looked towards my windows, and could see nothing but the
clouds and sky. I heard a noise over my head, like the clapping of
wings, and then began to perceive the woeful condition I was in: that
some eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an intent to
let it fall on a rock, like a tortoise in a shell, and then pick out
my body, and devour it; for the sagacity and smell of this bird enable
him to discover his quarry at a great distance, though better
concealed than I could be within a two-inch board. In a little time, I
observed the noise and flutter of wings to increase very fast, and my
box was tossed up and down like a signpost in a windy day. I heard
several bangs or buffets, as I thought, given to the eagle (for such I
am certain it must have been that held the ring of my box in his
beak), and then all on a sudden felt myself falling perpendicularly
down, for above a minute, but with such incredible swiftness that I
almost lost my breath. My fall was stopped by a terrible squash, that
sounded louder to my ears than the cataract of Niagara; after which I
was quite in the dark for another minute; and then my box began to
rise so high that I could see light from the tops of the windows. I
now perceived that I was fallen into the sea. My box, by the weight of
my body, the goods that were in, and the broad plates of iron fixed
for strength at the four corners of the top and bottom, floated above
five feet deep in water. I did then and do now suppose, that the eagle
which flew away with my box was pursued by two or three others, and
forced to let me drop, while he was defending himself against the
rest, who hoped to share in the prey. The plates of iron fastened at
the bottom of the box (for those were the strongest) preserved the
balance while it fell, and hindered it from being broken on the
surface of the water. Every joint of it was well grooved; and the door
did not move on hinges, but up and down like a sash, which kept my
closet so tight that very little water came in. I got with much
difficulty out of my hammock, having first ventured to draw back the
slipboard on the roof already mentioned, contrived on purpose to let
in air, for want of which I found myself almost stifled.
How often did I then wish myself with my dear Glumdalclitch, from whom
one single hour had so far divided me! And I may say with truth that
in the midst of my own misfortunes I could not forbear lamenting my
poor nurse, the grief she would suffer for my loss, the displeasure of
the queen, and the ruin of her fortune. Perhaps not many travelers
have been under greater difficulties and distress than I was at this
juncture, expecting every moment to see my box dashed in pieces, or at
least overset by the first violent blast, or a rising wave. A breach
in one single pane of glass would have been immediate death: nor could
anything have preserved the windows but the strong lattice wires
placed on the outside, against accidents in traveling. I saw the water
ooze in at several crannies, although the leaks were not considerable,
and I endeavored to stop them as well as I could. I was not able to
lift up the roof of my closet, which otherwise I certainly should have
done, and sat on the top of it; where I might at least preserve myself
some hours longer than by being shut up (as I may call it) in the
hold. Or if I escaped these dangers for a day or two, what could I
expect but a miserable death of cold and hunger? I was four hours
under these circumstances, expecting, and indeed wishing, every moment
to be my last.
I have already told the reader that there were two strong staples
fixed upon that side of my box which had no window; and into which the
servant who used to carry me on horseback would put a leathern belt,
and buckle it about his waist. Being in this disconsolate state, I
heard, or at least thought I heard, some kind of grating noise on that
side of my box where the staples were fixed; and soon after I began to
fancy that the box was pulled or towed along in the sea; for I now and
then felt a sort of tugging, which made the waves rise near the tops
of my windows, leaving me almost in the dark. This gave me some faint
hopes of relief, although I was not able to imagine how it could be
brought about. I ventured to unscrew one of my chairs, which were
always fastened to the floor; and having made a hard shift to screw it
down again, directly under the slipping board that I had lately
opened, I mounted on the chair, and putting my mouth as near as I
could to the hole, I called for help in a loud voice, and in all the
languages I understood. I then fastened my handkerchief to a stick I
usually carried, and, thrusting it up the hole, waved it several times
in the air, that if any boat or ship were near, the seamen might
conjecture some unhappy mortal to be shut up in the box.