Gulliver'sTravels By Jonathan Swift (Grade 6) (1)

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[Audio] Contents Introduction Part One: A Journey to Lilliput Chapter One: I Come to Lilliput Chapter Two: My Life in Lilli Chapter Three: I Make War on Blefuscu Chapter Four: I Come Home Again Part Two: Gulliver in Brobdingnag Chapter Five: I Come to Brobdingnag Chapter Six: I Meet the King and Queen Chapter Seven: I Come Home Again Part Three: Gulliver in the Country of the Houyhnhnms Chapter Eight: Houyhnhnms and Yahoos Chapter Nine: The Life of the Houyhnhnms Chapter Ten: I Come Home Again 2.

[Audio] Introduction Then something moved on my foot. It moved over my body and up to my face. I looked down and I saw a man. He was smaller than my hand. Forty more little men followed him. This is Gulliver in Lilliput. He travels across the sea from England and has an accident. He arrives in a country of very, very small people. What will they do with him? How will he talk to them? And why are the Big-enders fighting the Little- enders? Is their fight really important? Readers know that the stories about the country of Lilliput and the other countries in Gulliver's Travels are not true. But when we read the book, we see our world through the eyes of the little people — and later, through the eyes of big people and horses. Swift wants us to think about our ideas and our lives, and perhaps to change them. But at the same time, we enjoy the stories. Children like them because they are clever and funny. But Gulliver's Travels is for people of all ages. Swift wanted everybody to learn from his book. Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1667. He went to university — to Trinity College, Dublin — and after that he worked for a writer in London. Then he wrote too. Swift wrote well about the ideas of his time. But some people did not like his new ideas, and in 1714 Swift went back to Ireland. He wanted to help the Irish people, and he wrote about the English in Ireland. They were often unkind, people felt. At the same time, Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels. The book was in the shops in 1726 - and it is there now. 3.

[Audio] Part One: A Journey to Lilliput Chapter One I Come to Lilliput My father lived in the north of England, but he was not very rich. I was the youngest of five brothers. I left school when I was seventeen years old. My father could not pay for me after that. I travelled on the ship Antelope to the South Seas. We left Bristol in May, 1699. I will not write down everything about our journey on those seas. But I will tell you this. On our way to the East Indies, a great wind carried us the wrong way. Twelve of our men died from the hard work and bad food, and the other men were not very strong. One morning there was heavy rain and we could not see well. In the strong winds, the ship hit something in the water, and broke. Six of us got a boat into the sea. But we were weak and the wind turned it over. We fell into the water. The wind and the water carried me away from the other men and I never saw them again. ' I'm going to die!' I cried loudly. But then I put my feet down. I could stand! The wind was weaker now. I walked for more than a kilometre through the water and came to an island. It was after seven at night. I travelled another half a kilometre, but there were no houses or people. Perhaps I could not see them because I was very tired. Then I sat on the ground and slept the best sleep of my life. I woke up after about nine hours. It was daylight and I was on my back. I tried to stand up, but I could not move! I turned my head a little and looked round me. I saw thousands of strings across my body. They were everywhere — round my arms, my feet and through my long hair! I could only stay there on my back and look up at the sky. 4.

[Audio] I travelled on the ship Antelope to the South Seas. The sun was hot, and the light hurt my eyes. I heard noises next to me, but I could see nothing. Then something moved on my foot. It moved over my body and up to my face. I looked down and I saw a man. He was smaller than my hand. Forty more little men followed him. I cried loudly and they were afraid. They all ran away, and jumped onto the ground. Some were hurt; they told me later. They came back, and one man walked near my face. He threw up his hands and looked up at me. He called, Hekinah degul.' And the other men answered, Hekinah? Degul hekinah!' I could not understand their language. I pulled very hard and I got one arm up from the ground. I tried to look at this man again. It hurt, because it pulled some hair out of my head. I put out my hand and tried to catch some little men. But they ran away. Then I heard a noise, and something hurt my hand. 5.

[Audio] 'A thousand small swords!' I thought. I looked down. They were arrows! Some arrows went into my clothes and I could not feel them. But other arrows went high into the sky and came down on my face. They hurt me and I was afraid for my eyes. I put my hand over my face.' I'll stay quiet,' I thought.' Then I can break the strings tonight. These people can't hurt me very much - they're too small!' So, I stayed quiet and waited. No more arrows came from the little men, but their noise got louder and louder.' There are more people here now,' I thought. I heard a sound near my ear. I turned my head to the noise and saw men next to me. 'They're building something from wood,' I thought. 'It's a table! Now there are four men on top of it. I understand — they want to talk to me.' I saw thousands of strings… 6.

[Audio] One of the men on the table was older and larger than the other three. He wore a beautiful coat. A little boy, his servant, carried the back of this coat above the ground. The older man called,' Langro dehul san.' Forty people came and cut the strings round my head. Now I could turn and see the people on the table better. Then the man in the long coat began to speak. He spoke very well, and he moved his hands up and down. I began to understand him. He spoke for a long time. Of course, his words were strange to me, but I watched his hands. ' We will not hurt you,' I understood.' But do not try to run away, or we will kill you.' I put up my hand and showed him:' I will stay here.' Then I had an idea. I also put my hand to my mouth: 'I am hungry.' The man understood me. He shouted to the people on the ground. A hundred men climbed onto my body and walked up to my mouth. They carried food for me. It came from the king, they told me later. ' What food is this?' I thought.' They're giving me very small animals!' Then I ate a lot of bread. The people watched me with wide eyes because I ate very quickly. A lot of men came with a very big cup of milk. I drank it and called for another cup. I drank the second cup and asked for a third cup. 'There is no more milk in the country' they showed me with their hands. But they were happy, because I ate and drank their food. They danced up and down on my body and cried, 'Hekinah degul!' After my meal, a very important person came to me. He brought a letter from the king. Servants in very fine clothes followed him. He walked up to my face and put the letter near my eyes. Then he spoke, and often turned to the northwest. Their city and their king were there, about a kilometre away I learned later. ' The king wants to see me,' I understood. I spoke to this man and showed him:' Take these strings off me.' But he moved his head:' No. We have to carry you with the strings round you. But we will give you food and drink. We will not hurt you.' I remembered their arrows.' I don't want to feel them again,' I thought.' They can carry me.' The great man went away. After that the people made a loud noise, and they shouted, 'Peplom selan! Then they came to my head and cut the other strings. Now I could turn my head more than before. I was happy about that. 7.

[Audio] I began to feel very tired, and I slept for about nine hours. (There was something in my food, they told me later.) The people brought some wood and pulled me onto it. Nine hundred men worked for three hours before I was on the wood. I was asleep. Fifteen hundred of the king's largest horses arrived. After four hours we began our journey. The horses pulled me on my wood, and we travelled for a long time. At night we slept. One thousand men with arrows watched me, so I stayed quiet! The next day, at daylight, we moved again. In the middle of the day, we were about 150 metres from the city. The king came out. He walked round me and looked up at me carefully. 'Do not climb up onto this man's body!' his men told him.' It is too dangerous.' We stopped in front of an old church. This was my house now! The great north door was more than a metre high and nearly a metre wide, so I could go into it on my hands. They put a string round one of my feet and tied it to the wall of the church. I could only walk about a metre away from the outside of my door. 8.

[Audio] Chapter Two My Life in Lilli Early next day I came out of my house and looked round me. To me, the country of Lilliput was as small as a garden. The tallest trees were about two metres high. I turned and looked at the city. Was this little city a picture in a child's book? Across the road from my church, about six metres away from me, there was a very big house. I saw people on top of it. The king was there with other men, women and servants. ' They're watching me,' I thought. After a time, the king came down. He got up on his horse and came nearer me. The horse was afraid of me, the man-mountain. It began to jump up and down. But the king — a very good horseman — stayed on his horse. The servants ran to the animal's head and stayed with it. When he could, the king got down. He walked round me, but he never came too near. Men brought me food, and the queen and her young sons watched me from the top of the house. After a time, the king went away. A number of his men stayed and looked after me. 'Some of our people want to hurt you,' they showed me with their hands. I sat on the ground near the door of my house and tried to sleep. Suddenly, I felt arrows again and one arrow nearly hit my eye. The king's men caught these bad people — six men — and threw them to me. I put five men in one hand. I took the other man and put him into my open mouth. He was very afraid. But I laughed and put the six men carefully on the ground again. They ran away from me as fast as they could! At this time, I slept on the floor of the church or outside on the ground. But the king said to his workmen:' Make a bed for him.' So, they brought 600 little beds to my house and made them into one big bed. 9.

[Audio] Was this little city a picture in a child's book? Then the king and his great men met and discussed me. ' Perhaps he is dangerous,' said the first man.' We cannot untie his strings.' ' He eats too much food,' said the second man.' The people of our country will be hungry'. ' Let's kill him now,' said the third man.' We can do it when he is sleeping.' 'No,' said his friend. 'What can we do with his dead body? It is too big.' Then a man said to the king:' Some people tried to kill this big man with their arrows, but he was kind to them. He did not hurt them.' ' This is good,' said the king.' We will not kill him now. But we will teach him our language.' They did this, and in about three weeks I could speak quite well. The king often came to see me and helped my teachers. We began to talk. 10.

[Audio] ' Please untie these strings,' I asked him. ' Not now,' he answered.' But I will think about it. First — and do not be angry — my men will look at your things.' 'I'll happily show your men these things,' I answered, 'but I'll never hurt you or your people with them.' The next day two men came and walked over me. They looked inside my clothes. They made notes on everything — my notebook, the glasses for my weak eyes, my money and my money-bag. The king called to me: 'Your sword is as big as five men. Please give it to me. Wait! I will bring more men.' Three thousand men stood round me and watched. 'Pull out your sword now!' shouted the king. I took my sword from under my clothes. The sun shone on it and hurt everybody's eyes. I put it on the ground and the king's men quickly carried it away. ' Now give me those other strange things,' he shouted. I gave him my guns. After this, the king sent me his 'Rules': ' Follow my rules and we will untie your strings,' he told me. Rules of Golbasto Momaren Evlame Gurdilo Shefm mully Ully Gue, King of Lilliput, a Great Man. 1 The Man-Mountain will ask before he leaves our country. 2 He will ask before he comes into the city. (Two hours before this, everybody will go into their houses and stay there.) 3 He will only walk on the roads. 4 He will walk carefully. He will not put his foot on any person, or on their horses. He will not take anybody up in his hands. 5 He will help our ships and our men in the war with the people of the Island of Blefuscu. 6 He will help our workmen when they build a wall round our garden. 7 We will give him food —food for 1, 728 of our people. 11.

[Audio] The reader will ask: 'Why did the king use the number 1,728?' Well, I was as tall as twelve people from Lilliput. So, my body was as large and as heavy as 12x12x12 people from Lilliput — 12x12 is 144; 144x12 is 1,728. This was the answer of the king's clever men. I read the rules and said to the king:' I will follow them.' The next day, men came and untied the strings from my leg. Now I could walk again! 12.