Gulliver’s Travels: Among the Little People of Lilliput
Gulliver’s Teavells is a wonderful story mostly loved by the young children. Gulliver is the lovely character known for his sincerity, bravery and wisdom. This wonderful story is written by Jonathan swift. The story recounts the story of Lemuel Gulliver, an Englishman trained as a surgeon who narrates the adventures that befall him on his sea voyages. The story is set in early 18th century England. His ship meets a destructive storm. He however is able to swin safely to a shore. As he was tired, he soon falls asleep. When, he wakes up, he finds himself tied up to the ground with strings.
1) Gulliver bound by the Lilliputians. “Gulliver’s travels into several remote regions of the world,” by Dean Swift, is one of the most amusing books ever written. Lemuel Gulliver, he tells us, was a surgeon on board the “Antelope,” and his ship was wrecked during a voyage to the South Seas somewhere to the N.W of Van Dieman’s Land. Gulliver alone managed to reach the shore, and tired and exhausted after his long struggle with the waves, he lay down on the grass and fell asleep. When he woke the next morning, he found himself in the position shown in our picture. He had fallen among the little people of Lilliput, a race of tiny pigmies only 6 inches high, who had secured him with hundreds of tiny cords and who now were swarming on and around him in hundreds and attacking him with bows and arrows directly he attempted to move.
2) Gulliver’s Watch. Of course, they were very much puzzled to know what to do with this monster who had suddenly appeared among them, the “man mountain” as they called him. Some suggested killing him with poisoned darts, but if they had disposed of poor Gulliver in this summary fashion they did not know what to do with his great carcase: so instead they gave him food and drugged wine to send him to sleep again, and then hoisted him by means of hundreds of little pulleys on to a long trolley, harnessed 1,500 of their largest horses to it and dragged him off to Milendo, their capital. Here, after being securely chained by the leg, he was allowed to stand up, and an old temple outside the city walls was allotted to him as a habitation. His pockets were carefully searched by order of the Emperor, and the officers were very much puzzled by Gulliver’s watch. The learned men of Lilliput finally concluded that it was either some unknown animal or else the god that he worshipped: for he told them that he never did anything with consulting it.
3) Gulliver visits the Palace. The little people gradually became very friendly with Gulliver, won by his gentleness and good behaviour, the children would play hide and seek in his hair, as he lay upon the ground, and the emperor finally allowed him his liberty, on condition that he should not trample on any of his loving subjects. Gulliver had a walk through the city stepping over the city walls, which were 2 1/2 feet high, and taking great care not to damage the houses with the skirts of his coat. He found it rather a difficult matter to reach the courtyard of the palace, where you see him in the picture, kissing the empress’ hand. The buildings were quite 5 feet high and he could not step over these: so he cut down some of the biggest trees In the royal park with his pocket knife, and made a couple of stools about 3 feet high. Then he could step from one to the other, and, lying down In the courtyard, could peep into the palace windows and see the splendid apartments within.
4) The Army of Lilliput. Like other monarchs, the emperor of Lilliput was very proud of his army, and one day Gulliver was present at a grand review. He stood like Colossus, his legs straddled widely apart; the general drew up troops in close order, and then they marched under him with drums beating and colours fluttering in the breeze. The horses had already been trained not to shy at the sight of the “man-mountain,” being taught to jump over his hands and feet as he lay upon the ground.
5) Gulliver at Dinner. This picture shows how Gulliver got his dinner during his stay in Lilliput. He had made himself a table and chair from the trees of the royal park, and he had a daily allowance of meat and drink sufficient for 1728 Lilliputians. He had 300 cooks to dress his victuals and a whole army of waiters, some on the table, some on the floor below. Barrels of wine, and so on, were drawn up by cords as we draw buckets up a well. A dish of their meat was a good mouthful, and a barrel of wine a reasonable draught. Sometime he had to make three bites at a sirloin of beef, and geese and turkeys he ate one at the time, but smaller fowl disappeared as one would eat green peas, 20 or 30 at once.
6) Gulliver and the Tailors. It was no light task for these little people to supply Gulliver with a new suit of clothes. 300 tailors were employed on this gigantic work: and besides these, there were 200 sempstresses always busy in looking after his shirts and bed and table linen. To take his measure the tailors raised a ladder to his neck as he knelt upon the ground: on this ladder one of them mounted and let fall a plumb line from his collar to the floor, which just answered the length of his coat: his waist and arms he measured himself. When the clothes were finished, they looked like the patchwork made by ladies in England, only that his were all of a colour.
7) Gulliver receives Visitors. When carriage folk came to call upon Gulliver, he picked them up, horses, carriages and all, and put them on his table, to which he had fixed a movable rim to prevent accidents: here he had sometimes three or four coaches at a time all full of company. Whilst he talked to one set, the coachmen would gently drive the others round the table, and this became quite a fashionable amusement in Lilliput, just as one might go for a drive in Hyde Park.
8) Gulliver captures a Navy. Gulliver was able to perform a great service to the empire of Lilliput, during his stay in country. Like other and bigger nations they had their wars and squabbles, and were constantly at feud with the rival kingdom of Blefuscu. Gulliver captured the whole navy of the latter power, and towed it triumphantly into the harbour of Milendo. He gained great honour and received a distinguished title on this occasion: but then came troubles, jealousies, charges of treason. The fact was, I think, that the Lilliputians were tired of their guest, whose enormous appetite was eating them out of house and home, and he was finally very glad to make his escape by means of an old boat which he found and repaired. He fitted her with masts and sails, provisioned her with the carcases of 100 oxen and 200 sheep with bread and drink in proportion, and, after a couple of days’ sailing, was picked up by an English ship and so got safely home again.
