You have probably read a story I wrote about my voyage to an island called Lilliput, and you probably remember that this island was inhabited by very small people hardly six inches high.After returning from this voyage I stayed only two months with my wife and children, for my great desire to see foreign countries would let me remain no longer.
I had made money by showing the small animals now sold them for six hundred pound. I had also, through the death of an uncle, received some other property, and was able to leave with my wife a sum of about fifteen hundred pounds, besides a small yearly income.
As my mind was thus free from care as to the well-being of my family, I said good-bye to them, and went on board the Adventure bound for Surat on the twentieth of June, 1702.We had a fair wind until we reached the Cape of Good Hope, where we landed for fresh water, but discovering a leak we unshipped our goods to mend the ship. Then the captain fell sick, and we had to stay there all through that winter.
Leaving the Cape of Good Hope at the end of March, we sailed through the Straits of Madagascar. We had not gone far on our way to India when a fierce storm broke on us. So long did the storm rage that we were carried far out of our course, so that the oldest sailor on board could not tell in what part of the world we were.Though we had a sufficient store of food left, we were short of fresh water. So every day the captain sent a man up to the fore topmast to look out for land.
On the 16th of June, a boy on the topmast discovered land, and the next day we came in full view of a great island or continent (for we knew not which) and cast anchor about three miles off the shore. Then a boat with twelve men, of whom I was one, was sent to shore to see if water could be found.
When we came to land, we saw no river or spring, so our men went off on the shore to find some fresh water, and I walked alone on the other side, where I found the land all bare and full of rocks. I soon became tired, and began to return towards the place where we had left the boat.
When at last I came in sight of the sea, I saw our men were already in the boat and rowing for life to the ship.Wading knee-deep in the sea, with great strides, was a huge man. He made as fast as he could to the boat, but our men had got such a good start that he could not catch up with them.
As for me, I ran as fast as I could the way I had come. Then I went up a steep hill, from the top of which I saw a lot of cultivated fields, and what first surprised me was the length of the grass, which was about twenty feet high. I thought it must be meant for hay.
Soon I came to what I took to be a high road, though afterwards I found that it served to the people of this land only as a footpath through a field of corn. Along this I walked for some time. I could see nothing but the sky overhead, for it was now near harvest, and the corn rose at least forty feet.At last I came to the end of this field, which was fenced with a hedge about one hundred and twenty feet in height. There was a stile to pass from this field into the next. It had four steps, and a stone on top. It was impossible for me to climb this stile, because every step was six feet high, and the upper stone over twenty.
I was trying to find some gap in the hedge, when I heard a noise and saw in the next field a man as tall as the one I had seen in the sea chasing our boat. He seemed as high as a church steeple, and he took about ten yards at every stride.
I was struck with fear, and ran to hide myself in the corn, from where I saw the giant come to the top of the stile, turn round, and give a call in a loud voice. At his call seven other giants, with huge scythes in their hands, ran up and began to reap the corn in which I lay.
This frightened me still more, and I crept as far from them as I could. But the stalks of corn were so close together that I could but just squeeze through them. Soon I came to a part of the field where the crop had been laid down by rain and wind. I could not get through here, for the stalks were too close, and the spikes on the ears of the corn pierced through my clothes into my flesh. And all the time the sound of the scythes drew nearer.
Suddenly I saw that one of the reapers was so close to me that at the next step I should be crushed under his great foot. I gave a cry of fear, which made him tread short. Looking around for some time to find out what had made the noise, he at last found me as I lay on the ground.
Very cautiously, and as if he feared to be bitten, he took me up and held me in front of his eyes. It was useless to struggle, so I kept quite still, though he held me so tight that I could hardly breathe. I was held at the height of nearly sixty feet from the ground, and I turned pale when I thought of what would take place if I fell through his fingers.
But I could not tell him the pain I was suffering; all I could do was to groan and weep and try to make him see how much he hurt my ribs.To my relief, he saw what I meant, and put me in the tail of his coat, and ran off with me to the headman of the farm.
This man could not, any more than the one who had found me, make out what I was, I saw he thought my coat was a kind of skin. He blew my hair from my face, so that he could get a good view of me. Then he set me on the ground, and the whole crowd of men came and sat around me.I at once got up and had a walk round, took off my hat, and made a bow to them. I then fell on my knees and gave my purse to the master. He took it in the palm of his hand, put it close to his eyes, and gave it a turn or two with the point of a pin. He shook his head, as if to say that he could not make out what it was, and handed it back. So I drew out some gold coins and gave them to him. He put them to his tongue, shook them, but gave them back to me as if they were no use to him.
Then he sent his men back to work, put me in his handkerchief, and took me to his house. His wife was at home, and when he held me in front of her, she gave a scream and jumped back as women do at the sight of a frog or a spider. However, when she saw how well I observed the signs her husband made, she grew kind to me.
When dinner was brought in, she cut up some meat and bread for me, and sat down to watch me eat. She was so pleased with me that she got me her smallest wine-glass, and filled it with a kind of cider. The glass was so large that I raised it with both hands, and drank her health, making her a low bow as I put down the glass. This made everyone at table laugh so loud that I was almost deafened with the noise.
The table, on which I had been set, was ten yards high, and I kept as far as I could from the edge so that I might not fall off. As I went round it, I happened to stumble against a crust, and went flat on my face, but received no hurt.
Then the farmer's son, a rude boy of ten years of age, gave me a fright, for he took me up by the legs and held me high in the air. But his father snatched me from him, giving him a box on the left ear. But as I was afraid that the boy might owe me a spite, I fell on my knees, and pointing to the boy, made his father understand that I wished his son might be pardoned.
Soon I heard a curious big noise behind me, and turning round, I found that this came from a cat, which was three times the size of an ox. I had a great fright, but as I thought it wise to pretend that I felt no fear, I walked steadily up to the cat's head, and was very glad to find that she drew herself back as if she were more afraid of me.
When dinner was almost done, a nurse brought in a young baby, not more than a year old. As soon as he saw me, he began to cry for me. The mother gave me to him, who at once put my head into his mouth. I gave such a cry of fear that he let me drop, and if the mother had not bought me in her apron, I should have had my neck broken in the fall.The farmer now went back to the fields, and left me in charge of his wife. She put me in her own bed, which was eight yards from the floor and more than three times as wide as that. I slept for two hours, and dreamed of my wife and children.
It made me feel very dad and lonely when I awoke and found myself alone in a vast room. As I lay there, longing for home, I heard a strange noise, and saw two rats, each the size of a large dog. They were both on the bed, and one of them made a rush at my throat. I drew my sword, and cut his stomach, and he fell down dead. Seeing this, the other rat ran away, though I gave him a cut in the back. When he had gone, I took the size of the dead rat's tail, and found that it was nearly two yards long.
When the wife came in and saw me splashed all over with blood, she screamed loudly, but she was very glad to find me safe and unhurt. The maid then took up the dead rat with a pair of tongs, and threw it out of the window.