Gulliver's Travels 1: Shipwrecked
In 1674, I was born on my father’s small estate in Nottinghamshire, England.
"What a fine, strong boy!" said my father. "I think he will be a clever and good man like his grandfather."
"I agree," said my mother. "Let’s name him ‘Lemuel’ after your father."
My childhood was very happy. I liked going to school and learning new things. But I often used to daydream about going to sea.
One day, Father asked, "Lemuel, have you thought about your future? I think you would be a good doctor."
I wanted to please him, so I said, "Yes, Father. I’ll go to Cambridge University and study medicine." But as I spoke I was thinking, "At university I can also learn things that will be useful to a sailor."
After several years of study, I became a doctor. Not long after, I asked my sweetheart, Mary, to marry me.
"Lemuel," she replied, "I would be very happy to marry you."
Before long, we had children─a boy and a girl.
They gave us great joy. I enjoyed being a doctor for the first few years. But then I became bored, and ideas of travel filled my mind. I imagined wandering to far-off places and seeing wonderful new things.
"Mary," I said one day, "I need more adventure in my life. The captain of a ship about to sail has offered me a job as the ship’s doctor."
"Oh dear!" Mary replied. "The children and I will miss you very much, and I’ll worry about you. When will you come back?"
"I don’t know how long the journey will take," I told her. "But I promise I will return. And when I do, I’ll tell you and the children all about my adventures."
So in 1699, I set sail on the Antelope from Bristol.
That city is a large and very old port in the southwest of England.
From the dock, Mary called out, "Good-bye, and please be careful! Come back to us soon!" The children waved to me, and I waved back.
The captain was a good man and had sailed a great deal.
"Welcome aboard, Doctor Gulliver," he said. "First we’ll be sailing down the Atlantic Ocean and around the coast of Africa. Then we’ll sail through the Indian Ocean to the South Seas."
Our journey went well until one morning, somewhere near Tasmania in the South Pacific Ocean.
"I don’t like the look of those clouds," the captain said. "I think a storm is coming."
Within an hour, a violent storm began.
The sea rose in great, angry waves much taller than the Antelope. The wind─now as strong as a hurricane─made a terrible sound.
"The wind is blowing the ship off course!" shouted the captain. "Look out!"
Suddenly, with a loud crack, the Antelope hit some rocks and broke in half. The sailors fell into the sea. Many of them could not swim. The ship sank quickly, and I suppose everyone but me drowned.
I am an excellent swimmer and swam with all my strength. My life depended on it. But after a while I was too tired to swim anymore. Just as I was thinking, "I’m going to die too," my feet touched the ocean floor.
Slowly I struggled out of the sea. There were no signs of people on the beach and no houses. I could barely walk, so I lay down on the sand. Within minutes, I fell into a deep sleep.
"What a fine, strong boy!" said my father. "I think he will be a clever and good man like his grandfather."
"I agree," said my mother. "Let’s name him ‘Lemuel’ after your father."
My childhood was very happy. I liked going to school and learning new things. But I often used to daydream about going to sea.
One day, Father asked, "Lemuel, have you thought about your future? I think you would be a good doctor."
I wanted to please him, so I said, "Yes, Father. I’ll go to Cambridge University and study medicine." But as I spoke I was thinking, "At university I can also learn things that will be useful to a sailor."
After several years of study, I became a doctor. Not long after, I asked my sweetheart, Mary, to marry me.
"Lemuel," she replied, "I would be very happy to marry you."
Before long, we had children─a boy and a girl.
They gave us great joy. I enjoyed being a doctor for the first few years. But then I became bored, and ideas of travel filled my mind. I imagined wandering to far-off places and seeing wonderful new things.
"Mary," I said one day, "I need more adventure in my life. The captain of a ship about to sail has offered me a job as the ship’s doctor."
"Oh dear!" Mary replied. "The children and I will miss you very much, and I’ll worry about you. When will you come back?"
"I don’t know how long the journey will take," I told her. "But I promise I will return. And when I do, I’ll tell you and the children all about my adventures."
So in 1699, I set sail on the Antelope from Bristol.
That city is a large and very old port in the southwest of England.
From the dock, Mary called out, "Good-bye, and please be careful! Come back to us soon!" The children waved to me, and I waved back.
The captain was a good man and had sailed a great deal.
"Welcome aboard, Doctor Gulliver," he said. "First we’ll be sailing down the Atlantic Ocean and around the coast of Africa. Then we’ll sail through the Indian Ocean to the South Seas."
Our journey went well until one morning, somewhere near Tasmania in the South Pacific Ocean.
"I don’t like the look of those clouds," the captain said. "I think a storm is coming."
Within an hour, a violent storm began.
The sea rose in great, angry waves much taller than the Antelope. The wind─now as strong as a hurricane─made a terrible sound.
"The wind is blowing the ship off course!" shouted the captain. "Look out!"
Suddenly, with a loud crack, the Antelope hit some rocks and broke in half. The sailors fell into the sea. Many of them could not swim. The ship sank quickly, and I suppose everyone but me drowned.
I am an excellent swimmer and swam with all my strength. My life depended on it. But after a while I was too tired to swim anymore. Just as I was thinking, "I’m going to die too," my feet touched the ocean floor.
Slowly I struggled out of the sea. There were no signs of people on the beach and no houses. I could barely walk, so I lay down on the sand. Within minutes, I fell into a deep sleep.
Gulliver's Travels, Chapter 2: Prisoner in Lilliput
When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't move. "I must still be tired from all that swimming," I thought. But soon I discovered why I couldn't move. My body, arms, and legs were tied to the ground. Even my hair, which was long and thick, was tied down. I couldn't even move my head. "How strange," I said to myself. "I must be dreaming."
The sun grew hot and shone in my eyes. All I could see was the sky. Soon, I felt something crawling on my left leg. "It must be a bug," I thought. It moved up my body almost to my chin. I looked down and, to my great surprise, saw a tiny man standing on my chest! He was about as big as my thumb, no more than 15 centimeters tall. In his hands, he held a bow and arrows. I felt many more little men crawling over me.
In astonishment, I shouted very loudly, "Get off me, you insects!" They all jumped in alarm and screamed in terror. Some of the little men fell right off my body. I tried to loosen the ropes that held me down. Although the ropes were very thin, like thread, there were hundreds of them. Finally, I was able to free my left arm.
The tiny men began to shoot arrows at me. Several arrows landed on my hand. Others hit my face and chest.
"Stop that. It hurts!" I cried out.
I decided to lie still and see what would happen next. The little people gradually became brave and came near me. They built a platform beside my head. One of them, an official of some kind, climbed onto the platform. He started speaking to me, but his language was not like any language I had heard before. The little men seemed friendly now.
"I'm so hungry!" I said, but they didn't understand me. With my free hand, I used signs to ask for food. The men brought me baskets of many different foods. I also drank two barrels of wine.
Another official spoke to me, making signs with his hands as he talked. I understood that they were going to take me to another place. I fell asleep again. Later, I found out that the wine had contained something to make me sleep. I also learned about the island and what had happened while I slept.
The island was called Lilliput. Its king lived in a castle in Mildendo, the capital city, which had high walls around it.
The people made a huge cart and put me on it when I was asleep. I found out that it took nine hundred men to lift me onto the cart. Fifteen hundred Lilliputian horses were needed to pull it.
When we arrived near the city, the guards attached many chains to my ankle. Then they cut the ropes that tied me down. At last, I was able to stand up and stretch. But because of the chains, I could not move about much.
We were near a very large building just outside the gates of Mildendo.
"Well," I thought, "it seems this building is to be my home." It was big enough for me to crawl into and lie down inside it.
From outside my new home, I had a good view of the countryside. The fields were tiny, like small flower beds in my garden in England. Even the tallest trees were only about two meters high. Lilliput was a beautiful place, and everything in it was unbelievably tiny.
The sun grew hot and shone in my eyes. All I could see was the sky. Soon, I felt something crawling on my left leg. "It must be a bug," I thought. It moved up my body almost to my chin. I looked down and, to my great surprise, saw a tiny man standing on my chest! He was about as big as my thumb, no more than 15 centimeters tall. In his hands, he held a bow and arrows. I felt many more little men crawling over me.
In astonishment, I shouted very loudly, "Get off me, you insects!" They all jumped in alarm and screamed in terror. Some of the little men fell right off my body. I tried to loosen the ropes that held me down. Although the ropes were very thin, like thread, there were hundreds of them. Finally, I was able to free my left arm.
The tiny men began to shoot arrows at me. Several arrows landed on my hand. Others hit my face and chest.
"Stop that. It hurts!" I cried out.
I decided to lie still and see what would happen next. The little people gradually became brave and came near me. They built a platform beside my head. One of them, an official of some kind, climbed onto the platform. He started speaking to me, but his language was not like any language I had heard before. The little men seemed friendly now.
"I'm so hungry!" I said, but they didn't understand me. With my free hand, I used signs to ask for food. The men brought me baskets of many different foods. I also drank two barrels of wine.
Another official spoke to me, making signs with his hands as he talked. I understood that they were going to take me to another place. I fell asleep again. Later, I found out that the wine had contained something to make me sleep. I also learned about the island and what had happened while I slept.
The island was called Lilliput. Its king lived in a castle in Mildendo, the capital city, which had high walls around it.
The people made a huge cart and put me on it when I was asleep. I found out that it took nine hundred men to lift me onto the cart. Fifteen hundred Lilliputian horses were needed to pull it.
When we arrived near the city, the guards attached many chains to my ankle. Then they cut the ropes that tied me down. At last, I was able to stand up and stretch. But because of the chains, I could not move about much.
We were near a very large building just outside the gates of Mildendo.
"Well," I thought, "it seems this building is to be my home." It was big enough for me to crawl into and lie down inside it.
From outside my new home, I had a good view of the countryside. The fields were tiny, like small flower beds in my garden in England. Even the tallest trees were only about two meters high. Lilliput was a beautiful place, and everything in it was unbelievably tiny.
