Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
and divide it into four quarters, are five feet wide. The lanes and
alleys, which I could not enter, but only view them as I passed, are
from twelve to eighteen inches. The town is capable of holding five
hundred thousand souls: the houses are from three to five stories: the
shops and markets well provided.
The emperor’s palace is in the centre of the city where the two great
streets meet. It is enclosed by a wall of two feet high, and twenty
feet distance from the buildings. I had his majesty’s permission to
step over this wall; and, the space being so wide between that and the
palace, I could easily view it on every side. The outward court is a
square of forty feet, and includes two other courts: in the inmost are
the royal apartments, which I was very desirous to see, but found it
extremely difficult; for the great gates, from one square into another,
were but eighteen inches high, and seven inches wide. Now the buildings
of the outer court were at least five feet high, and it was impossible
for me to stride over them without infinite damage to the pile, though
the walls were strongly built of hewn stone, and four inches thick. At
the same time the emperor had a great desire that I should see the
magnificence of his palace; but this I was not able to do till three
days after, which I spent in cutting down with my knife some of the
largest trees in the royal park, about a hundred yards distant from the
city. Of these trees I made two stools, each about three feet high, and
strong enough to bear my weight. The people having received notice a
second time, I went again through the city to the palace with my two
stools in my hands. When I came to the side of the outer court, I stood
upon one stool, and took the other in my hand; this I lifted over the
roof, and gently set it down on the space between the first and second
court, which was eight feet wide. I then stept over the building very
conveniently from one stool to the other, and drew up the first after
me with a hooked stick. By this contrivance I got into the inmost
court; and, lying down upon my side, I applied my face to the windows
of the middle stories, which were left open on purpose, and discovered
the most splendid apartments that can be imagined. There I saw the
empress and the young princes, in their several lodgings, with their
chief attendants about them. Her imperial majesty was pleased to smile
very graciously upon me, and gave me out of the window her hand to
kiss.
But I shall not anticipate the reader with further descriptions of this
kind, because I reserve them for a greater work, which is now almost
ready for the press; containing a general description of this empire,
from its first erection, through a long series of princes; with a
particular account of their wars and politics, laws, learning, and
religion; their plants and animals; their peculiar manners and customs,
with other matters very curious and useful; my chief design at present
being only to relate such events and transactions as happened to the
public or to myself during a residence of about nine months in that
empire.
One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my liberty,
Reldresal, principal secretary (as they style him) for private affairs,
came to my house attended only by one servant. He ordered his coach to
wait at a distance, and desired I would give him an hour’s audience;
which I readily consented to, on account of his quality and personal
merits, as well as of the many good offices he had done me during my
solicitations at court. I offered to lie down that he might the more
conveniently reach my ear, but he chose rather to let me hold him in my
hand during our conversation. He began with compliments on my liberty;
said “he might pretend to some merit in it;” but, however, added, “that
if it had not been for the present situation of things at court,
perhaps I might not have obtained it so soon. For,” said he, “as
flourishing a condition as we may appear to be in to foreigners, we
labour under two mighty evils: a violent faction at home, and the
danger of an invasion, by a most potent enemy, from abroad. As to the
first, you are to understand, that for about seventy moons past there
have been two struggling parties in this empire, under the names of
_Tramecksan_ and _Slamecksan_, from the high and low heels of their
shoes, by which they distinguish themselves. It is alleged, indeed,
that the high heels are most agreeable to our ancient constitution;
but, however this be, his majesty has determined to make use only of
low heels in the administration of the government, and all offices in
the gift of the crown, as you cannot but observe; and particularly that
his majesty’s imperial heels are lower at least by a _drurr_ than any
of his court (_drurr_ is a measure about the fourteenth part of an
inch). The animosities between these two parties run so high, that they
will neither eat, nor drink, nor talk with each other. We compute the
_Tramecksan_, or high heels, to exceed us in number; but the power is
wholly on our side. We apprehend his imperial highness, the heir to the
crown, to have some tendency towards the high heels; at least we can
plainly discover that one of his heels is higher than the other, which
gives him a hobble in his gait. Now, in the midst of these intestine
disquiets, we are threatened with an invasion from the island of
Blefuscu, which is the other great empire of the universe, almost as
large and powerful as this of his majesty. For as to what we have heard
you affirm, that there are other kingdoms and states in the world
inhabited by human creatures as large as yourself, our philosophers are
in much doubt, and would rather conjecture that you dropped from the
moon, or one of the stars; because it is certain, that a hundred
mortals of your bulk would in a short time destroy all the fruits and
cattle of his majesty’s dominions: besides, our histories of six
thousand moons make no mention of any other regions than the two great
empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu. Which two mighty powers have, as I
was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war for
six-and-thirty moons past. It began upon the following occasion. It is
allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before
we eat them, was upon the larger end; but his present majesty’s
grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it
according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers.
Whereupon the emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his
subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs.
The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us,
there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one
emperor lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions
were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they
were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is
computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered
death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many
hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy: but
the books of the Big-endians have been long forbidden, and the whole
party rendered incapable by law of holding employments. During the
course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefuscu did frequently
expostulate by their ambassadors, accusing us of making a schism in
religion, by offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great
prophet Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which
is their Alcoran). This, however, is thought to be a mere strain upon
the text; for the words are these: ‘that all true believers break their
eggs at the convenient end.’ And which is the convenient end, seems, in
my humble opinion to be left to every man’s conscience, or at least in
the power of the chief magistrate to determine. Now, the Big-endian
exiles have found so much credit in the emperor of Blefuscu’s court,
and so much private assistance and encouragement from their party here
at home, that a bloody war has been carried on between the two empires
for six-and-thirty moons, with various success; during which time we
have lost forty capital ships, and a much greater number of smaller
vessels, together with thirty thousand of our best seamen and soldiers;
and the damage received by the enemy is reckoned to be somewhat greater
than ours. However, they have now equipped a numerous fleet, and are
just preparing to make a descent upon us; and his imperial majesty,
placing great confidence in your valour and strength, has commanded me
to lay this account of his affairs before you.”
I desired the secretary to present my humble duty to the emperor; and
to let him know, “that I thought it would not become me, who was a
foreigner, to interfere with parties; but I was ready, with the hazard
of my life, to defend his person and state against all invaders.”
CHAPTER V.
The author, by an extraordinary stratagem, prevents an invasion. A high
title of honour is conferred upon him. Ambassadors arrive from the
emperor of Blefuscu, and sue for peace. The empress’s apartment on fire
by an accident; the author instrumental in saving the rest of the
palace.
The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated to the north-east of
Lilliput, from which it is parted only by a channel of eight hundred
yards wide. I had not yet seen it, and upon this notice of an intended
invasion, I avoided appearing on that side of the coast, for fear of
being discovered, by some of the enemy’s ships, who had received no
intelligence of me; all intercourse between the two empires having been
strictly forbidden during the war, upon pain of death, and an embargo
laid by our emperor upon all vessels whatsoever. I communicated to his
majesty a project I had formed of seizing the enemy’s whole fleet;
which, as our scouts assured us, lay at anchor in the harbour, ready to
sail with the first fair wind. I consulted the most experienced seamen
upon the depth of the channel, which they had often plumbed; who told
me, that in the middle, at high-water, it was seventy _glumgluffs_
deep, which is about six feet of European measure; and the rest of it
fifty _glumgluffs_ at most. I walked towards the north-east coast, over
against Blefuscu, where, lying down behind a hillock, I took out my
small perspective glass, and viewed the enemy’s fleet at anchor,
consisting of about fifty men of war, and a great number of transports:
I then came back to my house, and gave orders (for which I had a
warrant) for a great quantity of the strongest cable and bars of iron.
The cable was about as thick as packthread and the bars of the length
and size of a knitting-needle. I trebled the cable to make it stronger,
and for the same reason I twisted three of the iron bars together,
bending the extremities into a hook. Having thus fixed fifty hooks to
as many cables, I went back to the north-east coast, and putting off my
coat, shoes, and stockings, walked into the sea, in my leathern jerkin,
about half an hour before high water. I waded with what haste I could,
and swam in the middle about thirty yards, till I felt ground. I
arrived at the fleet in less than half an hour. The enemy was so
frightened when they saw me, that they leaped out of their ships, and
swam to shore, where there could not be fewer than thirty thousand
souls. I then took my tackling, and, fastening a hook to the hole at
the prow of each, I tied all the cords together at the end. While I was
thus employed, the enemy discharged several thousand arrows, many of
which stuck in my hands and face, and, beside the excessive smart, gave
me much disturbance in my work. My greatest apprehension was for my