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Gulliver's Travels

By DEAN SWIFT Condensation by JAMES B. CONNOLLY I WAS of a Nottinghamshire family and educated at Cambridge. Likewise was I educated in medicine, and, preferring a ship's surgeoncy to any preferment ashore, it came about that after several deep-sea voyages I found myself surgeon of that ship, the Antelope, which was wrecked in a violent storm on a coast northwest of Van Diemen's Land.

Of all the ship's company I alone escaped to the land, where, in utter exhaustion, I lay down and fell asleep. I awakened to find myself bound hand and foot and surrounded by swarms of the tiniest human creatures. They brought me food and drink and conveyed me to their capital, where the king, of a majesty a full half-inch taller than any of his subjects, came with his court to view me.

In time I learned that I was in the kingdom of the Lilliputians. By them I was kept a long time in captivity. Being ultimately satisfied of the harmlessness of my intent, I also adding my word of honor to do them no injury, they released me, and set aside six professors of education to teach me their language. For my bodily sustenance they allowed me a quantity of meat and drink sufficient for 1724 of their own people; for so, being exact in their mathematics, they estimated the proportions of my bulk to theirs. Three hundred cooks and 120 waiters were named to dress my meals, 200 seamstresses were apportioned to make my linen, and 300 tailors for my outer clothing. With my wants thus attended to, I was desirous to be of service to them. My first service was not to damage their people or their property as I walked abroad, a most likely danger when the men were of such size that I could secret two or three of them in one of my coat pockets. In walking the streets, were I to step heavily, there was danger of my shaking down large buildings; or, by not having an eye below me, I could easily tread to death half a dozen of their cattle.