Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan SwiftTravels -- Part 1
A Voyage to Lilliput
Michelle:
The author wants to be an explorer of the sea and tried to learn as much as possible about mathematics, navigation and physics, all things that would be useful for "those who intend to travel". He became a surgeon and did so on two ships over six years. He married in the midst of being a surgeon. While at sea he was able to read much and learn from different people he met.
A violent storm, crappy food and then the ship he was on hit a rock and everyone (presumably) except the author, died. The author came ashore and fell into a most restful sleep to be awakened attached to the ground by small ropes and cables! Those responsible were small men less than six inches tall. They shot him with tiny arrows. "... they shot another flight (of arrows) into the air, as we do bombs in Europe..."
The author decided to remain still. They allowed him to move a bit so he could see a speaker "taller than the other three who attended him." The tallest of the smallest! The author choose to act submissive.
They fed him doll sized portions of meat, bread and wine. The little people created a huge (in their eyes) cart to put the author on which required 900 men to hoist him up and 1,500 horses to pull him 1/2 a mile to their 'city'.
They still didn't trust him though and had arrows ready. When they got to the city it looked like an ancient temple of about 100,000 little people. Sometimes 10,000 of them would be crawling all over him but they passed a law that no one could do that anymore with punishment of death.
The authors ropes were soon removed and he sat up. They were astonished at his size. He was still secured by a leg chain about six feet long.
KEY POINT: Tasks that may seem small to some are monumental to others.
ONE THING TO REMEMBER: The author CHOSE to submit and be calm about his situation, instead of angry and hostile. This brought him more freedom.
ONE MORE THING: Each civilization has structure, rules and laws but must be prepared to expect the unexpected. It's better to be calm when others are pointing arrows at you, no matter how small then are.
2 comments:
Hi Michelle,
So first the little guys feared the giant. If this had happened today in America, would Gulliver be dead already? He must have been a fearful sight. Just because people look different from us, we should give them a chance.
That is an interesting thought if this happened today. That would mean, Gulliver would be over 60 feet tall! That would be a sight. I guess we could nuke him but if he 'looked' like us, would we? Maybe some would. I'd vote to listen to what he had to say. And check his pockets too!
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