A Voyage to Lilliput
by Jonathan Swift
(New Skylark)
Taking Flight
Do you think it matters if one is small or big, young or old, when it comes to doing the right and honourable thing? Read the following sentences and tick (✓) the acts that you thing are honourable and cross out the ones that are dishonourable or shameful.
❐ not caring about how you treat animals. [X]
❐ working hard and doing your job responsibility. [✓]
❐ feeling pleased to see someone get into trouble. [X]
❐ being yourself in every situation that you come across. [✓]
❐ helping a stranger overcome a difficulty. [✓]
❐ being unable to fulfil your commitments. [X]
❐ finding others for your mistakes. [X]
❐ looking for ways to appreciate things around you. [✓]
Understanding the Text
A. Tick (✓) the correct answer for the given statements.
1. When Gulliver woke up, he found himself
a. tied down. [✓]
b. in a cage. [ ]
c. in a dungeon. [ ]
2. Gulliver decided to break free of his constrains because he wanted to
a. itch his back. [ ]
b. free himself. [✓]
c. have a conversation with his captors. [ ]
3. The small spears of the captors did not hurt Gulliver because
a. he was wearing a thick jacket. [✓]
b. the spears were made out of rubber, and hence harmless. [ ]
c. the captors were only trying to tickle him. [ ]
4. After the food, Gulliver was given to drink
a. a hot cup of milk. [ ]
b. three jugs of cold water. [ ]
c. two large barrels of wine. [✓]
5. Gulliver was told that the king had ordered he be provided
a. a bed. [ ]
b. new clothes. [ ]
c. plenty of meat and drink. [✓]
B. Fill in the blanks with words from the text.
1. Gulliver had long and thick hair that his captors had tied down.
2. Gulliver saw that his captors were humans too, but only six inches tall.
3. After being attacked by a barrage of arrows and countless spears, Gulliver decided the most prudent course of action would be to lie still.
4. The great lord was a good orator, whose speech was full of threatenings, promises, pity and kindness.
5. Gulliver was to be tied and carried to the capital city on a machine being prepared by the captors.
C. Answer the following questions.
1. Describe the view which Gulliver first had of his captors.
= Gulliver woke up and found himself tied up with several slender ligatures across his body from his armpits to his thighs. He could only look upwards.
In a little time he felt something alive moving on his left leg which was gently advancing forward over his chest to his chin. Gulliver bent his eyes downwards as much as he could and found that it was a six-inches tall human with a bow and arrow in his hands and a quiver at his back. In the meantime, he felt at least forty of the same kind following the first.
Gulliver was in the utmost astonishment and roared so loud that they all ran back in a fright. Some of them were hurt with the falls they got by leaping form his sides upon the ground.
2. What was Gulliver's plan to break free, after realising that brute force would not help?
= After realising that brute force would not help, Gulliver thought it the most prudent method to lie still. His plant was to continue so till night. His left hand being already loose, he could easily free himself. As for the inhabitants, he had reasons to believe he might be a match for the greatest army they could bring against him, if they were all of the same size with him that he saw.
3. Who came to meet Gulliver and what did he convey in his speech?
= The great lord came to meet Gulliver.
He acted every part of an orator. Gulliver could observe many periods of threatenings, and others of promises, pity and kindness.
4. How did the Lilliputians feed Gulliver?
= Gulliver indicated that he wanted food by putting his fingers frequently to his mouth. The great lord understood him very well. He descended from the stage, and commanded that several ladders should be applied to his sides, on which hundred of inhabitants mounted and walked towards his mouth, laden with baskets full of meat, which had been provided and sent thither by the king's orders, upon the first information he received of Gulliver.
5. Why were the Lilliputians wonderstruck by Gulliver's appetite?
= The Lilliputians were wonderstruck by Gulliver's appetite because they had given baskets of meat and two barrels of wine to him. Yet he was asking for more. But they had none to give him.
6. Why did the captors shout, dance and cheer on Gulliver's chest? What did he contemplate doing in this instant?
= Gulliver was a giant to them. They never saw a man like him. They never saw anyone to eat and drink so much at a blink. They took him to be their wonder man to use for their good. That made them shout, dance and cheer on his chest.
He contemplated to seize forty or fifty of the first that came in his reach, and dash them against the ground.
D. Answer these questions with reference to the context.
1. "I lay all this while in great uneasiness."
a. Who is the speaker in this line?
= Gulliver is the speaker in this line.
b. Why did the speaker lay in 'great uneasiness'?
= The speaker was lying being fastened on each side to the ground. His long and thick hair was tied down in the same manner. He felt several slender ligatures across his body from his armpits to his thighs. The Lilliputians on inspecting being over his body with weapons. All these caused 'great uneasiness' for the speaker.
c. Where was the speaker lying?
= The speaker was lying on shore in the country of Lilliputians, where he was made prisoner and carried to the capital.
d. How did the speaker try to alleviate his uneasiness?
= At length, struggling to get loose, Gulliver was able to break the strings, and wrench out the pegs that fastened his left arm to the ground. At the same time with a violent pull, which gave him excessive pain, he was able to loosen a little the strings that tied down his hair on the left side, so that he was just able to turn his head about two inches.
e. What was the result of the speaker's attempt to ease his uneasiness?
= The creatures ran off before he could seize the strings. They discharged hundreds of arrows on his left hand, which pricked him like a hundred needles. They shot another flight into the air, whereof many arrows fell on his body and some on his face which he immediately coved with his left hand.
2. "The great lord acted every part of on orator, and I could observe many periods of threatenings, and others of promises, pity and kindness."
a. What kind of structure was erected for the great lord to deliver his speech?
= A stage was erected about a foot and a half from the ground, capable of holding four of the inhabitants, with two or three ladders to mount it.
b. How and what did the speaker communicate to the great lord?
= The speaker did not understand the long speech of the great lord. He answered in a few words, but in the most submissive manner. The speaker also used signs to communicate with the great lord. For instance, he put his finger frequently to his mouth to indicate that he wanted food. The great lord understood him very well.
c. On whose behalf did the great lord come to meet the speaker?
= The great lord came to meet the speaker on behalf of the king.
d. What request did the speaker make to the great lord?
= The speaker requested the great lord for food and drink.
e. Describe, with examples from the text, how the great lord was a good leader of his people and how he was responsible for the fair treatment delivered to the speaker.
= The great lord was a person of quality and a good leader. He made a long speech to Gulliver from the platform. Immediately after his speech, about fifty of the inhabitants came and cut the strings that fastened the left side of Gulliver's head, which gave him the liberty of turning it to the right.
Gulliver signed him for food. He understood it very well. He descended from the stage, and commanded that several ladders should be applied to his sides, on which about a hundred of the inhabitants mounted and walked towards Gulliver's mouth with food and drink.
3. "I now considered myself as bound by the laws of hospitality..."
a. Who was the speaker bound to by 'the law of hospitality'?
= The speaker was bound to the Lilliputians by 'the law of hospitality'.
b. What hospitality had he received?
= He had received food and drink. They also made him feel comfortable by cutting the strings that fastened the left side of his head.
c. What was the speaker tempted to do before he remembered the 'laws of the hospitality'?
= The people of the Lilliputians were passing backwards and forwards on his body. The speaker tempted to seize forty or fifty of the first that came in his reach and dash them against the ground.
d. What other reasons compelled him to not carry out the action he was tempted to follow?
= The speaker was compelled to not to carry out the action he was tempted to follow because he had promised of honour to them and interpreted submissive behaviour.
e. How was the speaker treated after this moment.?
= After this moment a machine was prepared to carry the speaker to the capital city.
E. Think and answer.
1. Do you think Gulliver's treatment of the six-inch tall Lilliputians show him as a coward or as a compassionate person? Give reasons for your answer. How would you react if someone smaller or weaker than you try to overpower you?
= I think Gulliver's treatment of the six-inch tall Lilliputians show him as a compassionate person. Lemuel Gulliver was shipwrecked and swam ashore for his life. Unbeknownst to him, he got on shore in the country of Lilliputians. He was made prisoner and carried to the capital.
He was fastened with the strings. He was a giant compared to the inhabitants of the land. They got hurt merely by the roar of Gulliver. Gulliver could easily get up and tear all the strings which tied him to the ground.
He did not do that only because not to hurt any more Lilliputians. He understood that his movement can hurt or kill many of them. That is why he lied all that while with great uneasiness.
He was grateful for their hospitality. He was grateful for the food and drink and hospitality provided by them. He intentionally suffered the pain of their arrows only to not to hurt them.
If someone smaller or weaker than me tries to overpower me, I would firstly make him understand that it is not right. I will try to understand his or her problem for making me his or her enemy. Then I will try to find out the solution of his or her problem and make him or her my friend at the end.
About the Author :
Jonathan Swift, born on 30 November 1667 in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric. He was the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Swift died on 19 October 1745 in Dublin.