Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01 (43 page)

It seems that, when I was discovered sleeping on the
ground after my landing, the Emperor had early notice
of it, and determined that I should be tied in the manner
I have related (which was done in the night, while I
slept), that plenty of meat and drink should be sent me,
and a machine prepared to carry me to the capital city.
Five hundred carpenters and engineers were immediately
set to work to prepare the engine. It was a frame of wood,
raised three inches from the ground, about seven feet long
and four wide, moving upon twenty-two wheels. But the
difficulty was to place me on it. Eighty poles were erected
for this purpose, and very strong cords fastened to
bandages which the workmen had tied round my neck, hands,
body, and legs. Nine hundred of the strongest men were
employed to draw up these cords by pulleys fastened on
the poles, and in less than three hours I was raised and
slung into the engine, and there tied fast. Fifteen hundred
of the Emperor's largest horses, each about four
inches and a half high, were then employed to draw me
toward the capital. But while all this was done I still lay
in a deep sleep, and I did not wake till four hours after we
began our journey.

The Emperor and all his Court came out to meet us
when we reached the capital; but his great officials would
not suffer his Majesty to risk his person by mounting on
my body. Where the carriage stopped there stood an
ancient temple, supposed to be the largest in the whole
kingdom, and here it was determined that I should lodge.
Near the great gate, through which I could easily creep,
they fixed ninety-one chains, like those which hang to a
lady's watch, which were locked to my left leg with
thirty-six padlocks; and when the workmen found it was
impossible for me to break loose, they cut all the strings
that bound me. Then I rose up, feeling as melancholy as
ever I did in my life. But the noise and astonishment of
the people on seeing me rise and walk were inexpressible.
The chains that held my left leg were about two yards
long, and gave me not only freedom to walk backward and
forward in a semicircle, but to creep in and lie at full
length inside the temple. The Emperor, advancing
toward me from among his courtiers, all most magnificently
clad, surveyed me with great admiration, but kept beyond
the length of my chain. He was taller by about the
breadth of my nail than any of his Court, which alone
was enough to strike awe into the beholders, and graceful
and majestic. The better to behold him, I lay down on
my side, so that my face was level with his, and he stood
three yards off. However, I have had him since many
times in my hand, and therefore cannot be deceived. His
dress was very simple; but he wore a light helmet of gold,
adorned with jewels and a plume. He held his sword
drawn in his hand, to defend himself if I should break
loose; it was almost three inches long, and the hilt was of
gold, enriched with diamonds. His voice was shrill, but
very clear. His Imperial Majesty spoke often to me, and
I answered; but neither of us could understand a word.

After about two hours the Court retired, and I was left
with a strong guard to keep away the crowd, some of
whom had had the impudence to shoot their arrows at me
as I sat by the door of my house. But the colonel ordered
six of them to be seized and delivered bound into my
hands. I put five of them into my coat pocket; and as to
the sixth, I made a face as if I would eat him alive. The
poor man screamed terribly, and the colonel and his
officers were much distressed, especially when they saw
me take out my penknife. But I soon set them at ease,
for, cutting the strings he was bound with, I put him
gently on the ground, and away he ran. I treated the rest
in the same manner, taking them one by one out of my
pocket; and I saw that both the soldiers and people were
delighted at this mark of my kindness.

Toward night I got with some difficulty into my house,
where I lay on the ground, as I had to do for a fortnight,
till a bed was prepared for me out of six hundred beds of
the ordinary measure.

Six hundred servants were appointed me, and three
hundred tailors made me a suit of clothes. Moreover, six
of his Majesty's greatest scholars were employed to teach
me their language, so that soon I was able to converse
after a fashion with the Emperor, who often honored me
with his visits. The first words I learned were to desire
that he would please to give me my liberty, which I every
day repeated on my knees; but he answered that this
must be a work of time, and that first I must swear a
peace with him and his kingdom. He told me also that
by the laws of the nation I must be searched by two of his
officers, and that as this could not be done without my
help, he trusted them in my hands, and whatever they
took from me should be returned when I left the country.
I took up the two officers, and put them into my coat
pockets. These gentlemen, having pen, ink, and paper
about them, made an exact list of everything they saw,
which I afterward translated into English, and which ran
as follows:

"In the right coat pocket of the great Man-Mountain
we found only one great piece of coarse cloth, large enough
to cover the carpet of your Majesty's chief room of state.
In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest, with a silver
cover, which we could not lift. We desired that it should
be opened, and one of us stepping into it found himself
up to the mid-leg in a sort of dust, some of which flying
into our faces sent us both into a fit of sneezing. In his
right waistcoat pocket we found a number of white thin
substances, folded one over another, about the size of
three men, tied with a strong cable, and marked with
black figures, which we humbly conceive to be writings.
In the left there was a sort of engine, from the back of
which extended twenty long poles, with which, we
conjecture, the Man-Mountain combs his head. In the
smaller pocket on the right side were several round flat
pieces of white and red metal, of different sizes. Some of
the white, which appeared to be silver, were so large and
heavy that my comrade and I could hardly lift them.
From another pocket hung a huge silver chain, with a
wonderful kind of engine fastened to it, a globe half silver
and half of some transparent metal; for on the transparent
side we saw certain strange figures, and thought we could
touch them till we found our fingers stopped by the shining
substance. This engine made an incessant noise, like
a water-mill, and we conjecture it is either some unknown
animal, or the god he worships, but probably the latter,
for he told us that he seldom did anything without consulting it.

"This is a list of what we found about the body of the
Man-Mountain, who treated us with great civility."

I had one private pocket which escaped their search,
containing a pair of spectacles and a small spy-glass,
which, being of no consequence to the Emperor, I did not
think myself bound in honor to discover.

My gentleness and good behavior gained so far on the
Emperor and his Court, and, indeed, on the people in
general, that I began to have hopes of getting my liberty
in a short time. The natives came by degrees to be less
fearful of danger from me. I would sometimes lie down
and let five or six of them dance on my hand; and at last
the boys and girls ventured to come and play at hide-and-seek in my hair.

The horses of the army and of the royal stables were
no longer shy, having been daily led before me; and one
of the Emperor's huntsmen, on a large courser, took my
foot, shoe and all, which was indeed a prodigious leap.
I amused the Emperor one day in a very extraordinary
manner. I took nine sticks, and fixed them firmly in the
ground in a square. Then I took four other sticks, and
tied them parallel at each corner, about two feet from
the ground. I fastened my handkerchief to the nine sticks
that stood erect, and extended it on all sides till it was as
tight as the top of a drum; and I desired the Emperor
to let a troop of his best horse, twenty-four in number,
come and exercise upon this plain. His majesty approved
of the proposal, and I took them up one by one, with the
proper officers to exercise them. As soon as they got into
order they divided into two parties, discharged blunt
arrows, drew their swords, fled and pursued, and, in short,
showed the best military discipline I ever beheld. The
parallel sticks secured them and their horses from falling
off the stage, and the Emperor was so much delighted
that he ordered this entertainment to be repeated several
days, and persuaded the Empress herself to let me hold
her in her chair within two yards of the stage, whence she
could view the whole performance. Fortunately no
accident happened, only once a fiery horse, pawing with
his hoof, struck a hole in my handkerchief, and overthrew
his rider and himself. But I immediately relieved them
both, and covering the hole with one hand, I set down the
troop with the other as I had taken them up. The horse
that fell was strained in the shoulder; but the rider was
not hurt, and I repaired my handkerchief as well as I
could. However, I would not trust to the strength of it
any more in such dangerous enterprises.

I had sent so many petitions for my liberty that his
Majesty at length mentioned the matter in a full council,
where it was opposed by none except Skyresh Bolgolam,
admiral of the realm, who was pleased without any
provocation to be my mortal enemy. However, he agreed at
length, though he succeeded in himself drawing up the
conditions on which I should be set free. After they were
read I was requested to swear to perform them in the
method prescribed by their laws, which was to hold my
right foot in my left hand, and to place the middle finger
of my right hand on the crown of my head, and my
thumb on the top of my right ear. But I have made a
translation of the conditions, which I here offer to the
public:

"Golbaste Mamarem Evlame Gurdile Shefin Mully Ully
Gue, Most Mighty Emperor of Lilliput, delight and terror
of the universe, whose dominions extend to the ends of
the globe, monarch of all monarchs, taller than the sons
of men, whose feet press down to the center, and whose
head strikes against the sun, at whose nod the princes of
the earth shake their knees, pleasant as the spring,
comfortable as the summer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as
winter: His Most Sublime Majesty proposeth to the
Man-Mountain, lately arrived at our celestial dominions,
the following articles, which by a solemn oath he shall be
obliged to perform:

"First. The Man-Mountain shall not depart from our
dominions without our license under the great seal.

"Second. He shall not presume to come into our
metropolis without our express order, at which time the
inhabitants shall have two hours' warning to keep within
doors.

"Third. The said Man-Mountain shall confine his
walks to our principal high roads, and not offer to walk
or lie down in a meadow or field of corn.

"Fourth. As he walks the said roads he shall take the
utmost care not to trample upon the bodies of any of our
loving subjects, their horses or carriages, nor take any of
our subjects into his hands without their own consent.

"Fifth. If an express requires extraordinary speed the
Man-Mountain shall be obliged to carry in his pocket the
messenger and horse a six days' journey, and return the
said messenger (if so required) safe to our imperial
presence.

"Sixth. He shall be our ally against our enemies in the
island of Blefuscu, and do his utmost to destroy their
fleet, which is now preparing to invade us.

"Lastly. Upon his solemn oath to observe all the above
articles, the said Man-Mountain shall have a daily allowance
of meat and drink sufficient for the support of 1,724
of our subjects, with free access to our royal person, and
other marks of our favor. Given at our palace at Belfaburac,
the twelfth day of the ninety-first moon of our
reign."

I swore to these articles with great cheerfulness,
whereupon my chains were immediately unlocked, and I was
at full liberty.

One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained
my freedom, Reldresal, the Emperor's secretary for
private affairs, came to my house, attended only by one
servant. He ordered his coach to wait at a distance, and
desired that I would give him an hour's audience. 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, but he added that, save for the
present state of things at Court, perhaps I might not
have obtained it so soon. "For," he said, "however
flourishing we may seem to foreigners, we are in danger
of an invasion from the island of Blefuscu, which is the
other great empire of the universe, almost as large and as
powerful as this of his Majesty. For as to what we have
heard you say, that there are other kingdoms in the
world, inhabited by human creatures as large as yourself,
our philosophers are very doubtful, and rather conjecture
that you dropped from the moon, or one of the stars,
because a hundred mortals of your size would soon destroy
all the fruit and cattle of his Majesty's dominions.
Besides, our histories of six thousand moons make no mention
of any other regions than the two mighty empires of
Lilliput and Blefuscu, which, as I was going to tell you,
are engaged in a most obstinate war, which began in the
following manner: It is allowed on all hands that the
primitive way of breaking eggs 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, made a law commanding
all his subjects to break the smaller end of their
eggs. The people so highly resented this law that there
have been six rebellions raised on that account, wherein
one emperor lost his life, and another his crown. It is
calculated that eleven hundred persons have at different
times suffered rather than break their eggs at the smaller
end. But these rebels, the Bigendians, have found so
much encouragement at the Emperor of Blefuscu's
Court, to which they always fled for refuge, that a bloody
war, as I said, has been carried on between the two empires
for six-and-thirty moons; and now the Blefuscudians have
equipped a large fleet, and are preparing to descend upon
us. Therefore his Imperial Majesty, placing great
confidence in your valor and strength, has commanded me
to set the case before you."