Gulliver's Travels: A Voyage to Lilliput

[Prof.ssa Giuliani]

Hello everybody!

This is a short summary of Part I "A Voyage to Lilliput".
Lemuel Gulliver landed on the Island of Lilliput in 1699 after a violent shipwreck (a shipwreck? ...again?!?). He slept "sounder than ever he remembered to have done in his life", but when he woke up he was not able to move! In fact, he was still lying on the floor and his arms and legs were strongly tied to the ground with ropes! [look at the picture at page 89 of your book]
The Lilliputians, the inhabitants of the island, had tied him to the ground because they were very afraid of him (he was an enormous creature!).
When Gulliver woke up, he noticed that forty of those little creatures were trying to climb up his body to observe him better. They spoke a strange language and, when they saw that he was awake, they began to shot a "shower of arrows" at him which were like many needles on his body.

After that, "when the people observed he was quiet", they stopped shooting arrows and decided to cut the ropes to set him free.
When Gulliver was again on his feet, he looked around and...

I had been for some hours extremely pressed by the necessities of nature; which was no wonder, it being almost two days since I had last disburdened myself. I was under great difficulties between urgency and shame. The best expedient I could think of, was to creep into my house, which I accordingly did; and shutting the gate after me, I went as far as the length of my chain would suffer, and discharged my body of that uneasy load...

Then, Lilliputian said that "by the Laws of the Kingdom" he must have been searched by two officers: they made an inventory of all Gulliver had in his pockets.

• --> Read this episode on your book at page 89: there is a discrepancy between the Lilliputians’ description of the objects they find in Gulliver’s pockets and what they actually find. Find these 5 objects and explain what they actually are (exercise n.2,3,4,5,8 p.90)

The Emperor of Lilliput decided to give the "Man-Mountain" plenty of meat and drink (= a daily portion sufficient for the support of... 1.728 Lilliputians!). Gulliver learnt their language and promised (swearing first in the English manner and then in the method prescribed by Lilliputians' law: which was to hold his right foot in his left hand, to place the middle finger of his right hand on the crown of his head, and his thumb on the tip of his right ear...!) to help the Lilliputians to fight against their enemies, the inhabitants of another island: Blefuscu.

Gulliver arrived to Mildendo, the metropolis of Lilliput (and a wordplay for "London"!) and the Emperor told him about his Kingdom.

• --> Download this extract and read it: it's full of allusions to English politics and society. Pay attention to the sentences highlighted in bold: what do they refer to?

Then, Gulliver made a plan to prevent an invasion.
One day, the Emperor's Palace was on fire and Gullivers extinguished the fire urinating on it. The Emperor and his wife didn't appreciate this "performance" at all, so they accused Gulliver of high treason and he was forced to leave the Island of Lilliput and come back to his native Country.