不背單詞，不背語法，輕松學(xué)英語，具體方法看此視頻。

7

At the King's palace

Although Glumdalclitch tried to make things as comfort able as possible for me, such an exhausting life was beginning to have a bad effect on my health. I was becoming thinner and thinner. When my master noticed this, he thought I would not live much longer. But it was clear that he wanted to make as much money out of me as he could. While he was thinking how to do this, he was asked to bring me to the palace. The Queen and her ladies had heard about me and wanted to see me. When we arrived in front of the Queen, I fell on my knees and begged to be allowed to kiss her foot. But she kindly held out her hand to me. I took her little finger in both my arms, and put it very politely to my lips.

She seemed very pleased with me, and finally she said, 'Would you enjoy living here in the palace, do you think?'

'Great queen,' I answered, 'I must do what my master wants, but if I were free, I would want to spend my whole life obeying your orders.'

She immediately arranged to buy me from my master. He was delighted to receive a good price for me, especially as he felt sure I would not live longer than a month. I also begged the Queen to let Glumdalclitch stay with me, because she had always taken such good care of me. The Queen agreed, and Glumdalclitch could not hide her happiness.

When my master had left the palace alone, the Queen said to me, 'Why didn't you say goodbye to him? And why did you look at him so coldly?'

'Madam, I must tell you,' I replied, 'that since he found me, my master has used me as an easy way of making money for himself. He's made me work so hard that I feel tired and ill. He's sold me to you only because he thinks I'm going to die soon. But I feel better already, now that I belong to such a great and good queen.'

The Queen was clearly surprised to hear such intelligent words from such a small creature, and decided to show me to her husband. When the King saw me, he thought at first that I must be a mechanical toy. However, when he heard my answers to his questions, he realized I must be alive, and he could not hide his astonishment.

To discover what kind of animal I was, he sent for three of his cleverest professors. After looking at me carefully, they decided that I was a creature outside the laws of nature. I was much too small to climb their trees, or dig their fields, or kill and eat their animals. They could not understand where I had come from, or how I could possibly survive. And when I told them that in my country there were millions just like me, they did not believe me, but just smiled. However, the King was more intelligent than they were. After speaking to Glumdalclitch and questioning me again, he realized that my story must be true.

They took very good care of me. The Queen's workmen made a special bedroom for me. It was a wooden box, with windows, a door, and two cupboards. The ceiling could be lifted off, so that Glumdalclitch could change my sheets and tidy my room. The workmen even made me two little chairs and a table, and a lock for the door, so that no rats could get in.

The Queen became so fond of me that she could not eat without me. My small table and chair were always placed on the dinner table near her left elbow, and Glumdalclitch stood near me, in case I needed her help. I ate off tiny silver plates, with silver knives and forks. But I never got used to seeing the Queen eat. In one mouthful she ate as much as twelve English farmers could eat in a whole meal. She drank from a cup as big as one of our barrels, and her knives were like huge swords. I was quite frightened of them.

On Wednesday, which is a day of rest in Brobdingnag, like our Sunday, the King and Queen always had dinner together, with their children, in the King's rooms. I was usually invited too. My little chair and table were at the King's left elbow. He enjoyed very much hearing me talk about England — our laws, our universities, our great buildings. He listened so politely that I perhaps talked a little too much about my dear country. In the end he looked at me kindly, but could not stop himself laughing. He turned to one of his lords.

'How amusing it is,' he said to him, 'that an insect like this should talk of such important matters! He thinks his country is so highly developed! But I suppose even tiny creatures like him have a hole in the ground that they call a home. They argue, they love, they fight and they die, as we do. But of course the poor little animals aren't on our level.'

I could not believe what I was hearing. He was laughing at my country, a country famous for its beautiful cities and palaces, its great kings and queens, its brave and honest people. However, there was nothing I could do about it, and I simply had to accept the situation.

The worst problem I had at the palace was the Queen's dwarf. Until I arrived, he had always been the smallest person in the country (he was about ten metres tall). As I was much smaller than him, he was very rude to me and behaved very badly, especially when nobody was looking. Once he took a large bone from the table and stood it on the Queen's plate. Then he took me in both hands and pushed my legs into the top of the bone. I could not pull myself out, and had to stay there, feeling—and looking—extremely stupid. When the Queen finally saw me, she could not stop herself laughing, but she was angry with the dwarf at the same time.

In Brobdingnag there are large numbers of flies in summer, and these awful insects, each as big as an English bird, gave me no peace. The dwarf used to catch some in his hands, and then let them out suddenly under my nose. He did this both to frighten me and amuse the Queen. I had to use my knife to cut them to pieces as they flew around me.

Another time, the dwarf picked me up and dropped me quickly into a bowl of milk on the table. Luckily, I am a good swimmer, so I managed to keep my head out of the milk. As soon as Glumdalclitch saw I was in danger, she ran from the other side of the room to rescue me. I was not hurt, but this time the dwarf was sent away from the palace as a punishment. I was very pleased.

I would now like to describe Brobdingnag. The people who draw our European maps think there is nothing but sea between Japan and America, but they are wrong. Brobdingnag is quite a large country, joined on to northwest America, but separated from the rest of America by high mountains. It is about ten thousand kilometres long and from five to eight thousand wide. The sea around it is so rough and there are so many rocks in the water that no large ships can land on any of the beaches. This means that the people of Brobdingnag do not normally have visitors from other parts of the world.

There are fifty-one cities and a large number of towns and villages. The capital stands on both sides of a river, and has more than eighty thousand houses. It covers three hundred and forty square kilometres. The King's palace covers about eleven square kilometres: the main rooms are eighty metres high. The palace kitchen is huge—if I described it, with its great pots on the fire and the mountains of food on the tables, perhaps you would not believe me. Travellers are often accused of not telling the truth when they return. To avoid this happening to me, I am being careful to describe what I saw as exactly and carefully as possible.

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as... as... to the same extent. 同……一樣的。

effect n. result or outcome. 結(jié)果，效果。

master n. employer. 主人，雇主。

pleased with show satisfaction. 欣喜的，滿意的。

hold sth out offer. 給予。

coldly adv. in an unfriendly way. 冷淡地，冷漠地。

way n. method or style of doing sth. 方法，方式。

tired a. feeling that one would like to rest. 疲倦的。

kind n. type 種類。

creature n. living being. 生物。

lift v. raise sth to a higher level. 提起。

fond of having a great liking for sb. 喜愛某人。

elbow n. outer part of the joint where the arm bends. 肘。

cup n. small bowl shaped container. 杯子。

nothing pron. not anything. 沒有什么。

rude a. impolite. 粗魯，無禮。

plate n. shallow dish from which food is served. 餐盤，碟子。

stupid a. not intelligent. 愚蠢，傻的。

keep v. continue to be in the specified condition. 保持。

send away tell sb to go away. 攆走，趕走。

draw v. make pictures with a pencil. 用鉛筆畫。

rock n. part of the earth's crust. 巖層，巖。

careful a. taking care. 小心，當(dāng)心。

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8

More adventures in Brobdingnag

Because I was so small, I had several dangerous accidents during my stay at the palace. One day Glumdalclitch put me down on the grass in the palace garden, while she went for a walk with some of the Queen's ladies. A small white dog which belonged to one of the gardeners appeared, and seemed very interested in me. He took me in his mouth and carried me to his master. Luckily, he had been well trained, and did not try to bite me, so I was not hurt.

One day the Queen said to me, 'It would be good for your health to do some rowing or sailing. What do you think? Would you like me to arrange it for you?'

'Madam,' I answered, 'I'd love to row or sail a little every day. But where can we find a boat that's small enough?'

'Leave that to me,' she replied, and called for her work men. She ordered them to make a tiny boat with sails. They also made a wooden container, about a hundred metres long, seventeen metres wide and three metres deep. This container was filled with water, and I was carefully placed in my boat on the water. Every day I used to row or sail there, while the Queen and her ladies watched. There was no wind, of course, but the ladies blew hard to move my boat along.

I nearly lost my life again, when a lady picked me up to put me in the boat. She was not careful enough, and dropped me. With horror, I felt myself falling through the air. But instead of crashing to the ground, I was caught, by my trousers, on a pin in her clothes. I had to stay there without moving a finger, until Glumdalclitch came running to rescue me.

But the greatest danger to me in Brobdingnag came from a monkey. One day Glumdalclitch left me alone in her bedroom while she visited some of the ladies. It was a warm day, and her window was open. I was in the box which I used as my bedroom, with the door open. Suddenly I heard the noise of an animal jumping through the window, and immediately I hid at the back of my box. The monkey, which appeared huge to me, very soon discovered my hiding-place. He picked me up, and held me close to him like a baby. When he heard someone opening the bedroom door, he jumped out of the window and ran on to the roof.

I thought I had never been in such great danger. He was running on three legs and holding me in the fourth. At any moment he could let me fall, and we were at least three hundred metres above the ground. I could hear a lot of shouting in the palace. The servants had realized what was happening, and brought ladders to climb up on to the roof. Glumdalclitch was crying, and hundreds of people were watching from the garden. Meanwhile, the monkey was sitting calmly on top of the roof. He was taking food from his mouth and trying to push it into my mouth. He still seemed to think I was his baby. I suppose it was an amusing sight for the crowd below, but I was in terrible fear of falling.

Finally, several servants climbed on the roof, and as they came nearer, the monkey put me down and ran away. I was rescued and brought down to the ground. I had to stay in bed for two weeks after this, before I felt well enough to meet people again. The monkey was caught and killed.

When I next saw the King, he asked me about this experience. 'How did you feel,' he said, 'when the monkey was holding you up on the roof?'

'Sir,' I replied bravely, 'I was afraid, that's true. But next time an animal like that attacks me, I shall not hesitate. I'll pull out my sword like this' — and I showed him what I would do — 'and give the creature such a wound that it will never come near me again!'

But while I waved my tiny sword in the air, the King and his lords laughed loudly. I had wanted to prove my bravery, but I failed, because to them I was only an unimportant little creature. I realized later that this often happens in England, when we laugh at someone of no family, fortune, or intelligence, who pretends to be as important as our great leaders.

In the next few weeks, I began to have some very interesting conversations with the King. He was an intelligent, understanding person.

'Tell me more about your country,' he said to me one day. 'I would like to hear about your laws, your political life, and your customs. Tell me everything. There may be something that we can usefully copy here in Brobdingnag.'

'I shall be delighted, sir,' I answered proudly. 'Our king controls our three great countries, Scotland, Ireland and England. We grow much of our own food, and our weather is neither too hot nor too cold. There are two groups of men who make our laws. One is called the House of Lords—they are men from the oldest and greatest families in the country. The other is called the House of Commons—these are the most honest, intelligent, and sensible men in the country, and are freely chosen by the people. We have judges to decide punishments for criminals, and we have a large army, which cannot be defeated by any other in the world.'

While I was talking, the King was making notes. For several days I continued my explanation, and I also described British history over the last hundred years. Then the King asked me a large number of questions. These were some of them.

'How do you teach and train young people of good family? If the last son of an old family dies, how do you make new lords for the House of Lords? Are these lords really the most suitable people to make the country's laws? And in the House of Commons, are these men really so honest and intelligent? Do rich men never buy their way into this House? You say the lawmakers receive no pay, but are you sure that they never accept bribes?'

Then he asked questions about our lawcourts. 'Why are your trials so long and so expensive? How much do your lawyers and judges really know about the laws? How carefully do they decide between right and wrong?'

'And why,' he went on, 'are you so often at war? Either you enjoy fighting, or you have very difficult neighbours! Why do you need an army at all? You would not be afraid of any other country, if you were peaceful people. And in the last hundred years you've done nothing but rob, fight, and murder! Your recent history shows the very worst effects of cruelty, jealousy, dishonesty, and madness!'

I tried to answer the King as well as I could, but he did not think our system was a good one.

'No, my little friend,' he said kindly but seriously, 'I'm sorry for you. You've proved to me that your country has nothing valuable to offer us. Perhaps once, in the past, your political life was adequately organized, but now it is clear that there is laziness and selfishness in every part of the system. Your politicians can be bribed, your soldiers aren't really brave, your judges and lawyers are neither reasonable nor honest, and your lawmakers themselves know little and do less. I sincerely hope that you, who have spent most of your life travelling, have a better character than most Englishmen. But from what you've told me, I'm afraid that your countrymen are the worst little nation of insects that has ever crawled upon the ground.'

I am very sorry to have to report these words of the King's, and I only do so because of my love of the truth. I must tell you exactly what happened, even if I do not agree with it. I had to listen patiently, while he was giving his extraordinary opinions of my dear country. We must remember, however, that this King lives in a country almost completely separate from the rest of the world. Because he does not know other countries' systems or customs, he has a certain narrowness of thinking, which we Europeans do not have, of course.

You will find it difficult to believe what happened next.

'Sir,' I said, 'I'd like to give you something to thank you for your kindness to me since I arrived at the palace. Three or four hundred years ago, we Europeans discovered how to make a special powder. When you set fire to it, it burns and explodes immediately, with a noise louder than thunder. You can use it to shoot heavy balls of metal from large guns. It can destroy the largest ships, it can kill a whole army, it can cut men's bodies in half, it can destroy the strongest walls. It's called gunpowder, and it's easy and cheap to make. To show you how grateful I am to you, I'm offering to explain how to make it—then you will be able to destroy all your enemies!'

I was very surprised by the King's reply.

'No!' he cried in horror. 'Don't tell me! I don't want to know how to murder people like that. I would rather give half my country away than know the secret of this powder. How can a tiny creature like you have such inhuman, cruel ideas? Never speak to me of this again!'

How strange that such an excellent king should not take the chance I was offering him! No European king would hesitate for a moment. But he had other strange ideas. He believed, very simply, that every problem can be solved by honest, sensible people, and that the political life of a country must have no secrets and must be open for all to see and understand. Of course, we know that this is impossible, so perhaps his opinion of us is not worth considering.

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stay v. not depart. 停留；住。

belong to sb be the property of sb. 屬于，是……的財產(chǎn)。

gardener n. person who works in a garden. 園丁，花匠。

train v. bring a person or an animal to a desired standard of behaviour by instruction. 訓(xùn)練。

immediately ad. at once. 立刻；馬上。

hiding-place n. where sb is hidden. 隱藏處。

watch v. look at sth. 看，觀察。

below prep. at or to a lower position. 在…之下，低下。

climb v. to move esp from a lower to a higher position by using the hands and feet. 爬，攀登。

roof n. structure covering or forming the top of a building. 屋頂，頂部。

wound n. injury caused deliberately to part of the body by cutting. 傷，創(chuàng)傷。

weather n. condition of the atmosphere at a certain place and time. 天氣，氣象。

group n. a number of people. 群，組。

family n. any group of people related by blood or marriage. 家庭。

expensive a. costing a lot of money. 昂貴的。

lawyer n. person who is trained and qualified in legal matters. 律師。

either or conj. used to show a choice of two alternatives. 不是……便是。

afraid a. full of fear. 害怕，畏懼。

because conj. for the reason that. 因為。

separate from v. to move apart. 分，分開。

arrive v. reach a place. 到達，抵達。

set fire to sth light sth. 點燃，點火。

gunpowder n. explosive powder used in guns. 火藥。

like prep. similar to sth. 像，類似，和…一樣。

idea n. thought. 思想；主意。

solve v. find an answer. 解決，解答。

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9

Gulliver escapes from Brobdingnag

I was still hoping to return to England one day. But the ship in which I had arrived in Brobdingnag was the first that had ever come near the coast. So I could not see how I could get away. I began to think more and more about my family and my home.

By now I had been in Brobdingnag for about two years. When the King and Queen travelled to the south coast, Glumdalclitch and I went with them. I really wanted to be close to the sea again, which I had not seen or even smelt for so long. As Glumdalclitch was ill, I asked a young servant to take me down to the beach for some fresh air. The boy carried me in my travelling box, and put me down on the beach, while he looked for birds' eggs among the rocks. I looked sadly at the sea, but stayed in my box, and after a while I fell asleep.

I was woken suddenly when my box was lifted high in the air. I can only suppose that a large bird took hold of the ring on top of the box with his talons, and flew away with it. Through the windows I could see the sky and clouds passing by, and I could hear the noise of the bird's wings. Then I was falling, so fast that I felt quite breathless. There was a loud crash, as the box fell into the sea. Perhaps the bird had been attacked by others, and so had to drop what he was carrying.

Luckily, the box had been well made, and not much sea water came in. But I do not think any traveller has ever been in a worse situation than I was then. I wondered how long I would survive, with no food or drink in the middle of the ocean. I felt sure I would never see poor Glumdalclitch again, and I knew how sad she would be to lose me.

Several hours passed, and then I suddenly heard a strange noise above my head. People were fastening a rope to the ring. Then my box was pulled through the water. Was it a ship that was pulling me along?

'Help! Help!' I shouted as loudly as I could.

I was delighted to hear English voices reply.

'Who's there?' they cried.

'I'm English!' I shouted back desperately. 'Please help me to get out of here! Just put your finger into the ring on top of the box and lift it out of the water! Quickly!'

There were great shouts of laughter.

'He's mad!' I heard one man say.

'Ten men couldn't lift that huge box!' said another. There was more laughter.

Indeed, because I had been with giants for so long, I had forgotten that my countrymen were as small as me. The only thing the sailors could do was to cut a hole in the top of my box, and help me to climb out. I was exhausted and unable to walk far.

They took me to their captain.

'Welcome to my ship,' he said kindly. 'You're lucky we found you. My men saw that huge box on the water, and we decided to pull it along behind the ship. Then we realized there was a man inside! Why were you locked up in there? Was it a punishment for some terrible crime? But tell me all about it later. Now you need to sleep, and then eat.'

When I told him my story, a few hours later, he found it difficult to believe. But after a while he began to accept that what I told him must be true.

'But why do you shout so loudly?' he asked. 'We can hear you perfectly well if you speak normally.'

'You see,' I explained, 'for two years I've had to shout to make myself understood by the giants. I was like a man in the street who was trying to talk to another man at the top of a very tall building. And another thing—your sailors all seem very small to me, because I've been used to looking up at people twenty metres tall.'

He shook his head. 'Well, what a story! I think you should write a book about it when you get home.'

I stayed on the ship for several months, as we sailed slowly home to England. Finally, we arrived in Bristol on June 3rd, 1706. When I reached home, my wife made me promise never to go to sea again, and I thought my adventures had come to an end.

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one day at a particular time in the future. 總有一天。

coast n. land bordering the sea. 海岸。

see v. form a picture in the mind of. 想像出，想像。

get away escape. 逃脫，脫身。

smell v. notice sth by using the nose. 聞出，嗅出。

drop v. fall. 落下。

survive v. continue to live. 存在，繼續(xù)生存。

middle n. the central part. 中央，中間。

lose v. fail to find. 丟失，找不到。

fasten v. fix sth firmly. 固定某物。

get out (of sth) leave a place. 離開某處。

man n. male person under the authority of sb else. （男性的）下屬。

punishment n. penalty inflicted on sb who has done sth wrong. 處罰，懲罰。

ask v. request information. 問；詢問。

be used to doing sth having learned to accept sth. 習(xí)慣于，適應(yīng)于。

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10

The flying island of Laputa

I had only been at home for about ten days when a friend of mine asked me to join him on a journey to the East Indies. I still wanted to see more of the world, and as he was offering to give me double the usual pay, I managed to persuade my wife to let me go. The voyage took eight months, and after stopping for a short time in Malaysia, we arrived in the Gulf of Tongking.

'I'll have to stay here for a while on business,' my friend the captain told me. 'But you can take the ship and some of the sailors. Go and see what you can buy and sell in the islands around here.' That sounded interesting to me, so I agreed.

Unfortunately, we sailed straight into a terrible storm, which drove us many miles eastward. Then, by a very unlucky chance, we were seen and chased by two pirate ships. Our ship was not fast enough to escape, and the pirates caught us. They decided to keep the sailors to help sail the ship, but they did not need me. I suppose I was lucky they did not kill me. Instead, they left me alone in a small boat in the middle of the ocean, with only enough food for a few days, while they sailed away.

I am sure the pirates thought I would die. However, I saw land some hours later, and I managed to sail the boat to it. As I stepped out of the boat and walked up the beach, I noticed that although the sun had been very hot, the air suddenly seemed cooler. At first I thought a cloud was passing over the sun. But when I looked up, I saw, to my great astonishment, a large island in the sky, between me and the sun. It was moving towards me, and there were people running around on it. I waved my arms and shouted as loudly as possible. 'Help! Help!' I cried. 'Rescue me!'

When the island was about a hundred metres over my head, they let down a seat on a chain. I sat on it, and was pulled up to the island. I had discovered the flying island of Laputa.

Laputans are certainly strange-looking people. Their heads always turn either to right or left: one of their eyes turns inwards, the other upwards. Their main interests are music and mathematics. They spend so much time thinking about mathematical problems that they do not notice what is happening around them. In fact, rich Laputans employ a servant whose job is to follow his master everywhere. The servant warns him if he is going to step into a hole, and reminds him to reply if someone speaks to him.

I was taken to see the King, but had to wait for at least an hour while he struggled with a difficult mathematical question. However, when he had finished, he spoke politely to me, and ordered his servants to show me to a room. For dinner they gave me three kinds of meat—a square of beef, a triangle of chicken and a circle of lamb. Even the bread was cut into mathematical shapes. In the evening a teacher arrived to help me learn the language, and in a few days I was able to make conversation with the island people.

Laputa is a circle of land, about eight kilometres across, covered with houses and other buildings. It is moved by a simple machine which uses magnets to pull the island closer to land or push it higher into the sky. The island always moves slowly. It can only fly over the country called Balnibarbi, which belongs to the King of Laputa.

It is difficult talking to Laputans, as they have little interest in anything except music and mathematics. They are, however, very worried about the future of the earth, the sun, and the stars, and they often discuss this. I heard a conversation about this shortly before I left Laputa.

'How are you, my friend?' one man asked another.

'As well as can be expected,' came the reply.

'And how is the sun, do you think?'

'I thought he looked rather feverish this morning. I'm afraid he'll get too hot and destroy himself one day, if he goes on like this.'

'I know, it's very worrying. And what about the earth? It's only thirty years until the next falling star comes this way, and the earth was very nearly destroyed by the last one!'

'That's right. We know that the next falling star is almost certain to get too close to the sun, and catch fire! And when the earth passes through that fire, it'll be destroyed immediately!'

'Only thirty years! That's not much to look forward to, is it?' And the two men shook their heads sadly.

After several months on the island, I asked if I could visit the country underneath us. The King agreed, and ordered his officials to put me down on Balnibarbi, and show me round the capital, Lagado.

The most interesting place I saw there was the university, which was full of very clever men, with very clever ideas. They were all working hard to find better, faster, cheaper, easier ways of doing and making things. They had ideas for building houses from the roof downwards, turning rocks into soft material, making rivers run uphill, and saving sunshine in bottles. I cannot remember half of the astonishingly clever ideas which they were working on. One day, they told me, they would find the answers to all these problems, and then their country would be the most wonderful place in the world. Meanwhile, I noticed that the people looked hungry and miserable. Their clothes were old and full of holes, their houses were badly built and falling down. There were no vegetables or corn growing in the fields.

When I visited the School of Mathematics, I could not understand why the students looked so unhappy.

'What's the matter, young man?' I asked one of them. 'You look quite ill.'

'Yes, sir,' he answered. 'You see, we've only just eaten

'Eaten them?' I repeated in surprise. 'Why did you do that?'

'Oh, that's the way we learn here, sir,' he replied. 'Our professors write mathematical questions and answers on paper, then we eat the paper. After that we're only supposed to have bread and water for three days, while the information moves upwards to our heads. But it's awful, sir, not eating much for three days. And we often feel sick. Er... excuse me, sir!' And he ran past me out of the room. This highly developed system of teaching did not seem to be working well.

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fly v. move through the air. 飛。

double n. something that is twice another in quantity. 雙倍，兩倍。

sound v. seem when heard. 聽起來。

straight ad. directly. 直接地。

terrible a. causing great fear. 可怕的，嚇人的。

wave v. move one's hand as a signal. 向……揮手。

rescue v. save sb from danger. 搭救，救出。

seat n. thing made or used for sitting on. 坐具。

music n. art of arranging the sounds of voices or instrument. 音樂。

wait v. stay somewhere without doing anything until sb comes. 等，等候。

learn v. gain knowledge. 學(xué)，學(xué)習(xí)。

a few not many. 不多。

be able to have the knowledge to do sth. 有能力，能夠…的。

machine n. apparatus with several moving part. 機器，機械。

be worry about be anxious. 焦慮，擔(dān)憂。

feverish a. having a fever. 發(fā)燒。

downwards a. moving to what is lower. 向下。

remember v. keep in memory. 記著。

look forward to expect something that is going to happen. 盼望，期待。

order v. command. 命令，指令。

paper n. substance made in thin sheets from wood pulp or rag and used for writing. 紙。

developed a. advanced; mature. 先進的；成熟的。

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11

Glubbdubdrib and Luggnagg

Although the Laputans were kind to me, I did not want to spend a long time in their country. Therefore, I decided to travel from Balnibarbi to the island of Luggnagg, from there to Japan, and then home to England. But before I went to Luggnagg, an official I had met in Lagado persuaded me to visit the small island of Glubbdubdrib.

'You'll find it a very interesting place,' he told me. 'Glubbdubdrib means the island of magicians. All the important people there are good at magic, you see. The President is the best magician of them all. But I must warn you, he has some very strange servants — they're all ghosts! By using magic he can order the ghost of any dead person to be his servant for twenty-four hours, and the ghost must obey.'

It seemed unbelievable, but it was true. When we arrived on the island, we were invited to the President's palace. His servants certainly looked strange to me — there was a smell of death about them. When the President no longer needed them, he waved a hand, and they simply disappeared.

I visited the President every day during my stay, and soon got used to seeing the ghosts. One day the President said, 'Gulliver, would you like to call a ghost? It could be anyone from the beginning of the world up to the present day. You could ask them questions about their lives. And you can be sure they'll tell the truth—ghosts always do. '

'That's very kind of you, sir,' I replied, and thought hard for a moment. 'First, I'd like to see Alexander the Great, please.'

The President pointed out of the window. There in a large field was the ghost of Alexander, with his huge army. This famous king lived long ago in Macedonia in northern Greece. His kingdom covered many countries, from Greece to Egypt, from Persia to parts of India. But he died very young, when he was only thirty-three, and no one knew why. The President called him into the room.

'Great King,' I said to him, 'just tell me one thing. Were you murdered, or did you die naturally?'

'Young man,' he replied, 'nobody murdered me. I drank too much and died of a fever.'

So, in these few words, I had learnt one of the secrets of history! I turned to the President. 'And now, may we see Julius Caesar and Brutus?'

The two Romans took Alexander's place. Brutus, of course, had killed Julius Caesar in Rome on 15th March, 44BC—one of the most famous murders in history. It is terrible to die by the hand of a friend.

'Great Caesar,' I said, 'how do you feel about your murderer, Brutus?'

'Do not call him that,' replied Caesar. 'He is a brave, good man, the best in Rome, and he did the right thing for Rome by killing me. In death, as in life, he has always been my friend.'

I cannot remember how many more ghosts I called to appear. I was very interested in their answers to my questions, which often seemed to offer a different view of history from the one I had been taught at school.

However, it was soon time to leave Glubbdubdrib, and sail to Luggnagg, a much larger island to the south-east of Japan. The Luggnuggians are polite and generous people, and I stayed here for three months. I made many friends among them. One day, one of them asked me, 'Have you ever seen any of our Struldbrugs?'

'I don't think so,' I replied. 'What's that?'

'Well, a Struldbrug is a human being who will never die, but will live for ever. If a Luggnuggian baby is born with a round spot above its left eye, which never disappears, it's a Struldbrug. We have over a thousand of them in the country.'

'How wonderful!' I cried. 'How exciting! How lucky you are in Luggnagg, where a child has a chance of living for ever! And how especially lucky the Struldbrugs are! Disease, disaster, and death can never touch them! And imagine how much we can learn from them! I expect they're among the most important people in the country. They've lived through history and know so much, which they're certain to pass on to the rest of us. If I had the chance, I'd like to spend my whole life listening to the intelligent conversation of these extraordinary people, here in Luggnagg!'

'Well, of course,' answered my Luggnuggian friend with a smile, 'we'll be delighted if you stay longer with us. But I'd like to know how you would plan your life if you were a Struldbrug.'

'That's easy,' I replied. 'First I'd work hard, and earn a lot of money. In about two hundred years I'd be the richest man in Luggnagg. I'd study too, so that I knew more about everything than the cleverest professors. I'd also write down everything important that happened over the years, so that students of history would come to me for help. I'd teach young people what I had learnt. But most of my time I'd spend with other Struldbrugs, friends of mine. Together we could help to destroy crime in the world, and begin to build a new and better life for everyone.'

I had only just finished describing the happiness of endless life, when I realized that my friend's shoulders were shaking and tears of laughter were running down his face.

'I really must explain,' he said. 'You see, you've made a very understandable mistake. You suppose that if someone lives for ever, he is young, healthy, and strong for ever too. And that doesn't happen. Our Struldbrugs have a terrible life. After living for about eighty years, they become ill and miserable. They have no friends and they can't remember much of the past. At that age the law considers them to be dead, so their children inherit their houses and money. Then they sometimes have to beg to get enough food to eat. They lose their teeth and hair, they forget the names of their families, and the only thing they want is to die. But that's impossible!'

I realized how stupid I had been, and felt very sorry for the poor Struldbrugs.

I finally left Luggnagg on a boat sailing to Japan. From there I found a ship which was returning to England. My voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib and Luggnagg had taken me away from home for five and a half years.

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persuade v. cause sb to do sth by reasoning with him. 勸說某人做某事。

interesting a. which take one's interest. 有趣的。

strange a. unusual; surprising. 奇異的，奇怪的；奇特的。

obey v. do what one is asked by sb. 服從，順從。

tell v. make sth known in words to sb. 告訴，告知。

reply v. answer. 回答。

ago ad. in the past. 從前。

kingdom n. country ruled by a king. 王國。

young a. not far advanced in life. 年輕的，幼小的。

brave a. courageous. 勇敢的，無畏的。

be interested in concerned. 感興趣。

view n. a personal opinion. 見解，信念。

generous a. given freely. 慷慨給予的。

baby n. very young child. 嬰兒。

disappear v. go out of sight. 不見，消失。

important a. of great concern. 重要的，重大的。

shake v. move quickly and often jerkily from side to side. 急速搖動。

consider v. think about. 考慮，思考。

inherit v. receive as a result of the death of the previous owner. 繼承。

sorry a. feeling sad. 感到遺憾，感到悲傷。

feel sorry for sb feel sympathy for sb 對……表示同情。

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12

A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnmes

It was not long before I started my next voyage, on 7th September, 1710, as captain of my own ship this time. The owner of the ship wanted me to sail to the Indian Ocean to do some business for him there, but I was very unlucky. On the way, I had to employ some new sailors from Barbados, but they were men of very bad character. I heard them whispering to the other sailors several times, but I did not suspect what they were planning. One morning, as we were sailing round the Cape of Good Hope, they attacked me and tied me up. They told me they were going to take control of the ship and become pirates. There was nothing I could do. They left me, alone, on the beach of a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

As the ship sailed away, I realized I had no idea where I was. I found a road away from the beach, and walked very quietly and carefully along, in case I was attacked. Several strange-looking animals were lying in a field, and some were sitting in a tree. Their heads and chests were covered in hair, and they had beards as well. They walked sometimes on two, and sometimes on four legs, and could climb trees. They were certainly the ugliest animals I had ever seen in all my travels.

When I met one of these creatures on the road, his face showed great surprise and he lifted a foot high in the air. I did not know if he was going to attack me or not, but I hit him hard with the side of my sword. He screamed so loudly that all the other animals ran to help him. There were about forty of them around me. I kept them away by waving my sword in the air, but their wild cries frightened me, and the horrible smell from their bodies made me feel sick.

Suddenly they all ran away. I noticed that a horse was coming along the road, so I supposed the animals were afraid of him. The horse stopped when he saw me, and seemed very surprised. He neighed several times in a very intelligent, gentle way, and I almost wondered if he was speaking in his own language. When another horse came along, the two horses walked up and down together, while neighing to each other. They seemed like two important people discussing a difficult problem. I watched this with astonishment, and decided that if the animals in this country seemed so sensible, the human beings must be the most intelligent in the world.

The two horses then came close to me, looking at my face and clothes with great interest. They talked to each other again, and then the first horse made clear signs for me to follow him.

He led me to a long, low building. Inside there were several large airy rooms, with no furniture. Other horses were sitting or lying comfortably on the floor, on clean blankets. But where was the master of the house? Were these horses his servants? I began to wonder if I was going mad. Then I realized that the house did not belong to a human, but to the horse who had brought me here. In this country, horses, not people, were in control.

I started learning a little of their language. Their word Houyhnhnm means a horse, and the word itself sounds very like the noise a horse makes. I found it very difficult to say this word, and so I decided to shorten it and call them Houys. Their servants were the horrible-looking animals I had seen earlier. They did all the hard work, and lived in dirty little rooms in another building, where they were tied to the walls. To my horror, these ugly animals, called Yahoos, had human faces which looked very similar to mine. I did not want anyone to think I was a Yahoo, so I tried to make it clear that my habits were very different from theirs. At least I was allowed to sleep in a separate room from them.

At first I thought I would die of hunger, as I could not eat the Yahoos' dirty meat or the Houys' grass and corn. But I soon learnt how to bake little cakes made of corn, which I ate with warm milk. Sometimes I caught a bird, and cooked it, or picked leaves of plants to eat with my bread.

My Houy master was very interested in me, and as soon as I could speak the language, he asked me to explain where I had come from.

'Well, master,' I neighed, 'I've come from a country on the other side of the world. And you may not believe this, but in my country all the important people look like Yahoos.'

'But how is that possible?' he asked gently. 'Your Houys surely wouldn't allow unintelligent creatures like Yahoos to control the country.'

'It may seem strange,' I agreed, 'but you see, I was surprised to find that in this country the Houys are the sensitive and intelligent creatures. And if I'm lucky enough to return home, I'll tell my friends all about it. But I'm afraid they may accuse me of lying.'

My master looked quite worried. 'What is lying?' he asked.

In their language there is no word which means telling lies, and my master had great difficulty in understanding me. I tried to explain.

'Oh,' he answered, still unsure. 'But why does anyone tell a lie? There's no reason for doing it. We use language in this country in order to understand each other, and to give and receive information. If you don't tell the truth, how can people understand each other?'

I began to see how different Houy life was from what I was used to.

'But tell me,' he continued, 'about your country.'

I was delighted to describe recent English history to him, especially some of our most successful wars.

'But why does one country attack another?' he asked.

'There are many reasons,' I replied. 'A king or his lords may want more land. Or there may be a difference of opinion between two countries: for example, whether uniform should be black, white, red or grey. Sometimes we fight because the enemy's too strong, sometimes because he isn't strong enough. Sometimes our neighbours want the things we have, or have the things we want, so we both fight until they take ours or give us theirs. We often attack our best friend, if we want some of his land. There's always a war somewhere. For this reason, being a soldier is one of the best jobs you can have. '

'A soldier,' repeated my master. 'I'm not quite sure what that is.'

'A soldier is a Yahoo who works for his King and country. His orders are to kill as many people as he can,' I answered.

'People who've never hurt him?' asked the Houy.

'That's right,' I said, pleased that he seemed to understand at last. 'Soldiers have killed thousands of people in recent history.'

He shook his head and looked sad. 'I think you must be—what was your word? Ah yes—lying to me. How could you and your countrymen kill so many other Yahoos? And why would you want to?'

I smiled as I replied proudly, 'Sir, you don't know much about European war. With our guns and bullets and gunpowder we can destroy a thousand ships, a hundred cities, and twenty thousand men. You see, —'

'Be quiet!' he ordered. 'I've heard enough. I know Yahoos are bad, but I didn't realize they could possibly do such terrible things.'

After these conversations I began to wonder whether the Houys were right. Why do we humans so often fight wars and tell lies? Peace and truth began to seem more important than making war or making money. I became more and more used to the Houys' ideas and way of life. As the Houys did, I hated the Yahoos for their dirty habits and unpleasant character. By the time I had been there a year, I walked and neighed like the Houys. I felt such a strong love for them that I planned to spend the rest of my life among them, and to try to become more like them. It is a great sadness to me, even today, that this was not possible.

One day my Houy master said, 'Can you explain something to me? Why are the Yahoos so violently fond of those shining stones in the fields? They dig for days to get them out of the ground, and hide them jealously from other Yahoos.'

'I expect they've found pieces of gold or silver,' I said. Because he did not seem to understand, I added, 'We use them as money, to pay for things, you see.

'How strange!' he replied. 'We share everything here. No Houy needs — what do you call it? — money.'

Perhaps you can imagine how I felt. I knew I could be happy for ever with these sensible, gentle creatures, who never lied or stole, in a country which had no disease, no crime, no wars. But this perfect happiness did not last long.

'I'm sorry,' said my master one day. 'My friends and I have decided you can't stay here any longer. You see, you're neither one of us, nor a Yahoo.'

'No!' I cried desperately. 'Don't send me away! How can I go back to England to live with those awful Yahoos!'

'I'm afraid you must,' he replied gently. 'My servants will help you make a boat.'

And so, two months later, although I was very sad to leave, I said goodbye to my dear master and his family, and rowed away from the land of the Houys. I knew that I would never find happiness anywhere else.

After several days travelling eastwards, I arrived in Australia, and from there managed to find a ship returning to Europe. I did not enjoy the voyage. The sailors all laughed at me because I walked and neighed like a horse. They looked just like those horrible Yahoos, and at first I could not let them touch me or come near me. Their ugly faces and unpleasant smell made me feel quite ill.

And when I arrived home in England, after being away for five years, my wife and children were delighted to see me, because they had thought I was dead. But to my horror they looked and smelt like Yahoos too, and I told them to keep away from me.

Even now, five years later, I do not let my children get close to me, although I sometimes allow my wife to sit with me while I eat. I try to accept my countrymen now, but the proud ones, who are so full of their own self-importance—well, they had better not come near me. How sad that people cannot learn from the Houys! I was hoping that perhaps human beings would change their ways after reading the stories of my life with the Houys. But they accuse me of lying in my book. And now I realize that people still lie, steal, and fight, just as they have always done, and probably will always do.

I will say no more. Clearly, there is no hope for human beings. I was stupid to think that I could bring reason and truth into their lives and thoughts. Humans are all Yahoos, and Yahoos they will remain.

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start v. set off. 出發(fā)，動身。

captain n. person in charge of a ship. 船長。

unlucky a. not lucky. 不幸，運氣不佳。

employ v. give work to sb. 雇用某人。

leave v. allow to remain. 留下，剩下。

idea n. a picture in the mind. 概念。

along ad. forward. 向前。

meet v. come together. 遇見，碰見。

frighten v. fill with fear. 使懼怕，使驚恐。

suppose v. consider as probable. 猜想，認(rèn)為可能。

intelligent a. having or showing intelligence. 聰明的，有頭腦。

air n. the space above the ground. 空中。

airy a. having plenty of fresh air moving about. 通風(fēng)良好的。

master n. employer. 主人，雇主。

building n. constructing house. 建筑。

ugly a. unpleasant to look. 難看的，丑的。

hunger n. the wish for food. 饑餓。

eat v. take food into mouth. 吃。

bake v. cook by dry heat in an oven. （在爐中）烘烤；焙。

neigh n. long high-pitched cry of a horse. 馬的嘶叫聲。

accuse v. say that sb has done wrong. 指責(zé)某人有錯，指控。

understand v. grasp the meaning. 懂，理解。

each other pron. each of two. 兩者。

different a. not the same kind. 不同的，差異的。

describe v. give a picture in words. 描寫，敘述。

example n. fact. 例子，例證。

neighbour n. person living next to another. 鄰居。

friend n. person one likes. 朋友，友人。

reason n. the cause of an event. 原因，理由。

pleased a. feeling satisfaction. 高興的，滿意的。

countryman n. a person from one's own country. 同胞。

quiet a. not making oneself noticed by activity. 安靜的，不顯眼的。

money n. wealth. 財富。

make money earn money. 掙錢，賺錢。

character n. qualities that make a person different from others. 特征，天性。

explain v. make sth clear. 解釋，講解。

happiness n. fortune. 幸運。

cry v. call out loudly in words. 高聲喊叫，呼喊。

find v. discover. 意外，發(fā)現(xiàn)，撞見。

last long continuing for a long time. 持久。

neither... nor not one and not the other of two. 既非此又非彼。

try v. make an attempt. 試做。

learn from v. gain knowledge by study. 學(xué)習(xí)。

hope v. desire for sth to happen. 希望。

lie v. make a statement one knows to be untrue. 說謊，撒謊。