Monday, November 17, 2014

What great surprise awaits Gulliver when he awakens on the rocky island?

When Gulliver awakens on Lilliput after his ship has wrecked, he cannot move his arms and legs because they "were strongly fastened on each Side to the Ground [...]."  Even his hair is likewise tied down.  He can feel several cords running across his torso and the tops of his legs, and he can see nothing but the sky.  Gulliver feels something "advancing gently forward over [his] Breast," and when he bends his eyes as...

When Gulliver awakens on Lilliput after his ship has wrecked, he cannot move his arms and legs because they "were strongly fastened on each Side to the Ground [...]."  Even his hair is likewise tied down.  He can feel several cords running across his torso and the tops of his legs, and he can see nothing but the sky.  Gulliver feels something "advancing gently forward over [his] Breast," and when he bends his eyes as low as they will go, he sees a tiny man, about six inches tall and about 1/12th the size of Gulliver.  


He is unable to understand the speech of this individual or the others "who durst venture to mount and walk on [his] Body [...]."  They freed him enough to be able to turn over and urinate, and the quantity of urine he voids is remarkable to them.  He slept for a while longer while they deliberated what to do with him, and then they devised a way to transport him to the capital.


Thus, there are several surprises: being tied down, seeing a race of tiny people, and learning that they have some kind of civilized society not altogether different from Gulliver's home in England.

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