Index

JOHNSON’S QUARREL WITH SWIFT – Jordan P. Richman, Ph.D.

INDEX

Abraham, Rabbi, 67, 68
Account of the Life of the Reverend Jonathan Swift, 1754 (Hawkesworth), 11 ̶ 12, 20
acquisition, pleasure of, 73
actions, responsibility for, 119
Addison, Joseph, 72, 79, 86, 101
Advice to a Daughter (Saville), 85, 99
advisers, need for good, 114
Aeolists, 73
aging, problem of, 11
allegorical fable, 64
Amazons
English women as, 62 ̶ 63
women as, 50
ambition vs. fanatics, 121
An Argument against Abolishing Christianity (Swift), 21
anarchy, 122
Anglicanism, 110
Anthea, 88, 100
social unease of, 89
antipathy, Johnson’s for Swift, 25
antiquities, 69
anti-slavery, 47
Appendix to the State Affairs of Lilliput, 73
arguments, alternative, 43
Astell, Mary, 62
Augustus, To, 74
avarice, 73


Bate, Walter Jackson, 4
Battle of the Books, The, 64, 65
belief, professions of, 120
benevolence, 94, 126
Berwick, Donald, 4, 28 ̶ 29
bias, Johnson’s, 16
Bickerstaff, Isaac, 61, 62
Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers, 65
biographers, Swift’s early, 4
Bolingbroke, ministry of, 63
Bombasine, Madam, 59
Book IV debate, 84
Boswell, James, 16, 94
Boswell’s Life, 132
Boswell’s Tour, 32
Life of Swift, 8
Boyles, John, 12
bread, tax on, 44-45
British mercantilism, 126
Brobdingnag, King of, 42
Bronson, Bertrand, 5, 73
Brooke, Henry, 45
brotherly love, 111, 119ideal of, 120

Camilla, 100
portrait of, 88
cant, 6
carnage, 55-56
Caroline, Queen, Johnson’s letter to, 29
Cave, Edward, 39
celibacy, 98
Cervantes, 52
chain of being, 57
character, 9 ̶10
charity schools, 124
charity, 119, 127
Pauline concept, 10
Charles I
death of, 111, 116, 121
Johnson on death of, 115
sermons on, 114
chastity
banter on, 67
project, 68
childish, 10
choice, possibility of, 96
Christian ideal of love, 94
Christian precept, 126
Christianity, happiness and, 127
church authority, after reformation, 121-122
classical ideals, 47
Clifford, James L., 8, 26
clothes, restraint in women’s, 103
collectors, objection to, 72
colonial abuses, denunciations of, 48
colonization, denunciation of, 41-42
communities, 97
Complete Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage, 38, 45
Conduct of the Allies, The (Swift), 22, 132
conscience, freedom of, 120
conservatism, 47, 127-128
constitutional government, 122
theory of, 122
Cornelia, humility of, 89 ̶ 90
Country Wife, The (Wycherly), 92
courtesy, 121
Courtlys, 60
cowardice, female, 89, 100
as virtue, 88 ̶ 89
coxcomb, double meanings, 104
Crane, R.S., 83
Cumberland, William, 47

Daily Gazetteer, 45
Davis, Herbert, 28, 31, 43, 62, 88
Debates in the Senate of Lilliput, 39
Declaration of Independence, 58
defamation, 118
defeat, 73
Degul, device of, 43
Delany, Patrick, 12, 17, 26
Dissertation upon Playthings,” 70
divine right, 43
doctrine of Mandeville, 125
doing good, 126
domestic complacency, 90
Drapier Letters, The, 117. 122
Drapier, M.G., 61, 120
Dryden, 52
Dublin charity schools, 91
Dunciad, 72
duties, 97
Johnson on, 9
in marriage, 99
Dyson, A.E., 83


Earisman, Delbert, 38
economic rights, 120
Elizabeth, Queen, 42
eloquence, from pulpit, 112
envy, 6, 119
Essay on Man (Pope), 52
Essay on Swift (Deane Swift), 12
Euphemia, 60
European vices, Lilliputians as embodiment, 91
evils, ordinary, 117
Examiner 14, 63
Examiner 31, 64


false witness, 111-112, 117 ̶ 118
listening to, 119
protecting against, 118
fanatics, 117
vs. ambition, 121
female cowardice, Swift on, 102
female excellence, 100
femaleness, 86
Fielding, Henry, 58
flattery, 9
Fountains, The, 4
Free Inquiry into Nature and Origin of Evil, 56
freedom of expression, 123
freedom of thought, 123
friendship, 87
in marriage, 105
precepts on, 98
Swift and Johnson on, 104
vs. marriage, 99
frugality, Swift’s, 16, 25
Fussell, Paul, 5


Gelidus, 92
general satire, 55
Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (Swift), 60
Gentlemen’s Magazine, 12, 39
God, law of, 100
Goldsmith, Oliver, 122
Gordon Riots, 124
Gower, Lord, letter to Swift, 23 ̶ 24
greatest happiness for greatest number principle, 47
Greenacre, Phyllis, 86
Greene, Donald, 47, 48, 127
Greenwich Hospital, 44
Grub Street, 51
journalist, 48
writers, 49 ̶ 50, 52
Gulliver, Captain Lemuel, 61
derangement of, 83
grandson of, 39, 40-41
Gulliver’s Travels, 39, 40, 56, 58, 65
adaptation of facts, 39
Book IV, 83
Johnson’s appreciation of, 32
Gustavus Vasa, 45


Hamlet complex, 32
happiness, 97, 126, 127, 128
individual, 134
Hardy, Evelyn, 86, 101
Harley, ministry of, 63
Hawkesworth, Dr. John, 11, 12, 17 ̶ 20
Hawkins, Sir John, Life of Samuel Johnson, 29
Heilman, Robert, 91
help, 121
Hermeticus, 69
heroines, Johnson’s, 60
Hill, George Birkbeck, 12
Hitler’s Germany, 66
Hobbes, Thomas, 6
hope, 73
Horace, Swift compared to, 30
Horatian satire, 54
Houyhnhnms, 83
human folly, anger against, 55
human happiness, 97
human nature, 5
Swift’s philosophy of, 18
human presumption, 52
human society, classical view, 129
humanitarians, 47
humanitarianism, 128
humor, 54
Johnson’s, 67
Hutcheson, Francis, 47
Huxley, Aldous, 28
Hypertatus’ theorizing, 132


Idler essays, 56, 65 ̶ 66
17, 65 ̶ 66
22, 39, 56, 74
64, 70, 64
87, 62 ̶ 63
100, 81, 82
illumination, 80
imagination, dangerous prevalence of, 68
inertness, 73
instinct, 80
Ireland, 43
state of, 57
Irish people
oppression of, 91
Swift as champion of, 124


James II, dethronement, 115
Jealousy, 95
Jefferson, Thomas, 85
Jenyns, Soame, 56 ̶ 57, 94
Jesus, 94
John, 94
Johnson, Mrs., On the Death of, 101
Johnson, Samuel
biography by, subtleties of, 9
as iconoclast, 24 ̶ 25
as social satirist, 74
as Swiftian satirist, 74 ̶ 75
on femaleness, 86 ̶ 87
subjects of satire, 38
use of Swift in Dictionary, 29
Johnsonian Miscellanies I, 32
Journal to Stella, 100
justice, 43
Juvenal, 56


Knowles, Mrs., 94
Kolb, Gwin, 38-39


Lady Bustle, 89
Lady Lofty, 59
Landa, Luis, classification of sermons, 111
language, debasement of, 61
Laputan Academy, 66
Latin satirists, 52
Latinate words, 113
laws of God, 123
laws of state vs. laws of God, 123
Leavis, F.R., 28, 84
legislative body, 127
legislative power, 122
Letter to a Young Clergyman (Swift), 112
Letter to a Young Lady, 84, 85, 86, 88, 102
Life of Samuel Johnson (Hawkins), 29
Life of Savage, 27
Life of Swift (Boswell), 8
Life of Swift (Craik), 23 ̶ 24
Life of Swift (Hill), 12
Life of Swift (Johnson), 4, 15, 17, 64, 85, 96
reactions to, 23 ̶ 24
Lilliput, Empire of, 39
Lilliputians, as embodiment of European vices, 91
literary criticism, Johnson’s use of fable for, 64
living nature, 80
Locke, John, 122
London Magazine, 39
love
Christian ideal of, 94
romantic, 90
lower classes, 6


Madden, Dr., 26
Madonella, 62
maleness, 86
malice, 54
man by instinct, 5
Mandeville, 5
Doctrine of, 125
mankind, general condition, 117
marital unhappiness, 97
Marmor Norfolciense, 38, 43 ̶ 45, 68, 73
marriage vs. friendship, 99
marriage
debate on, 95
family and, 90 ̶ 91
foundation for, 90 ̶ 99
importance of, 97
justification of, 96
mystique for, 91
nature and, 98
obligations of, 97
purpose of, 98
utopian, 93
Martin Scriblerus, 74
Mayhew, George, 84
mechanical thinking, 82
Memoirs (Pilkington), 12
Memoirs of Matinus Scriblerus, 65, 69
mercantilism, British, 126
Merlin’s Prediction, 43
misanthropy, Swift’s, 55
Misellus, 51, 52, 60, 68, 133
misogyny, 85
modern woman, 90
Modest Proposal, 39, 48, 56, 57, 66
Moliere, 52
monarchy, 127
Monck-Berkeley, on Swift and Horace, 30
Monk, Samuel Holt, 83
moral culpability, 71
moral neutrality, 90
morality, 82
Mrs. Mynx, 59


natural moral endowments, 134
nature, 6, 79, 80
as energy, 135
and reason, 6, 82, 105-106
reconciliation of, 5, 94
Nazi doctors, 66
Nekayah, 95
neo-classical standards, 30
Nichols, John, 27
Nuremburg Trials, 123


obedience, 99
Observations on the State of Affairs in 1756, 41, 42
old and sick, problem of, 91
oppression, 117
ordinary evils, 117
Orrery, Earl of,
malignity of, 26 ̶ 27
on Swift, 30
Orwell, George, 28


Papal authority, 43
Parliamentary Debates, 38, 39
party politics, 6, 120
passion
tempering, 87
virtue, truth and, 99
Passionate Intelligence (Sachs), 5, 38
passive obedience, 122
pedantry, criticism of, 64
penal laws, 47, 128
Percy, Bishop, 25 ̶ 26
perjury, 118
personality, 9 ̶10
Swift’s, 10
philosophical terminology, burlesque of, 64
Philosophical Words, 64
piety, Swift’s, 111
Pilkington, Letitia, Mrs.,12, 26
Piozzi, Madame, 32, 81
pity, 121
absence of, 10
lack of in Swift, 15 ̶ 16
Plato, 47
Allegory of, 83
Platonic order of ladies, 62
Polite Conversation and Directions for Servants (Swift), 15
political anxiety, Swift’s, 114
political history, 18th century, Johnson on, 33
political liberties, 127
political polemic, 63
political satire, Johnson’s early, 73
political sermons, religious basis for, 110
political views, religious views and, Swift’s, 20-23
politics, 120
Politics of Samuel Johnson, 48
poor, idle and industrious, 125
Pope, Alexander, 52, 72, 80
Swift’s visit to, 10
poverty, 124
power, 9
precocity, 69 ̶ 70
Prediction of Merlin, The, 45
pride, 119
Proceedings of the Political Club, 39
Project for the Advancement of Authors (Swift), 19, 22, 74, 133
Project for the Employment of Authors, 38, 48
Puritan Revolution, 6
Puritans, 114


Quinlan, Maurice, tone of sermons, 111-112
Quintana, Ricardo, 28
Quisquilius, 69
final achievements, 70 ̶ 71
toys of, 70


Rage and Raillery, Mayhew, 84
Rambler, The, 61, 74, 88, 100
dramas in, 61
number 12, 58, 133
number 16, 51
number 17, 51
number 24, 92
number 34, 89
number 82, 89
number 131, 72
number 191, 64
number 199, 67
Rasselas, 68, 80, 95, 96
Rasselas to Gulliver’s Travels (Kolb), 38-39
reason, 6, 79, 80
as control, 135
faith in, 81
moral feeling, values and, 5 ̶6
nature and, 105 ̶ 106, 129
reasoning, religion and, 113
relationships, between men and women, 92
religion
reasoned into, 134
reasoning and, 113
religious feeling, 120
religious orthodoxy, 133
Remarks on the Life and Writings of Swift (Boyle), 12
Renaissance love poems, 87
Republic, The, 83
resentment, 54
Restoration play, bawdiness of, 92
Review of Soame Jenyns, The, 39, 66
revolution, 117
Rhetorical World of Augustan Humanism, The (Fussell), 5
Richardson, Samuel, 58
ridicule, 118
right reason, 79 ̶ 80
Rochester, Earl of, 56, 79
role playing, criticism of, 65
Royal Academy, 68
Royal Historiographer of Lilliput, 40-41
Royal Society, 133


Sachs, Arieh, 5, 38
Sams, Henry W., 84
Satire Against Mankind (Rochester), 56, 79
satire
directions of, 50
ends of, 54
Johnson’s, 61
objects of, 48, 53
prime target, 52
style and devices, 48
subject for, 72
Swift on, 67
savage, 122
Savile, George, 85
on passion, 87
on submission, 99
on women, 86
scatology, Swift use of, 14 ̶ 15
science, distrust of, 68
scientific language, burlesque of, 64
scientific mind, 133
scorn, for unmerited rewards, 46
Scriblerian satire, 74
Scriblerus Club, 64
Scriblerus, Martin, 61, 69
sedition, 119
self-denial, Swift’s faith in, 18
self-love, 54
Sentiments of a Church of England Man (Swift), , 122
Sermon VII, 117
sermon writing, 18th century ideal, 112
sermons
audience of, 113
construction of, 113
debate in, 114
of Swift and Johnson, 48, 129
tone of, 110 -111
topics of, 111
sexual behavior, themes of, 93
Shaftesbury, 5
shame, as medium for change, 9
sharp language, 119
Sheridan, Thomas, 4, 16, 24, 26, 27
1688 Revolution, 6
slave, 122
slavery, 122, 128
defined, 122
sloth, 73
Soame Jenyns, The Review of, 39, 66
social defamation, 118
social harmony, 134
social order, 129
social relations, debasement of, 61
Society of Commentators, 44
society, classical vision of, 47
solitude, 97
Somerset, Duchess of, 44
sorrow, blankness of, 101
Spectator, 79
stable society, 123
Stage Licensers Act (1737), 45, 124
Standish, Mrs., 59
State Affairs of Lilliput, 39, 40, 42
Steele, Richard, Sir, 72
Stella, 18 ̶ 20, 84
description of, 101-102
Johnson on Hawkesworth’s analysis of, 19
learning described, 103
Swift’s portrait of, 100
Swift’s relations with, 96
Strife
lawful, 115
unlawful, 115, 116
Study, Charles, 62
submission, in marriage, 99
subordination, 128
Sun, Philip, 4, 12, 29
supreme magistrate, 122
Swift, Jonathan, 12, 57, 122
Swift, Jonathan, 20th century psychoanalytic critics, 28
Swift, Jonathan
characteristics, 15
decline, 11, 13
denunciation by Thackeray, 28
effect of death of Stella, 104
friendships with women, 16 ̶ 17
Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, 60
image of, 13
Johnson’s criticism characterized, 28 ̶ 30
Johnson’s description, 14
Johnson’s interpretation, 8
Johnson’s portrayal, 132
Letter to a Young Clergyman, 112
major achievement, 20
motives for power, 20
overreacher, 20
political views, 20-21
Project for the Advancement of Religion, 19
relations with Stella, 96
central theme, 8̶ 9
style, Johnson’s judgments on, 24
Swiftian devices, 47
Swiftian tradition, Johnson’s part in, 3


Tale of a Tub, A, 39, 45, 46, 51, 65
influence of, 132-133
Johnson’s comments, 31
Tatler
5, 67
32, 62
158, 72
Taxation No Tyranny, 58
Thackeray, William, 93
Tories, Swift and Johnson as moderate, 21
tragic cycle, rise and fall of, 9
trivia, 69
true moderation, 120
truth, 43
passion and, 99
tyranny, 117


Universal Visiter, 48
utopia, attainable, 126
utopian ideas, as satire, 93


values
hierarchy of, 71
of right and wrong, 90
Vanessa, 18 ̶ 20, 84
Vanity of Human Wishes (Johnson), 22 ̶ 23
Varina, letter to, 85
Victoria, 60
Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage, 73
virtue, 82, 126
basis of, 127
passion and, 99
virtuoso collector, 68 ̶ 75, 133
Voitle, Robert, 47


Wagstaff, Simon, 61
Walpole, Horace, 44
Ministry, 73
Warner, Tim, 81
Watkins, W.B.C., 24
wealth, pursuit of, 68 ̶ 75
Whiggism, 21
Whiteway, Mrs., 31
Whitley, Alvin, 38
wickedness, 119
Wimsatt, W.K., 4, 5, 64
Windsor Prophecy, 43, 45
wit vs. personality, Swift’s, 25
women
attitudes toward, 84 ̶ 90
good sort compared, 105 ̶ 106
ideal, 105
Wood’s patent, 120


Yahoos, 83
stone collecting, 72 ̶ 73


zealots, 114
Zosima, abuse of, 58 ̶ 60

Norman O. Brown, The Excremental Vision

Sexual Frustration, Sublimation and Aggression in Gulliver's Travels

Or, Size Does Matter
Timothy Sexton, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Aug 23, 2006

In the voyage to Brobdingnag section of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, the title character can clearly be seen engaging a common psychological theory over 150 years before it was technically defined. The
story manifestly presupposes the Freudian concept of sublimation of repressed sexual frustration into behavior redirected toward another goal with the intent to prove the initial sexual merit through other means.

Norman O. Brown recognizes Swift's foresight and goes on to explicitly state that "Swift did anticipate the doctrine of sublimation" (44). Brown expresses wonder at how Swift was able to anticipate the doctrine (44), and though Swift's intention isn't absolutely critical to this interpretation of the story, the idea that Swift wouldn't have been familiar with the concept of sublimation as it existed during his time would be the real surprise.

Gulliver's voyage to Brobdingnag is a thematically coherent pre-Freudian exploration of Gulliver's sublimating his sexual frustration and humiliation into his vision of the higher goal of proving to the King his own unquestioned masculine worth climaxing in his aggressively sexually charged revelation of the secrets of the invention and uses of gunpowder.

Etymological evidence strongly supports the possibility that Swift was acquainted with sublimation as a motivating factor that at the time was quite similar in definition to its meaning in current Freudian terminology. The intrinsic meaning of the word sublimation according to the Oxford English Dictionary is "the chemical action or process of subliming or converting a solid substance by means of heat into vapour, which resolidifies on cooling." By the seventeenth century, however, the word was also being defined as an "elevation to a higher state or plane of existence; transmutation into something higher, purer, or more sublime" (Loewald 12).

In A Tale of a Tub Swift writes that a "certain great prince" dealing with sexual frustration was moved by a "vapour" that rose to his brain and caused him to turn aside "all peaceable endeavors" and instead aggressively "dream of nothing but sieges, battles and victories" (2313-2314). In psychoanalytical terms sublimation "denotes some sort of conversion or transmutation from a lower to a higher, and presumably purer, state or plane of existence—be it the transmutation of a material substance or of an instinct and its objects and aim" (Loewald 12-13).


The modern psychological definition is almost identical to the definition with which Swift would have been familiar. Of key importance is the understanding that often the sublimated action involves aggressive behavior—the psychological equivalent of the heat that converts solids into vapor—that underlies the supposed purer goal. Aggressive-ness as it relates to the pursuit of a higher goal is demonstrated in the case of Swift's prince who was suspected by others of raising his mighty armies for such elevated purposes—some would say—of strengthening his reformed religion or of recapturing Palestine from the Turks (2313).

Admirable ends from one perspective, certainly, but also utilizing severely aggressive means. In Gulliver's Travels, sublimation is examined in much more detail, resulting in Gulliver also exhibiting sexual frustration that he sublimates into the pursuit of admirable goals that end up intertwined with violence by the end.


Gulliver's description of himself in Lilliput heightens his sense of sexual potency and power because of his physical size relative to the natives, inflating his ego precisely because the size of his penis instills awe among the little people. In a very telling passage from the first voyage Gulliver describes how he would "stand like a Colussus, with my Legs as far asunder as I conveniently could" while the army of Lilliput would march underneath him, taking the opportunity to look up his breeches, affording the soldiers "some Opportunities for Laughter and Admiration" (25).

The description of himself as a Colussus connotes, of course, not just something large and powerful, but something akin to the Colussus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Combined with the
"Admiration" he instills in the soldiers who gaze upon his magnificent member, it's obvious that Gulliver is extremely pleased with the view of himself in Lilliput as the supreme exemplar of sexual potency. But how can Gulliver deliver on this sexual capacity when it seems physically beyond consummation? What is the point of sexual power when it cannot be used?


In a passage in which the purpose for writing it is quite relevant but not entirely clear, Gulliver is able to both further boost his ego and also circumvent the problems posed by these questions when he delivers to the reader an inference that even if he wasn't capable of acting sexually with Lilliput women, at least he was found attractive and sexually desirable by them.


The description of the alleged affair with the Treasurer's wife no doubt proves comical to everyone but Gulliver, who doth protest too much against his having engaged in a feat of intercourse which would be physically impossible. That being the case, it seems probable that despite his protestation Gulliver doesn't really relate this story to clear the name of a woman the reader will never know, but rather includes it in the narrative to aggrandize his sexual appeal.


This seems to be a reasonable interpretation, but Gulliver's motivation for including the story of the impossible affair is nonetheless open to debate. Charles Hinnant spends an entire book arguing that Gulliver's Travels is concerned primarily with purity and defilement and comes to the conclusion that the Treasurer's anger isn't even directed at the specific charge of infidelity, but rather at the "pollution of forbidden contact" (24) between Gulliver and his wife. Robert Hunting recognizes that Gulliver protests too much against the insinuation, but then dismisses Gulliver's not mentioning the critical size difference as Gulliver simply "being naive" (100).


The sexuality underlying the obsessiveness with tubes and balls and size and hard elements and battering down walls in this brief passage is strikingly obvious.
The capitalization choices used in this edition of the Second Book of Gulliver's Travels leave no doubt as to the significance of the sexual connotations inherent in Gulliver's aggressive double-edged sales pitch. Looked at with these connotations in mind, Gulliver isn't just offering a mere weapon, he's offering to supply the King with the knowledge of how to build a potent two-hundred-foot long phallus that will give the King absolute power over his dominion (Boyle 37).

The King—obviously comfortable with his own sexuality—refuses Gulliver's offer with actual indignation and horror. Once again Gulliver is humiliated, his attempts to sublimate sexual frustration into his conception of a noble goal come to an ignoble end. Gulliver's only hope to reestablish his sexual worth is to leave the land of the giants, and his exit from Brobdingnag is done in short order immediately following this final failure to prove his manhood.

Gulliver's adventures in Brobdingnag act as a direct comment upon his adventures in Lilliput and this contrast is very marked in response to Gulliver's sexuality. Whereas in Lilliput Gulliver is unquestionably looked upon as an impressive sexual figure, in Brobdingnag he is subject to one sexual humiliation after another. This humiliation at the hands of the giant Brobdingnagian females eventually led him to deny the quite obvious sexual desires that they instilled in him. Denial of desires can lead either to unresolved repression or the sublimation of those baser desires to a higher goal.


Gulliver chooses the latter, attempting to prove his sexual worth as a man by proving his intellectual capacity far exceed what the Brobdingnagian King thinks him capable. Upon this failure, Gulliver's sublimation takes the not unexpected turn toward proving his manhood through aggression.

Aggressive tendencies are a hallmark of sublimation. As Norman O. Brown points out, "the psychoanalytic theory of sublimation leads on to the theory of the universal neurosis of mankind" (48). The end result of Gulliver's sublimation is his attempt to provide the King with the secrets to the ultimate product created by the neurosis of mankind: the weapon by which we can undo all sexuality by wiping all the odious little vermin off the surface of the earth.






 

Chapter IV of Gulliver's Travels

My principal endeavour was to learn the language, which my master (for so I shall henceforth call him), and his children, and every servant of his house, were desirous to teach me; for they looked upon it as a prodigy, that a brute animal should discover such marks of a rational creature. I pointed to every thing, and inquired the name of it, which I wrote down in my journal-book when I was alone, and corrected my bad accent by desiring those of the family to pronounce it often. In this employment, a sorrel nag, one of the under-servants, was very ready to assist me.







In speaking, they pronounced through the nose and throat, and their language approaches nearest to the High-Dutch, or German, of any I know in Europe; but is much more graceful and significant. The emperor Charles V. made almost the same observation, when he said “that if he were to speak to his horse, it should be in High-Dutch.”






The curiosity and impatience of my master were so great, that he spent many hours of his leisure to instruct me. He was convinced (as he afterwards told me) that I must be a Yahoo; but my teachableness, civility, and cleanliness, astonished him; which were qualities altogether opposite to those animals. He was most perplexed about my clothes, reasoning sometimes with himself, whether they were a part of my body: for I never pulled them off till the family were asleep, and got them on before they waked in the morning. My master was eager to learn “whence I came; how I acquired those appearances of reason, which I discovered in all my actions; and to know my story from my own mouth, which he hoped he should soon do by the great proficiency I made in learning and pronouncing their words and sentences.” To help my memory, I formed all I learned into the English alphabet, and writ the words down, with the translations. This last, after some time, I ventured to do in my master’s presence. It cost me much trouble to explain to him what I was doing; for the inhabitants have not the least idea of books or literature.






In about ten weeks time, I was able to understand most of his questions; and in three months, could give him some tolerable answers. He was extremely curious to know “from what part of the country I came, and how I was taught to imitate a rational creature; because the Yahoos (whom he saw I exactly resembled in my head, hands, and face, that were only visible), with some appearance of cunning, and the strongest disposition to mischief, were observed to be the most unteachable of all brutes.” I answered, “that I came over the sea, from a far place, with many others of my own kind, in a great hollow vessel made of the bodies of trees: that my companions forced me to land on this coast, and then left me to shift for myself.” It was with some difficulty, and by the help of many signs, that I brought him to understand me. He replied, “that I must needs be mistaken, or that I said the thing which was not;” for they have no word in their language to express lying or falsehood. “He knew it was impossible that there could be a country beyond the sea, or that a parcel of brutes could move a wooden vessel whither they pleased upon water. He was sure no Houyhnhnm alive could make such a vessel, nor would trust Yahoos to manage it.”






The word Houyhnhnm, in their tongue, signifies a horse, and, in its etymology, the perfection of nature. I told my master, “that I was at a loss for expression, but would improve as fast as I could; and hoped, in a short time, I should be able to tell him wonders.” He was pleased to direct his own mare, his colt, and foal, and the servants of the family, to take all opportunities of instructing me; and every day, for two or three hours, he was at the same pains himself. Several horses and mares of quality in the neighbourhood came often to our house, upon the report spread of “a wonderful Yahoo, that could speak like a Houyhnhnm, and seemed, in his words and actions, to discover some glimmerings of reason.” These delighted to converse with me: they put many questions, and received such answers as I was able to return. By all these advantages I made so great a progress, that, in five months from my arrival I understood whatever was spoken, and could express myself tolerably well.






The Houyhnhnms, who came to visit my master out of a design of seeing and talking with me, could hardly believe me to be a right Yahoo, because my body had a different covering from others of my kind. They were astonished to observe me without the usual hair or skin, except on my head, face, and hands; but I discovered that secret to my master upon an accident which happened about a fortnight before.






I have already told the reader, that every night, when the family were gone to bed, it was my custom to strip, and cover myself with my clothes. It happened, one morning early, that my master sent for me by the sorrel nag, who was his valet. When he came I was fast asleep, my clothes fallen off on one side, and my shirt above my waist. I awaked at the noise he made, and observed him to deliver his message in some disorder; after which he went to my master, and in a great fright gave him a very confused account of what he had seen. This I presently discovered, for, going as soon as I was dressed to pay my attendance upon his honour, he asked me “the meaning of what his servant had reported, that I was not the same thing when I slept, as I appeared to be at other times; that his vale assured him, some part of me was white, some yellow, at least not so white, and some brown.”






I had hitherto concealed the secret of my dress, in order to distinguish myself, as much as possible, from that cursed race of Yahoos; but now I found it in vain to do so any longer. Besides, I considered that my clothes and shoes would soon wear out, which already were in a declining condition, and must be supplied by some contrivance from the hides of Yahoos, or other brutes; whereby the whole secret would be known. I therefore told my master, “that in the country whence I came, those of my kind always covered their bodies with the hairs of certain animals prepared by art, as well for decency as to avoid the inclemencies of air, both hot and cold; of which, as to my own person, I would give him immediate conviction, if he pleased to command me: only desiring his excuse, if I did not expose those parts that nature taught us to conceal.” He said, “my discourse was all very strange, but especially the last part; for he could not understand, why nature should teach us to conceal what nature had given; that neither himself nor family were ashamed of any parts of their bodies; but, however, I might do as I pleased.” Whereupon I first unbuttoned my coat, and pulled it off. I did the same with my waistcoat. I drew off my shoes, stockings, and breeches. I let my shirt down to my waist, and drew up the bottom; fastening it like a girdle about my middle, to hide my nakedness.






My master observed the whole performance with great signs of curiosity and admiration. He took up all my clothes in his pastern, one piece after another, and examined them diligently; he then stroked my body very gently, and looked round me several times; after which, he said, it was plain I must be a perfect Yahoo; but that I differed very much from the rest of my species in the softness, whiteness, and smoothness of my skin; my want of hair in several parts of my body; the shape and shortness of my claws behind and before; and my affectation of walking continually on my two hinder feet. He desired to see no more; and gave me leave to put on my clothes again, for I was shuddering with cold.






I expressed my uneasiness at his giving me so often the appellation of Yahoo, an odious animal, for which I had so utter a hatred and contempt: I begged he would forbear applying that word to me, and make the same order in his family and among his friends whom he suffered to see me. I requested likewise, “that the secret of my having a false covering to my body, might be known to none but himself, at least as long as my present clothing should last; for as to what the sorrel nag, his valet, had observed, his honour might command him to conceal it.”






All this my master very graciously consented to; and thus the secret was kept till my clothes began to wear out, which I was forced to supply by several contrivances that shall hereafter be mentioned. In the meantime, he desired “I would go on with my utmost diligence to learn their language, because he was more astonished at my capacity for speech and reason, than at the figure of my body, whether it were covered or not;” adding, “that he waited with some impatience to hear the wonders which I promised to tell him.”






Thenceforward he doubled the pains he had been at to instruct me: he brought me into all company, and made them treat me with civility; “because,” as he told them, privately, “this would put me into good humour, and make me more diverting.”






Every day, when I waited on him, beside the trouble he was at in teaching, he would ask me several questions concerning myself, which I answered as well as I could, and by these means he had already received some general ideas, though very imperfect. It would be tedious to relate the several steps by which I advanced to a more regular conversation; but the first account I gave of myself in any order and length was to this purpose:






“That I came from a very far country, as I already had attempted to tell him, with about fifty more of my own species; that we travelled upon the seas in a great hollow vessel made of wood, and larger than his honour’s house. I described the ship to him in the best terms I could, and explained, by the help of my handkerchief displayed, how it was driven forward by the wind. That upon a quarrel among us, I was set on shore on this coast, where I walked forward, without knowing whither, till he delivered me from the persecution of those execrable Yahoos.” He asked me, “who made the ship, and how it was possible that the Houyhnhnms of my country would leave it to the management of brutes?” My answer was, “that I durst proceed no further in my relation, unless he would give me his word and honour that he would not be offended, and then I would tell him the wonders I had so often promised.” He agreed; and I went on by assuring him, that the ship was made by creatures like myself; who, in all the countries I had travelled, as well as in my own, were the only governing rational animals; and that upon my arrival hither, I was as much astonished to see the Houyhnhnms act like rational beings, as he, or his friends, could be, in finding some marks of reason in a creature he was pleased to call a Yahoo; to which I owned my resemblance in every part, but could not account for their degenerate and brutal nature. I said farther, “that if good fortune ever restored me to my native country, to relate my travels hither, as I resolved to do, everybody would believe, that I said the thing that was not, that I invented the story out of my own head; and (with all possible respect to himself, his family, and friends, and under his promise of not being offended) our countrymen would hardly think it probable that a Houyhnhnm should be the presiding creature of a nation, and a Yahoo the brute.”






CHAPTER IV.


The Houyhnhnm’s notion of truth and falsehood. The author’s discourse disapproved by his master. The author gives a more particular account of himself, and the accidents of his voyage.






My master heard me with great appearances of uneasiness in his countenance; because doubting, or not believing, are so little known in this country, that the inhabitants cannot tell how to behave themselves under such circumstances. And I remember, in frequent discourses with my master concerning the nature of manhood in

Chapter 2 of Book IV of Gulliver's Travels

CHAPTER II.



The author conducted by a Houyhnhnm to his house. The house described. The author’s reception. The food of the Houyhnhnms. The author in distress for want of meat. Is at last relieved. His manner of feeding in this country.






Having travelled about three miles, we came to a long kind of building, made of timber stuck in the ground, and wattled across; the roof was low and covered with straw. I now began to be a little comforted; and took out some toys, which travellers usually carry for presents to the savage Indians of America, and other parts, in hopes the people of the house would be thereby encouraged to receive me kindly. The horse made me a sign to go in first; it was a large room with a smooth clay floor, and a rack and manger, extending the whole length on one side. There were three nags and two mares, not eating, but some of them sitting down upon their hams, which I very much wondered at; but wondered more to see the rest employed in domestic business; these seemed but ordinary cattle. However, this confirmed my first opinion, that a people who could so far civilise brute animals, must needs excel in wisdom all the nations of the world. The gray came in just after, and thereby prevented any ill treatment which the others might have given me. He neighed to them several times in a style of authority, and received answers.






Beyond this room there were three others, reaching the length of the house, to which you passed through three doors, opposite to each other, in the manner of a vista. We went through the second room towards the third. Here the gray walked in first, beckoning me to attend: I waited in the second room, and got ready my presents for the master and mistress of the house; they were two knives, three bracelets of false pearls, a small looking-glass, and a bead necklace. The horse neighed three or four times, and I waited to hear some answers in a human voice, but I heard no other returns than in the same dialect, only one or two a little shriller than his. I began to think that this house must belong to some person of great note among them, because there appeared so much ceremony before I could gain admittance. But, that a man of quality should be served all by horses, was beyond my comprehension. I feared my brain was disturbed by my sufferings and misfortunes. I roused myself, and looked about me in the room where I was left alone: this was furnished like the first, only after a more elegant manner. I rubbed my eyes often, but the same objects still occurred. I pinched my arms and sides to awake myself, hoping I might be in a dream. I then absolutely concluded, that all these appearances could be nothing else but necromancy and magic. But I had no time to pursue these reflections; for the gray horse came to the door, and made me a sign to follow him into the third room where I saw a very comely mare, together with a colt and foal, sitting on their haunches upon mats of straw, not unartfully made, and perfectly neat and clean.






The mare soon after my entrance rose from her mat, and coming up close, after having nicely observed my hands and face, gave me a most contemptuous look; and turning to the horse, I heard the word Yahoo often repeated betwixt them; the meaning of which word I could not then comprehend, although it was the first I had learned to pronounce. But I was soon better informed, to my everlasting mortification; for the horse, beckoning to me with his head, and repeating the hhuun, hhuun, as he did upon the road, which I understood was to attend him, led me out into a kind of court, where was another building, at some distance from the house. Here we entered, and I saw three of those detestable creatures, which I first met after my landing, feeding upon roots, and the flesh of some animals, which I afterwards found to be that of asses and dogs, and now and then a cow, dead by accident or disease. They were all tied by the neck with strong withes fastened to a beam; they held their food between the claws of their fore feet, and tore it with their teeth.






The master horse ordered a sorrel nag, one of his servants, to untie the largest of these animals, and take him into the yard. The beast and I were brought close together, and by our countenances diligently compared both by master and servant, who thereupon repeated several times the word Yahoo. My horror and astonishment are not to be described, when I observed in this abominable animal, a perfect human figure: the face of it indeed was flat and broad, the nose depressed, the lips large, and the mouth wide; but these differences are common to all savage nations, where the lineaments of the countenance are distorted, by the natives suffering their infants to lie grovelling on the earth, or by carrying them on their backs, nuzzling with their face against the mothers’ shoulders. The fore-feet of the Yahoo differed from my hands in nothing else but the length of the nails, the coarseness and brownness of the palms, and the hairiness on the backs. There was the same resemblance between our feet, with the same differences; which I knew very well, though the horses did not, because of my shoes and stockings; the same in every part of our bodies except as to hairiness and colour, which I have already described.






The great difficulty that seemed to stick with the two horses, was to see the rest of my body so very different from that of a Yahoo, for which I was obliged to my clothes, whereof they had no conception. The sorrel nag offered me a root, which he held (after their manner, as we shall describe in its proper place) between his hoof and pastern; I took it in my hand, and, having smelt it, returned it to him again as civilly as I could. He brought out of the Yahoos’ kennel a piece of ass’s flesh; but it smelt so offensively that I turned from it with loathing: he then threw it to the Yahoo, by whom it was greedily devoured. He afterwards showed me a wisp of hay, and a fetlock full of oats; but I shook my head, to signify that neither of these were food for me. And indeed I now apprehended that I must absolutely starve, if I did not get to some of my own species; for as to those filthy Yahoos, although there were few greater lovers of mankind at that time than myself, yet I confess I never saw any sensitive being so detestable on all accounts; and the more I came near them the more hateful they grew, while I stayed in that country. This the master horse observed by my behaviour, and therefore sent the Yahoo back to his kennel. He then put his fore-hoof to his mouth, at which I was much surprised, although he did it with ease, and with a motion that appeared perfectly natural, and made other signs, to know what I would eat; but I could not return him such an answer as he was able to apprehend; and if he had understood me, I did not see how it was possible to contrive any way for finding myself nourishment. While we were thus engaged, I observed a cow passing by, whereupon I pointed to her, and expressed a desire to go and milk her. This had its effect; for he led me back into the house, and ordered a mare-servant to open a room, where a good store of milk lay in earthen and wooden vessels, after a very orderly and cleanly manner. She gave me a large bowlful, of which I drank very heartily, and found myself well refreshed.






About noon, I saw coming towards the house a kind of vehicle drawn like a sledge by four Yahoos. There was in it an old steed, who seemed to be of quality; he alighted with his hind-feet forward, having by accident got a hurt in his left fore-foot. He came to dine with our horse, who received him with great civility. They dined in the best room, and had oats boiled in milk for the second course, which the old horse ate warm, but the rest cold. Their mangers were placed circular in the middle of the room, and divided into several partitions, round which they sat on their haunches, upon bosses of straw. In the middle was a large rack, with angles answering to every partition of the manger; so that each horse and mare ate their own hay, and their own mash of oats and milk, with much decency and regularity. The behaviour of the young colt and foal appeared very modest, and that of the master and mistress extremely cheerful and complaisant to their guest. The gray ordered me to stand by him; and much discourse passed between him and his friend concerning me, as I found by the stranger’s often looking on me, and the frequent repetition of the word Yahoo.






I happened to wear my gloves, which the master gray observing, seemed perplexed, discovering signs of wonder what I had done to my fore-feet. He put his hoof three or four times to them, as if he would signify, that I should reduce them to their former shape, which I presently did, pulling off both my gloves, and putting them into my pocket. This occasioned farther talk; and I saw the company was pleased with my behaviour, whereof I soon found the good effects. I was ordered to speak the few words I understood; and while they were at dinner, the master taught me the names for oats, milk, fire, water, and some others, which I could readily pronounce after him, having from my youth a great facility in learning languages.






When dinner was done, the master horse took me aside, and by signs and words made me understand the concern he was in that I had nothing to eat. Oats in their tongue are called hlunnh. This word I pronounced two or three times; for although I had refused them at first, yet, upon second thoughts, I considered that I could contrive to make of them a kind of bread, which might be sufficient, with milk, to keep me alive, till I could make my escape to some other country, and to creatures of my own species. The horse immediately ordered a white mare servant of his family to bring me a good quantity of oats in a sort of wooden tray. These I heated before the fire, as well as I could, and rubbed them till the husks came off, which I made a shift to winnow from the grain. I ground and beat them between two stones; then took water, and made them into a paste or cake, which I toasted at the fire and eat warm with milk. It was at first a very insipid diet, though common enough in many parts of Europe, but grew tolerable by time; and having been often reduced to hard fare in my life, this was not the first experiment I had made how easily nature is satisfied. And I cannot but observe, that I never had one hours sickness while I stayed in this island. It is true, I sometimes made a shift to catch a rabbit, or bird, by springs made of Yahoo’s hairs; and I often gathered wholesome herbs, which I boiled, and ate as salads with my bread; and now and then, for a rarity, I made a little butter, and drank the whey. I was at first at a great loss for salt, but custom soon reconciled me to the want of it; and I am confident that the frequent use of salt among us is an effect of luxury, and was first introduced only as a provocative to drink, except where it is necessary for preserving flesh in long voyages, or in places remote from great markets; for we observe no animal to be fond of it but man, and as to myself, when I left this country, it was a great while before I could endure the taste of it in anything that I ate.






This is enough to say upon the subject of my diet, wherewith other travellers fill their books, as if the readers were personally concerned whether we fare well or ill. However, it was necessary to mention this matter, lest the world should think it impossible that I could find sustenance for three years in such a country, and among such inhabitants.






When it grew towards evening, the master horse ordered a place for me to lodge in; it was but six yards from the house and separated from the stable of the Yahoos. Here I got some straw, and covering myself with my own clothes, slept very sound. But I was in a short time better accommodated, as the reader shall know hereafter, when I come to treat more particularly about my way of living.






CHAPTER III.


The author studies to learn the language. The Houyhnhnm, his master, assists in teaching him. The language described. Several Houyhnhnms of quality come out of curiosity to see the author. He gives his master a short account of his voyage.






My principal endeavour was to learn the language, which my master (

Book IV Gulliver's Travels Chapter 1

PART IV. A VOYAGE TO THE COUNTRY OF THE HOUYHNHNMS.











CHAPTER I.


The author sets out as captain of a ship. His men conspire against him, confine him a long time to his cabin, and set him on shore in an unknown land. He travels up into the country. The Yahoos, a strange sort of animal, described. The author meets two Houyhnhnms.






I continued at home with my wife and children about five months, in a very happy condition, if I could have learned the lesson of knowing when I was well. I left my poor wife big with child, and accepted an advantageous offer made me to be captain of the Adventurer, a stout merchantman of 350 tons: for I understood navigation well, and being grown weary of a surgeon’s employment at sea, which, however, I could exercise upon occasion, I took a skilful young man of that calling, one Robert Purefoy, into my ship. We set sail from Portsmouth upon the 7th day of September, 1710; on the 14th we met with Captain Pocock, of Bristol, at Teneriffe, who was going to the bay of Campechy to cut logwood. On the 16th, he was parted from us by a storm; I heard since my return, that his ship foundered, and none escaped but one cabin boy. He was an honest man, and a good sailor, but a little too positive in his own opinions, which was the cause of his destruction, as it has been with several others; for if he had followed my advice, he might have been safe at home with his family at this time, as well as myself.






I had several men who died in my ship of calentures, so that I was forced to get recruits out of Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, where I touched, by the direction of the merchants who employed me; which I had soon too much cause to repent: for I found afterwards, that most of them had been buccaneers. I had fifty hands onboard; and my orders were, that I should trade with the Indians in the South-Sea, and make what discoveries I could. These rogues, whom I had picked up, debauched my other men, and they all formed a conspiracy to seize the ship, and secure me; which they did one morning, rushing into my cabin, and binding me hand and foot, threatening to throw me overboard, if I offered to stir. I told them, “I was their prisoner, and would submit.” This they made me swear to do, and then they unbound me, only fastening one of my legs with a chain, near my bed, and placed a sentry at my door with his piece charged, who was commanded to shoot me dead if I attempted my liberty. They sent me own victuals and drink, and took the government of the ship to themselves. Their design was to turn pirates and, plunder the Spaniards, which they could not do till they got more men. But first they resolved to sell the goods the ship, and then go to Madagascar for recruits, several among them having died since my confinement. They sailed many weeks, and traded with the Indians; but I knew not what course they took, being kept a close prisoner in my cabin, and expecting nothing less than to be murdered, as they often threatened me.






Upon the 9th day of May, 1711, one James Welch came down to my cabin, and said, “he had orders from the captain to set me ashore.” I expostulated with him, but in vain; neither would he so much as tell me who their new captain was. They forced me into the long-boat, letting me put on my best suit of clothes, which were as good as new, and take a small bundle of linen, but no arms, except my hanger; and they were so civil as not to search my pockets, into which I conveyed what money I had, with some other little necessaries. They rowed about a league, and then set me down on a strand. I desired them to tell me what country it was. They all swore, “they knew no more than myself;” but said, “that the captain” (as they called him) “was resolved, after they had sold the lading, to get rid of me in the first place where they could discover land.” They pushed off immediately, advising me to make haste for fear of being overtaken by the tide, and so bade me farewell.






In this desolate condition I advanced forward, and soon got upon firm ground, where I sat down on a bank to rest myself, and consider what I had best do. When I was a little refreshed, I went up into the country, resolving to deliver myself to the first savages I should meet, and purchase my life from them by some bracelets, glass rings, and other toys, which sailors usually provide themselves with in those voyages, and whereof I had some about me. The land was divided by long rows of trees, not regularly planted, but naturally growing; there was great plenty of grass, and several fields of oats. I walked very circumspectly, for fear of being surprised, or suddenly shot with an arrow from behind, or on either side. I fell into a beaten road, where I saw many tracts of human feet, and some of cows, but most of horses. At last I beheld several animals in a field, and one or two of the same kind sitting in trees. Their shape was very singular and deformed, which a little discomposed me, so that I lay down behind a thicket to observe them better. Some of them coming forward near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of distinctly marking their form. Their heads and breasts were covered with a thick hair, some frizzled, and others lank; they had beards like goats, and a long ridge of hair down their backs, and the fore parts of their legs and feet; but the rest of their bodies was bare, so that I might see their skins, which were of a brown buff colour. They had no tails, nor any hair at all on their buttocks, except about the anus, which, I presume, nature had placed there to defend them as they sat on the ground, for this posture they used, as well as lying down, and often stood on their hind feet. They climbed high trees as nimbly as a squirrel, for they had strong extended claws before and behind, terminating in sharp points, and hooked. They would often spring, and bound, and leap, with prodigious agility. The females were not so large as the males; they had long lank hair on their heads, but none on their faces, nor any thing more than a sort of down on the rest of their bodies, except about the anus and pudenda. The dugs hung between their fore feet, and often reached almost to the ground as they walked. The hair of both sexes was of several colours, brown, red, black, and yellow. Upon the whole, I never beheld, in all my travels, so disagreeable an animal, or one against which I naturally conceived so strong an antipathy. So that, thinking I had seen enough, full of contempt and aversion, I got up, and pursued the beaten road, hoping it might direct me to the cabin of some Indian. I had not got far, when I met one of these creatures full in my way, and coming up directly to me. The ugly monster, when he saw me, distorted several ways, every feature of his visage, and stared, as at an object he had never seen before; then approaching nearer, lifted up his fore-paw, whether out of curiosity or mischief I could not tell; but I drew my hanger, and gave him a good blow with the flat side of it, for I durst not strike with the edge, fearing the inhabitants might be provoked against me, if they should come to know that I had killed or maimed any of their cattle. When the beast felt the smart, he drew back, and roared so loud, that a herd of at least forty came flocking about me from the next field, howling and making odious faces; but I ran to the body of a tree, and leaning my back against it, kept them off by waving my hanger. Several of this cursed brood, getting hold of the branches behind, leaped up into the tree, whence they began to discharge their excrements on my head; however, I escaped pretty well by sticking close to the stem of the tree, but was almost stifled with the filth, which fell about me on every side.






In the midst of this distress, I observed them all to run away on a sudden as fast as they could; at which I ventured to leave the tree and pursue the road, wondering what it was that could put them into this fright. But looking on my left hand, I saw a horse walking softly in the field; which my persecutors having sooner discovered, was the cause of their flight. The horse started a little, when he came near me, but soon recovering himself, looked full in my face with manifest tokens of wonder; he viewed my hands and feet, walking round me several times. I would have pursued my journey, but he placed himself directly in the way, yet looking with a very mild aspect, never offering the least violence. We stood gazing at each other for some time; at last I took the boldness to reach my hand towards his neck with a design to stroke it, using the common style and whistle of jockeys, when they are going to handle a strange horse. But this animal seemed to receive my civilities with disdain, shook his head, and bent his brows, softly raising up his right fore-foot to remove my hand. Then he neighed three or four times, but in so different a cadence, that I almost began to think he was speaking to himself, in some language of his own.






While he and I were thus employed, another horse came up; who applying himself to the first in a very formal manner, they gently struck each other’s right hoof before, neighing several times by turns, and varying the sound, which seemed to be almost articulate. They went some paces off, as if it were to confer together, walking side by side, backward and forward, like persons deliberating upon some affair of weight, but often turning their eyes towards me, as it were to watch that I might not escape. I was amazed to see such actions and behaviour in brute beasts; and concluded with myself, that if the inhabitants of this country were endued with a proportionable degree of reason, they must needs be the wisest people upon earth. This thought gave me so much comfort, that I resolved to go forward, until I could discover some house or village, or meet with any of the natives, leaving the two horses to discourse together as they pleased. But the first, who was a dapple gray, observing me to steal off, neighed after me in so expressive a tone, that I fancied myself to understand what he meant; whereupon I turned back, and came near to him to expect his farther commands: but concealing my fear as much as I could, for I began to be in some pain how this adventure might terminate; and the reader will easily believe I did not much like my present situation.






The two horses came up close to me, looking with great earnestness upon my face and hands. The gray steed rubbed my hat all round with his right fore-hoof, and discomposed it so much that I was forced to adjust it better by taking it off and settling it again; whereat, both he and his companion (who was a brown bay) appeared to be much surprised: the latter felt the lappet of my coat, and finding it to hang loose about me, they both looked with new signs of wonder. He stroked my right hand, seeming to admire the softness and colour; but he squeezed it so hard between his hoof and his pastern, that I was forced to roar; after which they both touched me with all possible tenderness. They were under great perplexity about my shoes and stockings, which they felt very often, neighing to each other, and using various gestures, not unlike those of a philosopher, when he would attempt to solve some new and difficult phenomenon.






Upon the whole, the behaviour of these animals was so orderly and rational, so acute and judicious, that I at last concluded they must needs be magicians, who had thus metamorphosed themselves upon some design, and seeing a stranger in the way, resolved to divert themselves with him; or, perhaps, were really amazed at the sight of a man so very different in habit, feature, and complexion, from those who might probably live in so remote a climate. Upon the strength of this reasoning, I ventured to address them in the following manner: “Gentlemen, if you be conjurers, as I have good cause to believe, you can understand my language; therefore I make bold to let your worships know that I am a poor distressed Englishman, driven by his misfortunes upon your coast; and I entreat one of you to let me ride upon his back, as if he were a real horse, to some house or village where I can be relieved. In return of which favour, I will make you a present of this knife and bracelet,” taking them out of my pocket. The two creatures stood silent while I spoke, seeming to listen with great attention, and when I had ended, they neighed frequently towards each other, as if they were engaged in serious conversation. I plainly observed that their language expressed the passions very well, and the words might, with little pains, be resolved into an alphabet more easily than the Chinese.






I could frequently distinguish the word Yahoo, which was repeated by each of them several times: and although it was impossible for me to conjecture what it meant, yet while the two horses were busy in conversation, I endeavoured to practise this word upon my tongue; and as soon as they were silent, I boldly pronounced Yahoo in a loud voice, imitating at the same time, as near as I could, the neighing of a horse; at which they were both visibly surprised; and the gray repeated the same word twice, as if he meant to teach me the right accent; wherein I spoke after him as well as I could, and found myself perceivably to improve every time, though very far from any degree of perfection. Then the bay tried me with a second word, much harder to be pronounced; but reducing it to the English orthography, may be spelt thus, Houyhnhnm. I did not succeed in this so well as in the former; but after two or three farther trials, I had better fortune; and they both appeared amazed at my capacity.






After some further discourse, which I then conjectured might relate to me, the two friends took their leaves, with the same compliment of striking each other’s hoof; and the gray made me signs that I should walk before him; wherein I thought it prudent to comply, till I could find a better director. When I offered to slacken my pace, he would cry hhuun hhuun: I guessed his meaning, and gave him to understand, as well as I could, “that I was weary, and not able to walk faster;” upon which he would stand awhile to let me rest.






CHAPTER II.


The author conducted by a Houyhnhnm to his house. The house described. The author’s reception. The food of the Houyhnhnms. The author in distress for want of meat...