When Mr. Bates died, I got a big problem; I didn't have a good example anymore. I spoke to my wife and some friends, and decided to go to sea again. I worked on two ships for six years, going to the East and West Indies, which helped me to make some extra money. In my free time, I read the best authors, ancient and modern, paying attention to their manners, as well as learning their language; it was easy for me, thanks to my good memory.
The last of these journeys, I already felt tired of the sea and couldn't wait to stay at home with my wife and family. I moved from the Old Jewry to Fetter Lane, and after to Wapping, hoping to find another job; but it didn't give any result. Only after three years, I found Captain William Prichard, who planned to go to the South Sea. We started from Bristol, May 4, 1699, and our journey was at first very good.
The reason was that there was a strong storm in Van Diemen's Land. Twelve of us were dead because of hard work and bad food; others were very weak. On the 5th of November, the beginning of summer in that region, the weather was very bad, the wind was so strong, that our ship crashed into the stone. Six of us tried to use a boat to save our lives. When we were in the open ocean, we were very tired; in about half an hour our boat was upside down.
I cannot tell what happened to other people in the group; they were all lost. Speaking about myself, I decided to trust the ocean; when I almost died, I saw that the storm had finished. I was finally on the ground at about eight o'clock in the evening. There I did not find any people; or maybe I was so weak that I could not see them. I was extremely tired. After that, I lay down and slept for about nine hours; when I woke up, the sun was shining brightly. I felt that I couldn't move my body: something kept me on the ground. The sun began to be hot, and I opened my eyes because of its light.
When I looked down, I saw a small man not higher than six inches; there were at least forty more of them. I was shocked and started screaming and they all got scared. However, they were back soon, and the bravest one of them looked at my face and said, Hekinah degul: the others repeated the same words several times. I didn't know what it meant, I only wanted to be free.
For a long time, I felt very uncomfortable: I saw that they had tied me up. I could only move my head a little bit. These people ran away again, and one of them screamed Tolgo phonac, and I felt a hundred arrows in my hand and a terrible pain.
I decided to lie down and not move till night, so I could free myself easily when they would go to sleep. When they saw that I didn't scream, there were no arrows anymore. Then, one man, who was older and taller than the others, came closer and spoke to me, but I couldn't understand him. He repeated the same thing several times; after that about fifty people ran closer and I was free.
I showed him that I really needed to eat because I hadn't done it since the ship. He understood and told everyone to give me food. They used ladders to do it. I ate a lot and was surprised at how hungry I was. Then I showed them I wanted to drink. They gave me a big bottle of some drink, same as the wine of Burgundy, but much better. I drank it all and asked for more, but they didn't have any. After eating and drinking, they danced on me, repeating Hekinah degul some times.
I can tell you that as they were moving on my body, I wanted to throw them on the ground; but I felt that I needed to be polite with them, as they were good to me and spent so much on me. I was surprised by the fact how brave they are: they were not afraid to do that to such a big man as I was for them.
After some time, they saw that I didn't eat meat anymore and they asked some important person to visit me. He climbed onto my body, came closer to my face with about twelve other small people. He showed some important documents: he wanted to solve a problem, but he wasn't angry at all. I tried to answer but it didn't help.
Then I showed them that I wanted to be free. He looked like he understood me, but he didn't have the same opinion. But he showed me that I would always have enough food and drink, and they would always treat me well. I didn't like it and asked again, however, it didn't have any result. I showed them that they could do everything that they wanted to me. After this, the hurgo (“the great lord” in Lilliput) and other people left me. I had some food, drink, and medicine and I tried to sleep. I slept for about eight hours, as they told me; and I wasn't surprised because they added something to my wine.
Overall, I felt like I was lucky enough: I had a lot of meat and drink, and a special machine to get me to the capital city. I believe this decision was quite brave for them, and I was sure that no prince in Europe did the same in this situation. In my opinion, it was very wise and kind: if they tried to kill me when I slept, I could become angry and it could be dangerous.
They are great mathematicians, especially in mechanics. They didn't have any problem building a special machine for me, however, the main difficulty was to have me in it. When I slept, because of something that they added to my wine, there were nine hundred of the strongest men and fifteen hundred emperor's horses to move me there. It was hard, but successful: finally, I was inside.
On our way, we had problems with the machine and stopped; from the windows I woke up and saw a lot of people looking at me and playing with my nose. I sneezed and they ran away. We rode for the rest of the day, and at night I had five hundred people on each side of me, ready to send arrows, if I moved. We finally arrived at the capital about noon the next day; the emperor came to meet us with his guards.
There was an old temple where we stopped, the largest in the kingdom. Some years ago people were killed there, and since that time everyone could use it. They decided that I would stay there and chained me to it. Twenty feet away, there was the tower where the emperor stayed, with many important lords. I couldn't see them, but they, I believe, could easily see me. People there were shocked when they heard me walking. The biggest temple of the empire was big enough for me to lie down at my full length on the ground.
Dictionary
ship [ʃɪp] – n. корабль
believe [bɪ'li:v] – v. верить
journey ['dʒɜ:ni] – n. поездка
continue [kən'tɪnju:] – v. продолжать
decide [dɪ'saɪd] – v. решить
stay [steɪ] – n. остановка, v останавливаться
tired ['taɪəd] – adj. уставший
move [mu:v] – v. двигаться, переезжать
weak [wi:k] – adj. слабый
wind [wɪnd] – n. ветер
crash [kræʃ] – v. врезаться
stone [stəʊn] – n. камень
boat [bəʊt] – n. лодка
upside down ['ʌp'saɪd daʊn] – adv. перевёрнутый вверх ногами
ground [ɡraʊnd] – n. земля
lie