Part Two A Voyage to Brawdingdong Chapter One A great storm is described.
The author goes to fetch water and is left on shore where he is taken by one of the natives.
Having been sentenced by nature and fortune to a restless life, I again left my native country.
I took leave of my wife and children and went on board the Adventure, a merchant ship commanded by Captain John Nichols.
We left on the 20th day of June, 1702.
Very strong winds carried us around the Cape of Good Hope and through to the Straits of Madagascar.
On the 19th of April, a storm moved in, driving us to the east of the Maluka Islands.
The storm lasted for 20 days, and we were carried about 500 leagues to the east.
Our supplies held out, although we had very little water.
On the 16th day of June, we came in a full view of a great land mass.
On the south side was a small neck of land with a shallow creek jutting into the sea.
We cast anchor close by, and our captain sent a dozen of his men in search of water.
I joined this party, curious to see this unknown country.
While the rest of the men wandered on the shore to find some water, I walked alone in the other direction.
There was nothing to see but barren rocky land, so I turned back toward the creek.
There I was alarmed to see our men already in the boat and rowing to the ship with great speed.
A huge creature was walking into the sea after them.
The water came only to his knees, and he took very long steps.
Our men had a good lead on him, though, and the monster was unable to catch them.
I ran away as fast as I could.
I climbed up a steep hill which gave me a good view of the country.
I was surprised at the length of the grass, which in those grounds was more than twenty feet high.
I spotted a wide road and walked on it for some time, unable to see much past the corn rising at least forty feet on either side of me.
At the end of an hour I reached a series of steps that passed from this field into the next field, but each step was six feet high and I could not climb them.
I was looking for a gap in the stones when one of the creatures in the next field began coming toward me.
He was as tall as the one I had seen in the sea and covered about ten yards with every step he took.
At the top of the stairs he stopped and called out in a voice so loud and booming that I initially mistook it for thunder.
Seven more of these monsters came running, each with reaping hooks in their hands.
These people were not as well dressed as the first, and I assumed that they were servants or laborers.
The first man spoke to the servants for a while and they went off to reap corn in the field where I was hiding.
I kept away from them as well as I could.
The stalks of corn were sometimes less than a foot apart though, and it was very hard to squeeze between them.
Also, the jagged ends of the fallen ears were stiff and sharp.
They easily cut through my clothes and my flesh.
The reapers had come within a hundred yards of me, and I was exhausted.
I lay down wishing to die and regretted my foolishness in attempting a second voyage against all advice.
I couldn't help but think of Lilliput, whose inhabitants looked upon me as a giant.
How small one Lilliputian would appear among these creatures!
One of the reapers was within ten yards of me now.
With the next step, I would be squashed to death under his foot or cut in two with his reaping hook.
I screamed as loud as fear could make me, and the creature stopped short, looking around for some time until he saw me lying on the ground.
He studied me for a while before taking me up between his forefinger and his thumb and bringing me close to his eyes.
I was fearful every moment that he would drop me on the ground and could not stop myself from shedding tears.
I turned my head to one side, trying to let him know how much the pressure of his fingers was hurting me.
He seemed to understand and placed me into his coat pocket. before running along to his master.
This was the head farmer I had seen before.
I watched from the coat pocket as his servant explained how he had found me.
Lifting me out of his pocket, he placed me on my hands and knees upon the ground.
I immediately stood up and walked slowly backward and forward to show that I had no intention of running.
They sat down around me.
I pulled off my hat and made a long bow to the farmer.
I fell on my knees and lifted my hands, pleading with him as loudly as I could.
The farmer spoke to me often, and I answered as loudly as I could in several languages.
He laid his ear within two yards of me, but it was all in vain.
We could not understand each other.
He sent his servants back to work.
Taking his handkerchief out of his pocket.
He folded it in two and placed it flat on the ground, making a sign for me to step into it.
For fear of falling, I laid myself at full length upon the handkerchief.
He carried me home in this manner to show me to his wife.
At first she ran away as one would do at the sight of a spider or a rat, but she soon saw how I behaved myself and later grew extremely caring toward me.
Lunch was served and the rest of the family came to the table, including the wife, three children and an old grandmother.
It was a big meat dish, about four feet by twenty feet in size.
The farmer placed me at some distance from him on the table, which was about thirty feet from the ground.
I kept as far as I could from the edge, being terribly afraid of falling.
With his meal finished, the master went back out to his servants.
The wife was put in charge of me, and she put me on her bed to get some rest.
I slept for about two hours, dreaming I was at home with my wife and children, but waking to find myself alone in a room about 300 feet wide and over 200 feet high.
The bed I was in was about eight yards from the floor.
I was considering how to get off it when two large rats crept up the curtains and leaped toward me.
I rose in a fright and drew my long knife.
These horrible animals attacked me from both sides, but I managed to kill one.
At the sight of this, the second ran off.
After this adventure, I walked to and fro on the bed trying to recover my breath and raise my spirits.
These creatures were the size of a large dog.
I measured the tail of the dead rat and found it to be two yards long.
Soon after, my mistress came into the room.
Finding me all bloody, she ran and took me up in her hand.
I pointed to the dead rat, making signs to show her that I wasn't hurt.
She set me on a table and wiped some of the blood from me.
I showed her my bloody knife, which she wiped clean as well.
The maid was called, and taking the dead rat up with a pair of tongs, she threw it out the window.
