GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

Once upon a time there lived an Englishman called Lemuel Gulliver. He and his friends set out on a voyage to the South Seas. A violent storm wrecked the ship and drowned the captain and all the sailors, except Gulliver.  After swimming against wind and waves for hours, Gulliver found himself near a land. Except for small trees, he could sight no one on the shore. As he was tired from swimming, he soon fell into deep sleep on the soft grass.

Gulliver woke up after two days and found his arms, legs and hair tied to the ground. Thin leather strips across his shoulders and chest, held him down. He soon saw tiny men walking on his chest.  The straps began to break when the giant like Gulliver tried to sit up and the strange little men ran helter-skelter.

These tiny men called Lilliputians soon came back with a message from their King that Gulliver was their prisoner and must be taken to the capital city of this land, called Lilliput. Everyone in Lilliput wanted to see Gulliver. The tiny men brought a lot of food but found it difficult to feed him in spite of using their tiny ladders. The tiny men thought of a way to take this giant Gulliver to their King. They built a platform on wheels, tied Gulliver to it and started their journey to the capital city of Lilliput. Thousands of Lilliputians thronged the streets to witness the giant. The long march ended in the capital city. Chained Gulliver was released from the platform. He was astonished to see so many tiny men. He knelt before the King and his ministers.

The Lilliputians changed their thought that Gulliver was a giant sent to destroy them.  They now began to trust him. The King made an offer to Gulliver. If Gulliver helped the country he would be unchained and treated well. During the army parade on the occasion of the King’s birthday celebrations, Gulliver was made to stand like a huge arch.

One day the tall Gulliver saw the ships being made ready in the neighbouring Blefuscu to wage a war on Lilliput. Blefuscu declared a war on Lilliput.  Gulliver wanted to foil their attempts. He walked through the water and tied each ship with a piece of rope. He destroyed the whole fleet with one pull.

The King of Lilliput declared Gulliver a national hero. His countrymen paid homage to this hero for saving their country. Ambassadors from Blefuscu came to meet the King of Lilliput with a peace plan. But the King wanted to make the Blefuscudians his slaves.  Gulliver intervened and brought about a just treaty.

Now the King of Lilliput suspected Gulliver’s loyalty. His members advised him to kill Gulliver as they felt that he was becoming dangerous. Having come to know about the plot, Gulliver decided to leave Lilliput immediately and informed the King about his decision. In the meantime, the Blefuscudians invited Gulliver to their country. They were thankful for bringing about a fair treaty between them and the Lilliputians.

Gulliver bid the Lilliputians good-bye and walked through the water to reach Blefuscu. The King, Queen and all the ministers of Blefuscu were waiting at the shore to welcome Gulliver.  As in Lilliput he was declared a national hero, here too. Blefuscudians, equal in height to the Lilliputians, came to pay their homage to this hero.

One day Gulliver sighted a boat in the open sea. This could probably be one from the large ship he was travelling in, a couple of years ago, he thought. The King had come to know about Gulliver’s intentions to return home. He ordered two thousand of his men to get the boat ready for Gulliver’s journey home.

All the people of Blefuscu gathered on the shore to bid farewell to Gulliver. They made sure that adequate food and other necessary things for the journey was there in the boat. Though the King of Lilliput invited Gulliver to come back to his country, Gulliver decided to start home and leave the neighbouring countries in peace.

Gulliver finally left Blefuscu. Soon he saw a ship, sailing towards England. Sighting Gulliver the ship stopped. He got into the ship and reached home. Thus came to an end, Gulliver’s two years of adventure.