Gulliver’s Travels

Part 1
Chapter 2

Once the Lilliputians chain Gulliver to the building, he is finally allowed to stand up and view
the entire countryside, which he discovers is beautiful and rustic. The tallest trees are seven feet
tall, and the whole area looks to him like a theater set.

Gulliver meticulously describes his process of relieving himself, which initially involves walking
inside the building to the edge of his chain. After the first time, he makes sure to relieve himself
in open air, and servants carry away his excrement in wheelbarrows. He says that he describes
this process in order to establish his cleanliness, which has been called into question by his
critics.

The emperor visits on horseback from his tower. He orders his servants to give Gulliver food and
drink. The emperor is dressed plainly and carries a sword to defend himself. He and Gulliver
converse, though they cannot understand each other. Gulliver tries to speak every language he
knows, but nothing works. After two hours, Gulliver is left with a group of soldiers guarding
him. Some of them, disobeying orders, try to shoot arrows at him. As a punishment, the brigadier
ties up six of these offenders and places them in Gulliver’s hand. Gulliver puts five of them into
his pocket and pretends that he is going to eat the sixth, but then cuts loose his ropes and sets him
free. He does the same with the other five, which pleases the court.

After two weeks, a bed is made for Gulliver. It consists of 600 small beds sewn together. News
of his arrival also spreads throughout the kingdom and curious people from the villages come to
see him. Meanwhile, the government tries to decide what to do with him. Frequent councils bring
up various concerns: that he will break loose, for instance, or that he will eat enough to cause a
famine. Some suggest that they starve him or shoot him in the face to kill him, but others argue
that doing so would leave them with a giant corpse and a large health risk.

Officers who witnessed Gulliver’s lenient treatment of the six offending soldiers report to the
council, and the emperor and his court decide to respond with kindness. They arrange to deliver
large amounts of food to Gulliver every morning, supply him with servants to wait on him, hire
tailors to make him clothing, and offer teachers to instruct him in their language.

Every morning Gulliver asks the emperor to set him free, but the emperor refuses, saying that
Gulliver must be patient. The emperor also orders him to be searched to ensure that he does not
have any weapons. Gulliver agrees to this search, and the Lilliputians take an inventory of his
possessions. In the process, all of his weapons are taken away.