Gulliver's Travels | Chapter VII

Chapter VII

The Author leaves Lagado, arrives at Maldonada. No ship ready. He takes a short voyage to Glubbdubdrib. His reception by the governor.

THE CONTINENT OF WHICH this kingdom is a part extends itself, as I have reason to believe, eastward to that unknown tract of America westward of California, and north to the Pacific Ocean, which is not above a hundred and fifty miles from Lagado, where there is a good port and much commerce with the great island of Luggnagg, situated on the northwest about 29 degrees north latitude and 140 longitude. This island of Luggnagg stands southeastward of Japan, about a hundred leagues distant. There is a strict alliance between the Japanese Emperor and the King of Luggnagg, which affords frequent opportunities of sailing from one island to the other. I determined therefore to direct my course this way in order to my return to Europe. I hired two mules, with a guide, to show me the way and carry my small baggage. I took leave of my noble protector, who had shown me so much favor and made me a generous present at my departure.

My journey was without any accident or adventure worth relating. When I arrived at the port of Maldonada (for so it is called) there was no ship in the harbor bound for Luggnagg, nor like to be in some time. The town is about as large as Portsmouth. I soon fell into some acquaintance, and was very hospitably received. A gentleman of distinction said to me that since the ships bound for Luggnagg could not be ready in less than a month, it might be no disagreeable amusement for me to take a trip to the little island of Glubbdubdrib, about five leagues off to the southwest. He offered himself and a friend to accompany me, and that I should be provided with a small, convenient bark for the voyage.

Glubbdubdrib, as nearly as I can interpret the word, signifies the island of sorcerers or magicians. It is about one-third as large as the Isle of Wight, and extremely fruitful; it is governed by the head of a certain tribe who are all magicians. This tribe marries only among each other, and the eldest, in succession, is prince or governor. He hath a noble palace, and a park of about three thousand acres, surrounded by a wall of hewn stone twenty feet high. In this park are several small inclosures for cattle, corn, and gardening.

The governor and his family are served and attended by domestics of a kind somewhat unusual. By his skill in necromancy he hath a power of calling whom he pleases from the dead, and commanding their service for twenty-four hours, but no longer; nor can he call the same persons up again in less than three months, except upon very extraordinary occasions.

When we arrived at the island, which was about eleven in the morning, one of the gentlemen who accompanied me went to the governor and desired admittance for a stranger, who came on purpose to have the honor of attending on his Highness. This was immediately granted, and we all three entered the gate of the palace, between two rows of guards, armed and dressed after a very antique manner and something in their countenances that made my flesh creep with a horror I cannot express. We passed through several apartments between servants of the same sort, ranked on each side as before, till we came to the chamber of presence, where, after three profound obeisances and a few general questions, we were permitted to sit on three stools near the lowest step of his Highness's throne. He understood the language of Balnibarbi, although it were different from that of this island. He desired me to give him some account of my travels; and, to let me see that I should be treated without ceremony, he dismissed all his attendants with a turn of his finger, at which, to my great astonishment, they vanished in an instant like visions in a dream when we awake on a sudden. I could not recover myself in some time, till the governor assured me that I should receive no hurt; and observing my two companions to be under no concern, who had been often entertained in the same manner, I began to take courage, and related to his Highness a short history of my several adventures, yet not without some hesitation and frequently looking behind me to the place where I had seen those domestic specters. I had the honor to dine with the governor, where a new set of ghosts served up the meat and waited at table. I now observed myself to be less terrified than I had been in the morning. I stayed till sunset, but humbly desired his Highness to excuse me for not accepting his invitation of lodging in the palace. My two friends and I lay at a private house in the town adjoining, which is the capital of this little island; and the next morning we returned to pay our duty to the governor, as he was pleased to command us.

After this manner we continued in the island for ten days, most part of every day with the governor, and at night in our lodging. I soon grew so familiarized to the sight of spirits that, after the third or fourth time, they gave me no emotion at all; or, if I had any apprehensions left, my curiosity prevailed over them. For his Highness the governor ordered me to call up whatever persons I would choose to name, and in whatever numbers, among all the dead from the beginning of the world to this present time, and command them to answer any questions I should think fit to ask; with this condition, that my questions must be confined within the compass of the times they lived in. And one thing I might depend upon, that they would certainly tell me the truth, for lying was a talent of no use in the lower world.

I made my humble acknowledgments to his Highness for so great a favor. We were in a chamber from whence there was a fair prospect into the park. And, because my first inclination was to be entertained with scenes of pomp and magnificence, I desired to see Alexander the Great at the head of his army just after the battle of Arbela, which, upon a motion of the governor's finger, immediately appeared in a large field under the window where we stood. Alexander was called up into the room; it was with great difficulty that I understood his Greek, and had but little of my own. He assured me upon his honor that he was not poisoned but died of a fever by excessive drinking.

Next I saw Hannibal passing the Alps, who told me he had not a drop of vinegar in his camp.

I saw Cæsar and Pompey at the head of their troops just ready to engage. I saw the former in his last great triumph. I desired that the Senate of Rome might appear before me in one large chamber, and a modern representative in counterview, in another. The first seemed to be an assembly of heroes and demigods, the other a knot of peddlers, pickpockets, highwaymen, and bullies.

The governor, at my request, gave the sign for Cæsar and Brutus to advance toward us. I was struck with a profound veneration at the sight of Brutus, and could easily discover the most consummate virtue, the greatest intrepidity and firmness of mind, the truest love of his country, and general benevolence for mankind in every lineament of his countenance. I observed, with much pleasure, that these two persons were in good intelligence with each other; and Cæsar freely confessed to me that the greatest actions of his own life were not equal by many degrees to the glory of taking it away. I had the honor to have much conversation with Brutus, and was told that his ancestor Junius, Socrates, Epaminondas, Cato the younger, Sir Thomas More, and himself were perpetually together: a sextumvirate to which all the ages of the world cannot add a seventh.

  • bark – a small boat
  • necromancy – magic
  • obeisances – bows, curtsies
  • specters – ghosts
  • Alexander the Great – (356 B.C. - 323 B.C.), a powerful emperor who conquered Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, and most of the known world at that time. He reigned from 336 B.C. to 323 B.C.
  • battle of Arbela – the battle of Gaugamela (331 B.C.), in which, Alexander the Great fought Darius III of Persia. Darius’ army was significantly larger, but it was defeated after losing nearly 40,000 men. After the battle, Darius retreated to Arbela, and Alexander followed. Eventually, Darius was killed, and, in an elaborate ceremony in Arbela, Alexander the Great was crowned the “King of Asia”
  • Hannibal – (247 B.C. - c. 183 B.C.) a well-known military leader who introduced innovative techniques, such as using elephants to transport his troops across the Alps.
  • Cæsar – Gaius Julius Cæsar (100 B.C. - 44 B.C.) was a military and political leader. As ruler and dictator of the Roman Empire, he conquered Gaul, Pompey, and made Cleopatra the Queen of Egypt.
  • Pompey – Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (106 B.C. — 48 B.C.) was a military leader who joined an alliance with Cæsar and Crassus, becoming the rulers of Rome. Cæsar eventually betrayed Pompey and began a civil war that ended in Pompey's defeat in 48 B.C. After the defeat, Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was later assassinated.
  • Brutus – Marcus Junius Brutus (c. 85 B.C. - 42 B.C.) was a Roman general and politician who led a conspiracy against Julius Cæsar. Brutus and his followers publicly assassinated Cæsar on March 15, 44 B.C.
  • consummate – flawless, supreme, perfect; the highest example of
  • lineament – the outline, contour
  • Junius – Lucius Junius Brutus founded the Roman Republic by overthrowing the last Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.
  • Socrates – (469 B.C. - 399 B.C.) an influential Greek philosopher
  • Epaminondas – (c. 418 B.C. - 362 B.C.), a Greek general, who, in a peace conference, insisted on defending Boeotia (an area in Greece). His insistence resulted in a war against the Spartans in 371 B.C. Epaminondas was victorious and proved his competency in executing military tactics, which gave him a notable reputation in history.
  • Cato the younger – Marcus Porcius Cato (95 B.C. - 46 B.C.) was a Roman politician remembered for his refusal to compromise and his obstinacy.
  • Sir Thomas More – (1478 - 1535) a scholar, politician, and writer who was imprisoned because of his controversial views that were voiced in his essay, Utopia. He was, however, declared a saint in 1935.
  • sextumvirate – a government of six
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