On a day unlike any other, while navigating her rickety old punt across the mirror-like surface of Quincunx Lake, Maria resolves to investigate the small island and its enigmatic ruin, known as Mistress Masham's Repose. Family lore whispers that a seventeenth-century duchess, an ancestor of Maria, constructed this quaint temple to enjoy hushed moments over tea with prestigious guests: Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison, and perhaps the legendary Jonathan Swift himself, whose satirical masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels (1726), serves as the inspiration for White's tale.

Playing the part of a fearless pirate, Maria rows determinedly to the island, slashing her way through the dense undergrowth. To her utter astonishment, she emerges onto a meticulously manicured lawn. But what truly steals her breath away is the sight of the temple, standing not as a derelict ruin, but as a pristine, well-kept building. Following a minute pathway, she stumbles upon seven-inch-high doorways cleverly fashioned into the bases of the Repose's pillars. Yet, the pinnacle of her discovery is a miniature, living baby nestled in a cradle crafted from half a walnut shell! As she gently lifts the cradle, she is startled by the baby's five-inch-high mother, who fiercely jabs at her ankle with a tiny harpoon. Undaunted, Maria swiftly gathers the diminutive woman as well, and returns to her secluded palace room, carrying her newfound "treasures" like a triumphant pirate with his spoils.

Unforeseen Changes

Soon, two pivotal events unfold, reshaping Maria's world and the lives of the miniature dwellers of the Repose. Firstly, Maria comes to the troubling realization that her two diminutive captives are languishing under her well-intentioned but inadequate care. Desperate, she turns to her confidant, the Professor, for assistance. Secondly, the existence of these Lilliputians (as the Professor sagely identifies them to be of this noble lineage) catches the keen eye of the observant Miss Brown.