Summary: Chapter I
Two months after returning to England, Gulliver is restless
again. He sets sail on a ship called the Adventure, traveling
to the Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar before encountering a monsoon
that draws the ship off course. The ship eventually arrives at an unknown
land mass. There are no inhabitants about, and the landscape is
barren and rocky. Gulliver is walking back to the boat when he sees
that it has already left without him. He tries to chase after it, but
then he sees that a giant is following the boat. Gulliver runs away,
and when he stops, he is on a steep hill from which he can see the
countryside. He is shocked to see that the grass is about twenty feet
high.
He walks down what looks like a high road but turns out
to be a footpath through a field of barley. He walks for a long
time but cannot see anything beyond the stalks of corn, which are
forty feet high. He tries to climb a set of steps into the next
field, but he cannot mount them because they are too high. As he
is trying to climb up the stairs, he sees another one of the island’s
giant inhabitants. He hides from the giant, but it calls for more
people to come, and they begin to harvest the crop with scythes.
Gulliver lies down and bemoans his state, thinking about how insignificant
he must be to these giant creatures.
One of the servants comes close to Gulliver with both
his foot and his scythe, so Gulliver screams as loudly as he can.
The giant finally notices him, and picks him up between his fingers
to get a closer look. Gulliver tries to speak to him in plaintive
tones, bringing his hands together, and the giant seems pleased.
Gulliver makes it clear that the giant’s fingers are hurting him,
and the giant places him in his pocket and begins to walk toward
his master.
The giant’s master, the farmer of these fields, takes
Gulliver from his servant and observes him more closely. He asks
the other servants if they have ever seen anything like Gulliver,
then places him onto the ground. They sit around him in a circle.
Gulliver kneels down and begins to speak as loudly as he can, taking
off his hat and bowing to the farmer. He presents a purse full of
gold to the farmer, which the farmer takes into his palm. He cannot
figure out what it is, even after Gulliver empties the coins into
his hand.
The farmer takes Gulliver back to his wife, who is frightened
of him. The servant brings in dinner, and they all sit down to eat, Gulliver
sitting on the table not far from the farmer’s plate. They give
him tiny bits of their food, and he pulls out his knife and fork
to eat, which delights the giants. The farmer’s son picks Gulliver
up and scares him, but the farmer takes Gulliver from the boy’s
hands and strikes his son. Gulliver makes a sign that the boy should
be forgiven, and kisses his hand. After dinner, the farmer’s wife
lets Gulliver nap in her own bed. When he wakes up he finds two
rats attacking him, and he defends himself with his “hanger,” or
sword.
Summary: Chapter II
The farmer’s nine-year-old daughter, whom Gulliver calls
Glumdalclitch, or “nursemaid,” has a doll’s cradle that becomes
Gulliver’s permanent bed. Glumdalclitch places the cradle inside
a drawer to keep Gulliver safe from the rats. She becomes Gulliver’s
caretaker and guardian, sewing clothes for him and teaching him
the giants’ language.
