Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 12 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

12 of my fearfulness; and she used to ask me whether Se the people of my country were as t cowards as . The occasion was this: the om is much with flies in summer; and these odious in- each of them as big as a Dunstable lark, y gave me any rest whileI sat at dinner, with their continual humming and buzzing about mine ears. They would sometimes alight upon my vict- uals, and leave theirloathsome excrement or spawn behind, which to me was very visible, though not to the natives of that country, whose large optics were not so acute as mine in viewing smaller objects. Sometimes they would fix upon my nose or forehead, where they stung me to the quick, smelling very of- fensively; and I could easily trace that viscous mat- ter, which, our naturalists tell us, enable those crea- tures to walk with their feet upward upon a ceiling. I had much ado to defend myself against these de- testable animals, and could not forbear starting when they came on my face. It was the common ractice of the dwarf, to catch a number of these nsects in his hand, as schoolboys do among us, and let them out suddenly under my nose, on 4 ge to frighten me and divert the queen. My rem ‘4 was to cut them in pieces with my knife as they flew in the air, wherein my dexterity was much admired, I remember, one morning, when Glumdalclitch had set me ina box upon a window, as she usually did in fair days, to give me air (for I durst not ven- ture to let the box be hung on a nail out of the win- dow, as we do with cages in England), after I had lifted up one of my sashes, and sat down at my table to eat a piece of sweet cake for my breakfast, about twenty wasps, allured by the smell, came flying into the room, humming louder than the drones of as many hip pe se Some of them seized my cake, and arried it piecemeal away; others flew about my head and face, confounding me with the noise, and putting me in the utmost terror of their stings. How- ever, I had the courage to rise and draw my hanger and attack them in the air. I dispatched four o | ee + 5 ae ae a ee eee eee was allowed to Glumdalclitch and me, wherein her governess frequently took her out to see the town, or among the Ops; and I was always of the , carried in x; although the gir at my own desire, would often take me out, and hold mein od hand, that I ht Tee oibeed aia? rae Be ouses and the people, as we ong the streets. I reckoned our coach to be about a square of West- minster Hall, but not altogether so high; however, I cannot be very exact. One day, the governess or- dered our coachman to stop at several shops, where the beggars, watching their opportunity, crowded to the sides of the coach, and gave me the most hor- rible spectacle that ever a European eye beheld. There was a woman with a cancer in her breast, swelled to a monstrous size, full of holes, in two or three of which I could have re | crept, and covered my whole body. There was a fellow with a wen in his neck, ao ag than five wool-packs; and another with a couple of wooden legs, each about twenty feet high. But the most hateful sight of all was the lice crawling on their clothes. I could see distinctly the limbs of these vermin with my naked eve, much better than those of a European louse through a microscope, and their snouts, with which they rooted like swine. They were the first I had ever beheld, and I should have been curious enough to dissect one of them, if I had had the proper instru- ments, which I unluckily left behind me in the ship; although, indeed, the sight was so nauseous, that it perfectly turned my stomach. Besides the large box in which I was usually car- ried, the queen ordered a smaller one to be made for me, of about twelve feet square, and ten high, for the convenience of ba oar because the other was somewhat too large for Glumdalclitch’s lap, and cumbersomein the coach; it was made by the same artist, whom I directed in the whole contrivance. This traveling closet was an exact square, with a window in the middle of three of the squares, and each window was latticed with iron wire on the out- them, but the rest got away, andI presently shut my | side, to prevent accidents in long journeys. On the window. These insects were as large as artridges; | fourth side, which had no window, two strong sta- I took out their stings, found them an inch anda | ples were fixed, through which the person that car- and as sharp as needles. I carefully pre- ried me, when half long, served them all; and having since shown them, with some other curiosities, in several parts of Europe, see my return to land I gave three of them to resham College, and kept the fourth for myself. CHAPTER IV. I now intend to give the reader a short description of this country, as far asI traveled init, which was not above two thousand miles round Lorbrulgrud, the metropolis. For the queen, whom I always at- tended, never went further when she accompanied the king in his progresses, and there stayed till his majesty returned from viewing his frontiers. The whole extent of this prince’s dominions reaches about six thousand miles in length, and from three to five in breadth; whence I cannot but conclude, that our geographers of Europe are in a great error by supposing nothing but sea between Japan and ornia; for it was ever my opinion, that there must be a balance of earth to counterpoise the t continent of Tartary; and, therefore, they ought to correct their maps and charts, by joining this vast tract of land to the north-west parts of America; wherein I shall be ready to lend them my assistance. The kingdom is a peninsula, terminated to the north-east by a ridge of mountains thirty miles high, which are altogether impassable, by reason of the voleanes upon the tops; neither do the most learned know what sort of mortals inhabit beyond these mountains, or whether they be inhabited at all. On the three other sidesit is bounded by the ocean. There is not one seaport in the whole kingdom; and those parts of the coasts into which the rivers is- sue, are so full of goer rocks, and the sea gene- rally so rough, that there is no venturing with the smallest of their boats; so that these Sig le are wholly excluded from any commerce with the rest of the world. But the large rivers are full of vessels and abound with excellent fish; for they seldom get any from the sea, because the sea-fish are of the same size with those in Europe, and consequently not worth catching; whereby it is manifest, that na- ture, in the production of plants and animals of so extraordinary a bulk, is wholly confined to this con- tinent, of which I leave the reasons to be determined by philosophers, However, now and then they take a whale that happens to be dashed against the rocks, which the common people feed on heartily. These whales I have known so large, that a man could hard- ly one upon his shoulders; and sometimes, for curiosi Me they are brought in hampers to Lorbrul- gre saw one of them in a dish at the king's ble, which passed fora rarity; but I did not ob- serve he was fond of it, for I think, indeed, the big- ness disgusted him, although I have seen one some- what larger in Greenland. The country is well inhabited, for it contains fifty- one cities, near a hundred walled towns, and a t number of villages. To satisfy my curious reader, it may be sufficient to describe Lorbrulgrud. This city stands upon almost two equal parts, on each side the river that passes through. It contains above eighty thousand houses, and about six hundred thou- sand inhabitants. Itis in length three g lungs (which make about fifty-four English miles), and two and a half in breadth; as I measured it myself in the royal map made by the king’s order, which was laid on the und on purpose for me, and ex- tended a hund feet; I paced the diameter and circumf ral times barefoot, and comput- erence seve by the scale, measured it pretty exactly. edifice, but a heap s palace isn king of building, about se miles round: the chief nerally two hundred and forty feet eee lt tt ER tt CC LL Tt 2 ee a mind to be on horseback, put a leathern belt, and buckled it about his waist. is was always the office of some grave trusty servant, in whom I could confide, whether I attended the king and queen in their progresses, or were disposed to see the gardens, or pay a visit to some great lad or minister of state in the court, when Glumdal- clitch happened to be out of order; for I soon began to be known and esteemed among the test offi- cers, I suppose more on account of their majesties’ favor, than any merit of my own. In journeys, when I was very of the coach, a servant on horse- back would buckle on my box, and place it upon a cushion before him; and there I had a full prospect of the country on three sides, from my three win- dows. I had,in this closet, a field-bed and a ham- mock hung from the ceiling, two chairs and a table neatly screwed to the floor, to prevent being tosse about by the agitation of the horse or the coach. And ha been long used to sea-voyages, those mo- tions, although sometimes very violent, did not much discompose me. Whenever I had a mind to see the town, it was always in my traveling-closet; which Glumdalclitch held in her lap in a d of open sedan, after the fashion of the country, borne by four men, and at- tended by two others in the queen’s livery. The people, who had often heard of me, were very curi- ous to crowd about the sedan, and the girl was com- plaisant enough to make the bearers stop, and to oe me in her hand, that I might be more convient- y seen, I was very desirous to see the chief temple, and particularly the tower belonging to it, which is reck- oned the hichest in the kingdom, Accordingly, one day my nurse carried me thither, but I may truly say I came back nae ag for the hight is not above three thousand feet, reckoning from the round to the highest pinnacle top; which allowing 5 | eadle’s Half-Dime Library. | or the difference between the size of those people | and us in Europe, is no great matter for admiration, not at all equal in to Salisbury steep tion to which, duri _ myself extremely obliged, whatever this famous tower wants in hight is amp- ly made up in beauty and strength; for the walls are near a hundred feet thick, built of hewn stone whereof each is about forty feet square, and adorn on all sides with statues of gods and emperors, cut in marble, larger than the life, placed in their several niches. I measured a little finger which had fallen down from one these statues, and lay unperceived among some rubbish, and found it exactly four feet and an inch in length. Glumdalclitch wrenped it up in her handkerchief, and carried it home in her pock- et, to keep among other trinkets, of which the girl was very fond, as children at her age usually are. The king’s kitchen is, ind a noble meng. vaulted at top, and about six hundred feet high. The great oven is not so wide, by ten paces, as the cupola of St. Pauil’s; for I measured the latter on pera after my return. But if I should describe he kitchen grate, the prodigious pots and kettles, the joints of meat tu ng on the spits, with many other particulars, perhaps I should be hardly believ- ed; at least, a severe critic would be apt to think I enlarged a little, as travelers are often suspected to do; to avoid which censure, I fear I have run too much into the other extreme; and that if this trea- tise should happen to be translated e of Brobdingnag (which is the kingdom), and transmitted thither, the king and his ple would have reason to complain that I had one them an injury, by a false and diminutive re- life, I shall acknowledge rooms are ge high, and broad and long in proportion. A coach | presentation. it must be allowed, that | aes ye (if L rightly remember) | e. But, not to detract from a na- | His majesty seldom keeps above six hundred horses in his stables; they are generally from fifty-four to sixty feet es 9 But when he goes abroad on solemn days, he is attended, for state, by a militia guard of five hundred horse, which, indeed, I thought was the most splendid sight that could be ever beheld, till I saw part of his army in battalis, whereof I shall find another occasion to speak. CHAPTER V. I sHoutp have lived happy enough in that country, if my littleness had not exposed me to several ridi- culous and troublesome accidents; some of which I shall venture to relate. Glumdalclitch often carried me into the gardens of the court in my smaller box, and would sometimes take me out of it, and hold me in her hand, or set me down to walk. I remember, before the dwarf left the queen, he followed us one day into those gardens, and my nurse having set me down, he and I being close together near some dwarf apple-trees, I must needs show my wit by a silly al- lusion between him and the trees, which ap 9ens to hold in their language as it does in ours. ereup- on, the malicious rogue, watching his opportunity, when Iwas walking under one of them, shook it directly over my head, by which a dozen apples, each of them near as large as a Bristol barrel, came tumbling about my ears; one of them hit me on the back as I chanced to stoop, and knocked me down flat on my face; but I received no other hurt, and the dwarf was pardoned at my desire, because i had given the provocation. Another day, Glumdalclitch left me on a smooth grass-plot to divert myself, while she walked at some distance with her governess. In the meantime, there suddenly fell such a violent shower of hail, that Iwas immediately, by the force of it, struck to the ground; and when I was down, the hailstones gare me such cruel bangs all over the body, as if I been pelted with tennis-balls; however, I made a shift to creep on all-fours, and shelter myself, by lying flat on my face, on the lee-side of a border of lemon thyme; but so bruised from head to foot, that Icould not go abroad for ten days. Neither is this at all to be wondered at; because nature, in that country, observing the same proportion through all her operations, a hailstone is near eighteen hundred times as large as one in Europe; which I can assert upon experience, having been so curious as to weigh and measure them. But a more dangerous accident happened to me in the same garden, when my little nurse, believing she had put me in a secure place (which I often entreat- ed her to do, that I might enjoy my own _thoughts,) and having left my box at home, to avoid the trou- ble of carrying it, went to another partof the garden with her governess and some ladies of her acquain- ¢ tance. While she was absent and out of hear ng a small white spaniel that belonged to one of the c ief ardeners, having got by eccicent into the garden, appened to range near the place where Ilay; the dog, following the scent, came directly up, and tak- me in his mouth, ran straight to his master, wag- ging his tail, and set me gently on the ground, By good-fortune, he had been so well taught, that I was carried between his teeth without the least burt, or even tearing my clothes. But the poor gardener, who knew me well, and had a great kindness for me, was in a terrible fright; he gently took me up in both his hands, and asked me how I did; but I was so amazed and out of breath that Icould not speak aword. In a few minutes 1 came to myself, and he carried me safe to my little nurse, who, by this time, had returned to the place where she left me, and was in cruel agonies whenI did not appear, nor answer when she called. She severely reprimanded the garcons: on account of his dog; but the thing was ushed up, and never known at court, for the girl was afraid of the queen’s anger: and truly, as to my- self, 1 thought it would not be fér my reputation that such a story should go about. This accident absolutely determined Glumdaiclitch never to trust me abroad, for the future, out of her sight. Ihad been long afraid of this resolution, and therefore concealed from her some little unlucky ad- ventures that happened in those times when | was left by myself. nce, a kite, hovering over the gar- den, made a stoop at me; and if I had not resolutely drawn my hanger, and run under a thick espalier, he would have certainly carried me away in his tal- ons, Another time, walking to the top of afresh molehill, I fell to my neck in the hole through which that animal had cast up the earth, and coined some lie, not worth remembering, to excuse myself for spoiling my clothes. I likewise broke my right shin against the shell of a snail, which I Aappened to stumble over, as 1 was walking alone, and thinking on poor England. I cannot tell whether I were more pleased or mor- tified to observe, in those solitary walks, that the smaller birds did not appear to be at all afraid of me, but would hop about within a yard’s distance, look- ing for worms and other food, with as much indiffer- ence and security as if no creature at all was near them. I remember, a thrush had the confidence to snatch out of my hand, with his bill, a piece of cake that Glumdalclitch had just given me for my break- fast. When J attempted to catch any of these birds, they would boldly turn against me, endeavoring to peck my fingers, which I durst not venture within their reach; and then they would hop back uncon- cerned, to hunt for worms and snails, as they did before. But one day, I took a thick cudgel, and threw it with all my might so luckily at a linnet, that Iknocked him down, and seizing him by the neck with both my hands, ran with him in triumph to my nurse. However, mes ~ eg hong ane only been ante ned, recovering himseu, € sO man xes with his wings on both sides of my head and body though I held him at arm’s length, and was out of