hapel that stood near, and got out
of the window again with a jump. The boar pursued him into the church,
but the tailor skipped round to the door, and closed it securely. So the
raging beast was caught, for it was far too heavy and unwieldy to spring
out of the window. The little tailor summoned the huntsmen together,
that they might see the prisoner with their own eyes. Then the hero
betook himself to the King, who was obliged now, whether he liked it or
not, to keep his promise, and hand him over his daughter and half his
kingdom. Had he known that no hero-warrior, but only a little tailor
stood before him, it would have gone even more to his heart. So the
wedding was celebrated with much splendor and little joy, and the tailor
became a king.

After a time the Queen heard her husband saying one night in his sleep:
"My lad, make that waistcoat and patch these trousers, or I'll box your
ears." Thus she learned in what rank the young gentleman had been born,
and next day she poured forth her woes to her father, and begged him to
help her to get rid of a husband who was nothing more nor less than a
tailor. The King comforted her, and said: "Leave your bedroom door open
to-night, my servants shall stand outside, and when your husband is
fast asleep they shall enter, bind him fast, and carry him on to a
ship, which shall sail away out into the wide ocean." The Queen was
well satisfied with the idea, but the armor-bearer, who had overheard
everything, being much attached to his young master, went straight to
him and revealed the whole plot. "I'll soon put a stop to the business,"
said the tailor. That night he and his wife went to bed at the usual
time; and when she thought he had fallen asleep she got up, opened the
door, and then lay down again. The little tailor, who had only pretended
to be asleep, began to call out in a clear voice: "My lad, make that
waistcoat and patch those trousers, or I'll box your ears. I have killed
seven at a blow, slain two giants, led a unicorn captive, and caught a
wild boar, then why should I be afraid of those men standing outside my
door?" The men, when they heard the tailor saying these words, were so
terrified that they fled as if pursued by a wild army, and didn't dare
go near him again. So the little tailor was and remained a king all the
days of his life.

A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT

CHAPTER I

My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire, and I was the third
of four sons