of very high rank, marched with some others on to Gulliver's
chest and held up to his eyes a paper which Gulliver understood to be
an order from the King of the country. The officer made a long speech,
often pointing towards something a long way off, and (as Gulliver
afterwards learned) told him that he was to be taken as a prisoner to
the city, the capital of the country.

Gulliver asked, by signs, that his bonds might be loosed. The officer
shook his head and refused, but he allowed some of his soldiers to
slack the cords on one side, whereby Gulliver was able to feel more
comfortable. After this, the little people drew out the arrows that
still stuck in his hands and face, and rubbed the wounds with some
pleasant-smelling ointment, which so soothed his pain that very soon
he fell sound asleep. And this was no great wonder, for, as he
afterwards understood, the King's physicians had mixed a very strong
sleeping draught with the wine that had been given him.

Gulliver awoke with a violent fit of sneezing, and with the feeling of
small feet running away from off his chest.

Where was he? Bound still, without doubt, but no longer did he find
himself lying on the ground. It puzzled him greatly that now he lay on
a sort of platform. How had he got there?

Soon he began to realize what had happened; and later, when he
understood the language, he learned all that had been done to him
while he slept. Before he dropped asleep, he had heard a rumbling as
of wheels, and the shouts of many drivers. This, it seemed, was caused
by the arrival of a huge kind of trolley, a few inches high, but
nearly seven feet long, drawn by fifteen hundred of the King's largest
horses.

On this it was meant that he should be taken to the city. By the use
of strong poles fixed in the ground, to which were attached many
pulleys, and the strongest ropes to be found in the country, nine
hundred men managed to hoist him as he slept. They then put him on the
trolley, where they again tied him fast.

It was when they were far on their way to the city that Gulliver
awoke. The trolley had stopped for a little to breathe the horses, and
one of the officers of the King's Guard who had not before seen
Gulliver, climbed with some friends up his body. While looking at his
face, the officer could not resist the temptation of putting the point
of his sword up Gulliver's nose, which tickled him so that he woke,
sneezing violently.

III

GULLIVER I