me round with great admiration, but kept
beyond the length of my chain. He ordered his cooks and butlers, who
were already prepared, to give me victuals and drink, which they pushed
forward in sorts of vehicles upon wheels till I could reach them. I took
these vehicles, and soon emptied them all; twenty of them were filled
with meat, and ten with liquor; each of the former afforded me two or
three good mouthfuls, and I emptied the liquor of ten vessels, which was
contained in earthen vials, into one vehicle, drinking it off at a
draught. The empress and young princes of the blood, of both sexes,
attended by many ladies, sat at some distance in their chairs, but upon
the accident that happened to the emperor's horse they alighted and came
near his person, which I am now going to describe.

He is taller, by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court,
which is alone enough to strike an awe into the beholders. His features
are strong and masculine, with an Austrian lip and arched nose; his
complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbs well
proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportment majestic. He
was then past his prime, being twenty-eight years and three-quarters
old,[5] of which he had reigned about seven in great felicity, and
generally victorious. For the better convenience of beholding him I lay
on my side, so that my face was parallel to his, and he stood but three
yards off; however, I have had him since many times in my hand, and
therefore cannot be deceived in the description. His dress was very
plain and simple, and the fashion of it between the Asiatic and the
European; but he had on his head a light helmet of gold, adorned with
jewels, and a plume on the crest. He held his sword drawn in his hand to
defend himself if I should happen to break loose; it was almost three
inches long, the hilt and scabbard were gold enriched with diamonds. His
voice was shrill, but very clear and articulate, and I could distinctly
hear it when I stood up.

[Footnote 5: Swift uses his reducing imagination even on the time,
perceiving that it would not seem natural for his tiny manikins to have
as long lives as the "man mountain" on which they gazed with such
wonder.]

[Illustration: THE EMPEROR VISITS GULLIVER]

The ladies and courtiers were all most magnificently clad, so that the
spot they stood upon seemed to resemble a petticoat spread on the ground
embroidered with figures of gold and s