Chapter-3
When I stood up, I could see all of the city and the farms around it. It looked like a garden with lots of doll houses in the centre. The fields looked like never-ending gardens. The tallest trees were no more than seven feet high.
The king descended from the tower and moved towards me on horseback. That could have proved very dangerous for him because the small horse had never seen such a moving mountain like me. It got disturbed at the sight and stood upwards on his hind legs. The king was brave enough to keep his seat till the attendants ran and controlled the horse. He got down and surveyed me from all sides in great wonder.
Then he ordered his cooks and butlers to give me food and drink. Twenty-two carts of meat and ten carts of liquor contained in earthen vessels were pushed towards me. I emptied each cart of meat in two or three mouthfuls and each cart of liquor was finished in one draught.
When I finished, I lay on the ground so that I might look at the king. The average height of each of the people of this country was about six inches. But the king was taller than others by almost the breadth of my nail. He was strongly built and graceful. He spoke to me and I spoke to him but we couldn’t understand each other. I tried all the languages I knew but the king did not know any of them.
After two hours, the king left. He put on duty a number of guards to make sure that none could trouble me. But the curious crowd came near to look at me. Some men shot arrows at me, one of which very narrowly missed my left eye. The colonel on duty ordered six of their leaders to be arrested. But the soldiers caught them and tied them up. Then, they pushed them close to me. I could see the soldiers wanted me to punish them. So, I picked them up in one hand.
Then I put five of them in my pocket. I took the sixth one and put him near my mouth. I pretended I wanted to eat him. The poor man cried out and the people watching were very frightened. Then I took out my knife and cut the man’s ropes. I put him on the ground very gently and he ran away very quickly. The crowd laughed and clapped their hands. I did the same thing with the other five men. The people were very obliged, seeing my gesture of kindness and mercy.
I had to sleep on the ground for a fortnight because they did not have a bed large enough for me. During this fortnight, the king got a bed prepared for me, for which about six hundred beds of their normal size were brought. One hundred and fifty of these beds were joined and stitched together to form one layer of my bed. Four such layers were sewn one upon the other to make a slightly comfortable bed. Sheets and blankets were also made for me in a similar manner.
Meanwhile, the king and his government talked for a long time about what should be done with me. They debated on the possibility of my breaking loose and the possible results thereof. It would cost a lot of money for food and perhaps there would not be enough food for everyone else. Some members suggested that I should be starved to death while others said that I should be shot dead with poisoned arrows. I too was much worried. But others asked, ‘What will we do with his dead body? It is very big and it will smell foul for a long time. Perhaps it will make our people sick’.
During one such meeting, some soldiers went to the meeting chamber and sought permission to narrate something to the members. Two of them were allowed inside and retold what had happened to the six men who shot arrows at me. The king was so highly impressed that they decided not to kill me.
An order was issued that all the villages within nine hundred yards of the city were to provide for my daily food. It was also ordered that the payment for this food would be made from His Majesty’s treasury. Six hundred persons were put on duty to look after me. Tents were built on each side of my house for them to stay in. They gave me servants to look after me. Three hundred tailors were ordered to make clothes for me. Six of the king’s greatest scholars were asked to teach me the language of this place. After three weeks of lessons, I could speak and understand a lot. I learnt that the name of the country was Lilliput and the people were called Lilliputians. I even expressed my desire for freedom on the king. His majesty answered that it was possible only on the advice of the court. He suggested that I should behave nicely with the members of his court only would they not object to my freedom.
