1. Warm up activity:
□ Discuss any travel account that you have read in English or Bengali and the places it describes. Imagine you are walking in a street in London or New York. How is your experience different from that of walking in the roads or streets of your town or city?
Travel can be imaginary as well. Authors would sometimes make imaginary voyages to strange places and draw pictures of people and places, manners and morals. Jonathon Swift's (1667-1745) Gulliver's Travels (1726) is an example of imaginary travel. Swift created a fictional traveller named Lamuel Gulliver, a ship doctor who visited the lands of the Lilliputs and Brobdingnags and the island of Laputa. These are all fictitious places inhabited by imaginary people. The travels here, however, carry a seious purpose. They reveal truths about human nature. For example, even today human life is poisoned by evils such as racism, religious extremism, bigotry etc. Gulliver during his visit to the land of the Lilliputs—who are humans, only about six inches tali-discover how strongly prejudiced the Lilliputians are about certain things and how these help nurse hatred and foment fratricidal war. Gulliver, a man of average height, gets a new insight into the pettiness of human nature when he arrives at the land of Lilliputs who are small not only in size but also in their thoughts and perceptions.
2. Now read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my Liberty, Reldresal, Principal Secretary (as they style him) of private Affairs, came to my House, attended only by one Servant. He ordered his Coach to wait at a Distance and desired I would give him an Hour's Audience; which I readily consented to, on Account of his Quality, and Personal Merits, as well as of the many good Offices he had done me during my Sollicitations at Court. I offered to lie down, that he might the more conveniently reach my Ear: but he chose rather to let me hold him in my Hand during our Conversation.
He began with Compliments on my Liberty; said, he might pretend to some Merit in it; but, however, added that if it had not been for the present Situation of things at Court, perhaps I might not have obtained it so soon. For, said he, as flourishing a Condition as we appear to be in to Foreigners, we labour, under two mighty Evils; a violent faction at home, and the Danger of an invasion by a most potent Enemy from abroad. As to the first, you are to understand, that for above seventy Moons past, there have been two struggling Parties in this Empire, under the Names of Tramecksan, and Slamecksan, from the high and low Heels on their Shoes, by which they distinguish themselves.
It is alleged indeed, that the high Heels are most agreeable to our ancient Constitution: But however this be, his Majesty hath determined to make use of only low Heels in the Administration of the Government, and all Offices in the Gift of the Crown; as you cannot but observe; and particularly, that his Majesty's Imperial Heels are lower at least by a Drurr than any of his Court (Drurr is a Measure about the fourteenth Part of an Inch). The Animosities between these two Parties run so high that they will neither eat, nor drink, nor talk with each other. We compute the Tramecksan, or High-Heels, to exceed us in Number; but the Power is wholly on our Side.
We apprehend his Imperial Highness, the Heir to the Crown, to have some Tendency towards the High-Heels; at least we can plainly discover one of his Heels higher than the other; which gives him a Hobble in his Gait Now, in the midst of these intestine Disquiets, we are threatened with an Invasion from the Island of Blefuscu, which is the other great Empire of the Universe, almost as large and powerful as this of his Majesty. For as to what we have heard you affirm, that there are other Kingdoms and States in the World inhabited by human Creatures as large as yourself, our Philosophers are in much Doubt; and would rather conjecture that you dropt from the Moon, or one of the Stars;
because it is certain, that an hundred Mortals of your Bulk, would, in a short Time, destroy all the Fruits and Cattle of his Majesty's Dominions: besides, our Histories of six Thousand Moons make no Mention of any other Regions, than the two great Empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu. Which two mighty Powers have, as I was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate War for six and thirty Moons past. It began upon the following Occasion. It is allowed on all Hands, that the primitive way of breaking Eggs before we eat them, was upon the larger End; But his present Majesty's Grandfather, while he was a Boy going to eat an Egg, and breaking it according to ancient Practice, happened to cut one of his Fingers.
Whereupon the Emperor his Father published an Edict, commanding all his Subjects, upon great Penalties, to break the smaller End of their Eggs. The People so highly resented this Law, that our Histories tell us, there have been six Rebellions raised on that Account; wherein one Emperor lost his Life, and another his Crown. These civil Commotions were constantly fomented by the Monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the Exiles always fled for Refuge to that Empire. It is computed that eleven Thousand Persons have, at several Times, suffered Death, rather than submit to break their Eggs at the smaller End. Many hundred large Volumes have been published upon this Controversy: But the Books of the Big-Indians have been long forbidden, and the whole Party rendered incapable by Law of holding Employments.
3. Answer the following questions:
a. In the extract, who comes to visit Gulliver's house? What is his official position?
b. What does he tell Gulliver about his liberty?
c. Who are Tramecksan and Slamecksan ? What is the difference between them?
d. How long is a Drurr?
e. How many people died in the war on breaking eggs?
f. Why did the heir to the throne hobble?
4. Some words have been capitalized in the above extract though they are not capitalized in standard English. Do you have any ideas why?
5. Choose any two lines from the text and rewrite and punctuate them in standard English.
6. What are the two causes of division among the people here? How serious are they? Do you see any reflection of contemporary politics in the extract? Is the narrator critical of the Lilliputians? Has he chosen to laugh at them? Why and how does he ridicule them?
7. What is factionalism? What evidences of factionalism do you find here? What are the bad effects of factionalism?
8. Give the contextual meanings of the following words:
a. disquiet
b. heir
c. conjecture
d. foment
e. quell
f. animosity
9. List 5 noun words and 5 adjectival words from the extract. Now make sentences of your own with them.
If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:
Lesson 4: The Wonders of Vilayet
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