ed at so much wit and good sense in so diminutive an
animal. She took me in her own hand, and carried me to the king, who was
then retired to his cabinet. His majesty, a prince of much gravity and
austere countenance, not well observing my shape at first view, asked the
queen after a cold manner "how long it was since she grew fond of a
_splacnuck_?" for such it seems he took me to be, as I lay upon my breast
in her majesty's right hand. But this princess, who has an infinite deal
of wit and humour, set me gently on my feet upon the scrutoire, and
commanded me to give his majesty an account of myself, which I did in a
very few words: and Glumdalclitch who attended at the cabinet door, and
could not endure I should be out of her sight, being admitted, confirmed
all that had passed from my arrival at her father's house.

The king, although he be as learned a person as any in his dominions, had
been educated in the study of philosophy, and particularly mathematics;
yet when he observed my shape exactly, and saw me walk erect, before I
began to speak, conceived I might be a piece of clock-work (which is in
that country arrived to a very great perfection) contrived by some
ingenious artist. But when he heard my voice, and found what I delivered
to be regular and rational, he could not conceal his astonishment. He
was by no means satisfied with the relation I gave him of the manner I
came into his kingdom, but thought it a story concerted between
Glumdalclitch and her father, who had taught me a set of words to make me
sell at a better price. Upon this imagination, he put several other
questions to me, and still received rational answers: no otherwise
defective than by a foreign accent, and an imperfect knowledge in the
language, with some rustic phrases which I had learned at the farmer's
house, and did not suit the polite style of a court.

His majesty sent for three great scholars, who were then in their weekly
waiting, according to the custom in that country. These gentlemen, after
they had a while examined my shape with much nicety, were of different
opinions concerning me. They all agreed that I could not be produced
according to the regular laws of nature, because I was not framed with a
capacity of preserving my life, either by swiftness, or climbing of
trees, or digging holes in the earth. They observed by my teeth, which
they viewed with great exactness, that I was a carnivorous animal; yet
most quadrupeds