journal of it. The captain called in at one or two ports,
and sent in his long-boat for provisions and fresh water, but I never
went out of the ship till we came into the Downs, which was on the third
day of June, 1706, about nine months after my escape. I offered to leave
pay goods in security for payment of my freight, but the captain
protested he would not receive one farthing. We took a kind leave of
each other, and I made him promise he would come to see me at my house
in Redriff. I hired a horse and guide for five shillings, which I
borrowed of the captain.
As I was on the road, observing the littleness of the houses--the trees,
the cattle, and the people, I began to think myself in Lilliput. I was
afraid of trampling on every traveller I met, and often called aloud to
have them stand out of the way, so that I had like to have gotten one or
two broken heads for my impertinence.
When I came to my own house, for which I was forced to inquire, one of
the servants opened the door, I bent down to go in (like a goose under a
gate), for fear of striking my head. My wife ran out to embrace me, but
I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could otherwise never be
able to reach my mouth. My daughter kneeled to ask my blessing, but I
could not see her till she arose, having been so long used to stand with
my head and eyes erect to above sixty feet; and then I went to take her
up with one hand by the waist. I looked down upon the servants, and one
or two friends who were in the house, as if they had been pygmies, and I
a giant. I told my wife she had been too thrifty, for I found she had
starved herself and her daughter to nothing. In short, I behaved myself
so unaccountably, that they were all of the captain's opinion when he
first saw me, and concluded I had lost my wits. This I mention as an
instance of the great power of habit and prejudice.
In a little time, I and my family and friends came to a right
understanding: but my wife protested I should never go to sea any more;
although my evil destiny so ordered, that she had not power to hinder
me, as the reader may know hereafter. In the meantime I here conclude
the second part of my unfortunate voyages.
[Illustration]
NOTE.
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1667, and died in 1745.
His parents were English. His father died before he was born, and his
mother was supported on a slender pittance by his father's brother. He
was educated at
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