Story synopsis of "Gulliver's Travels"
Gulliver is a British man who loves sailing travel. He studied medicine when he was young, and later worked as a surgeon on a shipping ship. He traveled around the world many times, visited many places, and had many adventures. The most commendable ones are his four trips to the Kingdom of Lilliput, the Kingdom of Adults, the Kingdom of Flying Islands, and the Kingdom of Huima. The following is his travel experience.
On May 4, 1699, Gulliver was hired by the captain of the "Antelope" to sail in the Pacific Ocean. Due to a storm, the "Antelope" ran aground and sank. He and five sailors jumped into the lifeboat to escape, but the boat capsized halfway. Gulliver was blown to Lilliput Island alone by the wind and waves. After landing, he lay down on the grass and fell asleep due to excessive fatigue. When he woke up, he felt that he could not move his whole body. His limbs and body were tightly bound, and even his hair was tied to the ground one by one. He could only lie on his back, and the sun was so intense that he could not open his eyes. At this time, he heard a slight noise around him. At the same time, he felt something crawling on his left leg. The thing gradually climbed up his body, went to his chest, and then to his chin. Gulliver looked down briefly and saw a little man less than six inches tall. He was holding a bow and arrow in both hands and carrying a quiver on his back. He was leading the way with an air of pride, followed by more than forty little men, all in military uniforms. dress up. Gulliver shouted, causing them to run away desperately. Some rolled off him to the ground, and some trampled on themselves and were injured.
After a while, the villain gathered around again. Gulliver became impatient. He turned his left hand slightly, and hundreds of arrows shot at him. He felt like he was being stabbed by needles. Gulliver had to lie still. The villain built a high platform about three or four yards from his right ear. A very respectable officer-like man stood on the high platform and made a speech to him, asking him to surrender. Gulliver had no choice but to surrender. So fifty little men ran forward, cut the ropes, and loosened him. Gulliver pointed to his mouth to show that he was terribly hungry. The little men placed several ladders on both sides of his body. Hundreds of little men carried baskets and poured baskets of food into his mouth in turn. Gulliver had to swallow two or three baskets of food in one mouthful, and the villain was overwhelmed. They were amazed at Gulliver's huge appetite.
Then the villain used fifteen thousand royal horses to pull him into the capital. The emperor (who was a fingernail taller than his subjects) led his ministers to admire Gulliver's presence on a high tower. The residents of Lilliput also came in an endless stream to watch, because this was a giant they had never seen before. The emperor held a meeting of ministers to discuss how to deal with Gulliver. Some people worry that Gulliver's appetite is too large. His food alone can feed 1,720 little people. Diet alone may cause famine in the country; some people advocated killing Gulliver, but they were worried that his huge corpse would stink and cause a plague in the capital. Finally, the emperor decided to let Gulliver stay for the time being, and sent 500 people to work for him. He also called 300 tailors to quickly make him a dress according to the most fashionable style in the country.
One day, Gulliver got permission from the king to visit the imperial city and palace. The imperial city is surrounded by walls, two and a half feet high and eleven inches wide, with a pheasant fort built every ten feet. Gulliver entered the city from the west gate. He walked carefully on the street for fear of stepping on the citizens. He was wearing short clothes because he was afraid that the skirt of his clothes would damage the ridge and eaves of the roof. The houses on both sides of the street are three to five storeys, and the windows and balconies of each house are crowded with people watching the excitement. The two main streets were five feet wide, and those alleys could only accommodate one of Gulliver's feet. The palace is in the center of the city, with a two-foot-high imperial wall. The king wanted Gulliver to visit his grand palace, but Gulliver could not enter. Later, he came up with a clever idea: he selected the largest trees in the imperial garden and used a knife to cut them into two chairs about three feet high. One was placed in the outer court and the other was placed in the inner court. He stepped on the chair and entered the palace. He lay on an open space in the palace and looked up at the palace carefully. There he saw luxurious furnishings and the queen and princess surrounded by their maidservants.
The territory of Lilliput is not large. They have strange customs. When the king was selecting officials, he asked people to dance on a rope. Whoever danced high could become a high official. The Chancellor is considered the highest jumper in the country (by an inch). During the grand festival, officials also performed stunts up and down the emperor's clinging bar. Ribbons of different colors will be awarded according to the level of performance skills.
There are two political parties in this country. The difference between them is that one party wears higher heels and the other party wears lower heels. The high-heeled party believed that it was in line with the modern system, while the king preferred the low-heeled party. Therefore, government officials are all people with low affiliations with the party. The hatred between the two parties runs deep. The crown prince wanted to please both sides. For this reason, one of his heels is high and the other is low.
This country often has wars with the neighboring island nation of Blefuscu. The cause of the war was that the island country of Lilliput changed its habit of eating eggs. Instead of breaking the big end first, people were asked to break the small end first. Those in China who were accustomed to following the ancient system were dissatisfied and divided into the "Big Duan Sect" and the "Little Duan Sect". They attack each other as "heresies." The "Big Endians" were suppressed at home, and they fled to Blefuscu, causing a war between the two empires. Not long ago, Blefuscu built a new batch of warships and prepared to go to war with Lilliput again. In order to show his loyalty to Lilliput, Gulliver crossed the sea and pulled all the enemy warships over with ropes. For this reason, the king gave him a noble title. Then the king ordered him to destroy Blefuscu and turn it into a province of his own. Gulliver disagreed and said to the emperor: "I will never be someone else's tool to turn a free and brave nation into a slave." The king and ministers became dissatisfied with him and wanted to harm him.
Once, the palace caught fire. Due to difficulty in transporting water, Gulliver peed to put out the fire. This made the queen very disgusted. In addition, the Minister of the Navy was jealous of his achievements, and the Minister of Finance suspected that his wife was having an affair with Gulliver, so the king convened a conspiracy meeting to convict Gulliver of treason and stab his eyes out. After Gulliver learned about it, he hurriedly fled to the ancient country of Blefus. Then he found a small boat from there and left in it. He encountered a British merchant ship on the high seas. He took this merchant ship and returned to London in 1702. Thus ended his first tour.
Gulliver’s second trip was on June 20, 1702. He sailed to North America on the Adventure. Arriving at Brobdingnag Island in June of the following year. He and the sailors went to the island to find fresh water and were chased by a giant. His friends rowed and escaped, but he was too late to escape. Gulliver hid in a forest-like wheat field (the wheat ears were at least forty feet high). After a while, he saw a giant coming up from the field. The giant was as tall as an ordinary church steeple and could take a step of ten yards. Gulliver heard his call, and the sound was several times louder than the trumpet. At first it sounded like a thunderbolt in the air. After the giant called, seven giants came towards him, holding sickles in their hands. These giants were twelve times taller than Gulliver, and the sickles they held in their hands were as big as six ordinary sickles. It turned out that the first giant was a rich farmer, and the rest were farmers who cut wheat for him. A wheat-cutting giant approached the wheat field where Gulliver was hiding. Gulliver thought of his dangerous situation: either he would be cut to death by a sickle in the wheat field, or he would be trampled to death by a giant. So he shouted loudly.
When the wheat-cutting giant heard the cry, he searched the fields in all directions, and finally found Gulliver. At this time, the giant hesitated a little, and his expression was just like when we meet a small insect and worry about being stung by it. Finally he leaned down, picked up Gulliver between his thumb and forefinger, and looked at it carefully before his eyes. Gulliver tried his best to pretend to be honest and remained motionless. Because he has been lifted sixty feet in the air, if he slips from his fingers, he will fall into a meat pie. Gulliver used gestures to express to the giant the pain of being pinched between his fingers. The giant understood and carefully put Gulliver into his clothes. Then, he ran to his master excitedly.
The rich farmer took Gulliver home. He was left in the care of his nine-year-old daughter Glenda Krich. Gulliver slept on the giant's bed. The mice here are so big that two of them ran into the bed. Gulliver had to draw his sword to defend himself, and finally stabbed one of them to death. The giants in the village regarded Gulliver as a little monster and came to see him one after another. Someone suggested that Gulliver could be used to make money. So the owner put him in a box and took him to various towns for exhibitions. The master also asked Gulliver to perform knife and stick skills, which caused a sensation throughout the country. Later, he was brought into the palace to perform for the queen and ladies. The queen was very happy and bought him from the rich peasants. At this time, Gulliver was reluctant to leave the rich farmer's daughter Glenda Krich, so he made a request to the queen: to keep the rich farmer's daughter as a nanny. The queen agreed.
Adult Country is a peninsula, one side of which is connected to the mainland. There are fifty-one large cities in the country, which are very densely populated.
The king was a very knowledgeable man. He had a "clear mind and precise judgment." He asked Gulliver about European customs, religion, law, government and learning. Gulliver told him about the major events that had happened in Britain in the past hundred years. But after hearing this, he said: "These big things are just a lot of conspiracies, rebellions, assassinations, massacres, revolutions and exiles" and accused: "Most of your compatriots belong to the abominable little crawlers in nature. The most harmful kind of poisonous insect." Gulliver suggested helping him make gunpowder and guns to strengthen his national defense. The king was greatly disgusted and believed that the people who invented these murderous weapons were "enemies of mankind" and "he would rather abandon half of the country than hear this secret." He is to govern the country with reason and kindness. His evaluation of people is: "Whoever can make the land that originally produced only one ear of corn and one blade of grass grow two bunches of ears of corn and two blades of grass will do more good to mankind than all politicians. The contribution to the country is even greater." So Gulliver believed, "This monarch has all kinds of respectable, beloved and admirable qualities: he has outstanding talents, infinite wisdom, profound knowledge, and the ability to govern the country. , and was also supported by the people."
Gulliver lived in the adult country for two years. Once, when he and the king were traveling, the box containing him was carried into the air by an eagle, and then fell into the sea. Fortunately, he met a British seagoing ship and rescued him. So he returned to London in June 1706. Ended his trip to the adult country.
Gulliver traveled to the flying island country for the third time. It was August 5, 1706. He took the large merchant ship "Good Hope" to sail in Indochina and Malaya. After being attacked by pirates, he was banished to a canoe by the pirates. Fortunately, the waves carried him to land. After climbing the cliff, he discovered a strange phenomenon: an island full of people flew into the sky, blocking the sun for six or seven minutes. Then, the flying island landed on the ground, and Gulliver took the opportunity to climb up. The faces and costumes of the people on the flying island are very strange. "Their heads are either tilted to the right or to the left. One of their eyes is sunken in, and the other eye is pointing straight to the ceiling." Their coats are decorated with images of the sun, moon, and planets; their vocal organs and hearing organs are very slow, and they have to slap their mouths and ears with an inflated urine bladder before they can speak and obey, otherwise they will You will forget what just happened.
The people on the island are always in panic because they are very knowledgeable about astronomy. I am afraid that the sun will get closer to the earth every day, and the earth will be swallowed by the sun. As soon as they meet an acquaintance in the morning, they first ask about the health of the sun. This flying island only has about 10,000 acres. The bottom layer is made of diamond layer and can be raised and lowered at will by a magnet. On the flying island lived the king and his nobles, as well as some craftsmen, women and children. The king ruled over large territories and vassal states outside the flying islands. If the subjects disobey or rebel, he will fly the island over the scene of the incident; at least he will take away their right to enjoy the sun and rain, or at worst he will use the island to land directly on their heads and crush all the houses. buildings and people and animals.
Gulliver was treated coldly on the flying island. He did not live long before the king sent him to Ragdo, the capital of the lower world. Here, he met the noble Menodie, visited his farm, and also visited the National Academy of Sciences and the school. Scientists here are happily conducting all kinds of ridiculous research: some are immersed in designing how to extract sunlight from cucumbers; some want to turn excrement into food; use pigs to plow the land; and some want to use spiders to weave webs. Bellows are used to treat diseases and so on. In school education, people here are ready to eliminate vocabulary, thinking that this is good for health. A professor is writing a book on how to detect anti-government plots. So Gulliver introduced him to Landon (alluding to London)'s practices in this regard. Gulliver said: "The residents there are almost all detectives, witnesses, informers, appellants, prosecutors, witnesses, sworn accusers and their minions... Most of the people who create conspiracies in this kingdom are those who are trying to To elevate one's status as a politician, to revitalize a weak and incompetent government, to suppress or alleviate the dissatisfaction of the masses, to steal confiscated property to fill one's own pockets, and to sway public opinion to suit personal interests." The professor was very happy after hearing this and was going to write it into a book.
After Gulliver left Lagdo, he went to Witchman Island, another territory of Fei Island. The chief here is proficient in magic and can summon the ghosts of the dead. Gulliver met Alexander, Caesar, Pompey, Homer, Aristotle and other famous figures in history.
He also compared the Roman Parliament with the modern Parliament, saying: "The Roman Parliament seemed to be a gathering of heroes and demigods, while the modern Parliament seems to be a group of hawkers, pickpockets, robbers and thugs." At the same time. , he also requested to meet the ancient British farmers, believing that "their customs are simple, their clothes and food are simple, they always trade fairly, they have a true spirit of freedom, and they are brave and patriotic. These virtues of theirs were very famous in the past", but now "they are all Their descendants were sold out for a few bucks.” Later, Gulliver traveled to the Kingdom of Ragnagg. The ministers here had to lick the floor when they met with the king. The king spread poison on the floor to kill the ministers he didn't like. Here he also met immortal people and learned that immortality is not a happy thing. He arrived in Japan by ship. In April 1709, he returned to England on a Dutch ship. This voyage lasted five years and six months, making it the longest voyage.
Gulliver's fourth trip was in September 1710. He served as the captain of the merchant ship "Adventurer". When he sailed to North America, newly recruited sailors robbed the ship and he was thrown onto a desert island. After Gulliver landed, he was surrounded by a group of ape-like animals named Yahu. At the critical moment, a gray horse came. The Yehus were afraid of it and ran away. Then came another chestnut horse. They "act very methodically and rationally." The horses took Gulliver home and treated him to a bundle of hay and oats. Gulliver shook his head to show that he did not eat these two things, and the horse felt strange. Just then, a cow passed by. Gulliver pointed to the milk of the cow, so the horse understood and entertained him with milk.
In the horse's yard there are many yahoos for him to serve. These animals have "flat and wide faces, flat noses, thick lips, and wide grinning mouths", which are very ugly. The horse compared the shapes of Gulliver and Yehu, and also called him Yehu. Gulliver felt ashamed. Gulliver told the horse owners that horses were used for riding and pulling carts in England. The horses were very angry after hearing this. Then, Gulliver talked about the wars that took place among European monarchs over the past hundred years. Ma asked what was the cause and motivation of the war? Gulliver said: "Sometimes it is because the monarch is ambitious and always thinks that the area he rules is not large enough and the population is not large enough; sometimes it is because the ministers are corrupt and instigate their masters to engage in war, so as to suppress or divert the people's control of domestic administrative affairs. Dissatisfaction." Ma criticized this as irrational behavior.
Gulliver also talks about the use of law and money. He said that the European Yehus believe: "Whether it is using money or saving money, the more money, the better. There is never enough, because that is their nature. They are either extravagant and wasteful or greedy. The rich enjoy The results of the poor, and the ratio of the number of the poor to the rich is one thousand to one." Ma was puzzled by this. Because in the country of horses, although horses are distinguished according to their coat color, they are all friendly. "Kindness and friendship" are the two virtues of this country. They don't understand what evil is. The motto they all abide by is to promote reason, govern the country with reason, and educate the next generation. Here, young horses are "learned the lessons of temperance, industry, exercise and cleanliness." A national congress is held every four years in the spring. When they find there are difficulties, everyone enthusiastically donates and supports each other.
Gulliver felt that "these outstanding four-legged animals have many virtues. Comparing them with the corruption and depravity of human beings opened my eyes and expanded my horizons." He was willing to spend his whole life with these "venerable Houyhnhnms, studying and practicing various virtues." The "Hymes" all hated Yahu, thinking that they were bad-natured. They quarreled with each other over a shiny stone (implying treasure), and even caused a civil war. At the Horse Congress, the "intelligent horses" found out that the gray horse had a yahoo like Gulliver. They blamed the gray horse and asked it to let Gulliver go. So Gulliver made a small boat, reluctantly said goodbye to the horse owner, and left the country of "Hui Ma". At sea, he encountered a Portuguese merchant ship and returned to England in December 1715.
Gulliver traveled and had adventures four times, lasting sixteen years and seven months. He recorded these personal experiences, "The only purpose is for the benefit of the public, so I will never be disappointed no matter what."
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Summary: The novel is written in the first person, and through the adventures of the protagonist, the British surgeon Gulliver, traveling around "Lilliput", "Adult", and "Flying Island Country", it comprehensively analyzes the United Kingdom in the first half of the 18th century. It satirizes and criticizes the darkness of the parliament and judiciary at that time, exposes the colonial policies of the British rulers, and praises the rebellious spirit of the working people. It has distinctive democratic ideological characteristics.
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