Tekst bajki
I. The Journey to the Land of Lilliput
My name is Lemuel Gulliver. I was trained as a doctor, but for many years my life has been tied to the sea. After working as a ship’s surgeon for some time, I decided to take part in yet another voyage.
But fate had different plans for me.
One night, a storm so fierce struck our ship that we had no chance. The vessel shattered against the rocks and the sea swallowed everything. By some miracle, I stayed afloat and managed to swim to an unknown shore, where I collapsed and fell asleep from exhaustion. I woke to the warm glow of sunrise - and to a strange feeling. When I tried to move, I could not. My arms, legs, and even my hair were tied to the ground with dozens of tiny strings. Suddenly I felt something crawl across my chest. I looked down and saw… a little man. He was no taller than fifteen centimeters!
Within seconds I noticed hundreds more like him, running across and around my body. They spoke a language I had never heard and carried tiny bows and spears. I was frightened - yet absolutely fascinated.
These were the people of Lilliput, a kingdom of miniature humans. They kept me captive for several days, feeding me bread and meat in amounts that could have fed their whole army for a week. Little by little, they began to trust me, as I made no attempt to escape or harm them.
The Emperor of Lilliput, proud and brave, ordered that I be transported to the capital. An enormous wagon - pulled by hundreds of horses - was built just for me. Still tied up, I was carried deep into the country.
The city was extraordinary. Its towers reached only to my knees, yet their craftsmanship was astonishing. I was given shelter in an old church that had been emptied especially for me. Under guard, I rested there, learning their language and customs. In return for food, I promised not to leave the area assigned to me. Parades and performances were held in my honor, though many of them were so tiny that I could barely see them.
As time passed, I learned more about the politics of Lilliput. The kingdom was divided between the Low-Heels and the High-Heels - two parties distinguished entirely by the height of their shoe heels. The Low-Heels were in power, though the opposition remained strong. The conflict even influenced court fashion: many officials wore one heel higher than the other to appear neutral.
Even stranger was their war with the neighboring island of Blefuscu. The cause of this long, bitter conflict was… how to break an egg - whether from the wide end or the narrow. The Emperor of Lilliput insisted on the narrow end and waged crusades against the wide-enders. Many died, and many more fled to Blefuscu.
The Emperor saw in me a powerful ally. He asked me to help defeat Blefuscu. I hesitated, yet felt I owed the Lilliputians some loyalty - so I agreed. I swam across the channel to Blefuscu’s harbor, lifted the anchors of their entire fleet in one great handful, and towed the ships back to Lilliput. There was great celebration. The Emperor honored me, and the people cheered.
But when I refused to help him conquer Blefuscu completely and turn it into a province, the mood changed. Suspicion grew, especially encouraged by his sly adviser, Skyresh Bolgolam. The final straw came when a fire broke out in the palace. With no water at hand, I used my own urine to put out the flames. Though I saved the Emperor, my act was declared an insult.
I was accused of treason, of secret dealings with Blefuscu, and of disrespect toward the crown. The Emperor did not want to openly execute me, so the plan was to blind me and starve me slowly. A kind minister warned me of this - and I decided to flee.
I escaped to Blefuscu, where I was welcomed with honor. In one of their coves, I found an abandoned European boat. With the help of the islanders, I repaired it and built new masts and sails. When the day came, the people of Blefuscu bid me farewell with great ceremony. I sailed into the unknown until, at last, I encountered an English ship.
I returned home with a head full of wonders and a heart full of humility. I had learned that even though I was a giant among the Lilliputians, I was not greater than they were. For true greatness is not measured in height.
II. The Journey to Brobdingnag
After returning from Lilliput, I could not rest for long. My thirst for adventure pulled me back to sea, this time as a surgeon on a merchant ship. After weeks of sailing, another storm caught us. We drifted until we reached an unknown coast. I went ashore with a few sailors, but when I wandered a bit too far, they fled back to the ship in terror.
Then I understood why - before me stood a human figure the size of a tower.
I had come to Brobdingnag, the land of giants. To its enormous inhabitants, I was nothing more than a curious little creature. A farmer’s wife found me and carried me home, where she showed me to her gentle daughter, Glumdalclitch. She became my guardian, caring for me like a living doll - but also like a friend. She made me a little box to travel in, protected me, and comforted me.
Her father soon realized he could earn money by showing me to crowds. We toured several towns until we reached the capital, where the King himself heard of me and asked that I stay at the royal court.
Life at court was strange. Everything was gigantic. I ate from dishes made of walnut shells, and my furniture was carved to mouse-sized proportions. The King, deeply curious, often asked me about England. When I described our politics, wars, and ambitions, he could hardly hide his disgust. To him, the people of my world were driven by greed and bloodshed rather than wisdom. Nothing I said could convince him otherwise. Life was also full of dangers: rats the size of dogs, wasps whose sting could kill me instantly, and the careless gestures of giants who might crush me without noticing. Though the court treated me kindly, I lived in constant peril.
One day, during a seaside outing, a giant bird seized the box I traveled in and dropped it into the ocean. I drifted helplessly until an English ship spotted me and rescued me. I told my story, and though the sailors doubted every word, they took me home.
Back in England, I found it difficult to adjust. After living among giants, people my own size seemed somehow… small - not in body, but in spirit. I had learned that greatness is not a matter of height, but of heart and wisdom.
III. The Journey to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, and to Japan
Not long after returning home, I set out again. This time, our ship was captured by pirates. They spared my life but abandoned me in a small boat on the open ocean. As I drifted, I saw something astonishing - a floating island. It descended slowly, and soon a rope was lowered to pull me aboard.
This was Laputa, the flying island, steered by powerful magnets. Its people lived entirely in music, mathematics, and astronomy. Their minds were always elsewhere - both literally and figuratively. They could hardly hold a conversation without servants who tapped their mouths or ears with inflated bladders to keep them focused. Their science was brilliant… and completely impractical.
From Laputa I traveled to Balnibarbi, which they ruled. There I saw the disastrous effects of experiments planned by scholars who lived in the clouds - crops failing, houses collapsing, people starving. In their famous Academy, inventors tried to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, teach spiders to spin silk, and construct houses starting from the roof downward. I had never seen such nonsense.
Next I visited Glubbdubdrib, the island of magicians. Its ruler allowed me to speak with ghosts of great historical figures. I questioned Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Aristotle… and learned that much of history is distorted. Great leaders were not always noble, and kings were often little more than tyrants. My view of the past changed forever. From there I traveled to Luggnagg, where I met the Struldbrugs - people who never died but continued aging forever. They became weak, forgetful, and miserable. Their immortality was a curse, not a gift. Seeing them made me understand that even life must have an end.
Eventually I reached Japan, and from there secured passage back to Europe. I returned to England full of thoughts - about the emptiness of useless theories, the fragility of memory, and the illusions of eternal life.
My body was home, yet my mind still drifted somewhere between Laputa and reality.
IV. The Journey to the Land of the Houyhnhnms
After several months in England, restlessness seized me again. As captain of a ship, I set sail - only for my crew to mutiny and abandon me on an unknown island.
There I encountered creatures that looked somewhat like humans but were wild, filthy, and savage. They were called Yahoos. They terrified me - not only by their appearance, but by their behavior.
Soon I met their complete opposite: intelligent horses who spoke like humans, walked calmly, reasoned wisely, and lived in harmony. These were the Houyhnhnms - noble, just, and peaceful beings. They did not know lying, violence, or greed. They lived by pure reason, without wars or possessions.
They accepted me cautiously, for I resembled the Yahoos - but they soon noticed I could speak and think differently. Even so, I could not hide the truth about my kind. With difficulty, I told them about humanity - its greed, cruelty, wars, and deceit. To the Houyhnhnms, such things were unthinkable. To them, humans were merely clever Yahoos.
Every day I admired their world more. Simple, harmonious, and fair. I wished to stay forever. But their assembly decided I could not remain. I was neither horse nor Yahoo - too strange to be trusted. I had to leave.
With a heavy heart, I built a small raft and sailed off. After many days at sea, a Portuguese ship found me. Its captain, a good man, brought me back to England.
But home no longer felt like home. People reminded me of Yahoos - their faces, their conversations, their ambitions. I avoided everyone and lived in solitude, spending my days in the company of horses who, though silent, felt wiser to me than most men.
I returned from the land of the Houyhnhnms not as a discoverer, but as someone who had lost faith in humanity. And though it sounds bitter, I learned one truth: perfection may exist - but not necessarily in human form.