Gulliver’s Travels is a great satire in English literature, and a favorite children’s story. It was published in London in 1726 under the name of Lemuel Gulliver, supposedly a ship’s surgeon and later a captain. In reality, Jonathan Swift, the witty dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, wrote the book.
Swift wanted to make fun of people in high office. But the tale was so fascinating that even the people Swift attacked failed to realize its meaning at first. Nearly 80 years later, a Glasgow painter published a simplified children’s version of the first two parts. This version became a juvenile classic. Many adults enjoy reading the original story in its entirety.
In the book, Dr. Gulliver describes his fantastic adventures in distant lands. The story begins with a shipwreck. Gulliver, the only survivor, swims ashore. He finds himself in Lilliput << LIHL uh puht >> , where the people are only 6 inches (15 centimeters) high. But the Lilliputians << `lihl` uh PYOO shuhnz >> take themselves very seriously. In writing the emperor’s description of his country, Swift makes fun of his own land, and of all people who take themselves too seriously.
Gulliver’s second voyage takes him to Brobdingnag << BROB dihng nag >> . The people there are tremendous giants but better tempered than the Lilliputians. Gulliver becomes the pet of a little girl 9 years old, “and not above 40 foot high, being little for her age.” He has terrifying experiences. The third part of the book describes Gulliver’s voyage to several strange lands. The fourth part tells of the Houyhnhnms << hoo IHN uhmz or HWIHN uhmz >> , the wise, talking horses. The Houyhnhnms domesticate herds of wild Yahoos, which are beasts that resemble human beings.
