would come to an end, and he would go on just as if nothing had happened. Now, Socrates thought that the most important thing in the world to get is knowledge and the most important kind of knowledge is to know yourself, because the better you know yourself, the more you see how little you really know, and how much of what you think you know may be quite wrong. OW SOCRATES WAS CONDEMNED TO DIE H FOR MAKING PEOPLE THINK And by always asking people why they thought this or that, he set them thinking and trying to see the reason of things. But people who had no good reason for what they thought got annoyed, and when they found young men beginning to say that things were wrong which they had been in the habit of calling right, they said that Socrates was corrupting the young Athenians. So Socrates was brought before the judges for misleading people-just as at the time of the Reformation people used to be tried and punished for teaching what was called heresy; and he was condemned to death, and was made to drink hemlock. But his friends were allowed to see him when he took the poison; and all the time he was dying he talked cheerfully to them, having no fear of death; and his talk was chiefly intended to help them to feel sure, as he was himself, that we have souls which are immortal, and do not die when our bodies die. PLARISTOTLE, THE PUPIL OF PLATO Plato was one of the young men who were disciples of Socrates, and he went on teaching people afterwards what he had learned from Socrates, and a good deal more which he saw must be true if what he had learned from Socrates were true. The books that he wrote are very wise, but are written in such a delightful way that anyone who can understand them loves them-though sometimes they are very difficult indeed to understand, because the things he tried to explain still puzzle very wise people. PUPIL OF SOCRATES, AND to After Plato came Aristotle, who was a pupil of Plato's, tutor Alexander the Great. He, too, wrote many books; but he did not look at things quite in the same way as Plato, and because people who love knowledge for its own sake are sometimes inclined to look at things in Plato's way and sometimes in Aristotle's way-but none can help doing it in the same sort of way as one or the other of them—it is sometimes said that all philosophers are either Platonists or Aristotelians, even though they may not think so themselves. For Plato thought in the way that poets think, and Aristotle thought in the way that men of science think. It is a curious thing that Aristotle did so much to teach men how to set about finding out the way in which Nature works, that a time camehundreds of years later-when people began to think it was really wicked to say that Aristotle could have ever made a mistake. And, on the other hand, many people have found that, though they were Christians, they understood their own religion all the better when they had studied the teachings of Plato, though he died more than three hundred years before Jesus was born. THE LAST OF THE MEN WITH THE ANCIENT SPIRIT OF GREECE After those days the Greek states seemed to lose their power of giving the world men of the greatest kind; they seemed to be depressed by the leadership of Macedon; and a long time afterwards they were swallowed up in the great Roman Empire. But there is one man who lived not very long before that happened whose name deserves to be remembered. This was Philopomen, who was afterwards called "the last of the Greeks," which meant that he was the last of the men of importance who showed the old Greek spirit of fearless courage and high-minded patriotism. He tried to persuade the different cities of Greece that they ought to think of each other not as rivals, but as one nation. Philopomen was famous for daring and skilful leadership in time of war, and was honest and free from selfseeking. Once, when he arrived at an inn, the inn-keeper's wife thought that he was Philopomen's servant, and set him to lay the table and wash the dishes, until her husband came in and recognised him. In the end he was thrown from his horse, taken prisoner, cast into a dungeon underground, and poisoned; and in this way died "the last of the Greeks." The next stories of men and women begin on page 1467. A The Child's Story of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS FEW years after "Robinson Crusoe" was published, one of the greatest satirical stories in our language appeared. This was "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World," the author of which called himself "Lemuel Gulliver." The first part appeared in 1726. It was written just like a book of real travel, but its purpose was to satirise the England of that time, to laugh at its follies. The story is extraordinary, and people liked it because it was so unusual. It has been a favourite with young folk for many generations, as the adventures it describes are so quaintly impossible that they are interesting quite apart from their inner meaning. The author was the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin. In our description we shall use the original words as often as possible, to show the style of the writing. Lilliput is meant for England, and the war with Blefuscu about the eggs is meant to ridicule the stupid reasons nations had for making war, even so near our own time as the reign of George I. GULLIVER IN LILLIPUT How He Became a Captive of the Little People CONTINUED FROM 1237 father had a small and his father now and then Gulliver afterwards accepted an offer from Captain Prichard, master of the Antelope, who was making a voyage to the South Sea, and set sail from Bristol, May 4th, 1699. They were driven by a storm to the north-west of Van Diemen's Land, where they were tossed on a rock. Six of the crew, of whom Gulliver was one, launched a lifeboat and got into it, but in about half an hour it was upset. What became of his com panions he did not know, but he swam as fortune directed him; and when he was almost gone he found himself within his depth, and so reached the shore. We may let Gulliver tell his own story as nearly as possible in the original words whenever we can; and so we shall hear how he fared after he succeeded in getting safe, though exhausted, to the land. a "I lay down on the grass and slept. When I awaked I was unable to stir. My arms and legs were fastened to the ground; my hair was tied down in the same manner. I felt several ligatures and ligatures and bindings across my body. I could only look upwards. The sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my eyes. I heard confused noise about me. In a little while I felt something alive moving on my left leg, and, advancing gently forward over my breast, it came almost up to my chin. Bending my eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived it to be a human creature not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver at his back. "In the meantime, I felt at least forty more of the same kind following the first. I roared so loudly that they all ran back in a fright; and some of them (I was afterwards told) were hurt with the falls they got by leaping from my sides upon the ground. However, they soon returned. I lay all this while in great uneasiness. At length, struggling to get loose, I broke the strings, and wrenched out the pegs that fastened my left arm to the ground. There was a great shout In an instant I felt about a hundred arrows discharged on my left hand, which pricked me like so many needles. Besides, they shot another flight into the air, as we do bombs in Europe, some of which fell on my face, which I immediately covered with my left hand. I then thought it the most prudent method to lie still. of meat, which had been provided and sent thither by the King's orders, upon the first intelligence he received of me. "When the people observed that I was quiet, they discharged no more arrows; but by the noise I heard I knew their numbers had increased; and about four yards from me, over against my right ear, I heard a knocking for above an hour. Turning my head as well as the pegs and strings would permit me, I saw a stage erected, about a foot and a half from the ground, capable of holding four of the inhabitants, with two or three ladders to mount it, whence one of them, who seemed to be a person of quality, made me a long speech, whereof I understood not one syllable. How THE LILLIPUTIANS FED THE MAN MOUNTAIN "But, before he began, he cried out three times, whereupon about fifty of the inhabitants cut the strings that fastened the left side of my head, which gave me the liberty of turning it to the right, and of observing the person and gesture of him that was to speak. He appeared to be of middle age, and taller than any of the other three who attended him. He acted every part as an orator, and I could observe many periods of threatenings, and others of promises, pity, and kindness. "I answered in a few words, but in the most submissive manner, lifting up my left hand, and both my eyes to the sun, as calling him for a witness; and, being almost famished with hunger, I put my finger frequently on my mouth to signify that I wanted food. The Hurgo (for so they call a great lord, as I afterwards learnt) understood me very well. He descended from the stage, and commanded that several ladders should be applied to my sides, on which above an hundred of the inhabitants mounted and walked towards my mouth, laden with baskets full "I observed there was the flesh of several animals, but could not distinguish them by the taste. There were shoulders, legs, and loins, shaped like those of mutton, and very well dressed, but smaller than the wings of a lark. GUL ULLIVER DRINKS AT ONE DRAUGHT NO "I ate them by two or three at a mouthful, and took three loaves at a time, about the bigness of musket bullets. They supplied me as fast as they could, showing a thousand marks of wonder and astonishment at my bulk and appetite. I then made another sign that I wanted drink. "They found by my eating that a small quantity would not suffice me; and, being a most ingenious people, they slung up with great dexterity one of their largest hogsheads, then rolled it towards my hand, and beat out the top. I drank it off at a draught, which I might well do, for it did not hold half a pint (though 108 Lilliputian gallons), and tasted like a small wine of Burgundy, but much more delicious. They brought me a second hogshead, which I drank in the same manner, and made signs for more but they had none to give me." After this, Gulliver tells us that he went to sleep, and slept for about eight hours, the Lilliputians having dabbed his face and hands with an ointment which removed all smart of their arrows. FIFTEEN HUNDRED HORSES DRAW THE MAN-MOUNTAIN TO THE CAPITAL the By the Emperor's orders physicians had mingled a sleeping potion in the wine given to Gulliver, who supplies an entertaining description of the way in which he was conveyed to the Lilliputian capital on an engine contrived by a small army of engineers and carpenters, and drawn by fifteen hundred of the Emperor's largest horses. There was outside the capital an ancient temple, the largest in the kingdom. The great gate was about four feet high and two feet wide, and through this he managed to creep. To the portal of this temple he was for a time chained by his left leg. Some hundred thousand of the inhabitants came out to view him, and Gulliver had been driven ashore from a wreck on to the coast of a strange land, which turned out to be Lilliput. As he lay asleep, the Lilliputians, none of whom was bigger than one of Gulliver's fingers, found him and secured him to the earth with numerous ropes and pegs. But when he awoke and began to wrench himself free, he shook many of the little people off him like flies, and they had to attack him with whole regiments of archers to make him lie quiet before they conveyed him, with infinite labour, to the capital of Lilliput. It was no easy matter for Gulliver to accept the king's invitation to inspect the royal palace, as he could not step over the houses and walls without knocking some of them down. But at length, by making a stool out of some of the trees he found growing in the royal park, he was able to step across without damaging the buildings though in order to look into the rooms in the upper storeys be had to lie down in the great square of the palace. The queen came out on her balcony, and, smiling very graciously upon him, gave him her hand to kiss his guards numbered ten thousand. He continued to lie on the ground of the temple for about a fortnight, when the Emperor caused a bed to be made for him, six hundred beds of the common measure being used for this purpose. An Imperial proclamation was issued. obliging all the villages nine hundred yards round the city to provide the prisoner with food and drink, payment for which was to be made from the Imperial treasury. The allowance stipulated for was sufficient for the support of one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight Lilliputians. An establishment of six hundred domestics was also arranged for him. Further, three hundred tailors were appointed to make him a suit of clothes after the fashion of the country. The land appeared, he says, like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generally forty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers. Proclamations were issued directing all who had beheld the Man-Mountain, as he was called in the language of the country, to return home and not presume again to come within fifty yards of his house without licence from the Court, "whereby the ecretaries of State got considerable fees." GULLIVER LILLIPUT AT THE ROYAL PALACE OF One day the Emperor desired Gulliver to stand up like the Colossus, with his legs apart, and marched his troops under him. The troops so engaged numbered three thousand foot and a thousand horse. At last, upon certain conditions, Gulliver was given his liberty, and was allowed to see the capital. The people had notice by proclamation of his design to visit the town, which was surrounded by a wall two feet and a half high, and at least eleven inches broad, and flanked with strong towers ten feet apart. "I stepped over the great western gate (he tells us), and passed very gently, and sideling, through the two principal streets, only in my short waistcoat, for fear of damaging the roots and eaves with the skirts of my coat. The garret windows and tops of houses were so crowded with spectators that I thought in all my travels I had not seen a more populous place. The two great streets are five feet wide. The lanes and alleys, which I could not enter, are from twelve to eighteen inches. The town is capable of holding five hundred thousand souls. The houses are from three to five storeys, the shops and markets well provided. The Emperor's palace is in the centre of the city. It is enclosed by a wall two feet high, and twenty feet distant from the buildings. CULLIVER CANNOT WALK IN THE PALACE FOR FEAR OF KNOCKING IT DOWN "The outward court is a square of forty feet, and includes two other courts; in the inmost are the Royal apartments. The buildings of the outer were at least five feet high, and it was impossible for me to stride over them without infinite damage to the pile, though the walls were strongly built of hewn stone, and four inches thick. "At the same time the Emperor had a great desire that I should see the magnificence of his palace; but this I was not able to do until three days after, which I spent in cutting down with my knife some of the largest trees in the Royal park about a hundred yards distant from the city. Of these trees I made two stools, each about three feet high, and strong enough to bear my weight. "The people having received notice a second time, I went again through the city to the palace, with my two stools in my hands. When I came to the side of the outer court I stood upon one stool, and took the other in my hand. This I lifted over the roof, and gently set it down on the space between the first and second court, which was eight feet wide. I then stepped over the buildings very conveniently from one stool to the other, and drew up the first after me with a hooked stick. THE EMPRESS OF LILLIPUT IS VERY GRACIOUS TO GULLIVER "By this contrivance I got into the inmost court, and, lying down upon my side, I applied my face to the windows of the middle storeys, which were left open on purpose, and discovered the most splendid apartments that can be imagined. There I saw the Empress and the young princes in their several lodgings, with their chief attendants about them. Her Imperial Majesty was pleased to smile very graciously upon me, and gave me out of the window her hand to kiss." |