Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World

by Jonathan Swift

  CHAPTER IV.

  The Houyhnhnm's notion of truth and falsehood. The author's discoursedisapproved by his master. The author gives a more particular account ofhimself, and the accidents of his voyage.

  My master heard me with great appearances of uneasiness in hiscountenance; because doubting, or not believing, are so little known inthis country, that the inhabitants cannot tell how to behave themselvesunder such circumstances. And I remember, in frequent discourses with mymaster concerning the nature of manhood in other parts of the world,having occasion to talk of lying and false representation, it was withmuch difficulty that he comprehended what I meant, although he hadotherwise a most acute judgment. For he argued thus: "that the use ofspeech was to make us understand one another, and to receive informationof facts; now, if any one said the thing which was not, these ends weredefeated, because I cannot properly be said to understand him; and I amso far from receiving information, that he leaves me worse than inignorance; for I am led to believe a thing black, when it is white, andshort, when it is long." And these were all the notions he hadconcerning that faculty of lying, so perfectly well understood, and souniversally practised, among human creatures.

  To return from this digression. When I asserted that the _Yahoos_ werethe only governing animals in my country, which my master said wasaltogether past his conception, he desired to know, "whether we had_Houyhnhnms_ among us, and what was their employment?" I told him, "wehad great numbers; that in summer they grazed in the fields, and inwinter were kept in houses with hay and oats, where _Yahoo_ servants wereemployed to rub their skins smooth, comb their manes, pick their feet,serve them with food, and make their beds." "I understand you well,"said my master: "it is now very plain, from all you have spoken, thatwhatever share of reason the _Yahoos_ pretend to, the _Houyhnhnms_ areyour masters; I heartily wish our _Yahoos_ would be so tractable." Ibegged "his honour would please to excuse me from proceeding any further,because I was very certain that the account he expected from me would behighly displeasing." But he insisted in commanding me to let him knowthe best and the worst. I told him "he should be obeyed." I owned "thatthe _Houyhnhnms_ among us, whom we called horses, were the most generousand comely animals we had; that they excelled in strength and swiftness;and when they belonged to persons of quality, were employed intravelling, racing, or drawing chariots; they were treated with muchkindness and care, till they fell into diseases, or became foundered inthe feet; but then they were sold, and used to all kind of drudgery tillthey died; after which their skins were stripped, and sold for what theywere worth, and their bodies left to be devoured by dogs and birds ofprey. But the common race of horses had not so good fortune, being keptby farmers and carriers, and other mean people, who put them to greaterlabour, and fed them worse." I described, as well as I could, our way ofriding; the shape and use of a bridle, a saddle, a spur, and a whip; ofharness and wheels. I added, "that we fastened plates of a certain hardsubstance, called iron, at the bottom of their feet, to preserve theirhoofs from being broken by the stony ways, on which we often travelled."

  My master, after some expressions of great indignation, wondered "how wedared to venture upon a _Houyhnhnm's_ back; for he was sure, that theweakest servant in his house would be able to shake off the strongest_Yahoo_; or by lying down and rolling on his back, squeeze the brute todeath." I answered "that our horses were trained up, from three or fouryears old, to the several uses we intended them for; that if any of themproved intolerably vicious, they were employed for carriages; that theywere severely beaten, while they were young, for any mischievous tricks;that the males, designed for the common use of riding or draught, weregenerally castrated about two years after their birth, to take down theirspirits, and make them more tame and gentle; that they were indeedsensible of rewards and punishments; but his honour would please toconsider, that they had not the least tincture of reason, any more thanthe _Yahoos_ in this country."

  It put me to the pains of many circumlocutions, to give my master a rightidea of what I spoke; for their language does not abound in variety ofwords, because their wants and passions are fewer than among us. But itis impossible to express his noble resentment at our savage treatment ofthe _Houyhnhnm_ race; particularly after I had explained the manner anduse of castrating horses among us, to hinder them from propagating theirkind, and to render them more servile. He said, "if it were possiblethere could be any country where _Yahoos_ alone were endued with reason,they certainly must be the governing animal; because reason in time willalways prevail against brutal strength. But, considering the frame ofour bodies, and especially of mine, he thought no creature of equal bulkwas so ill-contrived for employing that reason in the common offices oflife;" whereupon he desired to know "whether those among whom I livedresembled me, or the _Yahoos_ of his country?" I assured him, "that Iwas as well shaped as most of my age; but the younger, and the females,were much more soft and tender, and the skins of the latter generally aswhite as milk." He said, "I differed indeed from other _Yahoos_, beingmuch more cleanly, and not altogether so deformed; but, in point of realadvantage, he thought I differed for the worse: that my nails were of nouse either to my fore or hinder feet; as to my fore feet, he could notproperly call them by that name, for he never observed me to walk uponthem; that they were too soft to bear the ground; that I generally wentwith them uncovered; neither was the covering I sometimes wore on them ofthe same shape, or so strong as that on my feet behind: that I could notwalk with any security, for if either of my hinder feet slipped, I mustinevitably fail." He then began to find fault with other parts of mybody: "the flatness of my face, the prominence of my nose, mine eyesplaced directly in front, so that I could not look on either side withoutturning my head: that I was not able to feed myself, without lifting oneof my fore-feet to my mouth: and therefore nature had placed those jointsto answer that necessity. He knew not what could be the use of thoseseveral clefts and divisions in my feet behind; that these were too softto bear the hardness and sharpness of stones, without a covering madefrom the skin of some other brute; that my whole body wanted a fenceagainst heat and cold, which I was forced to put on and off every day,with tediousness and trouble: and lastly, that he observed every animalin this country naturally to abhor the _Yahoos_, whom the weaker avoided,and the stronger drove from them. So that, supposing us to have the giftof reason, he could not see how it were possible to cure that naturalantipathy, which every creature discovered against us; nor consequentlyhow we could tame and render them serviceable. However, he would," as hesaid, "debate the matter no farther, because he was more desirous to knowmy own story, the country where I was born, and the several actions andevents of my life, before I came hither."

  I assured him, "how extremely desirous I was that he should be satisfiedon every point; but I doubted much, whether it would be possible for meto explain myself on several subjects, whereof his honour could have noconception; because I saw nothing in his country to which I couldresemble them; that, however, I would do my best, and strive to expressmyself by similitudes, humbly desiring his assistance when I wantedproper words;" which he was pleased to promise me.

  I said, "my birth was of honest parents, in an island called England;which was remote from his country, as many days' journey as the strongestof his honour's servants could travel in the annual course of the sun;that I was bred a surgeon, whose trade it is to cure wounds and hurts inthe body, gotten by accident or violence; that my country was governed bya female man, whom we called queen; that I left it to get riches, wherebyI might maintain myself and family, when I should return; that, in mylast voyage, I was commander of the ship, and had about fifty _Yahoos_under me, many of which died at sea, and I was forced to supply them byothers picked out from several nations; that our ship was twice in dangerof being sunk, the first time by a great storm, and the second bystriking against a rock." Here my master interposed, by asking me, "howI could persuade strangers, out of different countries, to venture withme, after the losses I ha
d sustained, and the hazards I had run?" Isaid, "they were fellows of desperate fortunes, forced to fly from theplaces of their birth on account of their poverty or their crimes. Somewere undone by lawsuits; others spent all they had in drinking, whoring,and gaming; others fled for treason; many for murder, theft, poisoning,robbery, perjury, forgery, coining false money, for committing rapes, orsodomy; for flying from their colours, or deserting to the enemy; andmost of them had broken prison; none of these durst return to theirnative countries, for fear of being hanged, or of starving in a jail; andtherefore they were under the necessity of seeking a livelihood in otherplaces."

  During this discourse, my master was pleased to interrupt me severaltimes. I had made use of many circumlocutions in describing to him thenature of the several crimes for which most of our crew had been forcedto fly their country. This labour took up several days' conversation,before he was able to comprehend me. He was wholly at a loss to knowwhat could be the use or necessity of practising those vices. To clearup which, I endeavoured to give some ideas of the desire of power andriches; of the terrible effects of lust, intemperance, malice, and envy.All this I was forced to define and describe by putting cases and makingsuppositions. After which, like one whose imagination was struck withsomething never seen or heard of before, he would lift up his eyes withamazement and indignation. Power, government, war, law, punishment, anda thousand other things, had no terms wherein that language could expressthem, which made the difficulty almost insuperable, to give my master anyconception of what I meant. But being of an excellent understanding,much improved by contemplation and converse, he at last arrived at acompetent knowledge of what human nature, in our parts of the world, iscapable to perform, and desired I would give him some particular accountof that land which we call Europe, but especially of my own country.