CHAPTER SIX

Many Dangers!

Brobdingnag was a very dangerous place for someone as small as I. In this land, because everything was so large, even a mosquito could hurt me seriously. When the queen decided to build a small pond for me to sail in, I realized just how dangerous this country could be.

The queen had become very interested in my stories of travel on the sea. One day, she asked me if I would like to show her my sailing skills.

"Of course, good queen, but I must find a boat that is small enough for me. Where in Brobdingnag can we find such a boat?"

"Don't worry, my good man. I will have my people build you a boat," said the queen. "I do not want you to risk your life on the ocean. So I will have a small pond built for you to sail in. I and all my ladies shall come and watch you sail."

A few days later, the pond and the boat were ready for me. The pond was about as large as a small lake, so I had plenty of room to sail. I enjoyed traveling around in the water and singing songs about the sea, while the queen and her ladies watched me and laughed.

However, one day something awful happened. The queen had her servants fill my pond with fresh water every day. On that day, one of the servants was careless, and did not notice a giant frog swimming in the pond. The frog swam down to the bottom of the pond and stayed there. None of us noticed the frog when I began to sail my boat that afternoon.

I was talking to one of the ladies when I felt something enormous hit the boat. I almost fell into the water! Suddenly a large green frog, as big as me, jumped onto the boat. There was nothing I could do, because I had no weapon with me. The frog jumped high in the air, and before I could move it was on top of me. I was covered with the frog's slime, which was a very unpleasant feeling. Of course, I was too large for the frog to eat, but it was so large and heavy that it was in danger of destroying the boat as it jumped around.

Glumdalclitch, who had been standing in a corner of the room, ran over to grab the frog. However, I realized that there were many ladies in the room, and I wanted to defend myself to show them how brave and strong I was. I picked up an oar and began to hit the frog with it. This must have scared the animal, because it jumped off my boat into the water. One of the queen's servants grabbed the frog out of the water and threw it out the window. I was all right, but my boat was almost completely destroyed.

"Oh my dear little man, you could have drowned," cried the queen.

"I don't think I want to sail anymore, my queen," I said.

However, this was not the only time my small size put my life in danger. The next time was much more frightening!

One of the king's men in the palace kept a pet monkey. The queen and her ladies loved this monkey, because it did tricks and jumped around in a very entertaining way. I had also enjoyed watching the monkey, but I was a little afraid of it, because to me it was as large as an elephant. One day, Glumdalclitch had fallen asleep with her window open, so that cool air could enter the room. I was asleep in my little box, until I was woken up by some loud noises. I got out of bed and went outside my box onto the table. I looked around Glumdalclitch's room, thinking that perhaps she had woken up, but she was still sleeping. Suddenly, I saw something move and turned around to look. I was horrified to see the monkey standing on the table, staring at me with shining black eyes!

I screamed with fear. The noise awoke Glumdalclitch, who jumped out of bed. However, before she could grab the monkey, it grabbed me, jumped out the window, and began to climb up the palace wall as fast as it could!

As it climbed, the monkey held me tightly in its paw. Its sharp nails cut my skin and I could hardly breathe. I was afraid to look around me because we were rising higher and higher into the air. I did not know what the monkey would do when he reached the palace's roof, but I felt sure that this was the end of my life.

When Glumdalclitch saw what had happened, she ran to alert the king's soldiers and the monkey's owner. The soldiers ran outside and began to shout at the monkey, who became frightened. Before I knew what was happening, the monkey dropped me and began to climb back down the wall. I must have fallen ten feet, and hitting the hard ground was very painful. As I lay there, trying to discover if my bones were broken, I realized that there was an extremely strong wind blowing. I was in danger of being blown right off the roof and falling many thousands of feet to my death. I tried to hold onto the roof, but it was very smooth and flat and I quickly began to slide down it. I shouted for help, but I knew no one had heard me. Then I began to fall!

I screamed—this was the end of everything.

Suddenly, I felt a strong, warm hand catch me in the air. When the soldiers had run outside, one brave man had begun to climb up the palace walls immediately. He had seen me begin to fall and caught me. I was safe, but I had many injuries and had to stay in bed for a few weeks.

These two experiences were very upsetting, of course. I had nearly died, and this made me think about my wife and children. I had not stopped thinking about them while I was in Brobdingnag, and I wanted to return home safely to them. I began to think about my life in England. There, I would always be safe from such dangers as giant animals! I didn't want to die accidentally because of a giant, friendly dog or a curious cat. I was happy in Brobdingnag, and people had been very kind to me, but I began to worry that I was not safe here.

My greatest danger in this land was not caused by an animal. It was caused by a person. The queen had a servant who was a dwarf. He was only thirty feet tall, while everyone else was sixty feet tall or more. He was the shortest man in Brobdingnag. This servant was the queen's favorite until I arrived at the palace. After I came, she spent much of her time with me and did not pay attention to the dwarf. While I was living at the palace, the dwarf had become extremely jealous of me. Although I didn't know about it, he was always thinking of cruel things to do to me. Finally, the dwarf decided to get rid of me once and for all, by killing me.

One sunny day, I was having a pleasant breakfast with Glumdalclitch in the dining room. Glumdalclitch was cutting me little pieces of eggs and bacon and giving me crumbs of her toast. When she got up and left the room to bring us some more eggs and toast, I was left alone.

Then I heard a man's voice. "Would you like some cream with your tea, little man?" I looked up and saw the queen's dwarf. He was staring at me strangely, and I had not heard him come into the room. "Certainly, sir," I said.

"Very well, then—you can have it!" he said.

Suddenly I felt the dwarf's hand around my body. Laughing softly, he picked me up and threw me into Glumdalclitch's bowl of cream. Of course, this bowl was like a deep pond to me, and I began to drown in the thick cream.

I struggled in the cream for a few minutes before Glumdalclitch returned, I heard her call out, "Where are you, Grildrig?"

"Help, help! I'm in here!" I shouted, but a wave of cream washed over my head and I began to sink.

Glumdalclitch ran over and pulled me out of the bowl of cream. "Little man, how did this happen?" she cried. When I could speak, I told her the story. Of course, she was very angry. "Don't worry, little man. The queen will punish that dwarf very badly."

When Glumdalclitch told the queen what had happened, the dwarf was beaten and thrown out of the palace.

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