CHAPTER FOUR

A Conversation about War

When my master saw that I could speak the language well, he began to take me to the homes of other important Houyhnhnms so that they could meet me. The other Houyhnhnms had many questions for me. They wanted to know how I had learned to speak their language so well and why I looked so different from the other Yahoos. One day, I went to meet an important doctor who was good friends with my master. When I told him about the ship I had traveled in, he asked, "But where were all the Houyhnhnms? Who was leading the ship?"

I told the horse that there were no Houyhnhnms on the ship, only men. "But why is a group of Yahoos allowed to operate something as important as a ship? The Houyhnhnms should do this work," he said.

I saw that I was going to have to tell the Houyhnhnms something they might not like. "Well, sir," I said slowly, "in the rest of the world, my people, who you call Yahoos, are the masters and the Houyhnhnms are the slaves. We ride on the backs of the Houyhnhnms, and use them for work. In my country, we call them 'horses'."

There was a long silence as the horses stared at me. Again, I was accused of lying, or "saying things that were not".

Although most Houyhnhnms did not believe my stories, my master slowly began to believe me. He still called me and all human beings "Yahoos", but he became very interested in the country of England. "I am curious to know about a land run by Yahoos. It must be a dark and terrible place!" he said to me.

So I began to tell the Houyhnhnms the story of England. I explained how the country was born, and I told them many stories of its kings and queens. The master was very interested to hear about England's recent history, and was very curious about all of England's wars. "The Houyhnhnms are very peaceful, and we have never had a war before," he said.

First, my master wanted to know why England fought with other countries in Europe. I thought about this for a while and said, "Well, sir, there are many reasons why we have wars. One reason is that our kings or queens think that they do not have enough land or power. They want more people to rule over, so they make a war with another country. If our leaders win the war, then they will have more people to help them find more money.and power. Often, these kings and queens kill or imprison the leaders of the countries they want to rule over."

I continued to give more reasons for war. "Sometimes there are wars for religious reasons. In our land, we have a religion called Christianity. For many hundreds of years now, there have been many wars between the strong Christian countries and the weaker countries, which have other religions. Now, there are different types of Christianity. For example, English people are Protestant Christians, and the French people are Catholics. France and England often fight, and millions of men have been killed in these wars."

I was about to explain about the strength of the great English army, when my master interrupted me. "Now I am sure that your people are Yahoos," he said to me. "Only countries with Yahoos for leaders would be able to have these wars. Only Yahoos could kill others, and treat people so terribly! Yahoos are not only ugly and stupid, they are also very cruel!"

I did not know what to say to change my master's mind. I thought about my master's opinions and wondered if he was right. Maybe human beings were wrong to make wars. But I loved my country and my people, and I wanted to convince my master that we were a great people.

(end of section)