CHAPTER FIVE

The Life of the Houyhnhnms

More months passed, and I realized how happy I was living with the Houyhnhnms. Their way of living was very honorable and beautiful. I came to believe that the Houyhnhnms were truly wonderful, and in many ways they were much better than the people of England and Europe. Although the Houyhnhnms thought I was a Yahoo, they were always very kind to me, because I studied hard and enjoyed living with them. The Houyhnhnms did not hurt each other, and they believed in showing kindness and friendship to each other.

I found that the culture of the Houyhnhnms was very different from ours, and I learned much about their way of life while I was on the island.

The Houyhnhnms' way of raising their children was unusual. First, the older horses did not love their own children more than others. Instead, they treated all of the children with equal love and care. When the female Houyhnhnms had given birth to two children, a boy and a girl, they did not have any more children. However, if a female had two boys, they would exchange one of the boys with a family that had two girls. In this way, there were never too many Houyhnhnms on the island, and there was always enough food and drink for everyone. However, there was a group of servant Houyhnhnms, who were allowed to have three children. These servants worked for the more noble and honorable families, and were treated very well.

The Houyhnhnms gave their children a very good education. It was so good that I came to believe that my people in England should follow it exactly! The children were taught to be clean, to work hard, and to keep their bodies healthy. They were never allowed to eat or play too much. The Houyhnhnms gave their girl and boy children exactly the same education, except that the girls were taught how to manage a house. I thought this was very interesting, because in Europe, we educated our girls and boys very differently. Many girls did not go to school, but instead cooked, cleaned, and had children. The boys went to school and learned how to be doctors, lawyers, or soldiers. When I explained this to my master, he was shocked.

"But this is terrible!" he said to me. "You should educate your boy and girl children in the same way. Girls are just as intelligent as boys, aren't they? It seems to me that one half of your people, the women, are good for nothing but having babies and cleaning the house! If so many of your people are not educated, how can you hope to make your country good and strong? Your women cannot really raise their children, because they do not know anything about life. So, you see, this is another reason why your people are Yahoos."

I was beginning to believe him!

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