Lesson 8 The War of the Eggs (Excerpt)

Jonathan Swift

1、I now asked the Emperor for permission to visit the capital city of Lilliput, which is called Mildendo. The Emperor allowed me to go, but he told me to be careful when I was there. He did not want me to frighten the people. I was very happy to see the city, and particularly to see the Emperor’s palace. I could not enter the palace, of course, because I was too big. I could look in through the windows, however, and I was delighted by what I saw.

2、I stayed in Mildendo about two weeks. One of the Emperor’s ministers came to see me one day. He looked very worried, and he said he needed my help. Then he told me that there was going to be a war with the country of Blefuscu. He explained the reasons for the war.

3、They seemed very strange reasons to me, because they concerned the correct way to eat eggs. In the past, the people of Lilliput and the people of Blefuscu had agreed about this. They had both believed that eggs should be broken at the bigger end.

4、One day, however, the Emperor’s grandfather had an accident while he was opening an egg. He cut his finger. He ordered all Lilliputians to open eggs from the smaller end in the future. The people did not like this order, and many of them refused to obey the Emperor. There was a civil war in Lilliput, and many people were killed. The Emperor’s minister explained to me that Blefuscu supported the rebels in the civil war—many rebels went to live in Blefuscu.

5、The situation was now very serious because Lilliput and Blefuscu were at war. Thousands of people had been killed in the war of the eggs. The government minister told me that Blefuscu was planning to attack Lilliput. The Emperor wanted my help. I told the minister that I was ready to help the Emperor.

6、The Blefuscu navy was planning to invade Lilliput by sea. The distance between the two countries is about three hundred meters by sea. All the Blefuscu ships were ready, and they were sure they would be victorious in the war. I told the Emperor of Lilliput that I had a plan of my own to help him defeat the enemy. I waited until it was dark. Then I took some rope with me, and walked into the sea that separated the two kingdoms. The water was not deep.

7、While I was walking in the sea, I put on my glasses to protect my eyes from the arrows of the enemy. I tied a piece of rope to each of the Blefuscu ships. The Blefuscu sailors were terrified when they saw me. They jumped into the sea, and swam away. I took the pieces of rope in my hands, and pulled the Blefuscu navy towards Lilliput.

8、When the people of Lilliput saw the Blefuscu navy, they thought the invasion had started. They were very frightened now!

9、Then they saw that I was pulling the ships, and they were happy. It was a great victory for Lilliput, and the Emperor said I was a hero.

10、The Emperor of Lilliput asked me to go on with the war against Blefuscu, I did not want to go on with the war, because I did not want lots of people to be killed. The Emperor listened to what I said, but he was very angry with me. Now he did not like me.

11、Some government ministers from Blefuscu came to Lilliput. I spoke to them, and they invited me to visit their country. I thanked them for their invitation, and I decided to ask the Emperor for permission to go there.

12、“The Blefuscu ministers have asked me to visit their country,” I told him, “May I go there?”

13、The Emperor looked at me very coldly before he replied. Then he said, “Of course. You’re free to go.”

14、I was surprised at the Emperor’s coldness towards me, because I thought we were good friends. Soon I had an opportunity to help him once again. One night I was woken by a great noise in the city. Many people were shouting and calling for me. Several of the government ministers came to me, and they told me there was a fire in the palace,I ran to the palace, and I saw flames everywhere. People were trying to extinguishthe flames with buckets of water—but the fire was a big one. It seemed that the whole palace would be destroyed.

15、Then I had an idea, I had drunk a large quantity of wine that evening, I urinatedover the palace, and extinguished the flames. This act saved the palace from destruction.I was pleased at what I had done.

16、Then I remembered one of the most important laws of Lilliput. Urinating in the palace grounds was a crime punished by death! I was now worried, but the Emperor sent me a message. He said that he would order the court to pardon me for my crime,I learnt later that the Empress hated me for what I had done—she was very angry, and she decided never to return to the palace.

(873 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Check the details] What is the name of the capital city of Lilliput?

A. Blefuscu. B. Mildendo. C. Lilliput.

2. [Give the reason] Why did the civil war break out in Lilliput?

A. Because the Emperor’s grandfather cut his finger while he was opening an egg.

B. Because many Lilliputians didn’t agree to open eggs from the smaller end.

C. Because people in Blefuscu supported the rebels.

3. [Check the details] What punishment would people get if they urinated in the palace ?

A. They would be sent to court.

B. They would drink a lot of wine.

C. They would be sentenced to death.

Ⅱ. Read for words.

1. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words.

(1) I could look in through the windows, however, and I was delighted by what I saw. (Para. 1, Line 6)

A. angry B.?annoyed C. happy

(2) They seemed very strange reasons to me, because they concerned the correct way to eat eggs. (Para. 3, Line 1)

A. cared about B. worried about C. thought about

(3) Emperor’s minister explained to me that Blefuscu supported the rebels in the civil war—many rebels went to live in Blefuscu (Para. 4, Line 6)

A. 叛徒，卖国者 B. 造反，反叛 C. 反叛者，造反者

2. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined expressions.

(1) All the Blefuscu ships were ready, and they were sure they would be victorious in the war. (Para. 6, Line 3)

A. win B. lose C. fight

(2) Then I had an idea, I had drunk a large quantity of wine that evening, I urinated over the palace, and extinguished the flames. (Para. 15, Line 1)

A. 大量的 B. 好的 C.一定量的

(3) This act saved the palace from destruction. (Para. 15, Line 2)

A. stopped the fire from flaming B. kept the palace being destroyed ?

C. protected the palace from being burned

Ⅲ. Writing practice.

1. Was the writer allowed to go freely in the capital city?

2. Why couldn’t the writer enter the palace?

3. Why was there going to be a war between Lilliput and Blefuscu?

4. How did the writer stop the war?

5. What did the writer do to make the Emperor of Lilliput unhappy?

6. Did he have another chance to help the Emperor? What was it?

7. How did the writer help to save the palace?