Over against this temple, on the other side of the great highway, at
twenty feet distance, there was a turret at least five feet high. Here
the emperor ascended, with many principal lords of his court, to have an
opportunity of viewing me, as I was told, for I could not see them. It
was reckoned that above an hundred thousand inhabitants came out of the
town upon the same errand; and, in spite of my guards, I believe there
could not be fewer than ten thousand, at several times, who mounted my
body, by the help of ladders. But a proclamation was soon issued, to
forbid it, upon pain of death.

When the workmen found it was impossible for me to break loose, they cut
all the strings that bound me; whereupon I rose up, with as melancholy a
disposition as ever I had in my life. But the noise and astonishment of
the people, at seeing me rise and walk, are not to be expressed. The
chains that held my left leg were about two yards long, and gave me not
only the liberty of walking backwards and forwards in a semi-circle,
but, being fixed within four inches of the gate, allowed me to creep in,
and lie at my full length in the temple.

[Illustration]




CHAPTER II.

THE EMPEROR OF LILLIPUT, ATTENDED BY SEVERAL OF THE NOBILITY, COMES
TO SEE THE AUTHOR IN HIS CONFINEMENT. THE EMPEROR'S PERSON AND
HABIT DESCRIBED. LEARNED MEN APPOINTED TO TEACH THE AUTHOR THEIR