Gulliver's Travels

Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels [ 'gAlrvaz 'traevalz] made him one of the greatest English prose writers of the 18th century.

It has been translated into many languages. It is popular as a:hildren's book, but it was meant for adults.

In the book Swift attacks his contemporary world and the social md political system of England.

The book describes the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. It has four parts: Gulliver's voyages to 1) Lilliput ['Ыгрлг], 2) Brobdingnag [ 'brobdinnseg], 3) Laputa [b'pjuita], 4) the country of the Houyhnhnms ['huihnamz] and Yahoos [ja'huiz].

Gulliver

Originally the novel was to be the story of an imaginary world voyage by a certain Martin Scriblerus. Swift began to work on it in 1711 but it was not published till 1726, and in the interval the hero had changed his name to Lemuel Gulliver. He was not a ship's surgeon, but a farmer. People called him Big Doughty [' dauti] as he was of colossal size and had the strength of a Hercules f h3:kjuli:z]. Swift made his acquaintance in Ireland, in the country of Cavan, where the writer used to pass his summer holidays. Big Doughty loved to show off his skill. Once he rescued a fellow-farmer from the persecution of a tax-collector by hiding him under the skirts of his overcoat. On another occasion he lifted a poor widow's cow

out of pound where it had been imprisoned for straying and delivered it safely to its mistress. The highlight of this show of strength was to carry a horse from one field to another across the fence. This impressed Swift tremendously. That is how Gulliver originated.

On the first voyage Gulliver is shipwrecked and finds himself in Lilliput. To his surprise, people are only "six inches high" there but they have the same vices and faults as the English ^shallow interests, corrupted laws and evil customs. Their two struggling parties, the Big-Endians and Little-Endians, distinguish themselves only by the high and low heels on their shoes. They drive the country into war over the question of whether an egg should be broken on its big or its little end. The statesmen obtain posts by dancing on a tight rope. Whoever jumps the highest before the king gets the highest post. In this Swift satirizes the English court and aristocracy. Swift hated the English state system and looked for a better one. He believed in an ideal enlightened monarch. Gulliver meets such a king on his second voyage to Brobdingnag.

This is a country where giants live. Gulliver appears as ridiculous to these people of enormous size as the Lilliputians [.luTpjuijjanz] seemed to him. The country of the giants is governed by common sense, reason and justice which is not the case in England. But even a clever king cannot do much for his people.

When Gulliver's box is carried off by an eagle and dropped into the sea he is rescued by an English ship. It takes Gulliver a long time to get used to the littleness of the houses, trees and the people once back in England. As far as the people are concerned it is their moral littleness that surprises Gulliver.

In the third part the author takes Gulliver to Laputa and the Academy in Lagado. In this part Swift laughs at every kind of impractical science and philosophy. The Laputans [1э 'pjuitanz] had ill-built houses without one right angle.

They are odd, clumsy and unhandy people in their common actions and behaviour. Laputa is a flying island. It may be put in a position that it can take away the lands underneath "of the benefit of the sun and the rain and afflict the inhabitants with death and diseases". The flying island helps the king to exploit his people.

₉₇

corrupt [ka'rApt] v искажать disgust [dis'gASt] v внушать отвращение enlighten [m'laitsn] v просвещать enormous [I'noimas] а огромный enviousi ['enviss] а завистливый fence ['fens] n забор

In the description of the Academy Swift satirizes all kinds of inventors for their attempts to improve everything. They want to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, to soften marble for pillows, to simplify the language by abolishing words, etc. The Academy of Lagado is Swift's parody on projectors whose "science" has nothing to do with real life.

It is in Book IV that Swift's satire is the bitterest. Gulliver finds him­self in a land ruled by Houyhnhnms, intelligent and virtuous horses who are ignorant of such vices as stealing, lying, love of money. The rest of the population is made up of Yahoos, ugly creatures that look like human beings in appearance and possess all the human vices. They are greedy, envious and malicious. Gulliver admires the simple modest way of life of the Houyhnhnms and is disgusted with the Ya­hoos who remind him so much of his countrymen that he hates.

Swift used his favourite weapon — laughter — to mock at bourgeois reality. He criticized it and his criticism was hidden away in a whole lot of allegorical pictures.

Thackeray, an outstanding English writer, described Jonathan Swift: "As fierce a beak and talon as ever stuck, as strong a wing as ever beat, belonged to Swift"¹.

Swift's art had a great effect on the further development of English and European literature.

Swift's democratic ideas expressed in the book had a great influence on the English writers who came after Swift.

Vocabulary

abolish [a'bnhj] v уничтожать

afflict [s'flikt] v сокрушать

angle ['aerjgl] n угол

beak [bi:k] л клюв

benefit ['benaftt] n польза, благо

clumsy ['cUmzi] а неуклюжий

' ("Свифт обладал самым сильным клювом и когтями, какие когда-либо на­носили удар, самыми сильными крыльями, которые когда-либо рассекали воздух," — так Теккерей образно охарактеризовал обличительную силу произведений Свифта).

shallow ['Jsebu] а мелкий simplify ['simphfai] vупрощать stray [strei] v заблудиться sunbeam ['sAnbi:m] n солнечный луч stick [stik] v (stuck) втыкать,вонзать surgeon ['s3:cfc3n] n хирург talon ['taetan] n коготь tax-collector [ 'taekska lekta] n сбор­щик налогов tight [tait] а туго-натянутый tremendously [tn'mendasli] adv очень, чрезвычайно unhandy [лгГпэегки] а неловкий virtuous ['v3:tjras] а добродетельный

heel [hi:l] л каблук lying ['laiirj] n лживость malicious [ms'lifas] а злой obtain [ab'tem] v получать odd [cd] а странный originally [s'ndjnali] adv первоначально originate [s'rKfcmeit] v создавать parody ['paeradi] n пародия persecution [,p3:si'kju:Jan] n преследо­вание pillow ['pilau] n подушка pound [paund] n загон для скота projector [pra'djjekta] n проектировщик rescue ['reskju:] v спасать

Questions and Tasks

1. Where was Jonathan Swift born?

2. Where did he get his education?

3. Speak about his first notable work The Battle of the Books.

4. What biting satire was Swift's first success?

5. Speak on the pamphlets written in defence of Ireland.

6. When did Swift's masterpiece Gulliver's Travels appear?

7. How many parts does the novel Gulliver's Travels consist of?

8. What did Swift mock at in the part devoted to Lilliputs?

9. Speak on Swift's world outlook as shown in the second part of the book.

10. What did Swift ridicule in Gulliver's third travel?

11. Comment on Swift's attitude to science. What kind of science does he criticize?

12. Speak on the meaning on the last part of the book.

13. What did Thackeray say about Jonathan Swift?

14. What is the origin of the novel Gulliver's Travels?

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

The greatest poet of the 17th century was Robert Burns [' robat 'b3:nz]. His popularity in Scotland is very great. The Scottish bard was born in a clay cottage in the village of Alloway [ ' aelawei]. His father was a poor farmer, but a man who valued knowledge. It was from his father that Robert received his learning and his love for books. His mother had a beautiful voice and taught Robert

old Scottish songs and ballads which he later turned into his best poems.

Robert Burns

Robert Burns had no regular schooling. But when Robert was seven, his father en­gaged a teacher to educate him and his broth­er Gilbert. John Murdoch [' ni3:dt>k], an eigh­teen year-old scholar, was a very enthusias­tic teacher. He taught Robert, who was his favourite, many subjects, French and litera­ture among them. However, Robert could not afford much time for his studies. His fa­ther wanted to try his hand at farming and Robert had to help him on the farm. At the age of thirteen he had to take over from his father most of the work on the farm as his father was growing old.

Those were hard times for Robert, and he had to leave school. Nearly all life Robert Burns worked on his small piece of land. At fifteen he did most of the work on the farm, his father's health being very poor. And as Bums followed the plough he whistled and sang. He made up his own words to the old folk tunes of Scotland that he knew so well. In his songs he spoke of what he saw—of the woods and fields and valleys, of the deer and the skylark and the small field-mouse, of the farmer's poor cottage.

Burns wrote his first verses when he was fifteen. Very soon his poems became popular among his friends and acquaintances. In 1785 he met a girl, who became the great love of all his life and inspirer of his numerous lyrical verses. Jean had a wonderful voice and knew a lot of old melodies to which Burns composed his songs.

In 1786 Bums published his first book under the title of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. The book was a great success. He was invited to Edinburgh. He conquered the Edinburgh society by his wit and manners as much as by poetry. In Edinburgh he was often advised to write in standard English on noble themes, but he refused. He wanted to write poetry about the people and for the people. While in Edinburgh Burns got acquainted with some en­thusiasts of Scottish songs and ballads and became engaged in collecting the treasures of the Scottish folklore. He travelled about

Burn's Cottage in Ayrshire

Scotland collecting popular songs. After his father's death he did not give up farming and worked hard to earn his living. In 1791 Burns got the post of excise officer and moved to Dumfries [dAm 'fits]. The last years of his life were very hard. The hard daily work on the farm, the constant starvation and privations finally undermined Burns's health. On July 21, 1796, at the age of 37, Bums died. His body rests in a Mau­soleum in Dumfries. The house in

Alloway, where he was born, has now been restored. Every year thousands of people from all over the world come there to pay hom­age to the great poet.

Vocabulary

mausoleum [^moiss'lrsm] n мавзолей plough [plan] n плуг privation [prai'veijan] n лишение restore [ns'to:] v реставрировать skylark ['skaila:k] n жаворонок undermine ['лгкЬтат] v подорвать whistle ['wisl] v насвистывать

afford [a'fo:d] v позволить себе clay [klei] n глина engage [in'geidy v нанимать enthusiastic [m,9ju:zf sestik] а полный

энтузиазма excise [ek'sais] л акцизный сбор

excise officer акцизный чиновник homage f ггшгкй п почтение, уважение

to pay homage воздавать должное

Questions and Tasks

1. Where was Robert Bums bom?

2. What can you say about his mother and father?

3. Where was he educated?

4. Why couldn't he afford much time for his studies?

5. Why did he have to leave school?

6. How did Bums make up his songs?

7. When did he write the first verses?

8. Who was his inspirer of the numerous lyrical verses?

9. What was the title of his first book?

10. Where was Burns invited?

11. How was he met by the Edinburgh society?

12. When did Burns get the post of excise officer in Dumfries?

13. When did he die?

14. Where does his body rest?

15. Relate the main facts of Burn's life.

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