The author leaves Laputa; is conveyed to Balnibarbi; arrives at the metropolis1. A description of the metropolis, and the country adjoining. The author hospitably2 received by a great lord. His conversation with that lord.
Although I cannot say that I was ill treated in this island, yet I must confess I thought myself too much neglected, not without some degree of contempt; for neither prince nor people appeared to be curious in any part of knowledge, except mathematics and music, wherein I was far their inferior, and upon that account very little regarded.
On the other side, after having seen all the curiosities of the island, I was very desirous to leave it, being heartily3 weary of those people. They were indeed excellent in two sciences for which I have great esteem4, and wherein I am not unversed; but, at the same time, so abstracted and involved in speculation5, that I never met with such disagreeable companions. I conversed6 only with women, tradesmen, flappers, and court-pages, during two months of my abode8 there; by which, at last, I rendered myself extremely contemptible9; yet these were the only people from whom I could ever receive a reasonable answer.
I had obtained, by hard study, a good degree of knowledge in their language: I was weary of being confined to an island where I received so little countenance10, and resolved to leave it with the first opportunity.
There was a great lord at court, nearly related to the king, and for that reason alone used with respect. He was universally reckoned the most ignorant and stupid person among them. He had performed many eminent11 services for the crown, had great natural and acquired parts, adorned12 with integrity and honour; but so ill an ear for music, that his detractors reported, “he had been often known to beat time in the wrong place;” neither could his tutors, without extreme difficulty, teach him to demonstrate the most easy proposition in the mathematics. He was pleased to show me many marks of favour, often did me the honour of a visit, desired to be informed in the affairs of Europe, the laws and customs, the manners and learning of the several countries where I had travelled. He listened to me with great attention, and made very wise observations on all I spoke13. He had two flappers attending him for state, but never made use of them, except at court and in visits of ceremony, and would always command them to withdraw, when we were alone together.
I entreated14 this illustrious person, to intercede15 in my behalf with his majesty16, for leave to depart; which he accordingly did, as he was pleased to tell me, with regret: for indeed he had made me several offers very advantageous17, which, however, I refused, with expressions of the highest acknowledgment.
On the 16th of February I took leave of his majesty and the court. The king made me a present to the value of about two hundred pounds English, and my protector, his kinsman18, as much more, together with a letter of recommendation to a friend of his in Lagado, the metropolis. The island being then hovering19 over a mountain about two miles from it, I was let down from the lowest gallery, in the same manner as I had been taken up.
The continent, as far as it is subject to the monarch20 of the flying island, passes under the general name of Balnibarbi; and the metropolis, as I said before, is called Lagado. I felt some little satisfaction in finding myself on firm ground. I walked to the city without any concern, being clad like one of the natives, and sufficiently21 instructed to converse7 with them. I soon found out the person’s house to whom I was recommended, presented my letter from his friend the grandee22 in the island, and was received with much kindness. This great lord, whose name was Munodi, ordered me an apartment in his own house, where I continued during my stay, and was entertained in a most hospitable23 manner.
The next morning after my arrival, he took me in his chariot to see the town, which is about half the bigness of London; but the houses very strangely built, and most of them out of repair. The people in the streets walked fast, looked wild, their eyes fixed24, and were generally in rags. We passed through one of the town gates, and went about three miles into the country, where I saw many labourers working with several sorts of tools in the ground, but was not able to conjecture25 what they were about: neither did observe any expectation either of corn or grass, although the soil appeared to be excellent. I could not forbear admiring at these odd appearances, both in town and country; and I made bold to desire my conductor, that he would be pleased to explain to me, what could be meant by so many busy heads, hands, and faces, both in the streets and the fields, because I did not discover any good effects they produced; but, on the contrary, I never knew a soil so unhappily cultivated, houses so ill contrived26 and so ruinous, or a people whose countenances28 and habit expressed so much misery29 and want.
This lord Munodi was a person of the first rank, and had been some years governor of Lagado; but, by a cabal30 of ministers, was discharged for insufficiency. However, the king treated him with tenderness, as a well-meaning man, but of a low contemptible understanding.
When I gave that free censure31 of the country and its inhabitants, he made no further answer than by telling me, “that I had not been long enough among them to form a judgment32; and that the different nations of the world had different customs;” with other common topics to the same purpose. But, when we returned to his palace, he asked me “how I liked the building, what absurdities33 I observed, and what quarrel I had with the dress or looks of his domestics?” This he might safely do; because every thing about him was magnificent, regular, and polite. I answered, “that his excellency’s prudence34, quality, and fortune, had exempted35 him from those defects, which folly36 and beggary had produced in others.” He said, “if I would go with him to his country-house, about twenty miles distant, where his estate lay, there would be more leisure for this kind of conversation.” I told his excellency “that I was entirely37 at his disposal;” and accordingly we set out next morning.
During our journey he made me observe the several methods used by farmers in managing their lands, which to me were wholly unaccountable; for, except in some very few places, I could not discover one ear of corn or blade of grass. But, in three hours travelling, the scene was wholly altered; we came into a most beautiful country; farmers’ houses, at small distances, neatly38 built; the fields enclosed, containing vineyards, corn-grounds, and meadows. Neither do I remember to have seen a more delightful39 prospect40. His excellency observed my countenance to clear up; he told me, with a sigh, “that there his estate began, and would continue the same, till we should come to his house: that his countrymen ridiculed41 and despised him, for managing his affairs no better, and for setting so ill an example to the kingdom; which, however, was followed by very few, such as were old, and wilful42, and weak like himself.”
We came at length to the house, which was indeed a noble structure, built according to the best rules of ancient architecture. The fountains, gardens, walks, avenues, and groves43, were all disposed with exact judgment and taste. I gave due praises to every thing I saw, whereof his excellency took not the least notice till after supper; when, there being no third companion, he told me with a very melancholy44 air “that he doubted he must throw down his houses in town and country, to rebuild them after the present mode; destroy all his plantations45, and cast others into such a form as modern usage required, and give the same directions to all his tenants46, unless he would submit to incur47 the censure of pride, singularity, affectation, ignorance, caprice, and perhaps increase his majesty’s displeasure; that the admiration48 I appeared to be under would cease or diminish, when he had informed me of some particulars which, probably, I never heard of at court, the people there being too much taken up in their own speculations49, to have regard to what passed here below.”
The sum of his discourse50 was to this effect: “That about forty years ago, certain persons went up to Laputa, either upon business or diversion, and, after five months continuance, came back with a very little smattering in mathematics, but full of volatile51 spirits acquired in that airy region: that these persons, upon their return, began to dislike the management of every thing below, and fell into schemes of putting all arts, sciences, languages, and mechanics, upon a new foot. To this end, they procured52 a royal patent for erecting53 an academy of projectors54 in Lagado; and the humour prevailed so strongly among the people, that there is not a town of any consequence in the kingdom without such an academy. In these colleges the professors contrive27 new rules and methods of agriculture and building, and new instruments, and tools for all trades and manufactures; whereby, as they undertake, one man shall do the work of ten; a palace may be built in a week, of materials so durable56 as to last for ever without repairing. All the fruits of the earth shall come to maturity57 at whatever season we think fit to choose, and increase a hundred fold more than they do at present; with innumerable other happy proposals. The only inconvenience is, that none of these projects are yet brought to perfection; and in the mean time, the whole country lies miserably58 waste, the houses in ruins, and the people without food or clothes. By all which, instead of being discouraged, they are fifty times more violently bent59 upon prosecuting60 their schemes, driven equally on by hope and despair: that as for himself, being not of an enterprising spirit, he was content to go on in the old forms, to live in the houses his ancestors had built, and act as they did, in every part of life, without innovation: that some few other persons of quality and gentry61 had done the same, but were looked on with an eye of contempt and ill-will, as enemies to art, ignorant, and ill common-wealth’s men, preferring their own ease and sloth62 before the general improvement of their country.”
His lordship added, “That he would not, by any further particulars, prevent the pleasure I should certainly take in viewing the grand academy, whither he was resolved I should go.” He only desired me to observe a ruined building, upon the side of a mountain about three miles distant, of which he gave me this account: “That he had a very convenient mill within half a mile of his house, turned by a current from a large river, and sufficient for his own family, as well as a great number of his tenants; that about seven years ago, a club of those projectors came to him with proposals to destroy this mill, and build another on the side of that mountain, on the long ridge63 whereof a long canal must be cut, for a repository of water, to be conveyed up by pipes and engines to supply the mill, because the wind and air upon a height agitated64 the water, and thereby65 made it fitter for motion, and because the water, descending66 down a declivity67, would turn the mill with half the current of a river whose course is more upon a level.” He said, “that being then not very well with the court, and pressed by many of his friends, he complied with the proposal; and after employing a hundred men for two years, the work miscarried, the projectors went off, laying the blame entirely upon him, railing at him ever since, and putting others upon the same experiment, with equal assurance of success, as well as equal disappointment.”
In a few days we came back to town; and his excellency, considering the bad character he had in the academy, would not go with me himself, but recommended me to a friend of his, to bear me company thither68. My lord was pleased to represent me as a great admirer of projects, and a person of much curiosity and easy belief; which, indeed, was not without truth; for I had myself been a sort of projector55 in my younger days.
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1
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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grandee
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| n.贵族；大公 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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cabal
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| n.政治阴谋小集团 | |
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censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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absurdities
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| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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exempted
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| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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47
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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48
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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projectors
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| 电影放映机，幻灯机( projector的名词复数 ) | |
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projector
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| n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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