TRAVELS.
PART IV.
A VOYAGE TO THE COUNTRY OF THE HOUYHNHNMS.
CHAPTER IV.
The Houyhnhnm notion of Truth and Falsehood. The Author's Discourse disapproved by his Master. The Author gives a more particular Account of himself, and the Accidents of his Voyage.
Y MASTER heard me with great Appearances of Uneasiness in his Countenance, because Doubting, or not believing, are so little known in this Country, that the Inhabitants cannot tell how to behave themselves under such Circumstances. And I remember in frequent
Discourses with my Master concerning the Nature of Manhood, in other
Parts of the World, having occasion to talk of Lying, and false
Representation, it was with much Difficulty that he comprehended
what I meant, although he had otherwise a most acute Judgment. For
he argued thus: That the Use of Speech was to make us understand one
another, and to receive Information of Facts; now if anyone said the
Thing which was not, these Ends were Defeated; because I cannot
properly be said to understand him; and I am so far from receiving
Information, that he leaves me worse than in Ignorance, for I am led
to believe a Thing Black when it is White, and Short when it is
Long. And these were all the Notions he had concerning that Faculty of
Lying, so perfectly well understood among human Creatures.
To return from this Digression; when I asserted that the Yahoos were
the only governing Animals in my Country, which my Master said was
altogether past his Conception, he desired to know whether we had
Houyhnhnms among us, and what was their Employment: I told him we
had great Numbers, that in Summer they grazed in the Fields, and in
Winter were kept in Houses, with Hay and Oats, when Yahoo-Servants
were employed to rub their Skins smooth, comb their Manes, pick
their Feet, serve them with Food, and make their Beds. I understand
you well, said my Master, it is now very plain, from all you have
spoken, that whatever share of Reason the Yahoos pretend to, the
Houyhnhnms are your Masters; I heartily wish our Yahoos would be so
tractable. I begged his Honour would please to excuse me from
proceeding any farther, because I was very certain that the Account he
expected from me would be highly displeasing. But he insisted in
commanding me to let him know the best and the worst: I told him, he
should be obeyed. I owned, that the Houyhnhnmsamong us, whom we called
Horses, were the most generous and comely Animal we had, that they
excelled in Strength and Swiftness; and when they belonged to
Persons of Quality, employed in Travelling, Racing, or drawing
Chariots, they were treated with much Kindness and Care, till they fell into
Diseases or became foundred in the Feet; and then they were sold, and
used to all kind of Drudgery till they died; after which their Skins
were stripped and sold for what they were worth, and their Bodies left
to be devoured by Dogs and Birds of Prey. But the common Race of
Horses had not so good Fortune, being kept by Farmers and Carriers
and other mean People, who put them to greater Labor, and feed them
worse. I described as well as I could, our way of Riding, the Shape
and Use of a Bridle, a Saddle, a Spur, and a Whip, of Harness and
Wheels. I added, that we fastned Plates of a certain hard Substance
called Iron at the Bottom of their Feet, to preserve their Hoofs
from being broken by the Stony Ways on which we often travelled.
My Master, after some Expressions of great Indignation, wondered how
we dared to venture upon a Houyhnhnm's Back, for he was sure, that
the weakest Servant in his House would be able to shake off the
strongest Yahoo, or by lying down, and rolling on his Back, squeeze
the Brute to Death. I answered, That our Horses were trained up from
three or four Years old to the several uses we intended them for; That
if any of them proved intolerably vicious, they were employed for
Carriages; that they were severely beaten while they were young, for
any mischievous Tricks: That the Males, designed for common Use of
Riding or Draught, were generally castrated about two Years after
their Birth, to take down their Spirits, and make them more tame and
gentle; that they were indeed sensible of Rewards and Punishments; but
his Honour would please to consider, that they had not the least
Tincture of Reason any more than the Yahoos in this Country.
It put me to the pains of many Circumlocutions to give my Master a
right Idea of what I spoke; for their Language doth not abound in
variety of Words, because their Wants and Passions are fewer than
among us. But it is impossible to repeat his noble Resentment at
our savage Treatment of the Houyhnhnm Race, particularly after I had
explained the Manner and use of castrating Horses among us, to
hinder them from propagating their Kind, and to render them more
servile. He said, if it were possible there could be any Country
where Yahoos alone were endued with Reason, they certainly must be the
governing Animal, because Reason will in time always prevail against
Brutal Strength. But, considering the Frame of our Bodies, and
especially of mine, he thought no Creature of equal Bulk was so ill
contrived, for employing that Reason in the common Office of Life;
whereupon he desired to know whether those among whom I lived,
resembled me or the Yahoos of his Country. I assured him, that I was
as well shaped as most of my Age; but the younger and the Females were
much more soft and tender, and the Skins of the latter generally as
White as Milk. He said, I differed indeed from other Yahoos, being much
more cleanly, and not altogether so deformed, but in point of real
Advantage, he thought I differed for the worse. That my Nails were of
no Use either to my Fore or Hinder-Feet: As to my Fore-Feet he could
not properly call them by that Name, for he never observed me to
walk upon them; that they were too soft to bear the Ground; that I
generally went with them uncovered, neither was the Covering I
sometimes wore on them, of the same Shape, or so strong as that on my
Feet behind. That I could not walk with any Security, for if either of
my Hinder-Feet slipped, I must inevitably fall. He then began to find
Fault with other Parts of my Body, the Flatness of my Face, the
Prominence of my Nose, my Eyes placed directly in the Front, so that I
could not look on either Side without turning my Head: That I was not able
to feed myself, without lifting one of my Fore-Feet to my Mouth: And
therefore Nature had placed those Joints to Answer that Necessity.
He knew not what could be the Use of those several Clefts and
Divisions in my Feet behind, that these were too soft to bear the
Hardness and Sharpness of Stones without a Covering made from the Skin
of some other Brute; that my whole Body wanted a Fence against Heat
Cold, which I was forced to put on and off every Day with
Tediousness and Trouble. And lastly, that he observed every Animal in
this Country naturally to abhor the Yahoos, whom the Weaker avoided,
and the Stronger drove from them. So that supposing us to have the
Gift of Reason, he could not see how it were possible to cure that
natural Antipathy which every Creature discovered against us; nor
consequently, how we could tame and render them serviceable.
However, he would (as he said) debate the Matter no farther, because
he was more desirous to know my own Story, the Country where I was
born, and the several Actions and Events of my Life before I came
hither.
I assured him how extremely desirous I was that he should be
satisfied in every Point; but I doubted much, whether it would be
possible for me to explain myself on several Subjects whereof his
Honour could have no Conception, because I saw nothing in his Country
to which I could resemble them. That however, I would do my best, and
strive to express myself by Similitudes, humbly desiring his
Assistance when I wanted proper Words; which he was pleased to promise
me.
I said, my Birth was of honest Parents in an Island called England,
which was remote from this Country, as many Days' Journey as the
strongest of his Honour's Servants could travel in the Annual Course of
the Sun. That I was bred a Surgeon, whose trade it is to cure Wounds
and Hurts in the Body, got by Accident or Violence; that my Country
was governed by a Female Man, whom we called a Queen. That I left it
to get Riches, whereby I might maintain myself and Family when I
should return. That in my last Voyage I was Commander of the Ship, and
had about fifty Yahoos under me, many of which died at Sea, and I
was forced to supply them by others picked out from several Nations.
That our Ship was twice in Danger of being sunk; the first time by a
great Storm, and the second, by striking against a Rock. Here my
Master interposed, by asking me, how I could persuade Strangers out
of different Countries to venture with me, after the Losses I had
sustained, and the Hazards I had run. I said, they were Fellows of
desperate Fortunes forced to fly from the Places of their Birth, on
account of their Poverty or their Crimes. Some were undone by
lawsuits; others spent all they had in Drinking, Whoring, and Gaming;
others fled for Treason; many for Murder, Theft, Poysoning, Robbery,
Perjury, Forgery, Coining false Money, for committing Rapes or
Sodomy, for flying from their Colours, or deserting to the Enemy, and
most of them had broken Prison; none of these durst return to their
Native Countries for Fear of being hanged, or of starving in a Jail;
and therefore were under a Necessity of seeking a Livelihood in
other Places.
During this Discourse, my Master was pleased to interrupt me
several Times; I had made use of many Circumlocutions in describing to
him the Nature of the several Crimes, for which most of our Crew had
been forced to fly their Country. This Labour took up several Days
Conversation before he was able to comprehend me. He was wholly at a
Loss to know what could be the Use or Necessity of practicing those
Vices. To clear up which I endeavoured to give some Ideas of the Desire
of Power and Riches, of the terrible Effects of Lust, Intemperance,
Malice and Envy. All this I was forced to define and describe by
putting of Cases, and making of Suppositions. After which, like one
whose Imagination was struck with something never seen or heard of
before, he would lift up his Eyes with Amazement and Indignation.
Power, Government, War, Law, Punishment, and a Thousand other Things
had no Terms wherein that Language could express them, which made
the Difficulty almost insuperable to give my Master any Conception
of what I meant. But being of an excellent Understanding, much
improved by Contemplation and Converse, he at last arrived at a
competent Knowledge of what Human Nature in our Parts of the World
is capable to perform, and desired I would give him some particular
Account of that Land, which we call Europe, but especially of my own Country.
Gulliver Home Page || NEXT: Part IV: Chapter 5
revised: 28 July 1999
Lee Jaffe jaffe@scruznet.com
