In the
course of his travels, two of the lands that Lemuel Gulliver visits are Lilliput and Brobdignag.
The people on the island of Lilliput are tiny in comparison to Gulliver, and so they perceive
him as a giant. Shipwrecked, he washes ashore unconscious. Understandably terrified to have this
monster invade their territory, they tie down the supine man, with ropes from many parts of his
body attached to stakes all around him. With few viable options, Gulliver agrees to serve the
emperor of the Lilliputians. He proves advantageous in helping them conduct a war against their
enemy, Blefuscu; he simply picks up their ships. However, he soon wears out his welcome and, to
avoid being punished for treason, escapes and eventually returns home.
His
next adventure with the Brobdignagians is the exact opposite: they are huge, and he is tiny. His
first few adventures including being picked up and imprisoned by a farmer who wants to put him
in on exhibit as a freak. He narrowly escapes getting eaten by a cat. The Queen of the nation
hears of him and buys him as a present for the King; Gulliver thus becomes a slave. Kept in a
box, he is carried around and shown off as a novelty. His rescue is dependent on a giant eagle,
which picks up the box and drops it the sea, where it is hauled in by an English
ship.
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