THE AUTHOR SETS OUT AS CAPTAIN OF A SHIP—HIS MEN CONSPIRE AGAINST HIM, CONFINE HIM A LONG TIME TO HIS CABIN, AND SET HIM ON SHORE IN AN UNKNOWN LAND—HE TRAVELS UP IN THE COUNTRY—THE YAHOOS, A STRANGE SORT OF ANIMAL, DESCRIBED—THE AUTHOR MEETS TWO HOUYHNHNMS.

 I continued at home with my wife and children about five months in a very happy condition, if I could have learned the lesson of knowing when I was well.

I left my poor wife big with child, and accepted an advantageous offer made me to be captain of the Adventure, a stout merchantman of 350 tons: for I understood navigation well, and being grown weary of a surgeon’s employment at sea, which, however, I could exercise upon occasion, I took a skillful young man of that calling, one Robert Purefoy, into my ship.

We set sail from Portsmouth upon the 7th day of August, 1710; on the 14th, we met with Captain Pocock of Bristol, at Tenerife, who was going to the bay of Campeachy to cut logwood.

On the 16th, he was parted from us by a storm: I heard since my return, that his ship foundered, and none escaped but one cabin-boy.

He was an honest man, and a good sailor, but a little too positive in his own opinions;

which was the cause of his destruction, as it has been of several others: for if he had followed my advice, he might have been safe at home with his family at this time as well as myself.

 I had several men died in my ship of calentures, so that I was forced to get recruits out of Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, where I touched by the direction of the merchants who employed me;

which I had soon too much cause to repent;

for I found afterwards that most of them had been buccaneers.

I had fifty hands on board, and my orders were, that I should trade with the Indians in the South Sea, and make what discoveries I could.

These rogues whom I had picked up debauched my other men, and they all formed a conspiracy to seize the ship and secure me;

which they did one morning, rushing into my cabin, and binding me hand and foot, threatening to throw me overboard if I offered to stir.

I told them I was their prisoner and would submit.

This they made me swear to do, and then they unbound me, only fastening one of my legs with a chain, near my bed, and placed a sentry at my door with his piece charged, who was commanded to shoot me dead, if I attempted my liberty.

They sent me down victuals and drink, and took the government of the ship to themselves.

Their design was to turn pirates, and plunder the Spaniards, which they could not do till they got more men.

But first they resolved to sell the goods in the ship, and then go to Madagascar for recruits, several among them having died since my confinement.

They sailed many weeks, and traded with the Indians; but I knew not what course they took, being kept a close prisoner in my cabin, and expecting nothing less than to be murdered, as they often threatened me.

 Upon the 9th of May, 1711, one James Welch came down to my cabin, and said he had orders from the captain to set me ashore.

I expostulated with him, but in vain;

neither would he so much as tell me who their new captain was.

They forced me into the longboat, letting me put on my best suit of clothes, which were as good as new, and take a small bundle of linen, but no arms except my hanger;

and they were so civil as not to search my pockets, into which I conveyed what money I had, with some other little necessaries.

They rowed about a league, and then set me down on a strand.

I desired them to tell me what country it was.

They all swore they knew no more than myself, but said that the captain (as they called him) was resolved, after they had sold the lading, to get rid of me in the first place where they could discover land.

They pushed off immediately, advising me to make haste for fear of being overtaken by the tide, and so bade me farewell.

 In this desolate condition I advanced, and soon got upon firm ground, where I sat down on a bank to rest myself, and consider what I had best to do.

When I was a little refreshed, I went up into the country, resolving to deliver myself to the first savages I should meet, and purchase my life from them by some bracelets, glass rings, and other toys which sailors usually provide themselves with in those voyages, and whereof I had some about me.

The land was divided by long rows of trees, not regularly planted, but naturally growing;

there was great plenty of grass, and several fields of oats.

I walked very circumspectly, for fear of being surprised, or suddenly shot with an arrow from behind or on either side.

I fell into a beaten road, where I saw many tracks of human feet, and some of cows, but most of horses.

At last I beheld several animals in a field, and one or two of the same kind sitting in trees.

Their shape was very singular and deformed, which a little discomposed me, so that I lay down behind a thicket to observe them better.

Some of them coming forward near the place where I lay, gave me an opportunity of distinctly marking their form.

Their heads and breasts were covered with a thick hair, some frizzled and others lank;

they had beards like goats, and a long ridge of hair down their backs, and the foreparts of their legs and feet;

but the rest of their bodies was bare, so that I might see their skins, which were of a brown buff color.

They had no tails, and used the sitting posture, as well as lying down, and often stood on their hind feet.

They climbed high trees as nimbly as a squirrel, for they had strong extended claws before and behind, terminating in sharp points, and hooked.

They would often spring, and bound, and leap, with prodigious agility.

The females were not so large as the males;

they had long lank hair on their backs, but none on their faces, nor anything more than a sort of down on the rest of their bodies.

The hair of both sexes was of several colors, brown, red, black, and yellow.

Upon the whole I never beheld in all my travels so disagreeable an animal, nor one against which I naturally conceived so strong an antipathy;

so that thinking I had seen enough, full of contempt and aversion, I got up, and pursued the beaten road, hoping it might direct me to the cabin of some Indian.

I had not gone far when I met one of these creatures full in my way, and coming up directly to me.

The ugly monster, when he saw me, distorted several ways every feature of his visage, and stared as at an object he had never seen before;

then approaching nearer, lifted up his forepaw, whether out of curiosity or mischief I could not tell;

but I drew my hanger, and gave him a good blow with the flat side of it, for I durst not strike him with the edge, fearing the inhabitants might be provoked against me, if they should come to know that I had killed or maimed any of their cattle.

When the beast felt the smart, he drew back, and roared so loud, that a herd of at least forty came flocking about me from the next field, howling and making odious faces;

but I ran to the body of a tree, and leaning my back against it, kept them off by waving my hanger.

 In the midst of this distress, I observed all to run away on a sudden as fast as they could;

at which I ventured to leave the tree and pursue the road, wondering what it was that could put them into this fright.

But looking on my left hand I saw a horse walking softly in the field;

which my persecutors having sooner discovered, was the cause of their flight.

The horse started a little when he came near me, but soon recovering himself, looked full in my face with manifest tokens of wonder.

He viewed my hands and feet, walking round me several times.

I would have pursued my journey, but he placed himself directly in the way, yet looking with a very mild aspect, never offering the least violence.

We stood gazing at each other for some time;

at last I took the boldness to reach my hand towards his neck with a design to stroke it, using the common style and whistle of jockeys when they are going to handle a strange horse.

But this animal seeming to receive my civilities with disdain, shook his head, and bent his brows, softly raising up his right forefoot to remove my hand.

Then he neighed three or four times, but in so different a cadence, that I almost began to think he was speaking to himself in some language of his own.

 While he and I were thus employed, another horse came up;

who applying himself to the first in a very formal manner, they gently struck each other’s right hoof before, neighing several times by turns, and varying the sound, which seemed to be almost articulate.

They went some paces off, as if it were to confer together, walking side by side, backwards and forwards, like persons deliberating upon some affair of weight, but often turning their eyes towards me, as it were to watch that I might not escape.

I was amazed to see such actions and behavior in brute beasts;

and concluded with myself, that if the inhabitants of this country were indued with a proportionable degree of reason, they must needs be the wisest people upon earth.

This thought gave me so much comfort, that I resolved to go forward until I could discover some house or village, or meet with any of the natives, leaving the two horses to discourse together as they pleased.

But the first, who was a dapple gray, observing me to steal off, neighed after me in so expressive a tone, that I fancied myself to understand what he meant;

whereupon I turned back, and came near him, to expect his farther commands, but concealing my fear as much as I could;

for I began to be in some pain how this adventure might terminate;

and the reader will easily believe I did not much like my present situation.

 The two horses came up close to me, looking with great earnestness upon my face and hands.

The gray steed rubbed my hat all round with his right forehoof, and discomposed it so much that I was forced to adjust it better by taking it off, and settling it again;

whereat both he and his companion (who was a brown bay) appeared to be much surprised;

the latter felt the lappet of my coat, and finding it to hang loose about me, they both looked with new signs of wonder.

He stroked my right hand, seeming to admire the softness and color;

but he squeezed it so hard between his hoof and his pastern, that I was forced to roar;

after which they both touched me with all possible tenderness.

They were under great perplexity about my shoes and stockings, which they felt very often, neighing to each other, and using various gestures, not unlike those of a philosopher, when he would attempt to solve some new and difficult phenomenon.

 Upon the whole, the behavior of these animals was so orderly and rational, so acute and judicious, that I at last concluded they must needs be magicians, who had thus metamorphosed themselves upon some design, and seeing a stranger in the way, were resolved to divert themselves with him;

or perhaps were really amazed at the sight of a man so very different in habit, feature, and complexion, from those who might probably live in so remote a climate.

Upon the strength of this reasoning I ventured to address them in the following manner: “Gentlemen, if you be conjurors, as I have good cause to believe, you can understand any language;

therefore I make bold to let your worships know that I am a poor distressed Englishman, driven by his misfortunes upon your coast;

and I entreat one of you to let me ride upon his back, as if he were a real horse, to some house or village where I can be relieved.

In return of which favor, I will make you a present of this knife and bracelet” (taking them out of my pocket).

The two creatures stood silent while I spoke, seeming to listen with great attention;

and when I had ended, they neighed frequently towards each other, as if they were engaged in serious conversation.

I plainly observed that their language expressed the passions very well, and the words might, with little pains, be resolved into an alphabet more easily than the Chinese.

 I could frequently distinguish the word _yahoo_, which was repeated by each of them several times;

and although it was impossible for me to conjecture what it meant, yet, while the two horses were busy in conversation, I endeavored to practice this word upon my tongue;

and as soon as they were silent, boldly pronounced _yahoo_ in a loud voice, imitating at the same time, as near as I could, the neighing of a horse;

at which they were both visibly surprised and the gray repeated the same word twice, as if he meant to teach me the right accent, wherein I spoke after him as well as I could, and found myself perceivably to improve every time, though very far from any degree of perfection.

Then the bay tried me with a second word, much harder to be pronounced;

but reducing it to the English orthography may be spelt thus—Houyhnhnm.

I did not succeed in this so well as the former;

but after two or three farther trials, I had better fortune, and they both appeared amazed at my capacity.

 After some farther discourse, which I then conjectured might relate to me, the two friends took their leaves, with the same compliment of striking each other’s hoof;

and the gray made me signs that I should walk before him, wherein I thought it prudent to comply, till I could find a better director.

When I offered to slacken my pace, he would cry, _Hhuun, hhuun_.

I guessed his meaning and gave him to understand, as well as I could, that I was weary, and not able to walk faster;

upon which he would stand awhile to let me rest.

 THE AUTHOR CONDUCTED BY A HOUYHNHNM TO HIS HOUSE—THE HOUSE DESCRIBED—THE AUTHOR’S RECEPTION—THE FOOD OF THE HOUYHNHNMS—THE AUTHOR IN DISTRESS FOR WANT OF MEAT, IS AT LAST RELIEVED—HIS MANNER OF FEEDING IN THIS COUNTRY.

 Having traveled about three miles, we came to a long kind of building, made of timber stuck in the ground, and wattled across;

the roof was low, and covered with straw.

I now began to be a little comforted, and took out some toys which travelers usually carry for presents to the savage Indians of America and other parts, in hopes the people of the house would be thereby encouraged to receive me kindly.

The horse made me a sign to go in first;

it was a large room with a smooth clay floor, and a rack and manger extending the whole length on one side.

There were three nags and two mares, not eating, but some of them sitting down upon their hams, which I very much wondered at;

but wondered more to see the rest employed in domestic business.

They seemed but ordinary cattle;

however, this confirmed my first opinion, that a people who could so far civilize brute animals must needs excel in wisdom all the nations of the world.

The gray came in just after, and thereby prevented any ill treatment which the others might have given me.

He neighed to them several times in a style of authority, and received answers.

 Beyond this room there were three others, reaching the length of the house, to which you passed through three doors, opposite to each other, in the manner of a vista;

we went through the second room towards the third.

Here the gray walked in first, beckoning me to attend;

I waited in the second room, and got ready my presents for the master and mistress of the house;

they were two knives, three bracelets of false pearl, a small looking-glass, and a bead necklace.

The horse neighed three or four times, and I waited to hear some answers in a human voice, but I heard no other returns than in the same dialect, only one or two a little shriller than his.

I began to think that this house must belong to some person of great note among them, because there appeared so much ceremony before I could gain admittance.

But, that a man of quality should be served all by horses was beyond my comprehension.

I feared my brain was disturbed by my sufferings and misfortunes: I roused myself, and looked about me in the room where I was left alone;

this was furnished like the first, only after a more elegant manner.

I rubbed my eyes often, but the same objects still occurred.

I pinched my arms and sides to awake myself, hoping I might be in a dream.

I then absolutely concluded that all these appearances could be nothing else but necromancy and magic.

But I had no time to pursue these reflections;

for the gray horse came to the door, and made me a sign to follow him into the third room, where I saw a very comely mare, together with a colt and foal, sitting on their haunches upon mats of straw, not unartfully made and perfectly neat and clean.

 The mare soon after my entrance rose from her mat, and coming up close, after having nicely observed my hands and face, gave me a most contemptuous look;

then turning to the horse, I heard the word _yahoo_ often repeated betwixt them;

the meaning of which word I could not then comprehend, although it were the first I had learned to pronounce;

but I was soon better informed, to my everlasting mortification;

for the horse beckoning to me with his head, and repeating the _hhuun, hhuun_, as he did upon the road, which I understood was to attend him, led me out into a kind of court, where was another building at some distance from the house.

Here we entered, and I saw three of these detestable creatures, whom I first met after my landing, feeding upon roots, and the flesh of some animals, which I afterwards found to be that of asses and dogs, and now and then a cow, dead by accident or disease.

They were all tied by the neck with strong withes fastened to a beam;

they held their food between the claws of their forefeet, and tore it with their teeth.

 The master horse ordered a sorrel nag, one of his servants, to untie the largest of these animals, and take him into the yard.

The beast and I were brought close together, and our countenances diligently compared both by master and servant, who thereupon repeated several times the word _yahoo_.

My horror and astonishment are not to be described, when I observed in this abominable animal, a perfect human figure;

the face of it indeed was flat and broad, the nose depressed, the lips large, and the mouth wide;

but these differences are common to all savage nations, where the lineaments of the countenance are distorted by the natives suffering their infants to lie groveling on the earth, or by carrying them on their backs, nuzzling with their faces against the mother’s shoulders.

The forefoot of the _yahoo_ differed from my hands in nothing else but the length of the nails, the coarseness and brownness of the palms, and the hairiness on the backs.

There was the same resemblance between our feet, with the same differences, which I knew very well, though the horses did not, because of my shoes and stockings;

the same in every part of our bodies, except as to hairiness and color, which I have already described.

 The great difficulty that seemed to stick with the two horses, was to see the rest of my body so very different from that of a _yahoo_, for which I was obliged to my clothes, whereof they had no conception.

The sorrel nag offered me a root, which he held (after their manner, which we shall describe in its proper place) between his hoof and pastern;

I took it in my hand, and having smelt it, returned it to him again as civilly as I could.

He brought out of the _yahoo’s_ kennel a piece of ass’s flesh, but it smelt so offensively that I turned from it with loathing;

he then threw it to the _yahoo_, by whom it was greedily devoured.

He afterwards showed me a wisp of hay, and a fetlock full of oats;

but I shook my head, to signify that neither of these were food for me.

And indeed I now apprehended that I must absolutely starve, if I did not get to some of my own species;

for as to those filthy _yahoos_, although there were few greater lovers of mankind at that time than myself, yet I confess I never saw any sensitive being so detestable on all accounts;

and the more I came near them the more hateful they grew, while I stayed in that country.

This the master horse observed by my behavior, and therefore sent the _yahoo_ back to his kennel.

He then put his forehoof to his mouth, at which I was much surprised, although he did it with ease, and with a motion that appeared perfectly natural;

and made other signs to know what I would eat;

but I could not return him such an answer as he was able to apprehend;

and if he had understood me, I did not see how I was possibly to contrive any way for finding myself nourishment.

While we were thus engaged, I observed a cow passing by, whereupon I pointed to her, and expressed a desire to go and milk her.

This had its effect; for he led me back into the house, and ordered a mare-servant to open a room, where a good store of milk lay in earthen and wooden vessels, after a very orderly and cleanly manner.

She gave me a large bowlful, of which I drank very heartily, and found myself well refreshed.

 About noon, I saw coming towards the house a kind of vehicle drawn like a sledge by four _yahoos_.

There was in it an old steed, who seemed to be of quality;

he alighted with his hindfeet forward, having by accident got hurt in his left forefoot.

He came to dine with our horse, who received him with great civility.

They dined in the best room, and had oats boiled in milk for the second course, which the old horse ate warm, but the rest cold.

Their mangers were placed circular in the middle of the room, and divided into several partitions, round which they sat on their haunches, upon bosses of straw.

In the middle was a large rack, with angles answering to every partition of the manger;

so that each horse and mare ate their own hay, and their own mash of oats and milk, with much decency and regularity.

The behavior of the young colt and foal appeared very modest, and that of the master and mistress extremely cheerful and complaisant to their guest.

The gray ordered me to stand by him;

and much discourse passed between him and his friend concerning me, as I found by the stranger’s often looking on me, and the frequent repetition of the word _yahoo_.

 I happened to wear my gloves, which the master gray observing, seemed perplexed, discovering signs of wonder what I had done to my forefeet;

he put his hoof three or four times to them, as if he would signify that I should reduce them to their former shape, which I presently did, pulling off both my gloves, and putting them into my pocket.

 This occasioned farther talk, and I saw the company was pleased with my behavior, whereof I soon found the good effects.

I was ordered to speak the few words I understood;

and while they were at dinner, the master taught me the names for oats, milk, fire, water, and some others;

which I could readily pronounce after him, having from my youth a great facility for learning languages.

 When dinner was done, the master horse took me aside, and by signs and words made me understand the concern he was in that I had nothing to eat.

Oats in their tongue are called _hluunh_.

This word I pronounced two or three times;

for although I had refused them at first, yet upon second thoughts I considered that I could contrive to make of them a kind of bread, which might be sufficient, with milk, to keep me alive, till I could make my escape to some other country, and to creatures of my own species.

The horse immediately ordered a white mare-servant of his family to bring me a good quantity of oats in a sort of wooden tray.

These I heated before the fire, as well as I could, and rubbed them till the husks came off, which I made a shift to winnow from the grain:

I ground and beat them between two stones, then took water, and made them into a kind of paste or cake, which I toasted at the fire, and ate warm with milk.

It was at first a very insipid diet, though common enough in many parts of Europe, but grew tolerable by time;

and having been often reduced to hard fare in my life, this was not the first experiment I had made how easily nature is satisfied.

And I cannot but observe, that I never had one hour’s sickness while I stayed in this island.

’Tis true I sometimes made a shift to catch a rabbit or bird, by springs made of _yahoo’s_ hairs;

and I often gathered wholesome herbs, which I boiled or ate as salads with my bread;

and now and then, for a rarity, I made a little butter and drank the whey.

I was at first at a great loss for salt, but custom soon reconciled me to the want of it;

and I am confident that the frequent use of salt among us is an effect of luxury, and was first introduced as a provocative to drink, except where it is necessary for preserving of flesh in long voyages, or in places remote from great markets:

for we observe no animal to be fond of it but man;

and as to myself, when I left this country, it was a great while before I could endure the taste of it in anything that I ate.

 This is enough to say upon the subject of my diet, wherewith other travelers fill their books, as if the readers were personally concerned whether we fared well or ill.

However, it was necessary to mention this matter, lest the world should think it impossible that I could find sustenance for three years in such a country, and among such inhabitants.

 When it grew towards evening, the master horse ordered a place for me to lodge in;

it was but six yards from the house, and separated from the stable of the _yahoos_.

Here I got some straw, and covering myself with my own clothes, slept very sound.

But I was in a very short time better accommodated, as the reader shall know hereafter, when I come to treat more particularly about my way of living.

 THE AUTHOR STUDIOUS TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE—THE HOUYHNHNM HIS MASTER ASSISTS IN TEACHING HIM—THE LANGUAGE DESCRIBED—SEVERAL HOUYHNHNMS OF QUALITY COME OUT OF CURIOSITY TO SEE THE AUTHOR—HE GIVES HIS MASTER A SHORT ACCOUNT OF HIS VOYAGE.

 My principal endeavor was to learn the language, which my master (for so I shall henceforth call him) and his children, and every servant of his house, were desirous to teach me;

for they looked upon it as a prodigy that a brute animal should discover such marks of a rational creature.

I pointed to everything, and inquired the name of it, which I wrote down in my journal book when I was alone, and corrected my bad accent, by desiring those of the family to pronounce it often.

In this employment, a sorrel nag, one of the under servants, was ready to assist me.

 In speaking, they pronounce through the nose and throat, and their language approaches nearest to the High Dutch or German, of any I know in Europe; but it is much more graceful and significant.

The emperor Charles V. made almost the same observation when he said that if he were to speak to his horse, it should be in High Dutch.

 The curiosity and impatience of my master were so great that he spent many hours of his leisure to instruct me.

He was convinced (as he afterwards told me) that I must be a _yahoo_, but my teachableness, civility, and cleanliness, astonished him;

which were qualities altogether so opposite to those animals.

He was most perplexed about my clothes, reasoning sometimes with himself, whether they were a part of my body;

for I never pulled them off till the family were asleep, and got them on before they waked in the morning.

My master was eager to learn whence I came;

how I acquired those appearances of reason which I discovered in all my actions;

and to know my story from my own mouth, which he hoped he should soon do by the great proficiency I made in learning and pronouncing their words and sentences.

To help my memory, I formed all I learned in the English alphabet, and wrote the words down, with the translations.

This last, after some time, I ventured to do in my master’s presence.

It cost me much trouble to explain to him what I was doing;

for the inhabitants have not the least idea of books or literature.

 In about ten weeks’ time I was able to understand most of his questions;

and in three months could give him some tolerable answers.

He was extremely curious to know from what part of the country I came, and how I was taught to imitate a rational creature;

because the _yahoos_ (whom he saw I exactly resembled in my head, hands and face, that were only visible), with some appearance of cunning, and the strongest disposition to mischief, were observed to be the most unteachable of all brutes,

I answered that I came over the sea from a far place, with many others of my own kind, in a great hollow vessel made of the bodies of trees;

that my companions forced me to land on this coast, and then left me to shift for myself.

It was with some difficulty, and by the help of many signs, that I brought him to understand me.

He replied, that I must needs be mistaken, or that I said the thing which was not.

(For they have no word in their language to express lying or falsehood.)

He knew it was impossible that there could be a country beyond the sea, or that a parcel of brutes could move a wooden vessel whither they pleased upon water.

He was sure no Houyhnhnm alive could make such a vessel, nor would trust _yahoos_ to manage it.

 The word Houyhnhnm, in their tongue, signifies a horse, and, in its etymology, the perfection of nature.

I told my master that I was at a loss for expression, but would improve as fast as I could;

and hoped in a short time I should be able to tell him wonders.

He was pleased to direct his own mare, his colt and foal, and the servants of the family, to take all opportunities of instructing me;

and every day, for two or three hours, he was at the same pains himself;

several horses and mares of quality in the neighborhood came often to our house upon the report spread of a wonderful _yahoo_, that could speak like a Houyhnhnm, and seemed in his words and actions to discover some glimmerings of reason.

These delighted to converse with me;

they put many questions and received such answers as I was able to return.

By all these advantages I made so great a progress, that in five months from my arrival, I understood whatever was spoken, and could express myself tolerably well.

 The Houyhnhnms who came to visit my master out of a design of seeing and talking with me, could hardly believe me to be a right _yahoo_, because my body had a different covering from others of my kind.

They were astonished to observe me without the usual hair or skin, except on my head, face, and hands;

but I discovered that secret to my master upon an accident which happened about a fortnight before.

 I have already told the reader, that every night, when the family were gone to bed, it was my custom to strip, and cover myself with my clothes:

it happened one morning early, that my master sent for me by the sorrel nag, who was his valet;

when he came I was fast asleep, my clothes fallen off on one side, and my shirt above my waist.

I awaked at the noise he made, and observed him to deliver his message in some disorder;

after which he went to my master, and in a great fright gave him a very confused account of what he had seen.

This I presently discovered;

for going as soon as I was dressed to pay attendance upon his honor, he asked me the meaning of what his servant had reported, that I was not the same thing when I slept as I appeared to be at other times.

 I had hitherto concealed the secret of my dress, in order to distinguish myself as much as possible from that cursed race of _yahoos_; but now I found it in vain to do so any longer.

Besides, I considered that my clothes and shoes would soon wear out, which already were in a declining condition, and must be supplied by some contrivance from the hides of _yahoos_ or other brutes;

whereby the whole secret would be known.

I therefore told my master that in the country whence I came, those of my kind always covered their bodies with the hairs of certain animals prepared by art, as well for decency as to avoid the inclemencies of air, both hot and cold;

of which, as to my own person, I would give him immediate conviction, if he pleased to command me.

Whereupon I first unbuttoned my coat, and pulled it off.

I did the same with my waistcoat.

I drew off my shoes, stockings, and breeches.

 My master observed the whole performance with great signs of curiosity and admiration.

He took up all my clothes in his pastern, one piece after another, and examined them diligently;

he then stroked my body very gently, and looked round me several times;

after which he said, it was plain I must be a perfect _yahoo_;

but that I differed very much from the rest of my species, in the softness, whiteness, and smoothness of my skin;

my want of hair on several parts of my body;

the shape and shortness of my claws behind and before;

and my affectation of walking continually on my two hinder feet.

He desired to see no more;

and gave me leave to put on my clothes again, for I was shuddering with cold.

 I expressed my uneasiness at his giving me so often the appellation of _yahoo_, an odious animal, for which I had so utter a hatred and contempt;

I begged he would forbear applying that word to me, and take the same order in his family and among his friends whom he suffered to see me.

I requested likewise, that the secret of my having a false covering to my body might be known to none but himself, at least as long as my present clothing should last;

for, as to what the sorrel nag, his valet, had observed, his honor might command him to conceal it.

 All this my master very graciously consented to, and thus the secret was kept till my clothes began to wear out, which I was forced to supply by several contrivances that shall hereafter be mentioned.

In the meantime, he desired I would go on with my utmost diligence to learn their language, because he was more astonished at my capacity for speech and reason, than at the figure of my body, whether it were covered or no;

adding, that he waited with some impatience to hear the wonders which I promised to tell him.

 Thenceforward he doubled the pains he had been at to instruct me;

he brought me into all company, and made them treat me with civility, because, as he told them privately, this would put me into good humor, and make me more diverting.

 Every day, when I waited on him, besides the trouble he was at in teaching, he would ask me several questions concerning myself, which I answered as well as I could;

and by these means he had already received some general ideas, though very imperfect.

It would be tedious to relate the several steps by which I advanced to a more regular conversation, but the first account I gave of myself in any order and length was to this purpose:

 That I came from a very far country, as I already had attempted to tell him, with about fifty more of my own species;

that we traveled upon the seas in a great hollow vessel made of wood, and larger than his honor’s house.

I described the ship to him in the best terms I could, and explained, by the help of my handkerchief displayed, how it was driven forward by the wind.

That upon a quarrel among us, I was set on shore on this coast, where I walked forward, without knowing whither, till he delivered me from the persecution of those execrable yahoos.

He asked me who made the ship, and how it was possible that the Houyhnhnms of my country would leave it to the management of brutes.

My answer was, that I durst proceed no farther in my relation, unless he would give me his word and honor that he would not be offended, and then I would tell him the wonders I had so often promised.

He agreed; and I went on by assuring him that the ship was made by creatures like myself, who, in all the countries I had traveled, as well as in my own, were the only governing, rational animals;

and that upon my arrival hither I was as much astonished to see the Houyhnhnms act like rational beings, as he or his friends could be in finding some marks of reason in a creature he was pleased to call a _yahoo_, to which I owned my resemblance in every part, but could not account for their degenerate and brutal nature.

I said farther, that if good fortune ever restored me to my native country, to relate my travels hither, as I resolved to do, everybody would believe that I said the thing which was not;

that I invented the story out of my own head;

and—with all possible respect to himself, his family, and friends, and under his promise of not being offended—our countrymen would hardly think it probable that a Houyhnhnm should be the presiding creature of a nation, and a _yahoo_ the brute.

 THE HOUYHNHNMS’ 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.

 My 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 any one 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, where _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 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 honor would please 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 Houyhnhnms among us, whom we called horses, were the most generous and comely animals we had;

that they excelled in strength and swiftness;

and when they belonged to persons of quality, were employed in traveling, racing, or drawing chariots;

they were treated with much kindness and care, till they fell into diseases, or became foundered 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 great labor, and fed 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 fastened 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 traveled.

 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 they were indeed sensible of rewards and punishments;

but his honor 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 does not abound in variety of words, because their wants and passions are fewer than among us.

But it is impossible to represent his noble resentment at our savage treatment of the Houyhnhnm race.

He said, if it were possible there could be any country where _yahoos_ alone were indued with reason, they certainly must be the governing animal;

because reason in time will always prevail against brutal strength.

But, considering the frames 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 offices of life;

whereupon he desired to know whether those among whom I lived resembled me or the _yahoos_ of this 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 forefeet, 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 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 forefeet 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 and 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 on every point;

but I doubted much, whether it would be possible for me to explain myself on several subjects whereof his honor 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 honor’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, 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 and gaming;

others fled for treason; many for murder, theft, poisoning, robbery, perjury, forgery, coining false money, for flying from their colors, 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 the 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 several crimes for which most of our crew had been forced to fly their country.

This labor 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 endeavored to give him some idea 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.

 THE AUTHOR AT HIS MASTER’S COMMAND, INFORMS HIM OF THE STATE OF ENGLAND—THE CAUSES OF WAR AMONG THE PRINCES OF EUROPE—THE AUTHOR BEGINS TO EXPLAIN THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION.

 The reader may please to observe that the following extract of many of the conversations I had with my master, contains a summary of the most material points, which were discoursed at several times for above two years;

his honor often desiring fuller satisfaction as I farther improved in the Houyhnhnm tongue.

I laid before him, as well as I could, the whole state of Europe;

I discoursed of trade and manufactures, of arts and sciences;

and the answers I gave to all the questions he made, as they arose upon several subjects, were a fund of conversation not to be exhausted.

But I shall here only set down the substance of what passed between us concerning my own country, reducing it into order as well as I can, without any regard to time or other circumstances, while I strictly adhere to truth.

My only concern is, that I shall hardly be able to do justice to my master’s arguments and expressions, which must needs suffer by my want of capacity, as well as by a translation into our barbarous English.

 In obedience, therefore, to his honor’s commands, I related to him the revolution under the Prince of Orange, the long war with France entered into by the said prince, and renewed by his successor, the present queen;

wherein the greatest powers of Christendom were engaged, and which still continued.

I computed, at his request, that about a million of _yahoos_ might have been killed in the whole progress of it;

and perhaps a hundred or more cities taken, and thrice as many ships burnt or sunk.

 He asked me what were the usual causes or motives that made one country go to war with another.

I answered, they were innumerable;

but I should only mention a few of the chief.

Sometimes the ambition of princes, who never think they have land or people enough to govern;

sometimes the corruption of ministers, who engage their master in a war in order to stifle or divert the clamor of the subjects against their evil administration.

Difference in opinions has cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh;

whether the juice of a certain berry be blood or wine;

whether whistling be a vice or virtue;

whether it be better to kiss a post or throw it into the fire;

what is the best color for a coat, whether black, white, red, or gray, and whether it should be long or short, narrow or wide, dirty or clean, with many more.

Neither are any wars so furious and bloody, or of so long continuance, as those occasioned by difference in opinion, especially if it be in things indifferent.

 Sometimes the quarrel between two princes is to decide which of them shall dispossess a third of his dominions, where neither of them pretend to any right.

Sometimes one prince quarrels with another, for fear the other should quarrel with him.

Sometimes a war is entered upon, because the enemy is too strong, and sometimes because he is too weak.

Sometimes our neighbors want the things which we have, or have the things which we want, and we both fight, till they take ours, or give us theirs.

It is a very justifiable cause of war to invade a country after the people have been wasted by famine, destroyed by pestilence, or embroiled by factions among themselves.

It is justifiable to enter into war against our nearest ally, when one of his towns lies convenient for us, or a territory of land that would render our dominions round and complete.

If a prince sends forces into a nation where the people are poor and ignorant, he may lawfully put half of them to death, and make slaves of the rest, in order to civilize and reduce them from their barbarous way of living.

It is a very kingly, honorable, and frequent practice, when one prince desires the assistance of another to secure him against an invasion, that the assistant, when he has driven out the invader, should seize on the dominions himself, and kill, imprison, or banish the prince he came to relieve.

Alliance by blood or marriage, is a frequent cause of war between princes;

and the nearer the kindred is, the greater is their disposition to quarrel.

Poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud, and pride and hunger will ever be at variance.

For these reasons, the trade of a soldier is held the most honorable of all others;

because a soldier is a _yahoo_ hired to kill in cold blood as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can.

 There is likewise a kind of princes in Europe, not able to make war by themselves, who hire out their troops to richer nations, for so much a day to each man;

of which they keep three-fourths to themselves, and it is the best part of their maintenance;

such are those in many northern parts of Europe.

 “What you have told me,” said my master, “upon the subject of war, does indeed discover most admirably the effects of that reason you pretend to: however, it is happy that the shame is greater than the danger;

and that nature has left you utterly incapable of doing much mischief.