Jack. Gulliver says so. He met also with men of an immense stature, besides an island inhabited by horses.....
And yet I must tell you that the only reality in all his discoveries is the rich imagination of the author, whose taste and feeling led him to resort to allegory for the purpose of revealing grand truths. Do you know, Jack, what an allegory is?
It somewhat resembles a parable, I presume.
Right, one is very similar to the other.
Jack. And the pygmies you mentioned, are any to be found?
No more than there are Lilliputians; they exist only in poetical fiction, or in the erroneous account of some ancient navigator, in which a group of monkeys has been fallaciously described as diminutive men.
Fritz. Such probably are the mannikins that we see now stretching out their arms towards us. Ah, now I begin to perceive that they have beaks, and that their arms are short drooping wings;—what strange birds!
You are right, son, they are penguins or ruffs[1]. They are of the stupid species; Ernest killed one soon after our arrival. They are excellent swimmers, but cannot fly; and so confused are they when on land, that they run in the silliest way into danger; catching such birds as these, is a fit sport for none but the indolent.
While we were talking I steered gently towards shore, to enjoy the uncommon sight the longer; but the very moment we got into shallow water, my giddy boy Jack leaped out of his cask up to his waist into it, and was quickly on land battering with his stick among the penguins before they were aware of his approach, so that half a dozen of them were immediately laid flat; they were not dead, but only stunned: the remainder, seeing they were so roughly accosted, plunged into the sea, dived, and disappeared.
Fritz murmured audibly at his brother for having frightened them away before he could fire. I could not help laughing at this perpetual shooter of guns, who was so disposed to waste his powder on animals which were to be taken with the hand without resistance: I also taunted Jack a little for having jumped into the water at the risk of being drowned. While I was making these observations, the birds, that had been merely stunned, gradually recovered, rose upon their legs and began a tottering sort of march with a gravity which irresistibly excited our laughter. I did not allow Jack’s game to escape; I took hold of them, tied their legs together with reeds, without hurting them, and laid them on the beach while we were landing our treasures. But as the sun declined, and we despaired of finishing before night set in, each of us filled a barrow in order to take home something. I requested that the tobacco-graters and iron plates might be in the first load; to these we added the penguins living and dead, and then set out. As we drew near Falcon’s Stream I heard with pleasure the watchful dogs proclaim our approach with loud barking: they no sooner saw us than they ran up with lively demonstrations of joy, and in the midst of their rough greetings completely overset poor Jack, who was wheeling along his barrow with difficulty and some ill-humour, and to this he gave vent by two or three lusty cuffs of his fist, which were divided between his friends Turk and Ponto, who so little thought of resenting them, that they sprang upon him as often as he took his barrow, and thus renewed the contest to the no small amusement of his brothers, who ran up to disengage him. My wife was highly pleased with the wheel-barrows and for the most part with their contents, but she had no partiality for the tobacco-graters.—In the name of Heaven, said she, what is the use of these graters? Are our four sons to become snuff-takers? Luckily for my fears, said she, the article is not to be obtained in our island.