I ordered several of the principal men's sons to court, in order for employments, and to furnish our future colambs; and this I did, as knowing each country would rather approve of a member of their own body for their head than a stranger; and, in my opinion, it is the most natural union. And then breeding them under the eye of the king eight or ten years, or more, they are, as it were, naturalised to him too, and in better capacity to serve both king and country.
As my head was constantly at work for the good of this people, I turned the most trifling incidents into some use or other; and made the narrowest prospects extend to the vastest distances. I shall here instance in one only. There was at Youk a private man's son, whom by mere accident I happened to ask some slight question of; and he giving me, with a profound respect and graceful assurance, a most pertinent answer; that, and the manner of its delivery, gave me a pleasure, which upon farther discourse with him, was, contrary to custom, very much increased; for I found in him an extensive genius, and a desire for my conversation. I desired his father to put him under my care, which the old man, as I was then in so great repute, readily agreed to; and his son desiring nothing more, I took him with me to Brandleguarp. I soon procured him a pretty post but of small duty, for I had purposed other employment for him, but of sufficient significancy to procure him respect. I took great delight in talking with him on different subjects, and observed by his questions upon them, which often puzzled me, or his answers to them, he had a most pregnant fancy and surprising solidity, joined to a continual and unwearied application. I frequently mentioning books, writing, and letters to him, and telling him what great things might be attained that way, his inquisitive temper, and the schemes he had formed thereon, put me upon thinking of several things I should never have hit upon without him. I considered all the ways I could contrive to teach him letters; and letting him into my design, he asked me how I did to make a letter. I described a pen to him, and told him I put a black liquor into it, and as I drew that along upon a flat white thing we made use of, called paper, it would make marks which way ever I drew it, into what shape I pleased. "Why then," says he, "anything that will make a mark upon another thing as I please, will do."—"True," says I, "but what shall we get that will make a black mark?"—We were entering further into this debate; but the king sending for me, I left him unsatisfied. I stayed late with the king that night, so did not see Lasmeel (for that was his name) till next night, wondering what was become of him. I asked him then where he had been all the day. He told me he had been looking for a pen and paper. I laughed, and asked him if he had found them.—"Yes," says he, "or something that will do as well:" so he opened one side of his graundee, and showed me a large flat leaf, smooth and pulpy, very long and wide, and about a quarter of an inch thick, almost like an Indian fig-leaf.—"And what am I to do with this?" says I.—"To mark it," says he, "and see where you mark."—"With what?" says I.—"With this," says he, putting his hand again into his graundee, and taking out three or four strong sharp prickles. I looked at them both; and clapping him on the head, "Lasmeel," says I, "if you and I were in England, you should be made a privy-councillor."—"What! won't it do, then?" says he.—I told him we would try.—"I thought," says he, "it would have done very well; for I marked one all about, and though I could not see much at first, by that time I had made an end, that I did first was quite of a different colour from the leaf, and I could see it as plain as could be." I told him as he was of an age to comprehend what I meant, I would take another method with him than with a child; so I reasoned from sentences backwards to words, and from them to syllables, and so on to letters. I then made one, the vowel A, told him its sound, and added a consonant to it, and told him that part of the sound of each distinct letter put together, as the two letters themselves were, made another sound, which I called a syllable; and that joining two or more of them together made a word, by putting the same letters together as made the sounds of those syllables which made that word. Then setting him a copy of letters, which with very little difficulty were to be drawn upon the leaf, and telling him their sounds, I left him to himself; and when he had done, though I named them but twice over, his memory was so strong as to retain the sounds, as he called them, of every one but F, L, and Q.
In two months' time I made him master of anything I wrote to him; and as he delighted in it, he wrote a great deal himself, so that we kept an epistolary correspondence, and he would set down all the common occurrences of the day, as what he heard and saw, with his remarks on divers things.
One day, as the king and I were walking in the gardens, and talking of the customs of my country, and about our wars, telling him how our soldiers fought on horseback, the king could not conceive what I meant by a horse. I told him my wife had said there were neither beasts nor fishes in the country; which I was very much surprised at, considering how we abounded with both: "And therefore," says I, "to tell your majesty that a horse is a creature with four legs, you must naturally believe it to be somewhat like a man with four legs."—"Why, truly," says he, "I believe it is; but has it the graundee?" I could not forbear smiling, even at his majesty, and wanted to find some similitude to compare it to, to carry the king's mind that way; for else he would sooner, I thought, conceive it like a tree or a mountain than what it really was; and as I was musing, it came into my head I had given Lasmeel a small print of a horse, which I found in one of the captain's pockets at Graundevolet, and believing it to be the stamp of a tobacco-paper, had kept it to please the children with; so I told the king I believed I could show him the figure of a horse. He told me it would much oblige him.
Seeing several of the guards waiting at the garden arch, I looked, and at last found one of Lasmeel's leaves in the garden, and cutting one of them up with my knife, I took the point of that, and wrote to Lasmeel to send me by the bearer the picture of a horse I gave him, that I might show it the king. And calling one of the guards, "Carry that to Lasmeel," says I; "he is, I believe, in my apartment, and bring me an answer directly." Then falling into discourse again with the king, and presently turning at the end of the walk, I saw the same guard again. Says I "You cannot have brought me an answer already."—"You have not told me," says he, "what to bring you an answer to."—"Nor shall I," says I; "do as you are bid;" for I perceived then what the fellow stuck at. He walked off with the leaf, but very discontentedly. The king said he wondered how I could act such a contradiction. "This, father," says he, "is not what I expected from you; to order a man to bring an answer without giving him a message." I desired his patience only till the man came back. Presently says the king, "Here he comes!—Well," says he, "what answer?"—"Sir," says the fellow, "I have only had the walk for my pains: for he sent it back again, and a little white thing with it."—"Ha, ha!" says the king, "I thought so.—Come, father, own you have once been in the wrong; for I am sure you intended to give him a message, but having forgot it, would not submit to be told of your mistake by a guard." I looked very grave, reading what Lasmeel had wrote; which was to tell me he had obeyed my orders by sending the horse, for he was just then drawing it out upon a leaf.
"Come, come," says the king, "give the man his message, father, and let him go again."—"Sir," says I, "there is no need of that, he has punctually obeyed me; and Lasmeel was then at the table in my oval chamber with a leaf, and this picture in my hand, before him."
The king was ready to sink when I said so, and showed the print. "Truly, father," says he, "I have been to blame to question you; for though these things are above my comprehension, I am not to think anything beyond your skill." I made no reply to it; but showing the king the picture, the guard sneaked off; and glad he was, I believe, he could do so.
I went then upon the explanation of my horse, and answering fifty questions about him, at last he asked what his inside was: "Exactly the same as your majesty's," said I.—"And can he eat and breathe too?" says he.—"Just as you can," says I.—"Well," says he, "I would never have believed there had been such a creature: what would I give for one of them!"—I set forth the divers other uses we put them to, besides the wars; and by the picture, with some supposed alterations, I described a cow, a sheep, and numberless other quadrupeds; my account of which gave him great pleasure.
