Gulliver in Lilliput Read online

  Text copyright © 2010 by Lisa Findlay

  Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Antonio Javier Caparo

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Findlay, Lisa.

  Gulliver in Lilliput / adapted by Lisa Findlay ; illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo.

  p. cm. — (Step into reading. A step 3 book)

  Summary: On a voyage in the South Seas, an Englishman finds himself shipwrecked in Lilliput, a land of people only six inches high.

  ISBN 978-0-375-86585-5 (trade pbk.)

  eISBN: 978-0-307-77157-5

  [1. Fantasy. 2. Voyages and travels—Fiction. 3. Size—Fiction.] I. Caparo, Antonio Javier, ill. II. Swift, Jonathan, 1667–1745. Gulliver’s travels. III. Title.

  PZ7.F4956665Gu 2010

  [E]—dc22 2009027680

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  For Flora Jean

  —L.F.

  To Gabi, my favorite Lilliputian

  —A.J.C.

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  First Page

  Hello. My name is Gulliver.

  I am from England.

  But I have traveled to many

  strange and wonderful lands.

  I used to be a doctor

  on a sailing ship.

  It was a good life,

  but it was full of danger.

  One terrible day,

  there was a great storm at sea.

  The wind howled.

  The waves crashed.

  Our ship was smashed to pieces.

  I swam and swam until my arms

  were as limp as noodles.

  Finally, I reached land.

  I fell asleep right there.

  When I woke up,

  I could not move

  my arms or legs.

  I was tied to the ground

  by many, many pieces of string.

  Who could have done

  such a thing?

  I felt something

  moving up my leg.

  It moved up to my belly.

  Could it be a bird?

  A rat?

  No!

  It was a tiny man

  no bigger than my hand.

  I thought I must be dreaming.

  When I woke up again,

  I was on a platform with wheels.

  It was being pulled by

  fifteen hundred tiny horses.

  The little people brought me

  to an old temple.

  They chained me to the wall

  with ninety-one tiny chains.

  I could not get free!

  Many people came

  to look at me.

  They called me

  “the man mountain.”

  Some of the people were nice.

  Other people were mean

  and shot me with arrows.

  I picked up the mean men.

  I put them in my pocket.

  I took one out.

  I opened my mouth wide.

  The people screamed.

  I did not eat the wee man.

  I put him back on the ground.

  The people cheered.

  Then the little people liked me.

  They gave me new clothes.

  I was too big for them.

  So three hundred tailors

  sewed me a new suit.

  The little people gave me food.

  I was still hungry.

  So they gave me forty sheep

  and six cows to eat every day!

  The little people gave me a bed.

  It was too small for me.

  So they tied together

  six hundred tiny beds.

  The little people were

  not afraid of me anymore.

  They danced in my hand.

  They played hide-and-seek

  in my hair.

  Then the little people

  had a parade through my legs.

  They even taught me

  their language.

  They told me that their land

  was called Lilliput.

  But they still would not

  set me free.

  I had to agree to help them.

  I had to help whenever they asked.

  I also had to give them

  the things in my pockets.

  I gave them my comb.

  It was too big for their heads.

  I gave them my watch.

  They were too small to hold it.

  They finally took off

  my chains!

  I went to visit the palace.

  I saw the royal family.

  The people at the palace

  danced and jumped on ropes.

  The person who jumped the highest

  got a great job.

  The people there argued

  about silly things.

  Some said shoes

  with low heels were best.

  Some said shoes

  with high heels were best.

  They argued about

  which way to crack eggs.

  Should eggs be cracked

  at the small end?

  Or the big end?

  The people in Lilliput

  were Small-Enders.

  The Big-Enders lived on

  the next island over.

  The emperor ordered me

  to attack the Big-Enders.

  I had a plan.

  I wove many tiny ropes

  into big ropes.

  I attached iron hooks

  to the ropes.

  I took off

  my shoes and stockings.

  Then I waded out to sea.

  The Big-Enders saw me coming.

  They shot arrows at me.

  The arrows were too small

  to hurt me much.

  The Big-Enders were scared.

  They jumped off their ships.

  I put the hooks on the ships

  and dragged them away.

  I took the ships

  back to Lilliput.

  The war was over.

  I always tried to help

  my friends.

  One night,

  hundreds of little people

  woke me up.

  There was a fire

  at the royal palace.

  The empress needed my help!

  There was no water

  to put out the fire.

  So I peed

  all over the palace.

  The empress was very angry.

  The little people

  were mad at me

  for peeing on the palace.

  They did not feed me anymore.

  It was time for me

  to leave Lilliput.

  I found a boat floating

  in the ocean.

  What luck!

  It was the perfect size

  for me.

  Then I sailed off

  to my next adventure.

 

 

  Lisa Findlay, Gulliver in Lilliput

  Thanks for reading the books on GrayCity.Net

 
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