Between the Lines: Lemuel Gulliver

For those of you who celebrate, I hope you had a fantastic Easter. We had a great day--church then hiking. It was great to get out in the beautiful weather and move around. This week's guest has done quite a bit of traveling in his own right. He has visited all sorts of strange and wonderful places and met some very interesting creatures. Please join me in welcoming none other than Lemuel Gulliver himself.

Greg:  Hello there. It's great to have a chance to sit down with such a well traveled person. What is the most fascinating place that you've visited?

Gulliver:  On the whole I would have to say the race of intelligent horse called the Houyhnhnms. My crew had mutinied and left me on the shores of a strange country. I was taken in by a family of Houyhnhnms who treated me much more civilly than humans ever did.

Greg:  That may be, but they were still horses. Surely you would feel more at home with people.

Gulliver:  Sadly, no. The people, Yahoos they were called, were cruel and vicious. When I was forced to return to my homeland I no longer had any love for humanity. Horses, to me, are much more humane.

Greg:  What was your most unpleasant adventure?

Gulliver:  My time amongst the giants of Brobdingnag was most unpleasant. 

Greg:  How so?

Gulliver:  Living amongst humans that were the size of tall buildings was most challenging. For one thing, they looked upon me as at best a child and at worst a mere plaything. To be up close to those huge unwashed bodies was not something that I would ever want to repeat. The odor was overpowering.

Greg:  Yes, that would be very unpleasant, I would think. What would you say was your most dangerous journey?

Gulliver:  Well, there were a number. The Brobdingnags kept me in a box for their amusement, and one day it was carried off by a giant eagle with me inside. I was lifted high off the ground and then finally dropped into the sea. On my first journey, I fell asleep on the beach and awoke to find myself tied down and under the power of a race of tiny people called the Lilliputians. This being my first adventure, I was unaccustomed to such strange folk, and it rather took me off-stride, but I was able to negotiate my freedom and assist them in their war with a neighboring country, Blefuscu. Sadly, things did not work out and I was forced to  flee and make my way back to Europe.

Greg:  Well, I must say that your travels are very interesting. Is there any chance that you will be venturing abroad again?

Gulliver:  Not that I can foresee. I intend to stay here at home in peace for the rest of my days. Of course it is entirely possible that the flying island of Laputa may come to take me back. They are very, some might say overly, fascinated with science. They try all sorts of outlandish experiments. Come to think of it, I believe I should be going. No knowing when they might decide to show up. I'll have to go to the stables and ask my horses if they've seen anything unusual in the sky. Good day.

Greg:  Good day, Mr. Gulliver. I hope for your sake that the horses have not seen anything. Thanks for stopping by!