Chapter-2
After walking for about an hour, I reached the edge of the field. There was a fence which was at least a hundred and twenty feet in height.
After some time, I reached a stile which was a kind of entrance from one field to the next. There were four steps and each step was about six feet high. I was stunned to see those steps and was in deep thoughts as to how to climb the steps. Suddenly, I saw a huge creature, similar to the one I had seen walking in the sea, come towards me. I was very surprised and frightened. He was as tall as the tallest church spire I had ever seen. He was covered about thirty feet in a stride. I quickly ran back into the field to hide myself. I heard him call someone in the other field. The man called out and his voice sounded like thunder.
Soon, I saw seven others like him coming towards him. I thought about Lilliput where I had been the giant. In this country, I was the Lilliputian.
All of them carried huge reaping scythes in their hands. Their clothes showed that they were labourers, whereas the first one looked to be their master, the farmer.
The master spoke something to them, upon which they came to the field, where I was hiding, to reap the corn. I moved away from them as fast as I could, but it was very difficult to move as the stalks of the corn were sometime more than a foot away from one another and I could hardly squeeze my body among them. Soon, I reached a part of the field where the crop had been damaged by rain and wind.
Here, the stalks were so interwoven that I could not creep through. I realized that it was just impossible for me to move any further. I quietly lay down there.
I found myself very helpless and my mind was terribly upset. I cursed myself because many people had advised me not to undertake at journey, but I was least bothered to hear, anyone. I remembered my wife and children and felt very unhappy.
One of the giants moved up to the place where I was hiding. ‘He is going to stand on me.’ I thought, ‘Or perhaps he will cut me when he cuts the corn.’ I shouted as loudly as I could. The giant stopped. He looked around and finally saw me. He picked me up between his finger and thumb, and brought me close to his face to look at me. He looked at me closely from all sides.
With the presence of mind, I decided not to try to free myself at all. If I tried to do so, I was sure to slip through his fingers and fall from a great height to the ground. I also feared that he might dash me against the ground as we usually do to a little, hateful animal. I put my hands together and could hardly speak, but I uttered something. He seemed to be pleased with my voice and gestures. By that time, I could no longer bear the pressure of his thumb and fingers. Tears came out of my eyes and I started groaning with pain. I made signs to show him that his grip was too painful for me. He probably realized my pain and instantly put me into the pocket of his coat very gently and ran towards his master.
Within a few minutes the reaper reached the place where his master was resting. Very carefully he took me out of his pocket and showed me to him. The master was astonished and seemed to be puzzled. Then he called his men and asked them whether they had seen any creature like me in the field. All of them nodded their heads meaning ‘no’. He put me on the ground on my hands and knees. I stood up and walked around to show them I was a man and not an animal. They all sat down in a circle around me. I bowed to them, and then I got down on my knees and lifted my hands and eyes. I was trying to beg them for my life.
The farmer spoke to me but the sound of his voice pierced my ears like that of a water-mill. I spoke to them in all the languages that I knew, and as loudly as I could. But it was difficult for both of us to understand each other.
