Chapter-5
One day, a messenger from the court came to meet my master. He had brought a message that I should be taken to the palace for the amusement of the queen and her ladies. The queen had heard about me from some of her servants. Without any delay, my master took me to the queen’s chamber the next day.
The queen and all the ladies were delighted to see me. I sat down on my knees as a sign that I wanted to kiss the queen. The queen held out her little finger towards me; I embraced it in both my arms and kissed it. The queen asked me several questions about me, my country, and my travels. I answered them briefly and it seemed that the queen was fascinated with me. She asked me if I would be happy to live at the court.
I bowed down and answered, “I am my master’s slave; otherwise, I would have been proud to devote my life to your service. If I have my master’s permission, I would love to stay in the court.”
The queen immediately asked my master whether he was willing to sell me at a fair price. My master thought it to be a fair deal. Anyhow, according to him, I could not survive more than a month. He demanded a thousand pieces of gold in exchange. The queen immediately gave the amount my master demanded. I then requested the queen that my dear nurse and teacher, Glumdalclitch, who was so kind and nice to me, could stay with me in the palace. The queen readily agreed to my request. She even got the permission of her father, who was glad that his daughter would live in the palace. Glumdalclitch was overjoyed. The farmer bade me farewell but I was least bothered and answered him with only a cold bow.
The queen could not understand the reason for such behaviour towards the farmer. When he had gone out of the chamber, the queen asked, “Why didn’t you speak to the farmer?”
“He made me work very hard and now I am sick. He has sold me only because he know, that I will not be able to survive long. I know that you are a kind person and my life will be much better now. I am very happy to be your servant and I am sure that I will soon be well again,” I told the queen. The queen seemed to be impressed with my words. She picked me up in her hand and took me to the king.
The queen was surprised to see that such a small creature had so much common sense. I lay flat on the queen’s right hand. I was so tiny that the king could not notice me. The first thought which came to his mind was that I was only a toy, not a human being. Then the queen asked me to say something, at which the king was very surprised. The queen placed me gently before him on a table and asked me to tell the king about myself. I gave a brief description of myself. The king was bewildered when he heard my voice, saw me walk, and found me rational. But he was not satisfied with my story of how I had come to his kingdom. He thought that the girl and her father might have cooked up the story to sell me at a high price. He asked me many more questions and I answered them all in a rational manner. Glumdalclitch also gave an account of all the incidents that had happened since I had arrived at their house.
The king was so baffled that he sent his servant to call upon three great scholars to give their opinions about me. Each of these gentlemen observed me carefully but all of them had different opinions. One of them said, “Well, he is not normal; he’s too small to look after himself. He can’t climb trees or dig holes. He can’t even manage to gather his food. Even a mouse is too big for him. Nature must have made a mistake.”
Instantly I said, “I’m quite normal. In my country, all the people are my size. Our trees and animals are also small compared to yours—just the right size for us.”
The scholars did not believe what I said. They said the farmer was playing a trick and that the farmer had taught me all that. But the king was cleverer than his scholars and he believed me. The king asked those scholars to leave and sent his servant for the farmer.
Luckily, he had not yet left the city. Having examined him thoroughly, the king started to believe that my story might have some truth in it. He asked the queen to arrange for my safety. He also allowed Glumdalclitch to remain as my nurse and in charge of my care. She was provided with a comfortable apartment, a governess to take care of her education, a maid to dress her, and two other servants to help her. The queen ordered her own carpenter to make a box, a kind of bedroom, for me. Glumdalclitch and I gave the carpenter directions as to how the box should be made. It took about three weeks for the carpenter to make a comfortable wooden chamber for me.
It was sixteen feet square, twelve feet high, with windows, a door and two cupboards. Its ceiling which was made of a wooden board, could be lifted and opened. The chamber was quilted on all sides, including the floor and the ceiling, to prevent an accident. The finest silk was used to make clothes for me. The workmen also made some furniture for me and lock for the windows to prevent rats from getting in at night.
Within no time, the queen became very fond of my company. She would always have her food with me. When she sat for her meal at the table, my table and chair were placed near her left elbow, on the dining table. The queen took food from her own plate and cut in into small pieces for me. Then I further cut the pieces into smaller parts with my knife. For the first few days in the palace, I tried not to look at her when she ate. She took huge pieces of meat on her fork, enough to feed ten English farmers. Their knives, spoons, forks, and other instruments were all terribly large.
Gradually, I became a favourite of the king as well. Every Wednesday, the king had dinner with the queen. Then we would have long discussions. I would tell them about England, our customs, government and schools, wars and many other things. On one such Wednesday, the king started laughing loudly. I did not understand the reason. Then he picked me up, stroked me and said to his prime minster, “Isn’t it strange that these tiny, insect-like creatures do the same kind of things that humans do?”