Kitobni o'qish: «Gulliver's Travels. A Voyage to Lilliput. A2 / Путешествия Гулливера. Гулливер в стране лилипутов»

© Солодун Д. А., адаптация, словарь, упражнения

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2024

Chapter I

The author tells us about himself and family. When he travels, the bad weather finds their ship: he has to swim in the open ocean for his life. That's how he comes to the country of Lilliput.

My father had a small house in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of five sons. At fourteen years old, I went to Emmanuel College in Cambridge, where I lived for three years. To make money for my life, I had to become an assistant of Mr. James Bates, a famous doctor in London, with whom I worked for four years. When my father sent me money, I mostly spent it learning navigation, which I believed could be good for my future journeys.

After working with Mr. Bates, I went back to my father: with his and my family's help, I got some money for my life in Leyden, where I continued studying.

Just after I came back from Leyden, Mr. Bates helped me to find a job as a doctor to the ship called Swallow, Captain Abraham Pannel, on which I made a journey or two into the Levant, and some other parts.

When I came back, I decided to stay in London; and it was Mr. Bates, who told some of his patients about me. I got part of a small house in the Old Jewry; and married Mrs. Mary Burton, getting four hundred pounds from her father.

When Mr. Bates died, I got a big problem; I didn't have a good example anymore. I spoke to my wife and some friends, and decided to go to sea again. I worked on two ships for six years, going to the East and West Indies, which helped me to make some extra money. In my free time, I read the best authors, ancient and modern, paying attention to their manners, as well as learning their language; it was easy for me, thanks to my good memory.

The last of these journeys, I already felt tired of the sea and couldn't wait to stay at home with my wife and family. I moved from the Old Jewry to Fetter Lane, and after to Wapping, hoping to find another job; but it didn't give any result. Only after three years, I found Captain William Prichard, who planned to go to the South Sea. We started from Bristol, May 4, 1699, and our journey was at first very good.