Capture by the Brobdingnagian farmer

The Capture by the Brobdingnagian farmer is the event that definitively reverses Gulliver's fortunes, transforming him from a near-invincible colossus in Lilliput into a helpless, pocket-sized curiosity in a land where every creature dwarfs him. It is the moment his world inverts: the man who once drew an entire enemy fleet now screams for his life at the approach of a single reaper's foot.

Discovery and First Contact

After the ship's long-boat had been driven off by a giant pursuing them in the sea, Gulliver fled inland and climbed a steep hill, only to find himself in a field of barley where the corn rose at least forty feet high. Exhausted and terrified, he lay down between two ridges, bemoaning his folly in undertaking a second voyage and reflecting bitterly on his former stature in Lilliput, where he had been able to draw an imperial fleet. As he lay there, one of the reapers approached within ten yards, and Gulliver, fearing he would be squashed to death under the man's foot or cut in two by his reaping-hook, screamed as loud as fear could make him. The huge creature stopped, looked around, and eventually spotted Gulliver on the ground. With the caution of a man trying to seize a small dangerous animal, he ventured to take Gulliver up between his forefinger and thumb and brought him within three yards of his eyes to examine his shape. Gulliver, though grievously pinched, resolved not to struggle, and instead raised his eyes to the sun and placed his hands together in a supplicating posture, speaking in a humble melancholy tone. The giant appeared pleased with his voice and gestures, and, lifting up the lappet of his coat, put Gulliver gently into it and ran along with him to his master, a substantial farmer.

Examination by the Farmer and His Family

The farmer, having received an account from his servant, took a piece of small straw about the size of a walking-staff and lifted up the lappets of Gulliver's coat, blew his hair aside to see his face, and called his hinds around to ask if they had ever seen such a creature. He placed Gulliver softly on the ground on all fours, but Gulliver immediately got up and walked slowly backwards and forwards to show he had no intent to run away. The farmer and his servants sat in a circle to observe him. Gulliver pulled off his hat, made a low bow, fell on his knees, lifted up his hands and eyes, and spoke several words as loud as he could. He then took a purse of gold out of his pocket and humbly presented it to the farmer, who examined it with a pin but could make nothing of it. The farmer, convinced Gulliver was a rational creature, took his handkerchief, doubled and spread it on his left hand, and made a sign for Gulliver to step into it. Gulliver laid himself at full length on the handkerchief, and the farmer lapped him up to the head and carried him home to his house. There he showed Gulliver to his wife, who screamed and ran back like a woman in England at the sight of a toad or a spider, but after observing his behavior she was soon reconciled and grew extremely tender of him.

Life at the Farmer's Table

At noon, the farmer's family sat down to dinner. The farmer placed Gulliver on the table, thirty feet high from the floor, and Gulliver kept as far as he could from the edge for fear of falling. The wife minced a bit of meat and crumbled some bread on a trencher and placed it before him. Gulliver made a low bow, took out his knife and fork, and fell to eat, which gave them exceeding delight. The mistress sent for a small dram cup that held about three gallons, and Gulliver took it up with much difficulty in both hands and drank to her ladyship's health in English, making the company laugh so heartily that he was almost deafened. As he walked on the table, he stumbled against a crust and fell flat on his face, but got up immediately and waved his hat over his head, making three huzzas to show he had received no mischief. The farmer's youngest son, an arch boy of about ten, took Gulliver up by the legs and held him so high in the air that Gulliver trembled in every limb, but his father snatched him away and gave him a box in the left ear. Gulliver fell on his knees and begged that the boy might be pardoned, and then went and kissed the boy's hand. During the meal, the family's favorite cat, three times larger than an ox, leapt into the mistress's lap, and Gulliver, remembering that showing fear before a fierce animal provokes attack, walked with intrepidity five or six times before the cat's head, causing the cat to draw back as if more afraid of him. The nurse brought in a child of a year old who seized Gulliver by the middle and got his head in its mouth, but the mother held her apron under him and he was saved. After dinner, the mistress put Gulliver on her own bed and covered him with a clean white handkerchief larger and coarser than the mainsail of a man-of-war.

Consequences and Aftermath

Gulliver slept about two hours and dreamed he was at home with his wife and children, which aggravated his sorrows when he awoke and found himself alone in a vast room, lying in a bed twenty yards wide. Presently two rats, the size of large mastiffs, crept up the curtains and attacked him. Gulliver drew his hanger and killed one, giving the other a wound on the back as it fled. He measured the tail of the dead rat and found it to be two yards long wanting an inch. This event established the pattern of Gulliver's life in Brobdingnag: he was utterly dependent on the farmer's family for protection, constantly exposed to physical dangers from animals and even the family's own children, and treated as a curious pet rather than a fellow human being. The farmer, recognizing the potential for profit, soon began exhibiting Gulliver as a public spectacle, first in the neighboring market-town and eventually throughout the kingdom, leading to his sale to the Queen of Brobdingnag. The capture thus set in motion the entire second half of Gulliver's Brobdingnag adventure, during which he would be subjected to the king's devastating critique of European civilization and ultimately escape only through the intervention of an eagle.