behind, for the wild boar had often received them in a manner which did not make them desire its further acquaintance.  As soon as the boar perceived the tailor it ran at him with foaming mouth and gleaming teeth, and tried to knock him down; but our alert little friend ran into a chapel that stood near, and got out of the window again with a jump.  The boar pursued him into the church, but the tailor skipped round to the door, and closed it securely.  So the raging beast was caught, for it was far too heavy and unwieldy to spring out of the window.  The little tailor summoned the huntsmen together, that they might see the prisoner with their own eyes.  Then the hero betook himself to the King, who was obliged now, whether he liked it or not, to keep his promise, and hand him over his daughter and half his kingdom.  Had he known that no hero-warrior, but only a little tailor stood before him, it would have gone even more to his heart.  So the wedding was celebrated with much splendor and little joy, and the tailor became a king.

After a time the Queen heard her husband saying one night in his sleep:  “My lad, make that waistcoat and patch these trousers, or I’ll box your ears.”  Thus she learned in what rank the young gentleman had been born, and next day she poured forth her woes to her father, and begged him to help her to get rid of a husband who was nothing more nor less than a tailor.  The King comforted her, and said:  “Leave your bedroom door open to-night, my servants shall stand outside, and when your husband is fast asleep they shall enter, bind him fast, and carry him on to a ship, which shall sail away out into the wide ocean.”  The Queen was well satisfied with the idea, but the armor-bearer, who had overheard everything, being much attached to his young master, went straight to him and revealed the whole plot.  “I’ll soon put a stop to the business,” said the tailor.  That night he and his wife went to bed at the usual time; and when she thought he had fallen asleep she got up, opened the door, and then lay down again.  The little tailor, who had only pretended to be asleep, began to call out in a clear voice:  “My lad, make that waistcoat and patch those trousers, or I’ll box your ears.  I have killed seven at a blow, slain two giants, led a unicorn captive, and caught a wild boar, then why should I be afraid of those men standing outside my door?” The men, when they heard the tailor saying these words, were so terrified that they fled as if pursued by a wild army, and didn’t dare go near him again.  So the little tailor was and remained a king all the days of his life.

A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT

CHAPTER I

My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire, and I was the third of four sons.  He sent me to Cambridge at fourteen years old, and after studying there three years I was bound apprentice to Mr. Bates, a famous surgeon in London.  There, as my father now and then sent me small sums of money, I spent them in learning navigation, and other arts useful to those who travel, as I always believed it would be some time or other my fortune to do.