I awaked at the noife he made, and obferved him to deliver his meffage in some disorder; after which he went to my mafter, and in a great fright gave him a very confused account of what he had feen: this I prefently discovered; for going as foon as I was dreffed to pay my attendance upon his honour, he asked me the meaning of what his fervant had reported; that I was not the fame thing when I flept, as I appeared to be at other times; that his valet affured him, fome part of me was white, fome yellow, at leaft not fo white, and fome brown.

I had hitherto concealed the fecret of my drefs in order to distinguish myself, as much as poffible, from that curfed race of yahooes; but now I found it in vain to do fo any longer. Befides I confidered, that my cloaths and fhoes would foon wear out, which already were in a declining condition, and must be fupplied by fome contrivance from the hides of yahoos, or other brutes; whereby the whole fecret would be known: I therefore told my master, that in the country from whence I came, those of my kind always covered their bodies with the hairs of certain animals prepared by art, as well for decency, as to avoid the inclemencies of air both hot and cold; of which, as to my own perfon, I would give him immediate conviction, if he pleased to command me; only defiring his excufe, if I did not expose those parts that nature taught us to conceal. He faid my difcourfe was all very strange, but especially the last part; for he could not underftand, why nature thould teach us to conceal what nature had given that neither himself nor family were ashamed of any parts of their bodies; but however I might do as I pleafed. Whereupon 1 fiuft unbuttoned my coat, and pulled it off. I did the fame with my waistcoat; I drew off my Does, ftockings, and breeches. I let my fhist down to my waist, and drew up the bottom, faften

ing

ing it like a girdle about my middle to hide my nakedness.

My master observed the whole performance with great figns of curiofity and admiration. He took up all my cloaths in his paftern, one piece after another, and examined them diligently; he then ftroaked my body very gently, and looked round me several times, after which he faid, it was plain I must be a perfect yahoo; but that I differed very much from the reft of my fpecies in the foftnefs, whitenefs, and fmoothnefs of my fkin, my want of hair in feveral parts of my body, the fhape and fhortness of my claws behind and before, and my affectation of walking continually on my two hinder feet. He defired to fee no more; and gave me leave to put on my cloaths again, for I was fhuddering with cold.

I expreffed my uneafinefs at his giving me so of ten the appellation of yahoo, an odious animal, for which I had fo utter an hatred and contempt: I begged he would forbear applying that word to me, and take the fame order in his family, and among his friends, whom he fuffered to fee me. I requested likewife, that the fecret of my having a falfe covering to my body might be known to none but himself, at least as long as my prefent cloathing fhould laft; for as to what the forrel nag his valet had obferved, his honour might command him to conceal it.

All this my mafter very gracioufly confented to, and thus the fecret was kept till my cloaths began to wear out, which I was forced to fupply by feveral contrivances, that fhall hereafter be mentioned. In the mean time he defired I would go on with my utmost diligence to learn their language, because he was more aftonished at my capacity for fpeech and reafon, than at the figure of my body, whether it were covered or no; adding, that he waited

with

with fome impatience to hear, the wonders, which I promifed to tell him.

From thence forward he doubled the pains he had been at to instruct me; he brought me into all company, and made them treat me with civility, because, as he told them privately, this would put me into a good humour, and make me more diverting.

Every day, when I waited on him, befide the trouble he was at in teaching, he would ask me feveral questions concerning myfelf, which I anfwered as well as I could; and by these means he had already received fome general ideas, though very imperfect. It would be tedious to relate the feveral fteps, by which I advanced to a more regular converfation: but the first account I gave of my. felf in any order and length was to this purpofe:

That I came from a very far country, as I already had attempted to tell him, with about fifty more of my own fpecies; that we travelled upon the feas in a great hollow veffel made of wood, and larger than his honour's houfe. I defcribed the fhip to him in the best terms I could, and explained by the help of my handkerchief difplayed, how it was driven by the wind. That upon a quarrel among us I was fet on fhore on this coaft, where I walked for ward, without knowing whither, till he delivered me from the perfecution of thofe execrable yaboos.

He asked me, who made the fhip, and how it was poffible that the Houyhnhnms of my country would leave it to the management of brutes? My anfwer was, that I durft proceed no farther in my relation, unless he would give me his word and horour that he would not be offended, and then I would tell him the wonders I had fo often promi. fed. Heagreed; and I went on by affuring him that the thip was built by creatures like myself, who in all the countries I had travelled, as well as in my wn, were the only governing, rational animals?

and

and that upon my arrival hither I was as much a ftonifhed to fee the Houyhnhnms act like rational beings, as he or his friends could be in finding fome marks of reafon in a creature he was pleased to call a yahoo; to which I owned my refemblance in every part, but could not account for their degenerate and brutal nature. I faid farther, that if good fortune ever restored me to my native country to remy travels hither, as I refolved to do, every body would believe, that I faid the thing which was not; that I invented the story out of my own head; and (with all poffible respect to himself, his family, and friends, and under his promise of not being offended) our countreymen would hardly think it probable, that a Houyhnhnm fhould be the prefiding creature of a nation, and a yahoo the brute.

The Houyhnhnms' notion of truth and falfebod. The author's difcourfe difapproved by his mafter. The author gives a more particular account of himself, and the accidents of his voyage.

MY

Y mafter heard me with great appearances of uneafinefs in his countenance; because doubting or not believing, are fo little known in this country, that the inhabitants cannot tell how to behave themselves under fuch circumstances. And I remember, in frequent difcourfes with my mafter concerning the nature of manhood in other parts of the world, having occafion to talk of lying and false reprefentation, it was with much difficulty that he comprehended what I meant; altho' he had otherwife a moft acute judgement. For he argued thus; that the use of speech was to mike us understand one a

nother

nother, and to receive information of facts; now, if one faid the thing which was not, these ends were defeated; because I cannot properly be faid to understand him; and I am fo far from receiving information, that he leaves me worse than in ignorance; for I am led to believe a thing black when it is white, and short when it is long. And these were all the notions he had concerning that faculty of lying, fo perfectly well understood, and fo univerfally practifed, among human creatures.

To return from this digreffion; when I afferted that the yahoos were the only governing animals in my country, which my mafter faid, was altogether past his conception, he defired to know, whether we had Houyhnhnms among us, and what was their employment: I told him, we had great numbers; that in fummer they grazed in the fields, and in winter were kept in houses with hay and oats, where yahoo-fervants were employed to rub their fkins fmooth, comb their manes, pick their feet, ferve them with food, and make their beds. I u derstand you well, faid my mafter; it is now very plain from all you have spoken, that whatever share of reafon the yahoos pretend to, the Houyhnhnms are your mafters; I heartily with our yahoos would be fo tractable. 1 begged his honour would pleafe to excufe me from proceeding any farther, because I was very certain that the account he expected from me would be highly difpleafing. But he infifted in commanding me to let him know the best and the worst: I told him he fhould be obeyed. I owned, that the Houyhnhnms among us, whom we called horfes, were the moft generous and comely animal we had; that they excelled in ftrength and fwiftnefs; and when they belonged to perfons of quality, were employed in travelling, racing, or drawing of chariots, they were treated with much kindness and care, till they fell into difeafes or became foundered in their feet; but then they were