Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World

by Jonathan Swift

  CHAPTER X.

  The Luggnaggians commended. A particular description of the Struldbrugs,with many conversations between the author and some eminent persons uponthat subject.

  The Luggnaggians are a polite and generous people; and although they arenot without some share of that pride which is peculiar to all Easterncountries, yet they show themselves courteous to strangers, especiallysuch who are countenanced by the court. I had many acquaintance, andamong persons of the best fashion; and being always attended by myinterpreter, the conversation we had was not disagreeable.

  One day, in much good company, I was asked by a person of quality,"whether I had seen any of their _struldbrugs_, or immortals?" I said,"I had not;" and desired he would explain to me "what he meant by such anappellation, applied to a mortal creature." He told me "that sometimes,though very rarely, a child happened to be born in a family, with a redcircular spot in the forehead, directly over the left eyebrow, which wasan infallible mark that it should never die." The spot, as he describedit, "was about the compass of a silver threepence, but in the course oftime grew larger, and changed its colour; for at twelve years old itbecame green, so continued till five and twenty, then turned to a deepblue: at five and forty it grew coal black, and as large as an Englishshilling; but never admitted any further alteration." He said, "thesebirths were so rare, that he did not believe there could be above elevenhundred struldbrugs, of both sexes, in the whole kingdom; of which hecomputed about fifty in the metropolis, and, among the rest, a young girlborn; about three years ago: that these productions were not peculiar toany family, but a mere effect of chance; and the children of the_struldbrugs_ themselves were equally mortal with the rest of thepeople."

  I freely own myself to have been struck with inexpressible delight, uponhearing this account: and the person who gave it me happening tounderstand the Balnibarbian language, which I spoke very well, I couldnot forbear breaking out into expressions, perhaps a little tooextravagant. I cried out, as in a rapture, "Happy nation, where everychild hath at least a chance for being immortal! Happy people, who enjoyso many living examples of ancient virtue, and have masters ready toinstruct them in the wisdom of all former ages! but happiest, beyond allcomparison, are those excellent _struldbrugs_, who, being born exemptfrom that universal calamity of human nature, have their minds free anddisengaged, without the weight and depression of spirits caused by thecontinual apprehensions of death!" I discovered my admiration that I hadnot observed any of these illustrious persons at court; the black spot onthe forehead being so remarkable a distinction, that I could not haveeasily overlooked it: and it was impossible that his majesty, a mostjudicious prince, should not provide himself with a good number of suchwise and able counsellors. Yet perhaps the virtue of those reverendsages was too strict for the corrupt and libertine manners of a court:and we often find by experience, that young men are too opinionated andvolatile to be guided by the sober dictates of their seniors. However,since the king was pleased to allow me access to his royal person, I wasresolved, upon the very first occasion, to deliver my opinion to him onthis matter freely and at large, by the help of my interpreter; andwhether he would please to take my advice or not, yet in one thing I wasdetermined, that his majesty having frequently offered me anestablishment in this country, I would, with great thankfulness, acceptthe favour, and pass my life here in the conversation of those superiorbeings the _struldbrugs_, if they would please to admit me."

  The gentleman to whom I addressed my discourse, because (as I havealready observed) he spoke the language of Balnibarbi, said to me, with asort of a smile which usually arises from pity to the ignorant, "that hewas glad of any occasion to keep me among them, and desired my permissionto explain to the company what I had spoke." He did so, and they talkedtogether for some time in their own language, whereof I understood not asyllable, neither could I observe by their countenances, what impressionmy discourse had made on them. After a short silence, the same persontold me, "that his friends and mine (so he thought fit to expresshimself) were very much pleased with the judicious remarks I had made onthe great happiness and advantages of immortal life, and they weredesirous to know, in a particular manner, what scheme of living I shouldhave formed to myself, if it had fallen to my lot to have been born a_struldbrug_."

  I answered, "it was easy to be eloquent on so copious and delightful asubject, especially to me, who had been often apt to amuse myself withvisions of what I should do, if I were a king, a general, or a greatlord: and upon this very case, I had frequently run over the whole systemhow I should employ myself, and pass the time, if I were sure to live forever.

  "That, if it had been my good fortune to come into the world a_struldbrug_, as soon as I could discover my own happiness, byunderstanding the difference between life and death, I would firstresolve, by all arts and methods, whatsoever, to procure myself riches.In the pursuit of which, by thrift and management, I might reasonablyexpect, in about two hundred years, to be the wealthiest man in thekingdom. In the second place, I would, from my earliest youth, applymyself to the study of arts and sciences, by which I should arrive intime to excel all others in learning. Lastly, I would carefully recordevery action and event of consequence, that happened in the public,impartially draw the characters of the several successions of princes andgreat ministers of state, with my own observations on every point. Iwould exactly set down the several changes in customs, language, fashionsof dress, diet, and diversions. By all which acquirements, I should be aliving treasure of knowledge and wisdom, and certainly become the oracleof the nation.

  "I would never marry after threescore, but live in a hospitable manner,yet still on the saving side. I would entertain myself in forming anddirecting the minds of hopeful young men, by convincing them, from my ownremembrance, experience, and observation, fortified by numerous examples,of the usefulness of virtue in public and private life. But my choiceand constant companions should be a set of my own immortal brotherhood;among whom, I would elect a dozen from the most ancient, down to my owncontemporaries. Where any of these wanted fortunes, I would provide themwith convenient lodges round my own estate, and have some of them alwaysat my table; only mingling a few of the most valuable among you mortals,whom length of time would harden me to lose with little or no reluctance,and treat your posterity after the same manner; just as a man divertshimself with the annual succession of pinks and tulips in his garden,without regretting the loss of those which withered the preceding year.

  "These _struldbrugs_ and I would mutually communicate our observationsand memorials, through the course of time; remark the several gradationsby which corruption steals into the world, and oppose it in every step,by giving perpetual warning and instruction to mankind; which, added tothe strong influence of our own example, would probably prevent thatcontinual degeneracy of human nature so justly complained of in all ages.

  "Add to this, the pleasure of seeing the various revolutions of statesand empires; the changes in the lower and upper world; ancient cities inruins, and obscure villages become the seats of kings; famous riverslessening into shallow brooks; the ocean leaving one coast dry, andoverwhelming another; the discovery of many countries yet unknown;barbarity overrunning the politest nations, and the most barbarous becomecivilized. I should then see the discovery of the longitude, theperpetual motion, the universal medicine, and many other greatinventions, brought to the utmost perfection.

  "What wonderful discoveries should we make in astronomy, by outliving andconfirming our own predictions; by observing the progress and return ofcomets, with the changes of motion in the sun, moon, and stars!"

  I enlarged upon many other topics, which the natural desire of endlesslife, and sublunary happiness, could easily furnish me with. When I hadended, and the sum of my discourse had been interpreted, as before, tothe rest of the company, there was a good deal of talk among them in thelanguage of the country, not without some laughter at my expense. Atlast, the same gentleman who had been my interpreter,
said, "he wasdesired by the rest to set me right in a few mistakes, which I had falleninto through the common imbecility of human nature, and upon thatallowance was less answerable for them. That this breed of _struldbrugs_was peculiar to their country, for there were no such people either inBalnibarbi or Japan, where he had the honour to be ambassador from hismajesty, and found the natives in both those kingdoms very hard tobelieve that the fact was possible: and it appeared from my astonishmentwhen he first mentioned the matter to me, that I received it as a thingwholly new, and scarcely to be credited. That in the two kingdoms abovementioned, where, during his residence, he had conversed very much, heobserved long life to be the universal desire and wish of mankind. Thatwhoever had one foot in the grave was sure to hold back the other asstrongly as he could. That the oldest had still hopes of living one daylonger, and looked on death as the greatest evil, from which naturealways prompted him to retreat. Only in this island of Luggnagg theappetite for living was not so eager, from the continual example of the_struldbrugs_ before their eyes.

  "That the system of living contrived by me, was unreasonable and unjust;because it supposed a perpetuity of youth, health, and vigour, which noman could be so foolish to hope, however extravagant he may be in hiswishes. That the question therefore was not, whether a man would chooseto be always in the prime of youth, attended with prosperity and health;but how he would pass a perpetual life under all the usual disadvantageswhich old age brings along with it. For although few men will avow theirdesires of being immortal, upon such hard conditions, yet in the twokingdoms before mentioned, of Balnibarbi and Japan, he observed thatevery man desired to put off death some time longer, let it approach everso late: and he rarely heard of any man who died willingly, except hewere incited by the extremity of grief or torture. And he appealed tome, whether in those countries I had travelled, as well as my own, I hadnot observed the same general disposition."

  After this preface, he gave me a particular account of the _struldbrugs_among them. He said, "they commonly acted like mortals till about thirtyyears old; after which, by degrees, they grew melancholy and dejected,increasing in both till they came to fourscore. This he learned fromtheir own confession: for otherwise, there not being above two or threeof that species born in an age, they were too few to form a generalobservation by. When they came to fourscore years, which is reckoned theextremity of living in this country, they had not only all the folliesand infirmities of other old men, but many more which arose from thedreadful prospect of never dying. They were not only opinionative,peevish, covetous, morose, vain, talkative, but incapable of friendship,and dead to all natural affection, which never descended below theirgrandchildren. Envy and impotent desires are their prevailing passions.But those objects against which their envy seems principally directed,are the vices of the younger sort and the deaths of the old. Byreflecting on the former, they find themselves cut off from allpossibility of pleasure; and whenever they see a funeral, they lament andrepine that others have gone to a harbour of rest to which theythemselves never can hope to arrive. They have no remembrance ofanything but what they learned and observed in their youth andmiddle-age, and even that is very imperfect; and for the truth orparticulars of any fact, it is safer to depend on common tradition, thanupon their best recollections. The least miserable among them appear tobe those who turn to dotage, and entirely lose their memories; these meetwith more pity and assistance, because they want many bad qualities whichabound in others.

  "If a _struldbrug_ happen to marry one of his own kind, the marriage isdissolved of course, by the courtesy of the kingdom, as soon as theyounger of the two comes to be fourscore; for the law thinks it areasonable indulgence, that those who are condemned, without any fault oftheir own, to a perpetual continuance in the world, should not have theirmisery doubled by the load of a wife.

  "As soon as they have completed the term of eighty years, they are lookedon as dead in law; their heirs immediately succeed to their estates; onlya small pittance is reserved for their support; and the poor ones aremaintained at the public charge. After that period, they are heldincapable of any employment of trust or profit; they cannot purchaselands, or take leases; neither are they allowed to be witnesses in anycause, either civil or criminal, not even for the decision of meers andbounds.

  "At ninety, they lose their teeth and hair; they have at that age nodistinction of taste, but eat and drink whatever they can get, withoutrelish or appetite. The diseases they were subject to still continue,without increasing or diminishing. In talking, they forget the commonappellation of things, and the names of persons, even of those who aretheir nearest friends and relations. For the same reason, they never canamuse themselves with reading, because their memory will not serve tocarry them from the beginning of a sentence to the end; and by thisdefect, they are deprived of the only entertainment whereof they mightotherwise be capable.

  "The language of this country being always upon the flux, the_struldbrugs_ of one age do not understand those of another; neither arethey able, after two hundred years, to hold any conversation (fartherthan by a few general words) with their neighbours the mortals; and thusthey lie under the disadvantage of living like foreigners in their owncountry."

  This was the account given me of the _struldbrugs_, as near as I canremember. I afterwards saw five or six of different ages, the youngestnot above two hundred years old, who were brought to me at several timesby some of my friends; but although they were told, "that I was a greattraveller, and had seen all the world," they had not the least curiosityto ask me a question; only desired "I would give them _slumskudask_," ora token of remembrance; which is a modest way of begging, to avoid thelaw, that strictly forbids it, because they are provided for by thepublic, although indeed with a very scanty allowance.

  They are despised and hated by all sorts of people. When one of them isborn, it is reckoned ominous, and their birth is recorded veryparticularly so that you may know their age by consulting the register,which, however, has not been kept above a thousand years past, or atleast has been destroyed by time or public disturbances. But the usualway of computing how old they are, is by asking them what kings or greatpersons they can remember, and then consulting history; for infalliblythe last prince in their mind did not begin his reign after they werefourscore years old.

  They were the most mortifying sight I ever beheld; and the women morehorrible than the men. Besides the usual deformities in extreme old age,they acquired an additional ghastliness, in proportion to their number ofyears, which is not to be described; and among half a dozen, I soondistinguished which was the eldest, although there was not above acentury or two between them.

  The reader will easily believe, that from what I had hear and seen, mykeen appetite for perpetuity of life was much abated. I grew heartilyashamed of the pleasing visions I had formed; and thought no tyrant couldinvent a death into which I would not run with pleasure, from such alife. The king heard of all that had passed between me and my friendsupon this occasion, and rallied me very pleasantly; wishing I could senda couple of _struldbrugs_ to my own country, to arm our people againstthe fear of death; but this, it seems, is forbidden by the fundamentallaws of the kingdom, or else I should have been well content with thetrouble and expense of transporting them.

  I could not but agree, that the laws of this kingdom relative to the_struldbrugs_ were founded upon the strongest reasons, and such as anyother country would be under the necessity of enacting, in the likecircumstances. Otherwise, as avarice is the necessary consequence of oldage, those immortals would in time become proprietors of the wholenation, and engross the civil power, which, for want of abilities tomanage, must end in the ruin of the public.