In this episode of the NBC University Theatre, we delve into the timeless classic "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, featuring Henry Hull as Lemuel Gulliver. Originally penned as a sharp satire in 1727, Swift's tale has transcended its era to become a beloved children's classic. The story follows Gulliver, a seasoned sea captain, as he embarks on a voyage that leads him to the fantastical lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms. Each land presents its own unique challenges and societal reflections, from the tiny Lilliputians embroiled in political absurdities to the giant Brobdingnagians and their simple wisdom, the scientific Laputans, and the rational horses of the Houyhnhnms. Throughout his adventures, Gulliver encounters a myriad of characters and cultures that challenge his perceptions of society, power, and humanity. The episode explores themes of power, politics, and the nature of civilization, as Gulliver navigates through societies that mirror and critique the complexities of human nature. With a rich narrative and thought-provoking commentary, this adaptation brings to life the enduring relevance of Swift's work, inviting listeners to reflect on the absurdities and virtues of their own world.
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[00:00:18]
Unknown:
This is the NBC University Theatre presenting another in our series of radio plays based on the world's great stories. Tonight, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift with Henry Hull as Lemuel Gulliver. In 1727, when Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels, he intended it to be nothing more than a sharp and biting commentary stories. And as a result, his book did not die with the customs and men which it ridiculed. Instead, with a passage of two centuries and more, it has become more than just a brilliant satire. It has become, in fact, one of the greatest of all children's classics.
A story to charm and delight the young of every generation and every century.
[00:01:48] Unknown:
My name is Lemuel Gulliver. For sixteen years and seven months, I sailed the seas on several vessels. First as a surgeon and then as captain. In the year 1699, I accepted an offer from captain William Pritchard, master of the antelope, who was making a voyage to the South Seas. I shall not trouble you with the particulars of our adventures in these seas. Let it suffice to say that in our passage, we ran a foul of a tropic storm. The weather being very hazy, we were within half a cable's length of a giant rock before our lookout spied it.
[00:02:31] Unknown:
Rockfall. Rockfall. Get up. Hey. I've asked there, man. And by the launch, the longboat.
[00:02:43] Unknown:
Six of us made shift to get the long boat into the sea. But before we cleared the ship's side, she were driven on the rock and split asunder. What became of my companions, I cannot tell, but conclude that they were lost. For my part, I swam as fortune directed and was pushed forward by wind and tide to a point where I found myself within my depth. When I finally struggled ashore, I was in so weak a condition that I I lay down on the grass and fell asleep. 'Some hours later, I was awakened by a noise like the humming of insects, A silken whispering like grass in the wind.
I tried to raise, only to discover my arms and legs fastened and secured into the ground, and my hair tied down in the same manner. And once I became aware of something alive, moving on my leg, advancing gently forward over my breast, walking boldly up to my chin. By bending my eyes downward, I was able to perceive that it was a human creature not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hands. And even while I looked, at least 50 more of the same kind followed the first. It gradually became clear to me that it was these tiny creatures who had made me a prisoner, would bound me securely while I slept, with cords no thicker than a thread of silk.
Outraged at first for the absurdity of a man of my stature being dust treated, I then began to ponder how light my plight was compared to that of thousands of my own countrymen, who too were bound by invisible threads of cast, custom, and circumstance. Worthy not prisoners as much as I. The only difference being that I was aware of my plight and they were not. The Illicitians, for that was the name of my tiny captors, brought me food and drink sent to the by their emperor's orders, freeing one of my hands so that I could eat. In the attitude, as in my own island, the state of a man's stomach is likely to govern his thinking. I topped off my meal with a hogs of good wine, then fell asleep.
While I slept, I was bound in chains and carted by 1,500 horses to the palace of the emperor.
[00:05:27] Unknown:
Is imperial majesty, Globastomer Marin of Valmy Gurdilo Sheffrin Malioligu,
[00:05:36] Unknown:
Your Imperial Majesty,
[00:05:37] Unknown:
your most humble servant. His imperial majesty, Globasto Mamarin of Valmigordino Shephlin Malmigu Proposes to the mad mountain lately arrived in our celestial dominions the following articles.
[00:05:51] Unknown:
One or two of the articles proposed were not altogether to my liking, but overwhelmed by the presence of royalty, I could only prostrate myself at his majesty's feet and acquiesce. He then had a mind to entertain me with one of his country's best loved shows. Redversal, his minister of private affairs, ascended to my shoulder to interpret the performance for me.
[00:06:30] Unknown:
You see in Lilliput, when a political office is taken, candidates petition the emperor to entertain the court by cutting capers on a rope. Whoever jumps the highest without falling off wins the office. That's Flimmed, candidate for the office of treasurer performing now. He's superb,
[00:06:49] Unknown:
colossal. Why he he's a sensation.
[00:06:52] Unknown:
He should be. He's been at it for years. What is it? Why do you frown? It's,
[00:06:59] Unknown:
it's just occurred to me. Is this, rope dancing really a true test of a man's qualifications for public office?
[00:07:06] Unknown:
Perhaps they've thought of a better test in your country?
[00:07:20] Unknown:
Surely, I thought. Surely, in this setting of ideal loveliness, these tiny, dull like people, so energetic, so resourceful, must have attained a state of happiness and perfection that we larger mortals only dream of. But I was doomed to disillusion. I had, I'd been there scarcely a month when my friend, Redbristle, came and climbed up on my shoulder and began to whisper in my ear. Then, Melvin, we labor under two mighty evils,
[00:07:49] Unknown:
a violent schism at home. A schism here in Lilliput. For above seventy months past, there have been two struggling parties here. The Tramicsons and the Slamicsons. Well, how do you differ politically? Most profoundly. One party adheres to the wearing of high heeled shoes, the other low heeled. High and low heels. His majesty favors lesser heels in his administration. Therefore, the animosity of the two parties runs so high, they will neither eat nor drink with each other. Is there no hope of a compromise? Neither party will yield a fraction. Meanwhile, the country is split in two. And at the same time, we are threatened with an invasion from the island of A neighboring kingdom with which we've been engaged in the most abstinent war for six and thirty moons. Six and thirty moons?
[00:08:38] Unknown:
Amazing. Even in Europe, we are not often able to sustain our wars that long. What started your war with the Blofuscudians?
[00:08:47] Unknown:
An egg. An egg? Now it's allowed in all hands that the natural way of cracking a boiled egg is upon the larger end. Naturally. The present emperor's great grandfather, however, during his reign, published an edict commanding all his subjects to break the smaller end of the egg. The people so resented this that there have been six rebellious uprisings wherein one emperor lost his life and another his crown. But you are a rational people.
[00:09:16] Unknown:
Can't it be made clear to you the the futility of such conflicts?
[00:09:20] Unknown:
Ah, many hundreds of volumes have been published on the subject. But the emperor has ordered all books that do not support the little Indian point of view suppressed.
[00:09:30] Unknown:
Burn. I see.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Meanwhile, the war is to start all over again. The enemy is already equipped in Nomura's fleet and is preparing to descend upon us. If there is anything I can do His majesty is placing great confidence in your strength and valor. I'm greatly flattered.
[00:09:49] Unknown:
Please present my humble duty to his majesty and inform him that I stand ready with my life to defend his person and state against invaders. When the hour of invasion was at hand, I waded out into the channel between Lilliput and Blofuscu, cut the moorings of the enemy's fleet, tied the ship's lines together, then waded back again with the enemy's vessels in tow. The whole kingdom of Leelitwood awaited on the shore to give me honor. But alas, I was to learn how fickle is the public mind, how short lived the hero's laurels. Early the next morning. Hey, Mountain.
[00:10:47] Unknown:
Regiselle, what brings you out so early? I have come under express orders from his majesty. What does he want now? He wants you to bring all the rest of the enemy ships into our port at once. What great heavens that would leave the empire of La Fescue entirely undefended.
[00:11:02] Unknown:
Exactly.
[00:11:03] Unknown:
He says it's our national destiny to rule the world. Then he's out of his mind. Not only does he intend to counter Bluffescue, but he is laying plans to destroy the entire race of big Indians and compel all people to break their eggs on the smaller end. And if they refuse? They will be exterminated.
[00:11:22] Unknown:
You may return to his majesty and say that I refuse his request. I shall never be the instrument of bringing a race of free and brave people into slavery.
[00:11:43] Unknown:
Hey, Mount. Hey, Mount. What is it, Redrissle? Did you give the emperor my message? Hey, mountain. You must leave Lopod at once. What do you mean? Listen. His majesty is angry. Most angry at your refusal. He intends to blind. Blind me? Yes. He's clever. He recognizes that the loss of your sight will in no wise impair your bodily strength. You will still be useful to him. In fact, he feels you will be even of greater service to him blind.
[00:12:15] Unknown:
What a low, contemptible, mean, sniveling, treacherous, selfish race you are. How about you, Red Whistle? Why are you here?
[00:12:24] Unknown:
I couldn't bear to think of you you reduced to this state.
[00:12:28] Unknown:
You, my friend. You must have come to warn me at at great risk.
[00:12:32] Unknown:
The rest of my life.
[00:12:34] Unknown:
I I am deeply grateful to you. Because of you, I can still believe in men. Even in Lilliput, among as low specimens of humanity as I have yet encountered, you have proved to me there are those who are not governed by self interest alone, those capable of idealism, human love, and sacrifice. I shall not depart from your country entirely cynical. My next voyage, after many misadventures, brought me to the kingdom of the broad Dingagayans. A race of giants as tall as steeple spires, whose voices roared like waterfalls. Among these giants, I was looked upon as a freak.
The queen chanced upon me when I was being displayed in a box in the marketplace, and delighted by the fact that I was 30 times smaller than her court dwarf, persuaded the king to buy me for her plaything. At the court, my lot was intolerably humiliating. My behavior occasioned gales of laughter, just as in my country, children are looked upon as objects of fun and derision. I became obsessed with the idea of proving to the King and his court that I was indeed a man after all. At length, I hit up on a way to accomplish this. I offered to reveal to the King the secret of an invention.
An invention that up to this time is the most significant achievement of my race. Tell me my diminutive friend. What is this one wonderful invention? Well, sire, between three and four hundred years ago, there was compounded a, a certain powder, which when kindled will fly up into the air with a noise and agitation
[00:14:28] Unknown:
greater than thunder. What a diverting idea for feast days and celebrations.
[00:14:34] Unknown:
But wait, your majesty. Ram the proper quantity of this powder into a hollow tube of brass or iron, and it will drive a ball of lead with such violence and speed that nothing can sustain its force. But might that not prove destructive? It will rip up pavements, tear houses to pieces, lay waste cities, dash out the brains of all who are near. You could become the master of the lives, liberties, and fortunes of all your people. Whoever disputed
[00:15:03] Unknown:
your absolute authority Are you too ignorant to understand that I neither have nor want absolute authority?
[00:15:11] Unknown:
You, a king. You cannot be without ambition. You must wish to live in the annals of your people. Now, by the use of this formula, our prince of our Quiet. I command you.
[00:15:22] Unknown:
Some evil genius enemy of mankind must have been the first contriver of this powder. If you value your life,
[00:15:31] Unknown:
never mention it again. As you will, sire. But it is plain to be seen that here, you have not reduced politics and the conquest of power to an exact science as the more acute wits of Europe have done. Power.
[00:15:44] Unknown:
Politics. It is my opinion that whosoever can make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together.
[00:16:11] Unknown:
I was forced to conclude that the king's narrowness of view was the miserably perverted effect of a limited education. Eventually, I reached home again, but such is my restless nature that I had not been there ten days before
[00:16:27] Unknown:
Man the capstan and cast off the stern line.
[00:16:36] Unknown:
Yes. I was embarked upon another voyage. And it was part of my strange destiny that in time, I should have found myself cut adrift by pirates and subsequently saved by the inhabitants of Laputa. Now Laputa is a most remarkable place, a flying island suspended several thousand feet above the heads of ordinary mortals. The Laputans, unlike the Bob Dinglagians, are most scientific. Indeed, they are so wrapped up in intense speculation that they never enjoy a minute's peace. They jostle each other in the streets, bump heads, and are often in manifest danger of falling off the island. The really great thinkers among the Laputans do not walk about at all, however, but are put away in an institution called the Grand Academy, a projector.
Being a great admirer of projects myself, I immediately asked to be allowed to visit this institution at the great door I will stop.
[00:17:34] Unknown:
Your pass, show your identification pass, please. Very good. And your travel permit, all in order. Thank you.
[00:17:42] Unknown:
Where will I find the research laboratories?
[00:17:45] Unknown:
One mile down this corridor, then turn left, then right, and then left again. And the agricultural projects? Two miles to the left at the opposite end of the building. Thank you very much.
[00:18:04] Unknown:
Yes. I am the coordinator of all architectural research projects. It was I who first introduced the idea of beginning all buildings at the top and working down.
[00:18:20] Unknown:
My friend, food is our business. Stuff of life, you know. I've just perfected a method of plowing so simple, you'll wonder you did not think of it yourself. The farmer plants his field with a crop of acorns, turns a drum of hogs loose in the fields, The hogs root with their feet and plow up the field. Simple, isn't it?
[00:18:44] Unknown:
Our aim is to perfect a universal language. Now I hold that by leaving out verbs and participle Nonsense, professor X. You're only wasting your time with minor changes of that sort. Now I propose that we abolish words altogether. Unthinkable. Abolish words altogether and carry about in a sack on our backs such objects as unnecessary to express a thought. There's your universal language. Oh, you can't. Do it, I tell you. They won't let you do away with words. Who won't let me pray? The women. The women.
[00:19:23] Unknown:
The school of political projectors, right through that door.
[00:19:27] Unknown:
And I propose that as a solution to all political problems, we endeavor to persuade the people to choose leaders for their wisdom, capacity, and virtue, that we teach office holders to consult the public good, that we reward merit, ability, and eminent service, and exhort leaders to subordinate their own interests to those of their people. I protest. This man is a radical. I suspect the rhetoric of that word.
[00:20:04] Unknown:
Except for the fantastic ideas I heard expounded in the school of political projectors, I must say that I was impressed with the Grand Academy of Laputa. The only inconvenience is that none of the projects of any of the projectors have yet been brought to perfection. And in the meantime, the whole country lies a miserable waste. The houses in ruins and the people without food and clothes. However, I dare say in time, they will get around to doing something about that too. My last voyage took me to a country where horses, called in the land Huynians, are the masters, and men, called the yahoos, are the beasts of burden.
Because of the profound difference between their conception of good and evil and our own, it took me the better part of a year to gain sufficient respect from the when and whose home I stayed, for him to discuss these matters with me. For at first, he considered me only a cleaner and slightly more rational yahoo than those he kept in his stable. The whole race of yahuos, he insisted, were the most treacherous and irrational of all brutes.
[00:21:19] Unknown:
All you need do is throw among five yahoos as much food as would be sufficient for 50. Instead of eating peaceably, they will fall to quarreling and fighting, each single one determined to have it all to himself.
[00:21:32] Unknown:
I'm afraid the yahoos of my own country are inclined toward,
[00:21:36] Unknown:
or similar behavior. And yet you tell me that in your country, the yahoos are the masters and the winnams, the beast of burden.
[00:21:44] Unknown:
How can that be? What you fail to recognize is that in my country, the yahoos are civilized.
[00:21:49] Unknown:
Civilized? What is civilized? So many of your words I don't understand. Lying, deceit, power, lust, government, malice, envy, evil. But go on.
[00:22:04] Unknown:
Tell me, what is civilized? Well, amongst us, we have wonderful things such as you, Wynnum, have never dreamed of. Magnificent castles, gorgeous clothing, the noblest, most costly meats and drinks. Our ships go to the ends of the earth to bring these luxuries back for the rich. Rich? What is rich? Well, a rich yahoo is one who has enough money to buy these luxuries I have just described.
[00:22:31] Unknown:
Then they are not free to all. Oh, no. By no means. How many of your yahoos
[00:22:37] Unknown:
do enjoy them? Oh, about one in every thousand, I should say. The bulk of our people live miserably by laboring every day for small wages.
[00:22:47] Unknown:
Wages?
[00:22:48] Unknown:
Money. The most prized and precious substance amongst us.
[00:22:53] Unknown:
What you say amazes me. Now among us winnams, it is our supposition that all animals have a title to their share in the productions of the earth. But then, of course, we are not civilized. Tell me, those yahoos who do not have the luxuries you describe,
[00:23:11] Unknown:
how do they feel? They are in a continual ferment of endeavor to earn sufficient money to live as the rich
[00:23:18] Unknown:
do. And of what does this endeavor consist? Oh, there are numerous kinds.
[00:23:23] Unknown:
Begging, robbing, stealing, cheating, for swearing, flattering, forging, gaming, hectoring, voting, libeling, scribbling, stargazing. Then there are the recognized professions, of course, like, doctoring Please explain. Well, it is part of our civilization that we eat when we are not hungry, drink without the provocation of thirst, sit whole nights imbibing strong liquors
[00:23:53] Unknown:
Most extraordinary.
[00:23:54] Unknown:
All of which disposes us to sloth, inflames our bodies, and prevents digestion. And there are, diseases to which husbands or wives grown weary of their mates, our subjects. Incredible. All of which makes the profession of doctrine a most lucrative one amongst us yahoos. But I must tell you of another profession, the law. Please, please spare me.
[00:24:20] Unknown:
I do not feel equal to hearing about the law today. To be frank, your whole discourse has only increased my abhorrence for the whole species of yahoos. For the yahoos amongst us, I have always felt a kind of pity for their ignorance. But the yahoos of your country, you say, pretend to reason. Instead of reason, it seems to me you're possessed only of some quality fitted to increase your natural vices. Do you realize that for all your talk of civilization, all your fine words, you have never mentioned the one word we winnams prize most deeply? Love.
Love? It is the law of our land. We need no other. Amongst us, love is not confined to any particular object, but universal to the whole race. We show the same affection for our neighbor's issue as for our own. And wherever a winnim goes, to whatever part of the land, he looks upon that as his home. Thus, we live together without conflict in peace and happiness. Peace. Happiness.
[00:25:28] Unknown:
No. Now you are using words with which I am not familiar. But in time, dwelling amongst the Williams, I was to learn the full meaning of peace and happiness. I enjoyed perfect health of mind and body. I did not feel the treachery or inconstancy of a friend. I had no occasion of bribing or flattering to procure the favor of a great man or his minion. I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression. In the midst of all this happiness, and when I looked upon myself to be fully settled for life, my host sent for me one morning a little earlier than usual.
[00:26:14] Unknown:
It is with great sorrow that I must tell you what I must. You will have to leave us. Leave you? Go from this peaceful country? Oh, no. No. No. Not that. Don't don't send me away. It is the opinion of the majority of the Winnums that we jeopardize our well-being by keeping you here. It is feared that you, since you have the rudiments of reason added to the natural depravity of a yahoo, that you may influence the other yahoos to rise up against it. A thought of that kind never entered my mind. I swear it. I So I told the other Williams. But they replied that you yourself had told us that your kind excels in the art of lying and dissimulation.
How can you be trusted? You must go.
[00:27:06] Unknown:
Thus, gentle listener, I've given thee a faithful account of my travels for sixteen years and above seven months. Wherein, I have not been as studious of ornament as of truth. I could perhaps have astounded thee with strange, improbable tales, but I I chose to relate plain matter of fact in manner and style. It is my belief that a traveler's chief aim should be not to form wonderful descriptions of both land and sea, but to make men wiser and better.
[00:28:00] Unknown:
The curtain of the NBC University Theater falls on Gulliver's Travels, another in our series of radio plays based on stories that live. Tonight's adaptation of the Jonathan Swift story was written by Frank Wells and starred Henry Hull as Lemuel Gulliver, with Anthony Boris as the Lilliputian, Ken Christie as the Brobding Nagyam, and Gail Gordon as the Wynnum. Henry Hull may soon be seen as General Mike McCready in the Warner Brothers picture Fighter Command. Others in the cast were Bruce Cameron, Stanley Farrar, Sy Stevens, Jack Krushen, Earl Lee, Jack Carroll, and Cliff Clark. It is with real pleasure that the NBC University Theatre announces that beginning with our next performance, our productions will be a full hour in length.
The first of these attractions will be an adaptation of the Henry James novel, The American, with Alan Hale in the starring role. We suggest that you watch your local newspaper for time and station. Tonight's production of Gulliver's Travels was directed by Max Hutto. Original music was composed and conducted by Henry Russell. Productions of the NBC University Theatre are currently being used in conjunction with a course in American college by radio plan at the University of Louisville. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.
This is the NBC University Theatre presenting another in our series of radio plays based on the world's great stories. Tonight, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift with Henry Hull as Lemuel Gulliver. In 1727, when Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels, he intended it to be nothing more than a sharp and biting commentary stories. And as a result, his book did not die with the customs and men which it ridiculed. Instead, with a passage of two centuries and more, it has become more than just a brilliant satire. It has become, in fact, one of the greatest of all children's classics.
A story to charm and delight the young of every generation and every century.
[00:01:48] Unknown:
My name is Lemuel Gulliver. For sixteen years and seven months, I sailed the seas on several vessels. First as a surgeon and then as captain. In the year 1699, I accepted an offer from captain William Pritchard, master of the antelope, who was making a voyage to the South Seas. I shall not trouble you with the particulars of our adventures in these seas. Let it suffice to say that in our passage, we ran a foul of a tropic storm. The weather being very hazy, we were within half a cable's length of a giant rock before our lookout spied it.
[00:02:31] Unknown:
Rockfall. Rockfall. Get up. Hey. I've asked there, man. And by the launch, the longboat.
[00:02:43] Unknown:
Six of us made shift to get the long boat into the sea. But before we cleared the ship's side, she were driven on the rock and split asunder. What became of my companions, I cannot tell, but conclude that they were lost. For my part, I swam as fortune directed and was pushed forward by wind and tide to a point where I found myself within my depth. When I finally struggled ashore, I was in so weak a condition that I I lay down on the grass and fell asleep. 'Some hours later, I was awakened by a noise like the humming of insects, A silken whispering like grass in the wind.
I tried to raise, only to discover my arms and legs fastened and secured into the ground, and my hair tied down in the same manner. And once I became aware of something alive, moving on my leg, advancing gently forward over my breast, walking boldly up to my chin. By bending my eyes downward, I was able to perceive that it was a human creature not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hands. And even while I looked, at least 50 more of the same kind followed the first. It gradually became clear to me that it was these tiny creatures who had made me a prisoner, would bound me securely while I slept, with cords no thicker than a thread of silk.
Outraged at first for the absurdity of a man of my stature being dust treated, I then began to ponder how light my plight was compared to that of thousands of my own countrymen, who too were bound by invisible threads of cast, custom, and circumstance. Worthy not prisoners as much as I. The only difference being that I was aware of my plight and they were not. The Illicitians, for that was the name of my tiny captors, brought me food and drink sent to the by their emperor's orders, freeing one of my hands so that I could eat. In the attitude, as in my own island, the state of a man's stomach is likely to govern his thinking. I topped off my meal with a hogs of good wine, then fell asleep.
While I slept, I was bound in chains and carted by 1,500 horses to the palace of the emperor.
[00:05:27] Unknown:
Is imperial majesty, Globastomer Marin of Valmy Gurdilo Sheffrin Malioligu,
[00:05:36] Unknown:
Your Imperial Majesty,
[00:05:37] Unknown:
your most humble servant. His imperial majesty, Globasto Mamarin of Valmigordino Shephlin Malmigu Proposes to the mad mountain lately arrived in our celestial dominions the following articles.
[00:05:51] Unknown:
One or two of the articles proposed were not altogether to my liking, but overwhelmed by the presence of royalty, I could only prostrate myself at his majesty's feet and acquiesce. He then had a mind to entertain me with one of his country's best loved shows. Redversal, his minister of private affairs, ascended to my shoulder to interpret the performance for me.
[00:06:30] Unknown:
You see in Lilliput, when a political office is taken, candidates petition the emperor to entertain the court by cutting capers on a rope. Whoever jumps the highest without falling off wins the office. That's Flimmed, candidate for the office of treasurer performing now. He's superb,
[00:06:49] Unknown:
colossal. Why he he's a sensation.
[00:06:52] Unknown:
He should be. He's been at it for years. What is it? Why do you frown? It's,
[00:06:59] Unknown:
it's just occurred to me. Is this, rope dancing really a true test of a man's qualifications for public office?
[00:07:06] Unknown:
Perhaps they've thought of a better test in your country?
[00:07:20] Unknown:
Surely, I thought. Surely, in this setting of ideal loveliness, these tiny, dull like people, so energetic, so resourceful, must have attained a state of happiness and perfection that we larger mortals only dream of. But I was doomed to disillusion. I had, I'd been there scarcely a month when my friend, Redbristle, came and climbed up on my shoulder and began to whisper in my ear. Then, Melvin, we labor under two mighty evils,
[00:07:49] Unknown:
a violent schism at home. A schism here in Lilliput. For above seventy months past, there have been two struggling parties here. The Tramicsons and the Slamicsons. Well, how do you differ politically? Most profoundly. One party adheres to the wearing of high heeled shoes, the other low heeled. High and low heels. His majesty favors lesser heels in his administration. Therefore, the animosity of the two parties runs so high, they will neither eat nor drink with each other. Is there no hope of a compromise? Neither party will yield a fraction. Meanwhile, the country is split in two. And at the same time, we are threatened with an invasion from the island of A neighboring kingdom with which we've been engaged in the most abstinent war for six and thirty moons. Six and thirty moons?
[00:08:38] Unknown:
Amazing. Even in Europe, we are not often able to sustain our wars that long. What started your war with the Blofuscudians?
[00:08:47] Unknown:
An egg. An egg? Now it's allowed in all hands that the natural way of cracking a boiled egg is upon the larger end. Naturally. The present emperor's great grandfather, however, during his reign, published an edict commanding all his subjects to break the smaller end of the egg. The people so resented this that there have been six rebellious uprisings wherein one emperor lost his life and another his crown. But you are a rational people.
[00:09:16] Unknown:
Can't it be made clear to you the the futility of such conflicts?
[00:09:20] Unknown:
Ah, many hundreds of volumes have been published on the subject. But the emperor has ordered all books that do not support the little Indian point of view suppressed.
[00:09:30] Unknown:
Burn. I see.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Meanwhile, the war is to start all over again. The enemy is already equipped in Nomura's fleet and is preparing to descend upon us. If there is anything I can do His majesty is placing great confidence in your strength and valor. I'm greatly flattered.
[00:09:49] Unknown:
Please present my humble duty to his majesty and inform him that I stand ready with my life to defend his person and state against invaders. When the hour of invasion was at hand, I waded out into the channel between Lilliput and Blofuscu, cut the moorings of the enemy's fleet, tied the ship's lines together, then waded back again with the enemy's vessels in tow. The whole kingdom of Leelitwood awaited on the shore to give me honor. But alas, I was to learn how fickle is the public mind, how short lived the hero's laurels. Early the next morning. Hey, Mountain.
[00:10:47] Unknown:
Regiselle, what brings you out so early? I have come under express orders from his majesty. What does he want now? He wants you to bring all the rest of the enemy ships into our port at once. What great heavens that would leave the empire of La Fescue entirely undefended.
[00:11:02] Unknown:
Exactly.
[00:11:03] Unknown:
He says it's our national destiny to rule the world. Then he's out of his mind. Not only does he intend to counter Bluffescue, but he is laying plans to destroy the entire race of big Indians and compel all people to break their eggs on the smaller end. And if they refuse? They will be exterminated.
[00:11:22] Unknown:
You may return to his majesty and say that I refuse his request. I shall never be the instrument of bringing a race of free and brave people into slavery.
[00:11:43] Unknown:
Hey, Mount. Hey, Mount. What is it, Redrissle? Did you give the emperor my message? Hey, mountain. You must leave Lopod at once. What do you mean? Listen. His majesty is angry. Most angry at your refusal. He intends to blind. Blind me? Yes. He's clever. He recognizes that the loss of your sight will in no wise impair your bodily strength. You will still be useful to him. In fact, he feels you will be even of greater service to him blind.
[00:12:15] Unknown:
What a low, contemptible, mean, sniveling, treacherous, selfish race you are. How about you, Red Whistle? Why are you here?
[00:12:24] Unknown:
I couldn't bear to think of you you reduced to this state.
[00:12:28] Unknown:
You, my friend. You must have come to warn me at at great risk.
[00:12:32] Unknown:
The rest of my life.
[00:12:34] Unknown:
I I am deeply grateful to you. Because of you, I can still believe in men. Even in Lilliput, among as low specimens of humanity as I have yet encountered, you have proved to me there are those who are not governed by self interest alone, those capable of idealism, human love, and sacrifice. I shall not depart from your country entirely cynical. My next voyage, after many misadventures, brought me to the kingdom of the broad Dingagayans. A race of giants as tall as steeple spires, whose voices roared like waterfalls. Among these giants, I was looked upon as a freak.
The queen chanced upon me when I was being displayed in a box in the marketplace, and delighted by the fact that I was 30 times smaller than her court dwarf, persuaded the king to buy me for her plaything. At the court, my lot was intolerably humiliating. My behavior occasioned gales of laughter, just as in my country, children are looked upon as objects of fun and derision. I became obsessed with the idea of proving to the King and his court that I was indeed a man after all. At length, I hit up on a way to accomplish this. I offered to reveal to the King the secret of an invention.
An invention that up to this time is the most significant achievement of my race. Tell me my diminutive friend. What is this one wonderful invention? Well, sire, between three and four hundred years ago, there was compounded a, a certain powder, which when kindled will fly up into the air with a noise and agitation
[00:14:28] Unknown:
greater than thunder. What a diverting idea for feast days and celebrations.
[00:14:34] Unknown:
But wait, your majesty. Ram the proper quantity of this powder into a hollow tube of brass or iron, and it will drive a ball of lead with such violence and speed that nothing can sustain its force. But might that not prove destructive? It will rip up pavements, tear houses to pieces, lay waste cities, dash out the brains of all who are near. You could become the master of the lives, liberties, and fortunes of all your people. Whoever disputed
[00:15:03] Unknown:
your absolute authority Are you too ignorant to understand that I neither have nor want absolute authority?
[00:15:11] Unknown:
You, a king. You cannot be without ambition. You must wish to live in the annals of your people. Now, by the use of this formula, our prince of our Quiet. I command you.
[00:15:22] Unknown:
Some evil genius enemy of mankind must have been the first contriver of this powder. If you value your life,
[00:15:31] Unknown:
never mention it again. As you will, sire. But it is plain to be seen that here, you have not reduced politics and the conquest of power to an exact science as the more acute wits of Europe have done. Power.
[00:15:44] Unknown:
Politics. It is my opinion that whosoever can make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together.
[00:16:11] Unknown:
I was forced to conclude that the king's narrowness of view was the miserably perverted effect of a limited education. Eventually, I reached home again, but such is my restless nature that I had not been there ten days before
[00:16:27] Unknown:
Man the capstan and cast off the stern line.
[00:16:36] Unknown:
Yes. I was embarked upon another voyage. And it was part of my strange destiny that in time, I should have found myself cut adrift by pirates and subsequently saved by the inhabitants of Laputa. Now Laputa is a most remarkable place, a flying island suspended several thousand feet above the heads of ordinary mortals. The Laputans, unlike the Bob Dinglagians, are most scientific. Indeed, they are so wrapped up in intense speculation that they never enjoy a minute's peace. They jostle each other in the streets, bump heads, and are often in manifest danger of falling off the island. The really great thinkers among the Laputans do not walk about at all, however, but are put away in an institution called the Grand Academy, a projector.
Being a great admirer of projects myself, I immediately asked to be allowed to visit this institution at the great door I will stop.
[00:17:34] Unknown:
Your pass, show your identification pass, please. Very good. And your travel permit, all in order. Thank you.
[00:17:42] Unknown:
Where will I find the research laboratories?
[00:17:45] Unknown:
One mile down this corridor, then turn left, then right, and then left again. And the agricultural projects? Two miles to the left at the opposite end of the building. Thank you very much.
[00:18:04] Unknown:
Yes. I am the coordinator of all architectural research projects. It was I who first introduced the idea of beginning all buildings at the top and working down.
[00:18:20] Unknown:
My friend, food is our business. Stuff of life, you know. I've just perfected a method of plowing so simple, you'll wonder you did not think of it yourself. The farmer plants his field with a crop of acorns, turns a drum of hogs loose in the fields, The hogs root with their feet and plow up the field. Simple, isn't it?
[00:18:44] Unknown:
Our aim is to perfect a universal language. Now I hold that by leaving out verbs and participle Nonsense, professor X. You're only wasting your time with minor changes of that sort. Now I propose that we abolish words altogether. Unthinkable. Abolish words altogether and carry about in a sack on our backs such objects as unnecessary to express a thought. There's your universal language. Oh, you can't. Do it, I tell you. They won't let you do away with words. Who won't let me pray? The women. The women.
[00:19:23] Unknown:
The school of political projectors, right through that door.
[00:19:27] Unknown:
And I propose that as a solution to all political problems, we endeavor to persuade the people to choose leaders for their wisdom, capacity, and virtue, that we teach office holders to consult the public good, that we reward merit, ability, and eminent service, and exhort leaders to subordinate their own interests to those of their people. I protest. This man is a radical. I suspect the rhetoric of that word.
[00:20:04] Unknown:
Except for the fantastic ideas I heard expounded in the school of political projectors, I must say that I was impressed with the Grand Academy of Laputa. The only inconvenience is that none of the projects of any of the projectors have yet been brought to perfection. And in the meantime, the whole country lies a miserable waste. The houses in ruins and the people without food and clothes. However, I dare say in time, they will get around to doing something about that too. My last voyage took me to a country where horses, called in the land Huynians, are the masters, and men, called the yahoos, are the beasts of burden.
Because of the profound difference between their conception of good and evil and our own, it took me the better part of a year to gain sufficient respect from the when and whose home I stayed, for him to discuss these matters with me. For at first, he considered me only a cleaner and slightly more rational yahoo than those he kept in his stable. The whole race of yahuos, he insisted, were the most treacherous and irrational of all brutes.
[00:21:19] Unknown:
All you need do is throw among five yahoos as much food as would be sufficient for 50. Instead of eating peaceably, they will fall to quarreling and fighting, each single one determined to have it all to himself.
[00:21:32] Unknown:
I'm afraid the yahoos of my own country are inclined toward,
[00:21:36] Unknown:
or similar behavior. And yet you tell me that in your country, the yahoos are the masters and the winnams, the beast of burden.
[00:21:44] Unknown:
How can that be? What you fail to recognize is that in my country, the yahoos are civilized.
[00:21:49] Unknown:
Civilized? What is civilized? So many of your words I don't understand. Lying, deceit, power, lust, government, malice, envy, evil. But go on.
[00:22:04] Unknown:
Tell me, what is civilized? Well, amongst us, we have wonderful things such as you, Wynnum, have never dreamed of. Magnificent castles, gorgeous clothing, the noblest, most costly meats and drinks. Our ships go to the ends of the earth to bring these luxuries back for the rich. Rich? What is rich? Well, a rich yahoo is one who has enough money to buy these luxuries I have just described.
[00:22:31] Unknown:
Then they are not free to all. Oh, no. By no means. How many of your yahoos
[00:22:37] Unknown:
do enjoy them? Oh, about one in every thousand, I should say. The bulk of our people live miserably by laboring every day for small wages.
[00:22:47] Unknown:
Wages?
[00:22:48] Unknown:
Money. The most prized and precious substance amongst us.
[00:22:53] Unknown:
What you say amazes me. Now among us winnams, it is our supposition that all animals have a title to their share in the productions of the earth. But then, of course, we are not civilized. Tell me, those yahoos who do not have the luxuries you describe,
[00:23:11] Unknown:
how do they feel? They are in a continual ferment of endeavor to earn sufficient money to live as the rich
[00:23:18] Unknown:
do. And of what does this endeavor consist? Oh, there are numerous kinds.
[00:23:23] Unknown:
Begging, robbing, stealing, cheating, for swearing, flattering, forging, gaming, hectoring, voting, libeling, scribbling, stargazing. Then there are the recognized professions, of course, like, doctoring Please explain. Well, it is part of our civilization that we eat when we are not hungry, drink without the provocation of thirst, sit whole nights imbibing strong liquors
[00:23:53] Unknown:
Most extraordinary.
[00:23:54] Unknown:
All of which disposes us to sloth, inflames our bodies, and prevents digestion. And there are, diseases to which husbands or wives grown weary of their mates, our subjects. Incredible. All of which makes the profession of doctrine a most lucrative one amongst us yahoos. But I must tell you of another profession, the law. Please, please spare me.
[00:24:20] Unknown:
I do not feel equal to hearing about the law today. To be frank, your whole discourse has only increased my abhorrence for the whole species of yahoos. For the yahoos amongst us, I have always felt a kind of pity for their ignorance. But the yahoos of your country, you say, pretend to reason. Instead of reason, it seems to me you're possessed only of some quality fitted to increase your natural vices. Do you realize that for all your talk of civilization, all your fine words, you have never mentioned the one word we winnams prize most deeply? Love.
Love? It is the law of our land. We need no other. Amongst us, love is not confined to any particular object, but universal to the whole race. We show the same affection for our neighbor's issue as for our own. And wherever a winnim goes, to whatever part of the land, he looks upon that as his home. Thus, we live together without conflict in peace and happiness. Peace. Happiness.
[00:25:28] Unknown:
No. Now you are using words with which I am not familiar. But in time, dwelling amongst the Williams, I was to learn the full meaning of peace and happiness. I enjoyed perfect health of mind and body. I did not feel the treachery or inconstancy of a friend. I had no occasion of bribing or flattering to procure the favor of a great man or his minion. I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression. In the midst of all this happiness, and when I looked upon myself to be fully settled for life, my host sent for me one morning a little earlier than usual.
[00:26:14] Unknown:
It is with great sorrow that I must tell you what I must. You will have to leave us. Leave you? Go from this peaceful country? Oh, no. No. No. Not that. Don't don't send me away. It is the opinion of the majority of the Winnums that we jeopardize our well-being by keeping you here. It is feared that you, since you have the rudiments of reason added to the natural depravity of a yahoo, that you may influence the other yahoos to rise up against it. A thought of that kind never entered my mind. I swear it. I So I told the other Williams. But they replied that you yourself had told us that your kind excels in the art of lying and dissimulation.
How can you be trusted? You must go.
[00:27:06] Unknown:
Thus, gentle listener, I've given thee a faithful account of my travels for sixteen years and above seven months. Wherein, I have not been as studious of ornament as of truth. I could perhaps have astounded thee with strange, improbable tales, but I I chose to relate plain matter of fact in manner and style. It is my belief that a traveler's chief aim should be not to form wonderful descriptions of both land and sea, but to make men wiser and better.
[00:28:00] Unknown:
The curtain of the NBC University Theater falls on Gulliver's Travels, another in our series of radio plays based on stories that live. Tonight's adaptation of the Jonathan Swift story was written by Frank Wells and starred Henry Hull as Lemuel Gulliver, with Anthony Boris as the Lilliputian, Ken Christie as the Brobding Nagyam, and Gail Gordon as the Wynnum. Henry Hull may soon be seen as General Mike McCready in the Warner Brothers picture Fighter Command. Others in the cast were Bruce Cameron, Stanley Farrar, Sy Stevens, Jack Krushen, Earl Lee, Jack Carroll, and Cliff Clark. It is with real pleasure that the NBC University Theatre announces that beginning with our next performance, our productions will be a full hour in length.
The first of these attractions will be an adaptation of the Henry James novel, The American, with Alan Hale in the starring role. We suggest that you watch your local newspaper for time and station. Tonight's production of Gulliver's Travels was directed by Max Hutto. Original music was composed and conducted by Henry Russell. Productions of the NBC University Theatre are currently being used in conjunction with a course in American college by radio plan at the University of Louisville. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.
Introduction to Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Voyage Begins
Encounter with the Lilliputians
Political Satire in Lilliput
The Land of Giants: Brobdingnag
The Flying Island of Laputa
The Grand Academy of Laputa
The Land of the Houyhnhnms
Conclusion of Gulliver's Travels
