The emperor held frequent councils, to debate what course should be taken with me; and the court was under many difficulties concerning me. They apprehended that my diet would be very expensive, and might cause a famine, but, again, they considered that the not feeding me would not rid them of me.
The emperor gave orders to certain proper officers to search me. I said his majesty should be satisfied, for I was ready to strip myself and turn up my pockets before him. I took up the two officers in my hands, put them first into my coat-pockets, and then into every other pocket about me. These gentlemen having pen, ink, and paper about them, made an exact inventory of everything they saw; and, when they had done, desired I would set them down, that they might deliver it to the emperor. This inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is word for word as follows:—
There were two pockets which we could not enter: these he called his fobs. Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain, with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever was at the end of that chain, which appeared to be a globe, half silver, and half of some transparent metal; for on the transparent side we saw certain strange figures, circularly drawn, and thought we could touch them till we found our fingers stopped by that lucid substance. He put this engine to our ears, which made an incessant noise, like that of a water-mill; and we conjecture it is either some unknown animal, or the god that he worships; but we are more inclined to the latter opinion, because he assured us (if we understood him right, for he expressed himself very imperfectly), that he seldom did anything without consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said it pointed out the time for every action of his life.
The emperor orders that Gulliver be searched. How does Gulliver's attitude toward this search compare to the emperor's attitude?
A.
The emperor is very interested in what belongings Gulliver has, and Gulliver is more than happy to show everything to him.
B.
The emperor mistrusts Gulliver and orders him searched and his belongings inventoried. Gulliver is willing to be searched but does not want his possessions recorded.
C.
The emperor is very interested in what belongings Gulliver has, but Gulliver doesn't want him to know what is in his pockets.
D.
The emperor wants an inventory made of all of Gulliver's belongings. Gulliver refuses to let the emperor's men search his fobs where he keeps his pocket watch, but otherwise he doesn't mind.
1 answer
The correct answer is: A. The emperor is very interested in what belongings Gulliver has, and Gulliver is more than happy to show everything to him.
Gulliver expresses a willingness to strip himself and show his belongings, and he facilitates the search by allowing the officers to inspect his pockets and even translates their inventory into English. The emperor's interest is evident as he orders a thorough search to make sure they know what Gulliver possesses.
