Gulliver's Travels（excerpt）

江苏南菁高级中学 王 蓉

Step 1感知·阅读导航

话题导入

《格列佛游记》创作于1726年，为英国讽刺作家乔纳森·斯威夫特的代表作品，讲述了外科医生格列佛在小人国、大人国、飞岛国、慧骃国四个国家的经历。格列佛在游历过程中经历了许多荒诞离奇的事情，比如小人国国王选择官员的方式是通过跳绳比赛，国内政党的划分是根据鞋跟的高低。小人国国土面积极小，国王却想称霸世界。格列佛帮助了小人国国王和王后，最后却险些丧命。在荒诞离奇的故事情节背后，我们不难发现作品的讽刺风格。作者想通过这些故事情节表达什么主题呢？

本文为简写版小说节选，全文888字，建议用时10分钟。

阅读立意

1.能够复述故事主要情节；

2.以文中线索为依据，分析主要人物的性格特点；

3.通过情节，体会作者的写作技巧和风格；

4.通过思考文章的写作风格，深入理解小说的主题。

“Lilliputhas enemies athome and abroad，” he explained. “For six years now we've had two political groups，the High-Heels and the Low-Heels.Perhaps the High-Heels were more popular in the past，but as you can see，our present King and all his officials wear the lowest heels.The two groups hate each other，and a High-Heel will refuse to speak to a Low-Heel.That's the problem in Lilliput.Now，we're getting information that the people of Blefuscu are going to attack us.Have you heard of Blefuscu？ It's an island very near us，almost as large and important as Lilliput.They've been at war with us for three years， you see.”

“But how did this war start？ ” I asked.

“Well， you know， of course， that most people used to break their boiled eggs at the larger end.But our King's grandfather once cut a finger while breaking his egg this way，and so his father the King ordered all Lilliputians， from then on， to break the smaller end of their eggs.People who do that are called Small Endians.But Lilliputians feel strongly about this and some Big-Endians have fought angrily against this law.As many as eleven thousand people have been killed because they refused to break their eggs at the smaller end.Some of the Big-Endians have escaped to join our enemies in Blefuscu.The King of Blefuscu has always wanted to defeat Lilliput in war，and now we hear that he's prepared a large number of ships，which will attack us very soon.So you see， my friend，how much our King needs your help，in order to defeat his enemies.”

I did not hesitate for a moment.“Please tell the King，” I answered warmly， “that l am ready to give my life to save him or his country.”

The island of Blefuscu is only about a kilometre to the north of Lilliput.I knew that just beyond the narrow sea separating the two countries there were at least fifty warships ready to attack us，with many other smaller ships.But I kept away from that side of the coast，so that the people of Blefuscu would not see me.I had a secret plan.

From the King's workmen I ordered fifty heavy metal hooks，each fastened to a piece of strong rope.I took off my coat and shoes，and walked into the sea with the hooks and ropes in my hands.The water was deep in the middle，so I had to swim for a few metres.But it only took me half an hour to get to Blefuscu.

When the Blefuscans saw me，they were so frightened that they jumped out of their ships and swam to the beach.I then used one hook for each ship，and tied all the ropes together at one end.While I was doing this，the enemy shot thousands of arrows at me，which caused me a lot of pain.I was afraid of getting an arrow in my eyes，but I suddenly remembered I still had an old pair of reading glasses in my pocket，so I put them on and continued my work.When I was ready，I started walking into the shallow water away from Blefuscu.As I walked through the waves，I pulled the enemy's warships behind me.When the people of Blefuscu realized that all their warships were disappearing，their cries were terrible to hear.

As I came nearer to Lilliput，I saw the King and all his lords（大臣）and ladies standing on the beach.They could only see Blefuscu's warships coming closer，as I was swimming and my head was occasionally under the water.Therefore，they supposed that I had drowned，and that the Blefuscan ships were attacking.But when they saw me walking out of the sea，they welcomed me warmly with cries of astonishment and delight.The King himself came down to the water to meet me.

“Everyone in Lilliput is grateful to you！”he cried. “For your bravery， you will be one of my lords from now on.”

“Thank you， sir，” I replied.

“And now，” he continued， “go back and steal all the enemy's ships，so that we can defeat Blefuscu for ever！We'll destroy the Big-Endians，and I'll become King of the whole world！”

But I would not agree to this plan.

“Sir，” I replied， “I will never help to take a brave nation's freedom away.Lilliput and Blefuscu should live in peace now.”

The King could not persuade me，and unfortunately he never forgot that I had refused to do what he wanted.Although I had saved his country from attack by Blefuscan warships，he preferred to remember my refusal.

About three weeks later，the King of Blefuscu sent his officials to ask for peace between the two countries.After the Blefuscans had arranged everything with the Lilliputian officials，they came to visit me.They had heard how I had prevented the King from destroying all their ships.After thanking me，they invited me to visit their country.However，when I asked the King of Lilliput if I could visit Blefuscu， he agreed， but very coldly.

Step 2 实践·文本解读

立意呈现

Ⅰ.Sort out the leading characters and plots

1.Who did Gulliver see？

2.What problems did Lilliput have？

3.What did Gulliver do to help Lilliput？

Ⅱ.Understand the tones and symbolic meanings of certain events

1.What tones did the author use when describing Lilliput's problems？ Find some key expressions supporting your opinion in the text.

2.What does the following in Lilliput symbolize？

3.What's the author's purpose for writing this part？

Ⅲ.Analyze the author's writing skills

1.What were the King's attitudes towards Gulliver？

2.How did the author describe the changes of the King's attitudes towards Gulliver?_

3.Compare the two sides and fill in the blanks.

4.Find out the sentences or certain plots to summarize the personality of the King and Gulliver._

【点石成金】将作品内容与作者所处的时代背景相结合，读懂作者的写作手法，诸如夸张（exaggeration）、反讽（irony）、幽默等。通过了解作品中主要事件的象征（symbols）去把握作者对18世纪英国社会生活的批判，可以培养学生的审辨能力。

Step 3 运用·读写整合

Ⅰ.Thoughts after reading the excerpt

Find a part in the excerpt which you think is the most interesting/strange/confusing.And use some key words to write down your understanding of the part.（Underline the sentences in the excerpt.）

Ⅱ.Explore the theme

What is the theme of the excerpt in your opinion？_

Ⅲ.Other satire（讽刺）literary works

There are many satire literary works from home and abroad， such as 1984， Animal Farm written by George Orwell；The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain；The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en；The Scholars by Wu Jingzi.

Write your new understanding of The Journey to the West from the angle of satire.

【点石成金】通过让学生写读后感悟，能够加深对文本的理解，从而进一步探寻文本的主题。在了解主题的基础上，探讨中外讽刺小说，学生可以提升文化意识，发展批判性思维。

Step 4 提升·素养建构

Ⅰ.写作风格

What is the author's writing style in Gulliver's Travels？__

Ⅱ.视野拓展

《格列佛游记》中的讽刺欣赏

两百多年来，《格列佛游记》被译成几十种语言，在世界各国流传甚广，深入人心。不少著名作家也非常推崇这本书，我们来看看他们对《格列佛游记》的评论。

如果我要开一份书目，列出哪怕其他书都被毁坏时也要保留的六本书，我一定会把《格列佛游记》列入其中。

——（英）乔治·奥威尔

《格列佛游记》有机智和讽刺，有巧妙的构思，洒脱的幽默，泼辣的讥嘲，痛快淋漓。它的文体精彩绝伦。至今没有人用我们这艰难的文字写得比斯威夫特更简洁、更明快、更自然的。

——（英）威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆

《格列佛游记》英文原版中有不少具有讽刺意味的句子和段落，让我们一起来欣赏品味。

1.Blindness is an addition to courage，by concealing dangers from us.

盲目可以增加你的勇气，因为你无法看到危险。

2.In choosing persons for all employments，they have more regard to good morals than to great abilities.

在任用人才方面，他们更注重优良的品德而非卓越的才干。

3.Some time after，asking a friend at court how they came to fix on that determinate number，he told me that His Majesty's mathematicians，having taken the height of my body by the help of a quadrant（四分仪）， and finding it to exceed theirs in the proportion of twelve to one，they concluded from the similarity of their bodies， that mine must contain at least 1，724 of theirs，and consequently would require as much food as was necessary to support that number of Lilliputians.

一段时间后，我问在朝廷做官的一位朋友，他们是怎样得出这样一个确定的数目的。他告诉我，御用数学家用四分仪测定了我的身高，计算出我的身高和他们的比例是12∶1，由于他们的身体和我完全一样，因此得出结论：我的身体至少抵得上1，724个利立浦特人，所以我所需要的食物数量足够供给那么多的利立浦特人。

《格列佛游记》也多次翻拍为电影，最为著名的是1996年由查理斯·斯特里奇导演的版本，可谓鸿篇巨制，把格列佛在四个国家的经历在荧幕上生动再现。最近一次的翻拍为2010年罗伯·莱特曼导演的版本。该版本虽仅对小人国（Lilliput）进行翻拍，但创新之处为故事背景变成了21世纪。电影展现了现代版格列佛在小人国的冒险，在不失原著风格的同时，添加了不少幽默和现代气息。