Kabanata Kabanata 10 · The Luggnaggians commended. A particular description of the

. The Luggnaggians commended. A particular description of the

Struldbrugs, with many conversations between the author and some

eminent persons upon that subject.

The Luggnaggians are a polite and generous people; and although they

are not without some share of that pride which is peculiar to all

Eastern countries, yet they show themselves courteous to strangers,

especially such who are countenanced by the court. I had many

acquaintance, and among persons of the best fashion; and being always

attended by my interpreter, 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

an appellation, applied to a mortal creature.” He told me “that

sometimes, though very rarely, a child happened to be born in a family,

with a red circular spot in the forehead, directly over the left

eyebrow, which was an infallible mark that it should never die.” The

spot, as he described it, “was about the compass of a silver

threepence, but in the course of time grew larger, and changed its

colour; for at twelve years old it became green, so continued till five

and twenty, then turned to a deep blue: at five and forty it grew coal

black, and as large as an English shilling; but never admitted any

further alteration.” He said, “these births were so rare, that he did

not believe there could be above eleven hundred struldbrugs, of both

sexes, in the whole kingdom; of which he computed about fifty in the

metropolis, and, among the rest, a young girl born about three years

ago: that these productions were not peculiar to any family, but a mere

effect of chance; and the children of the _struldbrugs_ themselves were

equally mortal with the rest of the people.”

I freely own myself to have been struck with inexpressible delight,

upon hearing this account: and the person who gave it me happening to

understand the Balnibarbian language, which I spoke very well, I could

not forbear breaking out into expressions, perhaps a little too

extravagant. I cried out, as in a rapture, “Happy nation, where every

child hath at least a chance for being immortal! Happy people, who

enjoy so many living examples of ancient virtue, and have masters ready

to instruct them in the wisdom of all former ages! but happiest, beyond

all comparison, are those excellent _struldbrugs_, who, being born

exempt from that universal calamity of human nature, have their minds

free and disengaged, without the weight and depression of spirits

caused by the continual apprehensions of death!” I discovered my

admiration, “that I had not observed any of these illustrious persons

at court; the black spot on the forehead being so remarkable a

distinction, that I could not have easily overlooked it: and it was

impossible that his majesty, a most judicious prince, should not

provide himself with a good number of such wise and able counsellors.

Yet perhaps the virtue of those reverend sages was too strict for the

corrupt and libertine manners of a court: and we often find by

experience, that young men are too opinionated and volatile 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 was resolved,

upon the very first occasion, to deliver my opinion to him on this

matter freely and at large, by the help of my interpreter; and whether

he would please to take my advice or not, yet in one thing I was

determined, that his majesty having frequently offered me an

establishment in this country, I would, with great thankfulness, accept

the favour, and pass my life here in the conversation of those superior

beings the _struldbrugs_, if they would please to admit me.”

The gentleman to whom I addressed my discourse, because (as I have

already observed) he spoke the language of Balnibarbi, said to me, with

a sort of a smile which usually arises from pity to the ignorant, “that

he was glad of any occasion to keep me among them, and desired my

permission to explain to the company what I had spoke.” He did so, and

they talked together for some time in their own language, whereof I

understood not a syllable, neither could I observe by their

countenances, what impression my discourse had made on them. After a

short silence, the same person told me, “that his friends and mine (so

he thought fit to express himself) were very much pleased with the

judicious remarks I had made on the great happiness and advantages of

immortal life, and they were desirous to know, in a particular manner,

what scheme of living I should have 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 a

subject, especially to me, who had been often apt to amuse myself with

visions of what I should do, if I were a king, a general, or a great

lord: and upon this very case, I had frequently run over the whole

system how I should employ myself, and pass the time, if I were sure to

live for ever.

“That, if it had been my good fortune to come into the world a

_struldbrug_, as soon as I could discover my own happiness, by

understanding the difference between life and death, I would first

resolve, by all arts and methods, whatsoever, to procure myself riches.

In the pursuit of which, by thrift and management, I might reasonably

expect, in about two hundred years, to be the wealthiest man in the

kingdom. In the second place, I would, from my earliest youth, apply

myself to the study of arts and sciences, by which I should arrive in

time to excel all others in learning. Lastly, I would carefully record

every action and event of consequence, that happened in the public,

impartially draw the characters of the several successions of princes

and great ministers of state, with my own observations on every point.

I would exactly set down the several changes in customs, language,

fashions of dress, diet, and diversions. By all which acquirements, I

should be a living treasure of knowledge and wisdom, and certainly

become the oracle of 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 and

directing the minds of hopeful young men, by convincing them, from my

own remembrance, experience, and observation, fortified by numerous

examples, of the usefulness of virtue in public and private life. But

my choice and 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 own contemporaries. Where any of these wanted fortunes, I

would provide them with convenient lodges round my own estate, and have

some of them always at 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 diverts himself 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 observations

and memorials, through the course of time; remark the several

gradations by which corruption steals into the world, and oppose it in

every step, by giving perpetual warning and instruction to mankind;

which, added to the strong influence of our own example, would probably

prevent that continual degeneracy of human nature so justly complained

of in all ages.

“Add to this, the pleasure of seeing the various revolutions of states

and empires; the changes in the lower and upper world; ancient cities

in ruins, and obscure villages become the seats of kings; famous rivers

lessening into shallow brooks; the ocean leaving one coast dry, and

overwhelming another; the discovery of many countries yet unknown;

barbarity overrunning the politest nations, and the most barbarous

become civilized. I should then see the discovery of the longitude, the

perpetual motion, the universal medicine, and many other great

inventions, brought to the utmost perfection.

“What wonderful discoveries should we make in astronomy, by outliving

and confirming our own predictions; by observing the progress and

return of comets, with the changes of motion in the sun, moon, and

stars!”

I enlarged upon many other topics, which the natural desire of endless

life, and sublunary happiness, could easily furnish me with. When I had

ended, and the sum of my discourse had been interpreted, as before, to

the rest of the company, there was a good deal of talk among them in

the language of the country, not without some laughter at my expense.

At last, the same gentleman who had been my interpreter, said, “he was

desired by the rest to set me right in a few mistakes, which I had

fallen into through the common imbecility of human nature, and upon

that allowance was less answerable for them. That this breed of

_struldbrugs_ was peculiar to their country, for there were no such

people either in Balnibarbi or Japan, where he had the honour to be

ambassador from his majesty, and found the natives in both those

kingdoms very hard to believe that the fact was possible: and it

appeared from my astonishment when he first mentioned the matter to me,

that I received it as a thing wholly new, and scarcely to be credited.

That in the two kingdoms above mentioned, where, during his residence,

he had conversed very much, he observed long life to be the universal

desire and wish of mankind. That whoever had one foot in the grave was

sure to hold back the other as strongly as he could. That the oldest

had still hopes of living one day longer, and looked on death as the

greatest evil, from which nature always prompted him to retreat. Only

in this island of Luggnagg the appetite 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 no man could be so foolish to hope, however extravagant he may be

in his wishes. That the question therefore was not, whether a man would

choose to be always in the prime of youth, attended with prosperity and

health; but how he would pass a perpetual life under all the usual

disadvantages which old age brings along with it. For although few men

will avow their desires of being immortal, upon such hard conditions,

yet in the two kingdoms before mentioned, of Balnibarbi and Japan, he

observed that every man desired to put off death some time longer, let

it approach ever so late: and he rarely heard of any man who died

willingly, except he were incited by the extremity of grief or torture.

And he appealed to me, whether in those countries I had travelled, as

well as my own, I had not 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 thirty years old; after which, by degrees, they grew

melancholy and dejected, increasing in both till they came to

fourscore. This he learned from their own confession: for otherwise,

there not being above two or three of that species born in an age, they

were too few to form a general observation by. When they came to

fourscore years, which is reckoned the extremity of living in this

country, they had not only all the follies and infirmities of other old

men, but many more which arose from the dreadful 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 their grandchildren. 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. By reflecting on the

former, they find themselves cut off from all possibility of pleasure;

and whenever they see a funeral, they lament and repine that others

have gone to a harbour of rest to which they themselves never can hope

to arrive. They have no remembrance of anything but what they learned

and observed in their youth and middle-age, and even that is very

imperfect; and for the truth or particulars of any fact, it is safer to

depend on common tradition, than upon their best recollections. The

least miserable among them appear to be those who turn to dotage, and

entirely lose their memories; these meet with more pity and assistance,

because they want many bad qualities which abound in others.

“If a _struldbrug_ happen to marry one of his own kind, the marriage is

dissolved of course, by the courtesy of the kingdom, as soon as the

younger of the two comes to be fourscore; for the law thinks it a

reasonable indulgence, that those who are condemned, without any fault

of their own, to a perpetual continuance in the world, should not have

their misery doubled by the load of a wife.

“As soon as they have completed the term of eighty years, they are

looked on as dead in law; their heirs immediately succeed to their

estates; only a small pittance is reserved for their support; and the

poor ones are maintained at the public charge. After that period, they

are held incapable of any employment of trust or profit; they cannot

purchase lands, or take leases; neither are they allowed to be

witnesses in any cause, either civil or criminal, not even for the

decision of meers and bounds.

“At ninety, they lose their teeth and hair; they have at that age no

distinction of taste, but eat and drink whatever they can get, without

relish or appetite. The diseases they were subject to still continue,

without increasing or diminishing. In talking, they forget the common

appellation of things, and the names of persons, even of those who are

their nearest friends and relations. For the same reason, they never

can amuse themselves with reading, because their memory will not serve

to carry them from the beginning of a sentence to the end; and by this

defect, they are deprived of the only entertainment whereof they might

otherwise be capable.

“The language of this country being always upon the flux, the

_struldbrugs_ of one age do not understand those of another; neither

are they able, after two hundred years, to hold any conversation

(farther than by a few general words) with their neighbours the

mortals; and thus they lie under the disadvantage of living like

foreigners in their own country.”

This was the account given me of the _struldbrugs_, as near as I can

remember. I afterwards saw five or six of different ages, the youngest

not above two hundred years old, who were brought to me at several

times by some of my friends; but although they were told, “that I was a

great traveller, and had seen all the world,” they had not the least

curiosity to ask me a question; only desired “I would give them

_slumskudask_,” or a token of remembrance; which is a modest way of

begging, to avoid the law, that strictly forbids it, because they are

provided for by the public, although indeed with a very scanty

allowance.

They are despised and hated by all sorts of people. When one of them is

born, it is reckoned ominous, and their birth is recorded very

particularly so that you may know their age by consulting the register,

which, however, has not been kept above a thousand years past, or at

least has been destroyed by time or public disturbances. But the usual

way of computing how old they are, is by asking them what kings or

great persons they can remember, and then consulting history; for

infallibly the last prince in their mind did not begin his reign after

they were fourscore years old.

They were the most mortifying sight I ever beheld; and the women more

horrible than the men. Besides the usual deformities in extreme old

age, they acquired an additional ghastliness, in proportion to their

number of years, which is not to be described; and among half a dozen,

I soon distinguished which was the eldest, although there was not above

a century or two between them.

The reader will easily believe, that from what I had heard and seen, my

keen appetite for perpetuity of life was much abated. I grew heartily

ashamed of the pleasing visions I had formed; and thought no tyrant

could invent a death into which I would not run with pleasure, from

such a life. The king heard of all that had passed between me and my

friends upon this occasion, and rallied me very pleasantly; wishing I

could send a couple of _struldbrugs_ to my own country, to arm our

people against the fear of death; but this, it seems, is forbidden by

the fundamental laws of the kingdom, or else I should have been well

content with the trouble 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 any

other country would be under the necessity of enacting, in the like

circumstances. Otherwise, as avarice is the necessary consequence of

old age, those immortals would in time become proprietors of the whole

nation, and engross the civil power, which, for want of abilities to

manage, must end in the ruin of the public.