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1、A Voyage to the HouyhnhnmsGullivers Travels:Book IV Gullivers crew mutinies and puts him ashore on an unknown islandThe island turns out to be inhabited by the“Houyhnhnms”-creatures who look like horses but are more civilized and intelligent than humans,in Gullivers viewThe island also has“Yahoos”cr
2、eatures who look like humans but are sub-human in intelligence,savage and disgustingHouyhnhnms“They have no fondness for their Colts or Foles,but the Care they take in educating them proceeds from the dictates of“Reason”.“If they can avoid Casualties,they die only of Old Age,and are buried in the ob
3、scurest Places that can be found,their Friends and Relations expressing neither Joy nor Grief at their Departure.”Gullivers TravelsPart IV,Chapter 7Gulliver explains why he is revealing the ugly truth about humans:THE READER may be disposed to wonder how I could prevail on myself to give so free a R
4、epresentation of my own Species,among a Race of Mortals who were already too apt to conceive the vilest Opinion of human Kind from that entire Congruity betwixt me and their Yahoos.But I must freely confess,that the many Virtues of those excellent Quadrupeds placed in opposite View to human Corrupti
5、ons,had so far opened my Eyes and enlightened my Understanding,that I began to view the Actions and Passions of Man in a very different Light,and to think the Honour of my own Kind not worth managing;which,besides,it was impossible for me to do before a Person of so acute a Judgment as my Master,who
6、 daily convinced me of a thousand Faults in myself,whereof I had not the least Perception before,and which among us would never be numbered even among human Infirmities,I had likewise learned from his Example an utter Detestation of all Falsehood or Disguise;and Truth appeared so amiable to me,that
7、I determined upon sacrificing every thing to it.(Longman Anthology,2563)Gullivers“master”delivers his opinion about humans:When I had answered all his Questions,and his Curiosity seemed to be fully satisfied;he sent for me one Morning early,and commanded me to sit down at some Distance,(an Honour wh
8、ich he had never before conferred upon me)he said,He had been very seriously considering my whole Story,as far as it related both to myself and my Country:That he looked upon us as sort of Animals to whose Share,by what Accident he could not conjecture,some small Pittance of Reason had fallen,whereo
9、f we made no other Use than by its Assistance to aggravate our natural Corruptions,and to acquire new ones which Nature had not given us:That we disarmed ourselves of the few Abilities she had bestowed,had been very successful in multiplying our original Wants,and seemed to spend our whole Lives in
10、vain Endeavours to supply them by our own Inventions.Gullivers“master”delivers his opinion about Gulliver:That as to myself,it was manifest I had neither the Strength or Agility of a common Yahoo,that I walked infirmly on my hinder Feet,had found out a Contrivance to make my Claws of no Use or Defen
11、ce,and to remove the Hair from my Chin,which was intended as a shelter from the Sun and the Weather.Lastly,That I could neither run with Speed,nor climb Trees like my Brethren(as he called them)the Yahoos in this Country.Humans“gross defects in reason”:That our Institutions of Government and Law wer
12、e plainly owing to our gross Defects in Reason,and by Consequence,in Vertue;because Reason alone is sufficient to govern a Rational Creature;which was therefore a Character we had no Pretense to challenge,even from the Account I had given of my own People,although he manifestly perceived,that in ord
13、er to favour them,I had concealed many Particulars,and often said the Thing which was not.Gulliver,it seems,is just a Yahoo,only weaker:He was the more confirmed in this Opinion,because he observed,that as I agreed in every Feature of my Body with other Yahoos,except where it was to my real Disadvan
14、tage in point of Strength,Speed and Activity,the shortness of my Claws,and some other Particulars where Nature had no Part;so from the Representation I had given him of our Lives,our Manners,and our Actions,he found as near a Resemblance in the Disposition of our Minds.He said the Yahoos were known
15、to hate one another more than they did any different Species of Animals;and the Reason usually assigned,was the Odiousness of their own Shapes,which all could see in the rest,but not in themselves.He had therefore begun to think it not unwise in us to cover our Bodies,and by that Invention,conceal m
16、any of our own Deformities from each other,which would else be hardly supportable.But,he now found he had been mistaken,and that the Dissensions of those Brutes in his Country were owing to the same Cause with ours,as I had described them.Yahoos are lot like humansthey are gluttons:For,if(said he)yo
17、u throw among Five Yahoos as much Food as would be sufficient for Fifty,they will,instead of eating peaceably,fall together by the Ears,each single one impatient to have all to itself;.That in some Fields of his Country there are certain shining Stones of several Colours,whereof the Yahoos are viole
18、ntly fond,and when part of these Stones is fixed in the Earth,as it sometimes happeneth,they will dig with their Claws for whole Days to get them out,then carry them away,and hide them by Heaps in their Kennels;but still looking round with great Caution,for Fear their Comrades should find out their
19、Treasure.My Master said,he could never discover the Reason of this unnatural Appetite,or how these Stones could be of any Use to a Yahoo;but now he believed it might proceed from the same Principle of Avarice which I had ascribed to Mankind:Yahoos are drunkards:There was also another kind of Root ve
20、ry juicy,but somewhat rare and difficult to be found,which the Yahoos sought for with much Eagerness,and would suck it with great Delight;and it produced in them the same Effects that Wine hath upon us.It would make them sometimes hug,sometimes tear one another,they would howl and grin,and chatter,a
21、nd tumble,and then fall asleep in the Dirt.Yahoos are a lot like humans:I did indeed observe,that the Yahoos were the only Animals in this Country subject to any Diseases;which however,were much fewer than Horses have among us,and contracted not by any ill Treatment they meet with,but by the Nastine
22、ss,and Greediness of that sordid Brute.Neither has their Language any more than a general Appellation for those Maladies,which is borrowed from the Name of the Beast,and called Hnea-Yahoo,or the Yahoos Evil,and the Cure prescribed is a mixture of their own Dung and Urine forcibly put down the Yahoos
23、 Throat.This I have since often taken myself,and do freely recommend it to my Countrymen,for the publick Good,as an admirable Specifick against all Diseases produced by Repletion.Yahoos are a lot like humansthey are brown-nosers:He had heard indeed some curious Houyhnhnms observe,that in most Herds
24、there was a sort of ruling Yahoo(as among us there is generally some leading or principal Stag in a park),who was always more deformed in Body and mischievous in Disposition,than any of the rest.That this Leader had usually a Favourite as like himself as he could get,whose Employment was to lick his
25、 Masters Feet and Posteriors,and drive the Female Yahoos to his Kennel;for which he was now and then rewarded with a piece of Asss Flesh.This Favourite is hated by the whole Herd,and therefore to protect himself,keeps always near the Person of his Leader.He usually continues in Office till worse can
26、 be found;but the very Moment he is discarded,his Successor at the Head of all the Yahoos in that District,Young and Old,Male and Female,come in a Body,and discharge their Excrements upon him from Head to Foot.But how far this might be applicable to our Courts and Favourites,and Ministers of State,m
27、y Master said I could best determine.Female Yahoos are a lot like women:His Honour had further observed,that a Female-Yahoo would often stand behind a Bank or a Bush,to gaze on the young Males passing by,and then appear,and hide,using many antick Gestures and Grimaces,at which time it was observed,t
28、hat she had a most offensive Smell;and when any of the Males advanced,would slowly retire,looking often back,and with a counterfeit shew of Fear;run off into some convenient Place where she knew the Male would follow her.Female Yahoos are a lot like women:At other times if a Female Stranger came amo
29、ng them,Three or Four of her own Sex would get about her,and stare and chatter,and grin,and smell her all over;and then turn off with Gestures that seemed to express Contempt and Disdain.Perhaps my Master might refine a little in these Speculations,which he had drawn from what he observed himself,or
30、 had been told him by others:However,I could not reflect without some Amazement,and much Sorrow,that the Rudiments of Lewdness,Coquetry,Censure,and Scandal,should have place by Instinct in Womankind.HouyhnhnmsHouyhnhnms are a race of intelligent horses described in book four of Gullivers TravelsCont
31、rasts against the Yahoos who are savage creatures,and represent all that is bad of the human raceHouyhnhnms cont.Seen as stable,calm,reliable and and rational societyGulliver prefers the company of the Houyhnhnms over the Yahoos,even though the Yahoos resembles his physical formHouyhnhnms as UtopiaR
32、epresent an ideal of rational existence Governed by sense and moderationPossess philosophy and have a language that is entirely pure of political and ethical nonsense.Houyhnhnms as Utopia cont.The Houyhnhnms echoes Platos Republic because they reject light entertainment and vain displays of luxuryAp
33、peal to reason rather then any holy writings as the criterion for proper actionHouyhnhnms as Utopia cont.The Houyhnhnms have no need to lie nor have any word for lyingDo not use force,but only strong exhortation劝勉劝诫 Subjugation of Yahoos appear more necessary than cruelYahoos“Upon the whole,I never
34、beheld in all my travels so disagreeable an animal,or one against which I naturally conceived so strong an antipathy”YahoosThey live in servile to the Houyhnhnms.They are beasts that look like humans.-“Their heads and breasts were covered with a thick hair.”“They had beards like goats.”“A long ridge
35、 of hair down their backs,and the fore parts of their legs and feet,but the rest of their bodies were bare.”“They had no tails,nor any hair at all on their buttocks,except about the anus.”Yahoos cont.Gulliver describes them to be very savage-like,ugly,and unpleasant.-“The ugly monster,when he saw me
36、,distorted several ways every feature of his visage.”“Those detestable creatures.held their food between the claws of their fore feet,and tore it with their teeth.”“Those filthy Yahoos.”“The Yahoos appear to be the most unteachable of all animals.”Yahoos cont.At the end,Gulliver finally comes to rea
37、lize that he is actually a lot like the Yahoos.Gulliver goes to observe the Yahoos.As Gulliver is bathing in the river,he sees a female Yahoo.She mistakes him as her own kind and rushed towards him to embrace him.It frightens him that he is mistaken to be the same kind as her.“For now I could no lon
38、ger deny,that I was a real Yahoo,in every limb and feature,since the female had natural propensity to me as one of their own species.”Changes in Narration Gulliver narrates his adventures in a gullible,nave,dry,first-person narrative that rarely shows any signs of self-reflection or deep emotional r
39、esponse.But in Book IV he turns cynical and bitter in reflectionGullivers attitude hardens as the book progresses and eventually leads up to his rejection of human society in the fourth voyageProgresses from a cheery optimist the“pompous misanthrope”of the books conclusionChanges in Narration cont.H
40、e has come full turnfrom being proud of being a European man to disgust for all peopleGullivers experiences with various flawed societies foreshadow his ultimate rejection of human society in the fourth voyage.Gulliver adopts the Houyhnhnms culture entirely,and in doing so,rejects the established so
41、cial rules and conventions practiced in civil society.This is a way for Swift to satirize human civilization and those who would look to animals or a natural state of being for a model of how to live.The horses represent this natural being of existence where everything is pure and good-devoid of cor
42、ruption.Thus,providing an attempt to escape the confines of being around people who Gulliver begins to view as the Yahoos(beastlike).However,it is impossible for Gulliver to live amongst them because he is human,and the Houyhnhnms do not encompass complex,human emotions-which is the main reason why their culture and society is successful and idealized.