so noble and glorious are on the other side of the world by little insects like this the prime minister bowed and made some answer which i did not understand the king returned me to my little table by the salt cellar and then went on with his talk i suppose said he that these little creatures live and think much as we do they have their titles and their fashions they have tiny nests and which they call houses they have fine dresses and carriages and think themselves great they love they fight they push one another about they cheat they scramble they boast of their deeds and small as they are they think themselves the greatest and wisest people under the sun he said much else that made me both angry and ashamed i never felt myself so small and weak as i did while listening to him how i through the country it was the custom of the king to make frequent visits to the various cities and towns in his the queen often went with him upon these journeys and she never failed to take me and my little nurse along at such times i saw and heard many things and thus learned much about the great country of as it is called the kingdom itself is about six thousand miles long and from three to five thousand broad it is bounded on three sides by the ocean and on the fourth side by an range of mountains what lies on the other side of the mountains nobody has yet discovered but if i were allowed to guess i should say that very likely the continent of north america is there there are no in the kingdom for all around the coast the ocean is too shallow to float vessels of any great size in the interior the rivers are broad and deep and there are many ships sailing upon them the country is very thickly settled there are cities and a great number of towns and villages the streets of the cities are all the time thronged with busy people the queen had a box made for me in which i was carried when on a journey it was smaller than that which i used as a bedroom at the palace it was square with a window on each of three sides my little nurse usually sat in the queen s coach and my box was not too large to be held in her lap but often when i became tired of the a servant on horseback would take the box and it upon a cushion in front of him it was very pleasant to ride there when the weather was fine and the horse moved gently from my three windows i could look out over all the country this box was so comfortable and handy that my nurse used it at home when she wished to carry me about the streets or the king s gardens thus at different times she took me to all the interesting places in the capital i saw the shops and the stores the temples and the great market places the king s palace is a huge building about seven miles round the rooms are more than two hundred feet high and broad and long in proportion the kitchen is a wonderful place the oven is as broad as the dome of st paul s cathedral in london if i should tell you about the kitchen grate the big pots and and the huge joints of beef which i saw there you would not believe me the king s stables are on the same grand scale there were about six hundred horses there when i visited them these horses were from fifty to sixty feet high when the king rides out on holidays he is attended by a guard of five hundred i shall never forget the first time that i saw him and his guard galloping down the street it was a splendid sight how i escaped many dangers everything was so great and large in that strange country and i was so small that i have often wondered how i escaped with my life one day my nurse left me alone in the garden while she took a short walk with her suddenly a came up the fell fast and thick they were about the size of balls and i was in great danger of having my brains dashed out i was indeed knocked to the ground but i made out to creep under a large leaf where i lay in much pain and fear until the storm was over when my nurse found me i was bruised from head to foot she put me to bed and it was ten days before i could go out again at another time i was in still greater danger in the same garden i was sitting alone in the shade of a of grass when i heard a strange sound near me i looked up and saw the gardener s dog coming before i could cry out he seized me m his mouth i gave myself up for lost but the animal had been so well taught that he did not bite me he held me gently and ran his tail to his master then he set me on the ground without having me in the least the gardener who knew me well was in great fright he took me up in both his hands and asked if i was hurt it was a minute or two before i could speak just then my nurse came running to me in alarm she the gardener sharply for letting his dog come into the garden but she was afraid of the queen s anger and so never told her of my narrow escape at another time as i was walking in the garden a hawk that was in the air down 