GULLIVER’S TRAVELS.

PART V.

A Voyage to Molucabi.

CHAP. I.

The Author gives account of his return to sea, a great shipwreck, and his arrival in a remote land. A description of his initial discoveries in this land, its rain forest, the plants and wildlife found there, and his daily activities.

IT was no more than two and one half years following my return from the land of the Houyhnhnms until I returned to sea, having been propositioned by one Captain M. B. Russell to accompany him and his crew on a voyage to the lands south of the Yucatan. The great Captain made me a rather grand offer for my services as First Mate, Navigator, and Interpreter based on my extensive experience at sea and in remote lands. Having grown quite weary among the Yahoos of England, I accepted the offer and departed with the Captain and his crew from the port of New Castle on the sixth day of June, in the year 1718. After five and twenty days at sea a great tempest arose from the south and drove us four days north-north-west. The violent gales were unrelenting causing the ship to break apart and overturn. I know not what became of my shipmates; my last memory is of the Captain ordering them into the boats and lowering them from the ship.

SOME time later, I awoke upon a beach. Looking out to sea, I saw no trace of my ship or its men. I stood slowly, turned, and viewed a lush green rainforest. The bare sand I stood upon stretched only twenty yards out from where I stood, at which point a soft bed of grass began, leading up to the rich vegetation of a rainforest. Advancing towards it, I noticed a plethora of grapevines hanging from the canopy. My stomach churned with hunger; I trot quickly towards the vines, pulled several bushels of grapes, and took them into my mouth. They were sweet and smooth and quite possibly the best I’d ever eaten. I noticed other fruits growing in abundance and ate of them as well. I ate until I was full, then rested against the soft moss covering of a fallen tree and nodded off to sleep.

A rustling sound woke me from my peaceful slumber. It was the sound of something moving about in the underbrush. I stood and viewed a small herd of goat-like-creatures moving towards a small river. The fruit I had eaten had been a delicious banquet, but I yearned also for the protein and sustenance of fresh meat. I waited until the herd began to drink from the river, and then slowly snuck up behind it and pulled my scabbard from its sheath. As I neared the creatures, one of my feet foolishly fell upon a dry branch and cracked it loudly in half; but rather than scatter, the herd simply looked up at me, acknowledged my presence, and returned to drinking. Quite surprised by this reaction, I decided to take advantage of their ambivalent nature, and walked directly to the rear of the herd. Seizing one of the young animals by the scruff of its neck, I led it away from the herd. One of the elder creatures looked towards me and bleated, but when I looked back at it and gave a loud grunt it quickly looked away. I took this small animal, killed it, skinned it, and roasted it upon a fire. The meat was fine and tender and as I lay in the warm air below the stars I believed I had discovered paradise.

FOR five months I lived in this rain forest, and these months were the most effortless and relaxing of all my life. It was a time of complete peace and satisfaction. I reflected on my shipwreck and began to consider it the most fortunate occurrences of my life. Various other breeds of animals resided in this rain forest, and other fruits and vegetables were plentiful as well, both of which were as easy to acquire and as delicious and nourishing. Sometimes I felt that the environment I found myself in was so blissful that perhaps I had not survived the tempest and that this was in fact heaven. The climate was warm without humidity, the springs were abundant and pristine, and the entire rain forest simmered with a cool sensation of peace. 

CHAP. II.

The author’s view of a great tower and his decision to journey towards it. His thoughts on the tower and his internal conflict on whether to seek it out. His contact with men on horseback and their taking of him into custody. A transport to and into a great city and a brief description of its people. 

ONE day as I explored the rain forest I observed through a break in the canopy, an immense tower stretching high into the sky off at a very great distance in the east. It glittered and glowed in the sunlight and was of such height that it seemed to touch the heavens. From that day on, I moved eastward in my exploration of the rainforest. My mind wrestled with this decision as I journeyed eastward. To one degree, my mind reasoned that whatever the tower might be it could never be as wonderful as this bountiful rain forest and as the tower was obviously man made, it would certainly contain the common conflicts and corruptions of man. Nevertheless, I continued eastward. 

TWO and ten days later, as I walked, I looked up through a break in the canopy and could make out from the size and distance of the tower that I was very near to it and certainly close to the end of the rainforest. At sunset, I reached for a ripe mango, seated myself at the base of a large tree, and after eating the sweet fruit, nodded off to sleep. The next morning, I awoke suddenly to the sound of hooves in the rainforest. The sound was louder than that of any species I’d encountered in the rain forest and sounded strangely familiar. It was the sound of horses. As I stood, I saw three men on horseback, quickly closing in on me. Before I could even reason about the nature of the situation, the lead rider shot an arrow which struck me hard on my left shoulder. I fell to the ground and immediately they were around me. These men were of immense proportions, brutish and portly, seated atop equally well-fed steeds. As I lie looking up at them, I grew dizzy and my sight faint. One rider dismounted with a loud stomp on the ground. I looked up at his horse which gazed back down at me. Briefly I thought of my master among the houyhnhnms and then passed out. 

I awoke in the back of a carriage, my hands bound behind my back. In the carriage also were four others: a man and woman seated on a bench opposite me, another man to my left, and a teen seated on the floor. Their skin was pale white, whiter than the fairest women in all of England. With such stark pallor, they appear ghostly. Muscular too, they were, not large and brawny, but lean muscled, with arms and legs that appeared as if carved from stone and their clothes were nothing more than dirty rags. I sat up right and attempted to address them in every tongue I could recall. Rather than respond, they scorned me with harsh suspicion and disdain. I spoke the word: “friend” in English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Latin. Eventually, the teen responded, “Keginno dut eddef?” The man quickly snapped at him, but he again asked me: “Keginno dut eddef? Tegtho? Fatnhap?” Again the man scorned the teen, this time more harshly. Gazing out the barred window of the carriage, I saw only barren desert. 

EVENTUALLY the carriage neared a great wall. I heard the driver call to the gatekeeper and a large gate rose up, allowing us entry. Inside many people were moving about the city with great urgency. They looked very different from my companions in the carriage. All were rather portly, and plump like the men on horseback. They rode about in open carriages with weighty guts and bulky limbs that bounced about with the bumps of the rode. Their skin was much darker too, an exceedingly dark brown, but not the brown of the natives of Africa, but rather a brown like that of the darkest tan I could recall. These people filled every inch of the streets and were clad in complex, colorful, bright garments. They moved in and out of shops, carrying bags, placing them in their carriages, and moving on to the next shop. Suddenly our carriage came to an abrupt stop and I heard the thump of the driver dismount. He unlocked the carriage door, and with thick fat arms, pulled us out one by one, placing us in line facing an opening to a cave. 

CHAP. III.

The author’s entry into the Tegtho Mines, his description of the mines and its people, their culture, history, and place in Molucabi society. The Tegtho people’s thoughts, feelings, and attitudes towards the surface dwellers, the Fatnhap. The discovery of the author in the mines by an inspector and the author’s departure from the mine. 

INSIDE these caves, I lived the following four and ten months of my life. The first cave opening led to a tunnel which opened to larger tunnels which then opened to vast underground spaces as wide and tall as cathedrals. I worked in these caves alongside my four carriage-mates and thousands like them, all just as pale and thin and raggedy. We labored to excavate material from the earth, process it and transport it to the surface. During my first week in the caves, the young teen from the carriage worked beside me and began teaching me his people’s language, history, and culture. His name was Yugdiem, and the subterranean society I found myself in was called the Tegtho. Yugdiem explained that his people had been transported here many years ago to work the mines. After a series of uprisings, the Emperor sent out a proclamation across the land, declaring the Tegtho people were free to come to the surface and live amongst the surface dwellers. Despite this allowance, most Tegtho’s lacked the education, capital, and status to make a surface move. His father and mother had been saving all their lives and were still unable. 

“That’s why we decided to escape,” Yugdiem explained. “You see, there’s a legend … of a great rain forest, out beyond the confines of the metropolis, a rainforest like paradise that’s even better than life on the surface. It’s said that the forest is so bountiful that all men could live there, peacefully, all having enough necessities, and without the struggle down here or the race up there. Most consider it to only be myth but my parents and my uncle and I decided to seek it out. We had nothing to lose.” His face grew sad. “But we didn’t make it. We were caught in the desert only a few miles out. It’s probably for the best anyways. It probably is only myth. And besides, like I try to tell my family, Molucabi isn’t so bad. “

I decided it best not to tell the child the truth of the forest’s existence. He would never have another chance to escape, and even if he did, he’d surely be captured again. And I had learned that the penalty of multiple escapes was death. And he seemed optimistic enough with his current situation.

THE young lad explained to me that despite his people’s obstacles, if one worked hard enough, and was responsible with their earnings, each had a chance at a better life. 

“That’s what’s so great about Molucabi,” Yugdiem proclaimed, “It’s a land of opportunity. My family’s just bitter. Why, with enough hard work and diligence even the lowliest Tegtho can one day be Emperor of Molucabi.” 

YUGDIEM’S uncle, Terbit, spoke less optimistically. He worked as a cave-to-surface hall maintainer, and earned a scanty four and eighty sobens monthly. With this meager pay, he said he could barely afford his monthly expenses, much less save for a surface move. He also explained that friends of his who had made surface moves had only done so temporarily because upon reaching the surface, they were unable to find employment or housing amongst the Fatnhaps. 

“They’re an appalling race, those surface dwellers,” he said. “The Fatnhaps consider all Tegthos criminals. Yes, small minorities of our people go to the surface at night and retrieve Fatnhap possessions, but they look upon us all as thieves, and mangy savages. They blame us for their high taxes and all the problems in Molucabi.”

 HE told me of his time on the surface, during material transports from the mines to surface depots. Terbit said he felt awfully uncomfortable on such trips, that his thin bright white body stuck out amongst the large tan surface dwellers. He said they stared condescendingly at him and clutched their possessions closer to themselves when he passed. 

OTHER Tegthos I spoke with shared Terbits’s views. Many believed the Fatnhaps wished the Tegthos would leave Molucabi entirely. Another, named Ronsat, pointed out that if they did leave, Fatnhaps society would fall apart instantly. 

“If it weren’t for the hard labor we do every day at exceedingly low wages the Fatnhap couldn’t experience the comfortable material life they have,” he explained. “They very much take us for granted. Why I once heard a Fatnhap exclaim ‘they should just seal the mines once and for all and we’d be done with them and the contamination they bring to Molucabi.’”

AS I continued my interviews I discovered this attitude and these beliefs were the norm. Most Tegtho believed their hard work made the nation of Molucabi function, that they were the backbone of society, and that despite this they were harshly discriminated against. The surface dwellers saw only their frail frames and pale white skin, not the hard honorable labor they gave for the benefit of the nation. 

PERIODICALLY, Health and Safety Inspections were performed throughout the mines. During one of these, an inspector named Lacios Rekrow noticed me, and ordered I be pulled off the line to speak with him. He had noticed my skin color, which though it had faded quite a bit during my time in the mines, was still much darker than that of the Tegtho who spent their whole lives in these caves away from the light of the sun, never receiving any vitamin d to darken it. Rekrow’s initial theory upon noticing me was that I was a victim of a Human trafficking Network, in which certain Fatnhaps would be sold to mine supervisors, and the sellers and the buyers would split the bounty of the Fatnhap’s possessions. Apparently this was somewhat common. I insisted this was not the case and attempted to explain the true story of my placement into the mines. Nevertheless, he disregarded my statements. Apparently, the trafficking Networks were so feared that those sold wouldn’t seek help or prosecution because the Network paid off the law enforcement and judicial system. And those who did only brought on more persecution from the Network, which would then kidnap their family members and sell them into the mines as well. He disregarded my complicated explanation and wrote up orders for an immediate transport to the surface. 

CHAP. IV.

The author’s return to the surface and entry into a Revival Center. The attempts of the Revival attendants to return the author to normal Fatnhap condition, physically and mentally. The discovery of the author’s true background and his time in the rainforest.

WAITING for me at the surface was a closed carriage which transported me quite swiftly to a large structure known as a Revival Center. Here, Revival attendants spent the subsequent weeks endeavoring in an effort to return me to appropriate Fatnhap status. Nearly all individuals retrieved from the mines suffer such radical physical and mental transformations that it is essential that they undergo a methodical process in order to fit back into surface culture, mutually in appearance and behavior so as to not arouse suspicion from the Network.  Whilst residing at the Center, I was provided numerous meals of immense proportion. I would consume as much as I was able but they’d insist I eat more, until I grew dizzy and felt that I was about to burst. Also, I was made to recline in a Sunroom three times daily. This room was on the summit of the building and had a curved glass ceiling which maximized the effect of the sun's emissions on the body. In between feedings and sunnings, I was briefed on the most recent progressions and events in Fatnhap culture. It was a swiftly moving and rapidly evolving culture and all must be informed and well-versed of the newest economic, political, social, and technological occurrences. 

THROUGHOUT the initial days of my treatment, I insisted desperately that they‘d suffered a grave error and that I was truly an Englishman, hailed from a great nation called Britain, who washed ashore on their land after a great shipwreck. They merely assured me that all would turn out alright and that I’d be in good health shortly, and chuckled with each other about the delirium or madness most Fatnhaps suffered after their time in the mines. My protests were ineffective and ultimately I acknowledged the hopelessness of my state of affairs and gave into the treatment. They were unrelenting in their attempts to assemble my body back into Fatnhap proportion, but the force feedings only led to violent vomiting. The frequent sunnings left my body with harsh sunburns rather than the dark brown Fatnhap complexion. They’d report to me the latest developments among the social elite involving marriages, births, divorces, and deaths, all of which I recognized not a single name or knew of who they spoke. Eventually they grew weary and began to wonder if I was a lost cause. 

AFTER three and twenty days in the center, I was brought into a room containing many fanciful and wondrous gizmos. Once seated at a table, they presented me with a shiny palm sized gadget and began to explain the updates I should be aware of. 

“It’s basically the same as before,” Broufter, the supervisory attendant explained. “There are just a few more features and it works much more quickly.” 

I gazed with astonished bemusement at the device in my hand and wondered with complete perplexity what it was. 

“Despite its additional features, it's much more punter affable,” he assured me. “Go ahead just initiate it.” 

I gaped vacantly at it and fumbled with the knobs on its side. Suddenly music began bursting from the gadget, and utterly shocked I dropped it on the counter and leapt backwards in my chair. 

“Hey!” exclaimed an attendant, “these aren’t cheap! Whatever’s the matter with you … being so reckless?” 

His chubby hands picked the gizmo up with the same care of a mother taking her child into her arms, and he commenced examining it for damage. 

“You’d think you’ve never seen a communiqué device before,” he said glaring at me. “It’s like you’re from another planet.” 

Tilting his head, Broufter looked intently at me. 

“Mongia,” he called to the plump female attendant in the doorway, “send for Lacios. Tell him it’s urgent.”

After being escorted to my room, and remaining there for quite some time, I was requested and brought into a room where Broufter and Lacios waited for me. I seated, and Lacios began to stare at me in a particularly odd way. He looked me over for an extended moment and then started slowly.

 “Gulliver … Broufter has advised me as to your revival … or rather, lack thereof.” He recessed again and then inquired, “Where did you declare you hale from?” 

I was suddenly filled with great relief! They had finally realized I wasn’t mad! 

“England!” I exclaimed. “I come from the town of Redriff, in the nation of England of the Great British Empire! I told you, I …”

“Gulliver,” Lacios softly interrupted, “Slow down. Firstly, not one of our great historians or scientists has ever discovered any substantiation of any civilization other than the grand Empire of Molucabi, but … hypothetically … if there were such a land as this … eng-land that you speak of … why did I find you in the depths of the Tegtho Mines?”

I elucidated the events of my journey: setting sail from England, sailing west bound for the Brasils, the great storm which overtook my ship, and my washing ashore on their homeland.  

“Yes I was driven into the mines after I was taken captive, not by any Network of trafficking or such that I knew of, for I had no goods to appropriate. But rather, I had been retrieved by men on horseback as I walked eastward through the rain forest towards a great tow-“

“Rain forest?” Broufter interrupted suddenly. “What’s this nonsense you speak of?!” You are truly mad!”

“No, I swear, look I have this flower-”

“Blasphemy, I’ve heard this dissenter redirect, the myth of-“  

“Broufter,” Lacios declared, “calm yourself please.”

He then asked Broufter to excuse himself and began asking me a series of questions with a great seriousness in his tone. He asked me several questions about details regarding the rainforest, its flora and fauna, and my experiences there. He also asked me to elaborate on my capture and the ride through the desert to the city wall. 

“How long was the journey, Gulliver?”

“I reckon it was about a day’s journey, for I was captured after I awoke in the early morning, and when we entered the city the sun had set and risen once again.”

“Did you speak of this rain forest to anyone in the mines or here in the center?”

“Other than yourself and Broufter just now I told only one other, a young Tegtho teen I worked with in the mine.”

This caused a great furrow to grow across Lacios’ brow. “The rain forest is a myth.”

“What? Nay … I just told you-“

“The rainforest is a myth, Gulliver. It does not exist.” He stared at me sternly. “I will be making arrangements for you to meet with someone in the Tower about this. I advise you to speak to none of anything you’ve told me.”

I was speechless and utterly confused as to why their reaction was as such. 

“Return to your quarters, Gulliver.”

*****

Late that night, Lacios came to me. He told me that he’d sent word to a former colleague of his who now worked in the Tower. He informed me that it would be several days before the meeting could take place, and that in that time he would show me some things that would make clear the gravity of the situation. He then ordered me to follow him and led me up through one of the sunrooms to a door that opened to the rooftop of the center. As we walked out onto the roof I found we were several stories high and could see quite a distance. The sky was clear and the tower shone in the glow of the moonlight. Lacios stood at the edge of the roof and motioned for me to come to him. As I walked towards the edge I began to hear noise, a rustling of commotion; I walked further and it grew louder. As I reached the edge Lacios was looking straight down below. I turned my gaze to match his and saw a rather astonishing sight. The streets below were overflowing with people, rushing about with the same urgent commotion as the other times I had seen them. Carriages with lanterns fixed at their fronts filled the roadways flowing like rushing streams of light in every direction. 

“It’s not just in the mines Gulliver,” Lacios spoke softly, “on the surface it never stops either.”

I gazed down in amazement at what I thought, what I expected to be, what most certainly should have been empty streets and closed shops. 

“Tomorrow I’ll take you out into the streets. So you can understand.”

The following morning I was woken early, not by one of the attendants, but rather by Lacios himself, who ordered me to dress quickly and meet him downstairs. We exited through a side door and entered into a waiting carriage in the alley that carried us out into the city street and into all the commotion and frenzy of the daily activities. I looked out the window and saw the Fatnhaps packing the street just as I had seen through the bars of the carriage that carried to the caves one half and one year ago. There wasn’t a single individual anywhere near my size. Yes they were of similar height but they were exceedingly large in body mass. Even the young children carried as much weight in their guts to equal the weight of just one Englishman. Their clothes were bright and displayed names boldly on them. I asked Lacios why they displayed their names on their clothes but he explained to me that the names were not that of those wearing the garments but rather of who had crafted them. I noticed that every individual had a device like the one the attendants had shown me the day prior, and that most of them oddly were speaking into them as they rushed about. The carriage continued through the crowded street and I took in the dizzying sight. 

“The material you excavated and processed below is sold here in these shops, Gulliver. The people work long hours up here as well, and yes they earn significantly higher wages than the Tegtho, but they instantly spend it on the latest gizmos, gadgets, garments and use it to fill their homes with amenities of comfort and entertainment. One must of course have the latest version or edition of each item so they possess each item for a small time until the newer one comes out in which they dispose of the older. This is one of the reasons the mines must be so severely worked and excavated.”

“Why then is there such disrespect for the Tegthos from these people? One miner spoke of some incidents of Tegtho criminal behavior, but surely the Fatnhaps should be greatly appreciative of the hard work the Tegtho do to provide the basics for their livelihoods.”

“It’s more than simple disrespect that these people feel for those below Gulliver. They rue their very existence. The Fatnhap disregard the low prices they pay for the items they buy due to the cheap labor provided by the Tegthos, and instead focus only on the high taxes they pay on each item, taxes they attribute to the cost of caring for the Tegthos’ degenerate and disabled, most of whom they consider malingerers. They consider them criminal, inferior and the basic drain on the Fatnhap’s livelihood. I’ve heard many Fatnhap speak of closing up the caves and letting them all die below.” 

We navigated the various streets all throughout the great city without ever seeing a slighting of activity. Everywhere we went, there continued the same hefty persons, moving about, purchasing, riding, speaking; the noise was deafening and never ceasing. I wondered when the last time these streets had experienced silence was. Lacios assured me the interiors of the buildings were no different. In the shops the commotion and noise was just as furious, and in the homes, though the commotion ceased to a complete stop as the people entered into states of complete inactivity, the noise continued from the many communication and entertainment devices they possessed. I learned that the surface people had lives as busy and cyclic as those below, just filled with different activities, those mostly of consumption, rather than production. 

The next day we went to a great building like that of the coliseum in Rome. The carriage pulled in through a side gate and Lacios led me up a long spiral staircase several floors up to a top balcony. As we climbed higher I heard music and a voice singing. Walking out onto the balcony, I gazed upon a great mass of people filling the arena below. There was a stage in the very center and atop it stood a performer who brought her song to a finish with a colorful close. Attention was then positioned on a table in front of the stage at which sat several important individuals who passed judgment on the performer. This, Lacios explained, was a weekly ritual of extreme importance. Next the entire crowd passed judgment on the performer, and then another individual took the stage. Lacios explained that every citizen craved to be on that stage, that fortune and fame would come to the successful performers, and those who knew they never would make it onto the stage obsessed about those who did. He told me that it wasn’t only these shows of talent that occurred weekly; there were also great competitions of athletic prowess, competitions between teams that citizens swore faithful allegiance to. Other common rituals involved individuals who engaged in games of chance that if won reaped great wealth in reward. These, Lacios clarified, were the types of activities the attendants had been attempting to bring me up to date on. 

*****

The rest of the week Lacios continued to show me the Fatnhap culture. I learned that it was one of grotesque elements, elements of glut, greed, consumption, status, obsession and superficiality, and contempt for the Tegthos. It was on the sixth day when I felt I could no longer take any more exposure to the Fatnhap culture when word came that Lacios’ colleague in the Tower was ready to see me. The word couldn’t have come at a better time; I felt so much hate and contempt for these people that a desire was building within me to return to the darkness of the mines below with the grimy yet respectable Tegthos. Lacios and I both wore garments finer than I had seen in all my time in Molucabi. The carriage carried us to the center of the city and to a wall that encircled the base of the tower. We entered through a heavily fortified opening and stopped within where we, including Lacios, underwent extensive searches. He presented the hefty guardsmen with certified paperwork sent to him by his colleague and we were led into a building that made up part of the lower level of the tower.

As we were led down a long white, clean, well lit hallway I felt as if I was in another world. The hallway opened to a large room with a desk which behind sat a woman to whom Lacios showed the paperwork. A door to her right slid open sideways and we stepped into a small six by four room like a large closet; the door closed and I felt the room begin to rise. I felt it carry us upwards for quite some time until it came to a slow stop, the door slid open again, and we exited into another large room. The room was adorned with white marble walls, a floor that shined, and a high ceiling. Again it was like the other passages, clean, bright, and calm. 

Through this room though passed many Reline Lugti, all of whom matched their surroundings. They were tall and fit, wore long clean white garments and were adorned with subtle jewelry on their hands, wrist or necks. They weren’t covered with gaudy accessories like the Fatanhaps, and were much leaner, but not lean like the Tegthos. These individuals appeared to enjoy a state of perfect health and fine wealth. Despite these qualities, there was something about them that was quite unsettling; in the midst of the brightness of these individuals and their surroundings, their eyes seemed dark and shadowy. The more time I spent in this room waiting with Lacios to see his colleague, the more the brilliance was dominated by the sinister air these people carried about them. They moved calmly and gracefully, going from various halls that spread out from the room. 

An individual then came out and calmly addressed us: “Master Midev will see you now.” As we entered the office I was instantly struck by the view. The far wall was entirely made of glass and I could instantly see for miles out to the horizon. I realized just how high up we were now, and first felt a nervous feeling but was then drawn to something I noticed in the view out in the distance. Lacios and Midev greeted each other like old friends as I was drawn to the window. I began to make out what it was that caught my eye. It was green. I hadn’t seen the beautiful color my whole time in Molucabi and began to recognize the sight. It was the rainforest. It lay out in the distance from the city wall and wrapped the island like a thick belt from the desert to the shore. Warm memories of my time there flooded my mind. 

My attention was then drawn down by frantic activity I caught out of the bottom of my eyes. I gazed down at all of Molucabi and saw the entire Network of streets filled with the streams of frantic activity of the Fatanhaps. I could also see breaks in the crowded streets and crammed buildings where dark holes opened and streams of pale individuals poured out moving material to the surface. They appeared as ants and the whole system moved furiously and mechanically. It appeared to pulsate, first out from the ground, then through the city streets to the base of the Tower. “You look well Lacios,” I heard a soft voice speak. When I turned I saw Midev seated behind a large marble desk and Lacios seated on a long plush couch along the right wall. 

“No …. I’m getting old. I’ve let the people below get to me, as you can see,” he responded as he looked down at himself. He seemed to insinuate his similarity to the negative physical qualities of the Fatanhaps, yet in this moment, seated near Midev, he looked much more like the Reline Lugti. 

“You look brilliant, Lacios,” he paused, “Gulliver, please sir come have a seat. What can I get you? Would you like a drink?”

“Thank you, but no, Master Midev,” I answered as I joined Lacios on the couch. Closer now to Lacios’ friend, the warm hospitality he showed from a distance began to fade as I noticed the same coldness in his eyes. 

“Call me Slake, we are all friends here.” He said this with a sharp smile of perfect teeth. 

“Slake,” Lacios said, “I think we should get to it and address the issue.”

“Of course Lacios. Gulliver … Lacios has informed me that you told him something quite unsettling”

Slake began to explain why I’d been brought to him. As he spoke I thought about the massive rain forest clearly observable to all three of us and grew confused as to how this brought me here. The finely dressed man began to speak of a balance. He explained that society was made up of people of course, but that people were unstable, and therefore society was as well. Structure was needed, he told me, to keep everything in balance. 

“The Reline Lugti are burdened with the great responsibility of maintaining that structure, that balance. If there was no structure men would run wild, and there would be chaos. Molucabi is a land of finite space and resources. We ensure the happiness of our people despite these unfortunate factors.”

In all my time underground with the Tegthos or on the surface with the Fatanhaps, I wondered, had I ever seen anyone happy? I reckoned I’d never seen an individual truly happy, or satisfied, joyous or content. He continued on speaking of society and the system and the burden of the Reline Lugti, never mentioning the rainforest, the issue that brought me into his office in the first place. No, the rainforest never came up, as if it didn’t exist, despite its presence appearing perfectly clearly from out the window. I thought of the abundance and simplicity of the rainforest and imagined all the people, the Tegthos and Fatanhaps there, enjoying it together. After being immersed in the differences of the two opposing cultures for so long now, the image appeared almost comical, but not comical enough to keep me from speaking up. 

“Midev, sir.”

“Slake, please,” he interrupted.

“Slake, I wonder … I do not attempt to step out of place here sir, but I can’t help but think of what it was I spoke of that has brought me here, and I can’t help but wonder why it hasn’t been addressed, especially considering the effect it has on all that you’re saying.” I was unable to speak the word itself somehow, as if it were now a curse word of some sort or worse. Slake stared at me now with his cold eyes. Lacios jumped in with a stutter and attempted to steer the conversation back to the topic of balance and stability. 

“Lacios, thank you, but I will inform Gulliver, if he really wants to know. But first I will explain something to him.” His eyes grew darker and his speech grew colder with every word. “Gulliver, I now offer, we … the fine people of the Reline Lugti, a life here, amongst us, a life of comfort, luxury, and security. Few if not any who are not bred here within this beautiful edifice are ever granted such an opportunity. You will live out the rest of your days with anything and everything you could ever need. You will never suffer sadness or pain, frustration or confusion. You will never be for want. The Reline will take you in as one of their own and you shall possess a prestigious position managing the affairs of the grounds-people with the rest of us.”

His reference to the Fatanhaps and Tegthos as grounds-people rang in my ears, such a belittling and degrading way to describe them. I wondered who of all I had encountered in this land really was the maddest, but he continued. 

“But, Gulliver, if you refuse to follow our code, and insist on speaking of mythical entities you will not see such hospitality. If you insist on spreading venom of false ideals, ideals which endanger the entire structure of Molucabi, and the livelihood of the Reline Lugti, you will be cast down.” 

He paused and looked over at Lacios now chillingly, and the essence of friendship between the two flew from the room. I wondered now about Lacios’ similarity here, his difference below, his sudden reaction to my speaking of the rainforest, his strict insistence on following it, and most of all, about his past. 

“You will not enjoy the luxury of the Reline. You will not be offered a role in the stabilizing of society, and you will not reap the rewards of doing so.”

His words came off so condescendingly and harsh. I felt I had never been made to feel so small, not even in the land of Brobdingnag. I fumed inside and couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Midev, Slake, sir, your holiness, you can retrieve your offer. You can keep your luxuries and so called stabilities, balances and leave me to that which offered me all the same, all of which came without requiring the oppression of an entire society of people.” 

  Lacios began to stutter. Slake sat silently and stared hard into my eyes. Without a word, the door opened and two individuals entered. They led me and Lacios out, down the hallway, and into another rising room. We were placed in an apartment higher in the tower and left for the evening. The following morning an official came to us. He explained that Lacios was to return to his position below and that I was to be sent from the land of Molucabi at once. Lacios was taken from the room and they closed the door back on me. Later, the official returned this time with several others and I was brought to a door that opened to a great outdoor platform on the side of the tower. A long fantastic, shiny machine sat before me. They placed me in it, entered information into a glass ball at the helm of the machine and it began to lift slowly from the platform. I jumped and gripped the belt of my seat, but the fear eased as the machine calmly and confidently navigated itself from the Tower and off into the night sky. When the fear first came over me, I initially began to regret my decision, but the further I moved away from the Tower I began to feel. The machine glided silently over Molucabi, the desert, the beautiful rainforest, out over the ocean, and towards the setting sun. 

The next day after a serene night of gliding through the stars, the machine began to lower slowly towards the ocean. It rested softly on the surface of the water and quietly shut off. It was some time that I floated on the waters until a ship came upon me on the eleventh day of December and I was retrieved up out of the ocean. The captain of the ship, one Captain Walter J. Wesselhoff, ordered that I be given clean clothes, food, and freshwater, as well as any other accommodations I so desired. The machine was taken up into the ship as well and curiosity instantly overtook the crew. They were unable to restart the machine regardless of how they manipulated it and they bombarded me with questions about what the contraption was and where I had come from. The Captain ordered that I be left alone and offered me his own quarters for my needs of peace and quiet. I thanked him for his grand hospitality, as well as his rescue of me from my aimless drifting at sea, and told him I would certainly have perished had it not been for him coming upon me. I was then suddenly overcome by a great wave of relief so I retired to the cabin and fell into a deep sleep. 

I would later learn that the machine had landed in such close proximity to the British Isles that I was back upon the shores of my homeland in only four days. After my return, I began to notice things in my fellow Englishmen I had never observed before: the glut, materialism, and triviality of the Fatanhaps, the oppression and abuse of the Tegthos, the ominous corruption, supremacy, and greed of the Reline Lugti. These were all now quite clear and apparent in the culture of my homeland. I wrote of my experiences in Molucabi but never spoke of them.