Gulliver's Travels（excerpt）

江蘇南菁高級(jí)中學(xué) 王 蓉

Step 1感知·閱讀導(dǎo)航

話題導(dǎo)入

《格列佛游記》創(chuàng)作于1726年，為英國(guó)諷刺作家喬納森·斯威夫特的代表作品，講述了外科醫(yī)生格列佛在小人國(guó)、大人國(guó)、飛島國(guó)、慧骃國(guó)四個(gè)國(guó)家的經(jīng)歷。格列佛在游歷過(guò)程中經(jīng)歷了許多荒誕離奇的事情，比如小人國(guó)國(guó)王選擇官員的方式是通過(guò)跳繩比賽，國(guó)內(nèi)政黨的劃分是根據(jù)鞋跟的高低。小人國(guó)國(guó)土面積極小，國(guó)王卻想稱霸世界。格列佛幫助了小人國(guó)國(guó)王和王后，最后卻險(xiǎn)些喪命。在荒誕離奇的故事情節(jié)背后，我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)作品的諷刺風(fēng)格。作者想通過(guò)這些故事情節(jié)表達(dá)什么主題呢？

本文為簡(jiǎn)寫版小說(shuō)節(jié)選，全文888字，建議用時(shí)10分鐘。

閱讀立意

1.能夠復(fù)述故事主要情節(jié)；

2.以文中線索為依據(jù)，分析主要人物的性格特點(diǎn)；

3.通過(guò)情節(jié)，體會(huì)作者的寫作技巧和風(fēng)格；

4.通過(guò)思考文章的寫作風(fēng)格，深入理解小說(shuō)的主題。

“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 實(shí)踐·文本解讀

立意呈現(xiàn)

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._

【點(diǎn)石成金】將作品內(nèi)容與作者所處的時(shí)代背景相結(jié)合，讀懂作者的寫作手法，諸如夸張（exaggeration）、反諷（irony）、幽默等。通過(guò)了解作品中主要事件的象征（symbols）去把握作者對(duì)18世紀(jì)英國(guó)社會(huì)生活的批判，可以培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的審辨能力。

Step 3 運(yùn)用·讀寫整合

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（諷刺）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.

【點(diǎn)石成金】通過(guò)讓學(xué)生寫讀后感悟，能夠加深對(duì)文本的理解，從而進(jìn)一步探尋文本的主題。在了解主題的基礎(chǔ)上，探討中外諷刺小說(shuō)，學(xué)生可以提升文化意識(shí)，發(fā)展批判性思維。

Step 4 提升·素養(yǎng)建構(gòu)

Ⅰ.寫作風(fēng)格

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

Ⅱ.視野拓展

《格列佛游記》中的諷刺欣賞

兩百多年來(lái)，《格列佛游記》被譯成幾十種語(yǔ)言，在世界各國(guó)流傳甚廣，深入人心。不少著名作家也非常推崇這本書，我們來(lái)看看他們對(duì)《格列佛游記》的評(píng)論。

如果我要開一份書目，列出哪怕其他書都被毀壞時(shí)也要保留的六本書，我一定會(huì)把《格列佛游記》列入其中。

——（英）喬治·奧威爾

《格列佛游記》有機(jī)智和諷刺，有巧妙的構(gòu)思，灑脫的幽默，潑辣的譏嘲，痛快淋漓。它的文體精彩絕倫。至今沒有人用我們這艱難的文字寫得比斯威夫特更簡(jiǎn)潔、更明快、更自然的。

——（英）威廉·薩默塞特·毛姆

《格列佛游記》英文原版中有不少具有諷刺意味的句子和段落，讓我們一起來(lái)欣賞品味。

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

盲目可以增加你的勇氣，因?yàn)槟銦o(wú)法看到危險(xiǎn)。

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，他們更注重優(yōu)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（四分儀）， 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.

一段時(shí)間后，我問(wèn)在朝廷做官的一位朋友，他們是怎樣得出這樣一個(gè)確定的數(shù)目的。他告訴我，御用數(shù)學(xué)家用四分儀測(cè)定了我的身高，計(jì)算出我的身高和他們的比例是12∶1，由于他們的身體和我完全一樣，因此得出結(jié)論：我的身體至少抵得上1，724個(gè)利立浦特人，所以我所需要的食物數(shù)量足夠供給那么多的利立浦特人。

《格列佛游記》也多次翻拍為電影，最為著名的是1996年由查理斯·斯特里奇導(dǎo)演的版本，可謂鴻篇巨制，把格列佛在四個(gè)國(guó)家的經(jīng)歷在熒幕上生動(dòng)再現(xiàn)。最近一次的翻拍為2010年羅伯·萊特曼導(dǎo)演的版本。該版本雖僅對(duì)小人國(guó)（Lilliput）進(jìn)行翻拍，但創(chuàng)新之處為故事背景變成了21世紀(jì)。電影展現(xiàn)了現(xiàn)代版格列佛在小人國(guó)的冒險(xiǎn)，在不失原著風(fēng)格的同時(shí)，添加了不少幽默和現(xiàn)代氣息。