04-02-04-格列佛游记 [23]
，but to the horse who had brought me here．In this country，horses，not people，were in control．
I started learning a little of their language．Their word Houyhnhnm means a horse，and the word itself sounds very like the noise a horse makes．I found it very difficult to say this word，and so I decided to shorten it and call them Houys．Their servants were the horrible－looking animals I had seen earlier．They did all the hard work，and lived in dirty！little rooms in another building，where they were tied to the walls．To my horror，these ugly animals，called Yahoos，had human faces which looked very similar to mine．I did not want anyone to think I was a Yahoo，so I tried to make it clear that my habits were very different from theirs．At least I was allowed to sleep in a separate room from them．
At first I thought I would die of hunger，as I could not eat the Yahoos’dirty meat or the Houys’grass and corn．But I soon learnt how to bake little cakes made of corn，which I ate with warm milk．Sometimes I caught a bird，an cooked it，or picked leaves of plants to eat with my bread．
My Houy master was very interested in me，and as soon as I could speak the language，he asked me to explain where I had come from．
‘Well，master，’I neighed，‘I've come from a country on the other side of the world．And you may not believe this， but in my country all the important people look like Yahoos．’
‘But how is that possible？’he asked gently．‘Your Houys surely wouldn't allow unintelligent creatures like Yahoos to control the country．’
‘It may seem strange，’I agreed，‘but you see，I was sur－prised to find that in this country the Houys are the sensitive and intelligent creatures．And if I'm lucky enough to return home，I'll tell my friends all about it．But I'm afraid they may accuse me of lying．’
My master looked quite worried．‘What is lying？’he asked．
In their language there is no word which means telling lies，and my master had great difficulty in understanding me．I tried to explain．
‘Oh，’he answered，still unsure．‘But why does anyone tell a lie？There's no reason for doing it．We use language in this country in order to understand each other，and to give and re-ceive information．If you don't tell the truth，how can people understand each other？’
I began to see how different Houy life was from what I was used to．
‘But tell me，’he continued，‘about your country．’
I was delighted to describe recent English history to him，especially some of our most successful wars．
‘But why does one country attack another？’he asked．
‘There are many reasons，’I replied．‘A king or his lords may want more land．Or there may be a difference of opinion between two countries：for example，whether uniforms should be black，white，red or grey．Sometimes we fight because the enemy's too strong，sometimes because he isn't strong enough ．Sometimes our neighbours want the things we have，or have the things we want，so we both fight until they take ours or give us theirs．We often attack our best friend，if we want some of his land．There's always a war somewhere．For this reason，being a soldier is one of the best jobs you can have．’
‘A soldier，’repeated my master．‘I'm not quite sure what that is．’
‘A soldier is a Yahoo who works for his King and country．His orders are to kill as many people as he can，’I answered．
‘People who've never hurt him？’asked the Houy．
‘That's right，’I said，pleased that he seemed to under－stand at last．‘Soldiers have killed thousands of people in re－cent history．’
He shook his head and looked sad．‘I think you must be-what was your word？Ah yes—lying to me．How could you and your countrymen kill so many other Yahoos？And why would you want to？’
I smiled as I replied proudly，‘Sir，you don't know much about European war．With our guns and bullets and gunpow－der we can destroy a thousand ships，a hundred cities，and twenty thousand men You see，—’
‘Be quiet！’he ordered．‘I 've heard enough．I know Ya-hoos are bad，but I didn't realize they could possibly do such terrible things．’
After these conversations I began to wonder whether the Houys were right．
I started learning a little of their language．Their word Houyhnhnm means a horse，and the word itself sounds very like the noise a horse makes．I found it very difficult to say this word，and so I decided to shorten it and call them Houys．Their servants were the horrible－looking animals I had seen earlier．They did all the hard work，and lived in dirty！little rooms in another building，where they were tied to the walls．To my horror，these ugly animals，called Yahoos，had human faces which looked very similar to mine．I did not want anyone to think I was a Yahoo，so I tried to make it clear that my habits were very different from theirs．At least I was allowed to sleep in a separate room from them．
At first I thought I would die of hunger，as I could not eat the Yahoos’dirty meat or the Houys’grass and corn．But I soon learnt how to bake little cakes made of corn，which I ate with warm milk．Sometimes I caught a bird，an cooked it，or picked leaves of plants to eat with my bread．
My Houy master was very interested in me，and as soon as I could speak the language，he asked me to explain where I had come from．
‘Well，master，’I neighed，‘I've come from a country on the other side of the world．And you may not believe this， but in my country all the important people look like Yahoos．’
‘But how is that possible？’he asked gently．‘Your Houys surely wouldn't allow unintelligent creatures like Yahoos to control the country．’
‘It may seem strange，’I agreed，‘but you see，I was sur－prised to find that in this country the Houys are the sensitive and intelligent creatures．And if I'm lucky enough to return home，I'll tell my friends all about it．But I'm afraid they may accuse me of lying．’
My master looked quite worried．‘What is lying？’he asked．
In their language there is no word which means telling lies，and my master had great difficulty in understanding me．I tried to explain．
‘Oh，’he answered，still unsure．‘But why does anyone tell a lie？There's no reason for doing it．We use language in this country in order to understand each other，and to give and re-ceive information．If you don't tell the truth，how can people understand each other？’
I began to see how different Houy life was from what I was used to．
‘But tell me，’he continued，‘about your country．’
I was delighted to describe recent English history to him，especially some of our most successful wars．
‘But why does one country attack another？’he asked．
‘There are many reasons，’I replied．‘A king or his lords may want more land．Or there may be a difference of opinion between two countries：for example，whether uniforms should be black，white，red or grey．Sometimes we fight because the enemy's too strong，sometimes because he isn't strong enough ．Sometimes our neighbours want the things we have，or have the things we want，so we both fight until they take ours or give us theirs．We often attack our best friend，if we want some of his land．There's always a war somewhere．For this reason，being a soldier is one of the best jobs you can have．’
‘A soldier，’repeated my master．‘I'm not quite sure what that is．’
‘A soldier is a Yahoo who works for his King and country．His orders are to kill as many people as he can，’I answered．
‘People who've never hurt him？’asked the Houy．
‘That's right，’I said，pleased that he seemed to under－stand at last．‘Soldiers have killed thousands of people in re－cent history．’
He shook his head and looked sad．‘I think you must be-what was your word？Ah yes—lying to me．How could you and your countrymen kill so many other Yahoos？And why would you want to？’
I smiled as I replied proudly，‘Sir，you don't know much about European war．With our guns and bullets and gunpow－der we can destroy a thousand ships，a hundred cities，and twenty thousand men You see，—’
‘Be quiet！’he ordered．‘I 've heard enough．I know Ya-hoos are bad，but I didn't realize they could possibly do such terrible things．’
After these conversations I began to wonder whether the Houys were right．