In 1674, I was born on my father's small estate in Nottinghamshire, England.
"What a fine, strong boy!" said my father.
"I think he will be a clever and good man like his grandfather."
"I agree," said my mother.
"Let's name him 'Lemuel' after your father."
My childhood was very happy.
I liked going to school and learning new things.
But I often used to daydream about going to sea.
One day, Father asked, "Lemuel, have you thought about your future?
I think you would be a good doctor."
I wanted to please him, so I said, "Yes, Father.
I'll go to Cambridge University and study medicine."
But as I spoke I was thinking,
"At university I can also learn things that will be useful to a sailor."
After several years of study, I became a doctor.
Not long after, I asked my sweetheart, Mary, to marry me.
"Lemuel," she replied, "I would be very happy to marry you."
Before long, we had children─a boy and a girl.
They gave us great joy.
I enjoyed being a doctor for the first few years.
But then I became bored, and ideas of travel filled my mind.
I imagined wandering to far-off places and seeing wonderful new things.
"Mary," I said one day, "I need more adventure in my life.
The captain of a ship about to sail has offered me a job as the ship's doctor."
"Oh dear!" Mary replied.
"The children and I will miss you very much, and I'll worry about you.
When will you come back?"
"I don't know how long the journey will take," I told her.
"But I promise I will return.
And when I do, I'll tell you and the children all about my adventures."
So in 1699, I set sail on the Antelope from Bristol.
That city is a large and very old port in the southwest of England.
From the dock, Mary called out,
"Good-bye, and please be careful!
Come back to us soon!"
The children waved to me, and I waved back.
The captain was a good man and had sailed a great deal.
"Welcome aboard, Doctor Gulliver," he said.
"First we'll be sailing down the Atlantic Ocean and around the coast of Africa.
Then we'll sail through the Indian Ocean to the South Seas."
Our journey went well until one morning, somewhere near Tasmania in the South Pacific Ocean.
"I don't like the look of those clouds," the captain said.
"I think a storm is coming."
Within an hour, a violent storm began.
The sea rose in great, angry waves much taller than the Antelope.
The wind─now as strong as a hurricane─made a terrible sound.
"The wind is blowing the ship off course!" shouted the captain. "Look out!"
Suddenly, with a loud crack, the Antelope hit some rocks and broke in half.
The sailors fell into the sea.
Many of them could not swim.
The ship sank quickly, and I suppose everyone but me drowned.
I am an excellent swimmer and swam with all my strength.
My life depended on it.
But after a while I was too tired to swim anymore.
Just as I was thinking, "I'm going to die too," my feet touched the ocean floor.
Slowly I struggled out of the sea.
There were no signs of people on the beach and no houses.
I could barely walk, so I lay down on the sand.
Within minutes, I fell into a deep sleep.