Several of the king's officials did not like me.
One, whose name was Flimnap, hated me for some reason.
Flimnap and his supporters had convinced the king that I was dangerous.
They thought I was a threat to him and their country.
Luckily, I had a friend who was a lord in the court of the king.
Late one night, my friend visited me secretly.
"Enormous One," he said, "you know that you have enemies in Lilliput.
Many of them are jealous of you.
Flimnap tells lies about you.
He says that you have done very bad things that are against the law.
The punishment for these bad things is death!"
"I have always tried to help the king," I said.
I felt upset and began to shout.
"I took the Blefuscans' ships for him!
I saved the palace!
I helped end the war!"
"Talk quietly—Flimnap's spies may be listening,"
said the lord, with fear in his voice.
"Flimnap will kill me if he finds out I've told you this."
"What are my enemies saying about me?" I asked nervously.
"They keep telling the king that you are against him," replied my friend.
"You did not return to Blefuscu and steal the rest of the ships.
You did not help destroy all the Big-Endians.
Your enemies here say that you are an enemy of Lilliput."
"They are twisting the truth," I said.
"My actions were good."
"The king of Lilliput reminded the bad officials that you had helped him," the lord went on.
"But your enemies are very powerful.
They suggested setting your house on fire while you are asleep in it.
Then you would die in the fire."
"What!" I exclaimed. I was very angry.
"Flimnap and the others are evil men."
"But the king decided that you will not be killed," said my friend.
"Reldresal helped make things better for you."
"Reldresal! What did he do?"
"He said you had made mistakes, but you had been a big help sometimes.
He asked the king to be generous.
He said that instead of being killed you should lose your sight."
"But that's horrible!" I was shocked.
"Then you would still be strong enough to work for the king," explained the lord.
"But you would not be a threat to him or to Lilliput."
"I thought Reldresal was a friend."
I put my hands over my eyes.
"Reldresal will visit you in a few days to tell you about this.
Then the king will order his men to shoot arrows into your eyes.
You will be blind."
"I can't believe anyone would do such a terrible thing!" I exclaimed.
"But thank you for warning me about this awful plan."
"Think about what to do," said my friend, "and make a decision soon."
The lord left and went back to the palace.
I stayed up all night and thought about what to do.
I could kill the king and all the bad men.
I did not like that idea.
The king had been kind to me in the past.
But because he was weak, he listened to Flimnap and the other bad men.
It did not take me very long to decide that I must escape from Lilliput.
"This is a very good time," I said to myself, "to go to Blefuscu!"