One day the king said, "The palace orchestra will play tonight, Grildig.
Come to the concert.
Afterward, you can tell me about English music."
That evening Glumdalclitch and I went to hear the orchestra.
Unfortunately, the music was too loud for me.
"Glumdalclitch, take me back to your room," I begged.
"The music hurts my ears."
From the apartment, the music sounded nice.
It gave me an idea.
As a child, I had taken piano lessons.
At first I had not liked practicing.
Later I started to love playing music.
I often played the piano for my wife.
I decided to play the piano for the king.
The piano in Glumdalclitch's apartment was huge, like everything else in Brobdingnag.
I could reach only five piano keys when I stretched out my arms.
I had to hit the keys hard with my fist to make the notes sound.
I needed something to push the keys with.
I got two strong sticks from the garden.
I covered one end of each stick with some soft cloth.
The carpenter made me a bench to stand on.
He placed it in front of the piano.
As I ran back and forth on the bench, I hit the keys with the sticks.
"Well done!" the king and queen shouted when they heard me play.
The king laughed and said, "You get a lot of exercise when you play our piano."
As the weeks passed, the king and I met often to talk.
He asked me about the laws and rulers of England.
"Perhaps there are some laws or customs that we could use in Brobdingnag," he said.
"Even a king can learn from the wisdom of others."
"England rules Scotland, Ireland, and several other places," I explained proudly.
"Two groups of men make our laws.
One group has men from the richest families.
The other group has men whom the people choose.
Judges decide how to punish criminals.
Our army and navy are the strongest in the world."
I described the many wars England had won against other countries.
"What if the rich men are poor leaders or dishonest?" asked the king.
"Do some men pay money to be chosen for the group that makes laws?
Do people pay your judges to get easy punishments?
And why is England always at war?
Do the English just like fighting?
If England were peaceful, it would not fear other countries."
"Interesting questions," I replied.
The truth is, I did not know how to answer them.
"It seems to me," he continued, "that England fights too much.
It rules other lands that should be free.
It doesn't cooperate with other countries.
I don't like the way your country does things, Grildig."
I was surprised by what the king said about my country.
But I still liked the king.
He had treated me well during my stay.
"Your Majesty," I said, "I would like to give you something to thank you for your kindness.
We English know how to make a special thing called gunpowder.
When you set fire to it, it explodes."
"Why would I want such a thing?" the king asked, puzzled.
"You can use it to shoot heavy metal balls at your enemies," I explained.
"The balls can cut men in half and sink ships.
I will show you how to make this powder."
"No!" he shouted. "Brobdingnag has no enemies.
Your idea of hurting people disgusts me!
Never mention this again!"
"This king is very different from my king," I said to myself.
"He does not want to fight wars the way we English do!
He makes me look at things in a new way.
What if he is right, and we English are wrong?"