Gulliver's transcripts

[Dryunya]

Those brave souls who can turn his handwriting into text should post it here.
This thread is for that purpose only. I give explicit permission to the mods to delete everything else.
Don't forget about the metadata, like the date/time, and so on.

[Adell]

From here on, I recommend posting which letter your transcribing BEFORE transcribing, so we don't have other users waste time transcribing the same letter.

Letter 1: Posted September 21, 2012

"Weary of many years of travel, over which I had
occasion to see many curious, and as some might argue,
impossible sights, it was my intention to retire peacefully
in my native country of NottingHamshire. I had been
living at home with my wife for three months and five days when,
as it happened, I was paid a visit by my old friend
John Biddel, captain of the English merchant vessel
that had once come to my aid a time of need,
This gentleman learned that I had taken up residence
in the area and thought to petition me for a favor. One
of his sailors, now captain himself, was seeking to
a voyage to the New World and was in need of a
surgeon.

My wife was reluctant to let me leave on yet another
adventure, but I found it difficult to turn down the
proposition, both due to my great debt to the mom
and my growing frustration with my horses. Vowing
that this would be my last such voyage, I joined the
crew, and we set sail for Bristol. The Journey was at
first quite prosperous, and we enjoyed calm seas for
two months and three days until we were caught in
some heavy winds that, by my estimate, sent us off
course by ten degrees south. The sea eventually grew
calm, and falling at ease for the moment, I allowed
myself to rest, as the years had not been kind to me.
I estimated that I had slept for two hours when I was
suddenly awakened by a very loud crashing sound.
Fearing that the ship had struck something, I Jumped
to my feet but instantly felt sharp pain in my head
and blacked out.

I have no means of knowing how much time had
passed, but when I regained my consciousness, I
found myself laying amidst large quantities of sand.
Surveying my surroundings, it occurred to me that
I was on a rather long, sandy shoreline. Though it
was deep night, I found it rather easy to see due
to some welcome light in the distance. I still had
most of my equipment on my person, and though
eager to learn more of my circumstances, I thought
it prudent to first identify my location. I had, after all,
sufficient experience with foreign regions and their
inhabitants. Taking out my charts and glass, I began
to examine the sky, though the stars were very
difficult to see. By my calculations, it was roughly
thirty-three degrees south and one-hundred degrees
East. I redid my numbers multiple times, but the
skies told me I had been taken practically around
the world! I found this revelation very troubling,
especially because my crew-mates were nowhere
to be found."

[Adell]

Letter 2: Posted September 21, 2012

"Knowing I could not remain indecisive forever, as my thirst and
hunger were already making themselves apparent, I began to walk
down the coastline. I was wary of the distant lights, for they reminded
me of legends of soruxy(?) and demons, and though I am a learned
man, I had seen enough on my travels that I could not rule out such possibilities.
However, nothing else in my vicinity was very notable, and I decided
to have a more accurate survey of the lights. As I was considering
such thoughts, I am embarrassed to admit I lost full awareness of
my surroundings, for I soon found myself laying in the sane once more,
having tripped over something hidden in shadow.

As I looked back to see what it was that had found itself in my path,
I was quite surprised to discover that it was a man. A tall man as lying
unconscious in the sand, much as I had been not so long ago. I
immediately notice that he was dressed like a sailor, but also that his
left leg was mostly missing, replaced by a long cut of wood. In his
left arm he tightly held what seemed to be a crutch, the purpose of
which was quite apparent. As I wondered what horrible fate befell this
gentleman, he regained consciousness and greeted me with what
I quickly recognized to be a very colorful English profanity.
After some time and much effort, the gentleman and
I seemed to have come to a mutual understanding
of our respective circumstances.

According to the man, to whom I shall henceforth refer to as John, he
was also at sea in an altogether different region of
the world until he found himself in the midst of
some unfortunate weather. However, regardless of
my pleading he refused to tell me more of his origins.
Nevertheless, finding ourselves in such similar circumstances,
the two of us agreed it would be practical to work together
to gain more insight.Much to my admiration, John was not the least bit
intimidated by the lights and decided we should head
towards them immediately. I was greatly surprised to
see that despite his severe handicap, he was not the least
bit hampered in speed, and we made excellent progress."

Dryunya is transcribing 3 and 4 now. I'm done for now myself. So whoever wants a crack at these start with the 5th letter onwards.

[Dryunya]

Letter: 3 (September 22)

"As we approached the lights, they began to fade against the rising sun, but I could now see their sources quite clearly. They had been coming from great towers of quite a curious shape, the likes of which I had never seen. I was, however, quite relieved to find other people around the area. They looked to be human beings of perfectly ordinary height, though I found their bright and seemingly impractical attire very intriguing. Many of them gave my companion and me very confused looks, and I found myself embarrassed by the lack of reds and blues in my clothing.

I was again impressed by John, for he did not find our surroundings the least bit intimidating. At his repeated insistence, we proceeded at a heightened pace, and I found myself among the gray towers in little time. I could hardly hide my fascination with them, for they did not seem to be part of a castle of any sort. Their purpose remained largely a mystery to me as I watched people casually enter and exit them. I realized I had been distracted by my thoughts when John came up to me, holding what appeared to be ?brown? bread rolls. I had completely forgotten about my hunger until he offered one to me. As I ran after John through a long series of corridors between the walls of various towers, I realized that the roll, having itself been cooked, contained ground sausage and some vegetables. At that moment, it seemed like the best meal I had ever had (though I am strangely unable to recall its actual taste), and I felt very fortunate for having a companion who would treat me at his own expense.

John stopped running when we reached what seemed to be a plaza with a large number of people. When I asked him about the purpose of our accelerated pace, he said that he found this area quite interesting and felt that we might find a lead here. I was once again impressed by my companion and silently vowed to be more proactive in my pursuits."

[Dryunya]

4 (September 23)

As it turned out, John had been right. Shortly after we reached the plaza, we were approached by a man whom John instantly engaged in conversation. I had learned many languages, both in my studies and through the inevitable course of my adventures, but I couldn't make out the language they were speaking. It was not French or Latin or even Liliputian. I was once more again impressed with John's endless wisdom. That is until, having listened to them for about fifteen minutes, I realized that they were, in fact, speaking in English! How shamed I felt, though to my credit, it was a very unusual dialect, and certainly not one I had ever heard.
The man in question was very kind to us. He seemed more than happy to answer our questions and spent much of the time smiling or laughing. I admit I was not a little jealous of this land that had such kind, happy people and wondered if I had ended up in a sort of utopia. The land in question appeared to be called Australia. I had never heard of such a place except in the legends of "Terra Australis Incognita" - the "Unknown Land in the South." I was immediately excited, wondering if John and I had somehow become two of the only outsiders to enter this mysterious land. And yet, I felt a rush of anxiety - would I ever see my family again?
I was pulled out of my reverse by a harsh tug on the shoulder from John. Apparently the man, who introduced himself as Michael, owned a small restaurant and was offering the two of us a spare room in his residence in exchange for our labor. Of course, being strangers to this land, we were more than happy to accept his great generosity.

[Dryunya]

5 (September 23)

John and I spent the following week working for Michael, though I hesitate to call it such. His restaurant was quite fascinating, modeled to look like a ship. He said he wanted it to look like a pirate ship, though I was rather confused by some of his choices in decore, particularly the stuffed parrots and impractically marked maps. For some reason, John did not find these nearly as out of place. As for our work, we were simply asked to walk around the premises occasionally and speak to guests. Fur such an easy task, we were given lodgings and three meals a day. I must indeed have ended up in paradise, for where else could labor be so effortless?
During this time, I had occasion to observe many fascinating things, one being Michael's very residence, upon which I shall desire liberty, with the reader's patience, to elaborate. I expected the residence to be a house, but I found myself proven wrong when Michael led me and my companion into one of the tall towers. I was immediately blinded by the light of numerous lamps, though many of them were covered and hung from the ceiling in a manner I could not understand. Michael guided us to a strange device, which he called an "elevator", that seemed like a very heavy door. Much to my fascination, it opened of its own accord, revealing a very small area within. I wondered if these Australians resided in such small rooms, but after leading us inside, Michael pushed a series of knobs on the wall, and when the door opened next, it revealed a very different scene entirely. I thought he must have used some kind of sorcery, but he later explained that we had simply been lifted several flights of stairs. I felt quite concerned for whomever was forced to do the lifting!
Our room was small, but the window showed us the most magical view the likes of which I had not even seen on Laputa. I imagined that looking at the sea from that window was the closest thing there could be to flying freely like a bird. The room was also fitted with many intricately crafted devices that I could not understand the purpose of. One of them was a window into a very tiny room within, though the room seemed to be much larger than it ought to be. I was reminded of the time I spent living inside such a box-house in Brobdingnag. Michael had tried to explain in to me, but I failed to understand the usefulness of randomly looking into different rooms through it.

[Dryunya]

6 (September 24)

Though I did not understand the purpose of a "teevee", my curiosity was still piqued by many of the devices the Australians seemed to use. Particularly, wherever I looked, I would see people speaking into colorful objects of various shapes and sizes. When I asked Michael, he told me that these objects, called "mobile fones", allowed people to speak to each other regardless of the distance between them. Some special intelligent fones allowed them to see what was described to me as an infinite repository of knowledge. I instantly grew excited, for if we could obtain some of its knowledge, John and I might learn more about our situation.
John must have had the same thought, for he came back later in the same day with one such device. We now set out to learn the uses of the device, but I quickly learned that I had no talent for its magic. I eventually admitted defeat and watched with great shame as Michael explained everything to John.
After much asking, I finally convinced John to lend me the device, but I was very disappointed to find that most of the knowledge in this "inter-net" seemed to be very difficult to decipher. John later showed me another use that he had found for the device, however. Michael had told us about "blogs", which he described as a type of journal that the whole world could see. It amazed me that knowledge could be published so quickly and easily, without the time or cost of printing books. Seeing that I was so taken with the idea, John offered to help me share with the world the accounts I had been writing in my journal.

[Dryunya]

7 (September 28)
As I was about to head to Michael's residence for today, John ran into the restaurant at full speed holding a large bag. He told me that we had to leave as soon as was possible. Though confused, I had come to trust his sensibilities, and it was only after we had been running in the direction of the dock for ten minutes that I ventured to petition him for an explanation.
As it would happen, John met a kind man who was about to set sail for Japan. He offered to take us on board, on the condition that we stay out of sight for the duration of the trip. I was confused by such logic, but experience had taught me not to question unfamiliar cultures. At the same time, I was deeply excited by this news, for it meant that we could continue our journey.
I was somewhat less excited by the thought of returning to Japan, for I had visited that land but once and only briefly while disguising my origins as those of a dutchman. I was reluctant to return, for I knew little of their language, and the Emperor would certainly recognize me as the man who refused to obey their pagan traditions. Though I tried to dissuade John, learning that I had met the Emperor only made him more excited.

[Dryunya]

I'm done for now.

[RotavatoR]

8 (September 29)

Though I felt great shame at leaving our hospitable host without so much as a goodbye, my desire to return to familiar shores was growing ever stronger. As such, I followed John out of the sight of the sailor and into one of the very large boxes that were carried aboard the vessel. John had already secured enough provisions for our trip.
I must remark that the vessel in question was the largest I had ever seen and quite strange in that it had no sails. It looked to be made of some sort of smooth, colored material that I later discovered to be metal. The entire top of the ship was covered in large boxes, much like the one in which John and I had hidden ourselves. I barely believed that such a thing could ever float, but we were in motion within the hour.
The strange vessel was unbelievingly fast for one without a sail. In fact, it seemed to rely little on wind at all. As the ship moved, I heard a very loud buzzing sound from somewhere far below and wondered if it could be caused by paddling. It was unfortunate that the customs of the ship forced me to remain hidden, for I had many questions for the captain.

[Scarab]

Oh thank the gods somebody is doing this. I am having great difficulty with reading the handwritten notes (my brain and joined up writing do not get along very well). Thank you, guys, you rule.

[RotavatoR]

9 (October 1)

In order to uphold the customs of the honorable people, John and I have made sure only to leave our box at night and only when we were absolutely certain that we were alone in our immediate area. The box John and I had chosen was shared by a large amount of what I could only assume was dried squid of some sort, and it was not long before the stench had gotten to us. Unfortunately, the other boxes on the vessel did not open as easily, perhaps because they were already occupied by other travelers, determined to remain unseen.
Though we had little but fair weather since our outset, the waves have suddenly become more turbulent tonight. I had a rather embarrassing affair as a result, but I shall refrain from troubling the reader with the details.

____________________________
The paper looks kinda messy lately, not sure if that's relevant...

[RotavatoR]

10 (October 3)

The waves from the other night were only the beginning of a terrible storm. The sky turned to the color of ash and began mercilessly pelting our vessel with powerful wind and rain. The ship lurched from side to side in the violent waters day and night. I was used to the sea, but being forced to stay in a small box during such circumstances made me ponder just how much control a single man has over his fate.
At one point I fear I must have fallen asleep with such thoughts, for I remember awakening to John's yelling. The ship must have been knocked to a fifty degree angle to the side, for our box was beginning to slide. The ship soon righted itself, but I knew I didn't want to spend another moment in that prison, no matter the consequences. As John and I burst out, yet another wave must have hit the ship, for it soon reached a yet sharper angle, sending the two of us and the box over the side.
I hit the rough waters with great force and was almost winded. But knowing that this could be the end of my adventures, I summoned the last of my strength and managed to resurface. Looking around, I saw John holding onto the box, which had fallen with us. With great effort, I swam up to John and found a grip on the box as well. The storm was as violent as ever, but past the waves, I was able to see land less than half a league to the North.

[RotavatoR]

11 (October 4)

It took all of our remaining strength to paddle to land using debris that had fallen from our ship. As soon as we reached shore, our stamina failed us, and we collapsed from the strain without so much as surveying our surroundings. When I finally regained consciousness, my entire body ached unbearably. I realized that it was about midday by the position of the sun, which was now easy to see, for the storm had ended.
I found John still unconscious not too far from me and hurried to him. Upon waking, John accidentally punched me in the arm. His muscles must still have been spasming with exertion from the swim. We soon found that we were in a grassy, lightly wooded area with a small rocky shore. There were no signs of inhabitants around for as far as I could see. The sea had robbed us of our remaining provisions, so if we were to survive, we had to find food in this strange place.

[RotavatoR]

I gtg for a bit, feel free to continue

[WackyMeetsPractical]

12
Oct. 5, 2012
We had been wandering around for hours, and there was nothing edible to be seen. However, the woods did not seem to be entirely untouched by people. There were many strange monuments such as stones placed in patterns and odd statues, the purpose of which I knew not.
Feeling my age like never before, I was on the verge of collapse when John discovered a path leading out of the woods and into an open area. The path seemed to be made from large, flat stones, a material not unlike that covering the ground in much of Australia. With a new feeling of hope, we hurried along the path and out of the woods to a flat grassy area. There we came across several signs that were clearly man-made. The writings on the signs, or so I assumed them to be such, were incomprehensible to me, resembling the scribbles of a child.
We continued to follow the path, but it soon led to a three-way fork. As John and I stopped to contemplate, we were approached by a couple of locals who had taken notice of our troubles. They looked to be husband and wife, both dark-haired and quite short in stature. I instantly recognized them as Japanese. I had spent too little time in Japan to have absorbed any of their tongue, so I decided to try speaking to them in the language of Balnibarbi, for I knew that their two nations had a strong relationship in trade. As they were giving me strange looks, John pushed me aside and started speaking to them in plain English which they miraculously seemed to understand. Unlike John, I was unable to decipher their replies and heard but half of the conversation as John asked them for directions.

It's interesting to note that this particular letter appeared to be transcribed on a sheet of Hello Kitty stationary.

[Dryunya]

13 (October 7, Hello Kitty paper)

Thanks to the help of those good people, John and I were finally on our way. After smiling and bowing his head many times, the man led us to a large structure called a "train station". The "train" is a metal vehicle of some sort that travels along lines of metal called "rails" in the ground, though I understand little of how it is powered for it moves quite expediently without being pulled by horses. At this "station", John and I came across a large colorful map, and thought we could not read any of its labels, I recognized it as Japan by its overall shape. By geography, I was able to determine the location of the great metropolis Yedo where I had visited during A prior adventure.
I pointed our this familiar location, and our guide explained to John that we could get there by boarding the train that would arrive in forty minutes. I think even John was getting confused, for the man had to do much ?miming? in his speech. Delighted by this information, I sat down to rest and enjoy the view of nature by a window. John joined me shortly afterwards with out tickets. Exactly forty minutes later, we were on the train enjoying a surprisingly smooth ride to the city.

[Dryunya]

14 (October 8)

I have checked several maps and it is clear that we should be in Yedo, but the city I now find myself in is nothing like that of my recent memories. It is full of large towers, much like Australia. Actually, it looks almost exactly like Australia. There are many signs with ?indecipherable? scribbles on them, but most of them also have English (or at least some dialect of English with very creative spelling).
There are many people everywhere, most of whom are shorter than me by at least one head. A large number of them have dark hair, but I have also seen many with golden hair as well. Their clothing looks much like that of the Australians as well, except that it is perhaps even more colorful. I regret to say that most of these people look so similar to one another that I would not be able to recognize the man who had helped us if I ever saw him here.
I am very confused by how much this place could have changed in so short a time, but I will have to investigate this mystery later. It has been a long time since John and I have eaten.

[Dryunya]

That's the last entry so far. The mods can clean up now.

[RotavatoR]

15 (October 12)

John has informed me that a reader has commented on my chronicles. I still find it ever so fascinating that a person I have never met face to face could communicate with me so! I wish to extend a greeting to this good person and tell him that while I would love to visit him in his native land, I am most eager to return to my own country and my family.
It has been a week since we arrived in Yedo, or rather "Tokyo" as it now seems to be called, and John and I have become quite used to our surroundings. We were able to procure lodging quite easily and spent the week in a hotel room that was much like Michael's apartment in Australia, except significantly smaller.
I have been using my time to learn as much as I could about this place, so John and I have been doing much traveling to different parts of the city. One adventure took us to "Tokyo Tower", a very tall metal building from which one could see a large portion of the city, though why it has such an ambiguous name when Tokyo is full of towers remains a mystery to me. It looked to be made of an unattractive orange wire but had to be at least three hundred metres tall. It was the tallest structure I had ever seen built by men of normal (or slightly less than normal) hight.
Inside was an elevator that took John and me to a landing that was perhaps one-hundred and fifty metres in the air. A second elevator took us perhaps twice that height to yet another landing. This elevator seemed much less structurally sound than the first, and for a brief moment, I was very much concerned. In the end, the frightening trip turned out to be worthwhile. I had been at some very high elevations during my visits to foreign parts, but never had I seen such impressive views. Even the sight from Michael's window was nothing compared to this.
Far below, I could see just how many towers stretched endlessly into the distance, each one a marvel of architecture. People had built all of these towers, and they could not have done so in a few short years.

[RotavatoR]

16 (October 14)

According to John, a reader is interested in my previous adventures. It is at this time that I am terribly frustrated that the account I have published has not reached these parts. Alas, our methods of distributing knowledge are very lacking in comparison to those of this land. I am afraid I haven't the time now to replicate that account, which I have published in four parts, even though the prospect of sharing it with so many readers is quite thrilling.
At this moment, however, I would like to divert the interested reader by taking some time to describe the fascinating variety of transportation vehicles I have come across since my arrival in this Japan. Even in Australia, I noticed a distinct lack of carriages and felt unbelievable joy at seeing how those people refrained from abusing Houyhnhnms.
In their place, the roads were filled with large self-propelling metal boxes on wheels that I later learned were called "cars". I was quite impressed to see that this Japan makes use of the same sort of cars, though the thought of never having seen such a popular and practical invention in other parts leaves me yet uneasy.
There are, however, many methods of travel that seem to be unique to this land. In addition to cars, the streets are perpetually filled with contraptions called "bicycles". These are devices made from a very thick metal wire with but two wheels and support a single passenger, seated on top. The passenger is responsible for propelling the bicycle by moving his feet in a circular motion, which is then transfered to the wheels by a complicated series of mechanical parts. These bicycles seem to be particularly popular here, for I have seen hundreds of them at one time. I can hardly walk ten paces without having one overtake me.
But by far the most impressive vehicles are the trains. This Japan is filled with trains much like the one John and I used to get to (Yedo line-through) Tokyo. There are trains that go almost everywhere according to a schedule, making it possible for any man to go wherever he would please quite easily without having to hire help. Some of the trains travel underneath the ground through a series of tunnels, thus avoiding physical obstacles. John and I have been making much use of this system's convenience, for the schedule has allowed us to plan our days quite efficiently.
I would also like to mention a special train, which I have heard can travel from one end of Japan to the other in approximately two hours. I must admit that my curiosity is piqued with regard to such a marvel.

[RotavatoR]

17 (October 15)

As we passed the days here, I have been growing more and more curious about the various inventions people use in this Japan. Interested in seeing more such marvels, I decided to go to what the locals refer to as their center of technological innovation.
After getting lost a few times, John and I finally confirmed by the map that we were in the right place. But what a terrifying place it turned out to be! This technological center consisted of several streets of shops, but many of the buildings were covered in large colorful paintings of oddly deformed creatures - humanoid characters with strangely colored hair and impractical clothing. On the streets I saw many people dressed in a way that emulated those paintings and many more who seemed to idolize them in some form of pagan ritual. An overbearing high-pitched chanting was coming from the shops, many of which were selling colorful statues of those idols in various stages of undress.
John seemed perfectly content there, but I decided that I didn't care for technology much after all.

According to one of my readers, the accounts of my adventures have indeed reached this land, and in a form similar to this journal. Even though I had no idea how this could be possible, I borrowed the phone from a reluctant John to check. Unfortunately I only saw white. John says it was probably a cruel attempt at humor, though I am willing to blame my own ineptitude with the device.
Another reader tells of a miraculous form of transportation that can take someone anywhere in the world through flight! I have been asking John about it nonstop - perhaps such a vehicle could take us to our native lands! How I hope this is not another distasteful jest.

[IslaKariese]

18 (October 16)

I would like to start by addressing more of the comments my readers have been giving me. First of all, I would like to reiterate that I blame none other than myself for my technological ineptitude. I still find it hard to believe that my works have made it to this land without my knowing, but a reader has left a description of a place much like one that I have visited. I will have to try again to verify that at a later time, with John's permission.

With regard to planes, I was surprised to find that John knows about them, but for some reason he is not very enthusiastic about the idea of flight.

Try as I might, I just can't disregard the sudden change Japan has gone through since my previous visit. John suggested that perhaps I was in a different part of the country after all, and no matter how certain I was to the contrary, part of me wanted to agree with my good friend. Today we decided to travel farther out than ever before by means of the fast train which the locals call the [crossed out words] bullet train.

As we traveled out of Tokyo, I watched the towers speed by in a blur, and they were soon replaced by stunning fields and beautiful mountains.

[Dryunya]

19 (October 17, 2012. Written with a pencil; there are some round spots on the paper)

Our adventure brought us to a land that looked much more like the Japan of my memory, and I felt a great relief wash over me. I had been mistaken after all! This new place was very rural and heavily wooded, and I saw quite a a few structures devoted to some sort of religion. Though I am an honest Christian man, I found these structures almost welcoming after my most recent encounter with this land's rituals. Most of the area seemed very much like the Japan I remember, but I was quite confused by the large number of freely roaming deer.
We set about procuring a place to sleep for the night, but this turned out to be harder than expected, partly because very few of the locals spoke English, but mostly because all of the hotels in this part of the land are quite uncomfortable. The walls are primarily made of paper, and there are no beds. Apparently these Japanese sleep on the floor, on top of a thin blanket. There are also no chairs, and the tables are at kneeling height. Even the tea cups seem largely impractical, having no handles. This place seems to be the complete opposite of Tokyo - while technology there is advanced and widely used, the people here seem to be living less practically than the ?citizens? of Lagado.
We finally chose a room in one such hotel, but John insists on leaving ass soon as possible.

Drat this pen!

[Zup]

Oct 19

20

John and I, after a few rather boring and altogether uneventful misadventures, the details of which I shall not trouble the reader with, have come to the amiable agreement that we should expediently leave Japan. Finding a ship took a surprisingly long time (and John refuses to hear another word about planes), but I trusted in John's ability to negotiate with the locals and allowed him to do the talking.

Once again, we are headed for another distant land. Though I am getting no closer to England, I hope to find some clue about our situation there.