Gulliver's Travels: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.

Gulliver is led by the horses to a house in which Gulliver expects to find a human but where he only finds a family of horses. He has to pinch himself to make sure that he is not seeing things, especially when he sees how the horses perform daily rituals. The horses communicate with each other, and although Gulliver cannot decipher what they are saying, he hears the word Yahoo repeated frequently.

He then is brought to a building in which there are three yahoos chained up by their necks. Gulliver gets a close view of the Yahoo and realizes, with horror, that their faces look human. Meanwhile, the horses are not sure what to make of Gulliver since he looks somewhat like a Yahoo but is different in that he has hands instead of fore feet. Gulliver is also clothed, which the horses mistakenly assume is his skin.

Gulliver becomes extremely hungry, and the horses offer him some of the Yahoo food: a chunk of raw meat from a donkey. Gulliver is visibly disgusted, which the Houyhnhnms take to be another distinction between him and the Yahoo. Finally, Gulliver manages to get some milk and makes himself toasted oats.

After some time with the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver learns their language. He equates it with Dutch and German more than other European languages. Gulliver’s civility and his willingness to learn distinguishes him further from the Yahoos, which further confounds the master Houyhnhnm, who is convinced that Gulliver is a Yahoo.

After about three months, Gulliver is able to have regular discourse with the master Houyhnhnm and tells him where he comes from. The master Houyhnhnm thinks Gulliver is not telling the truth and insists that he comes from someplace as yet undiscovered in their country. There is no word for lying in the Houyhnhnm language. Gulliver learns from the master Houyhnhnm that the word Houyhnhnm means “perfection of nature” (137).

Gulliver makes a habit of waiting for the Houyhnhnm family to go to bed before removing his clothes to sleep. One night, he is seen removing his clothes, and the Houyhnhnms notice his resemblance to the Yahoos. 

Gulliver and the head Houyhnhnm get to know each other better. Gulliver learns from him that the Houyhnhnms do not use language to deceive, lie, or cheat others. Gulliver also reveals to the master Houyhnhnm that where he is from, horses are used as laborers, are frequently beaten and whipped, and usually die a brutal death. The master Houyhnhnm can hardly believe this and does not understand how a physically inferior being could ever dominate a stronger one. Though he is outraged at what Gulliver says, he does concede that if where Gulliver is from, the Yahoos are intelligent and the horses are the stupid ones, then it makes sense that they are subservient because reason is superior to brute physical strength.

Gulliver then provides a brief autobiographical sketch to the master Houyhnhnm. When Gulliver mentions how his ship was commandeered, the master Houyhnhnm is unable to fully grasp the act because his ethics do not allow for crimes and other vices. Things such as lust, greed, and malice are unknown to him. In turn, he becomes more curious and wants to know more about European culture.

Gulliver provides a summation of his discussions with the master Houyhnhnm regarding England. These conversations take place over a two-year span. Gulliver gives an account of the many wars, conflicts, and military skirmishes that took place in the previous 100 years, and notes that millions of lives were lost. He then provides three reasons for most of the wars: the ambition of princes; the corruption of government ministers; and differences of opinion. Gulliver sees differences of opinion as the worst reason. These wars, started by trivial reasons, have also led to the most amount of death and destruction.

The master Houyhnhnm says that, thankfully, the mouth of Yahoos is hardly able to bite and kill. Gulliver responds by listing all of the weapons and other means humanity has developed for killing large populations of their fellow citizens. The master Houyhnhnm is aghast and eventually orders Gulliver to stop talking about war. Gulliver then segues into a discussion about lawyers. He tells the master Houyhnhnm that this is a class of people who are corrupt at their core, having had deception and lying bred into them since they were babies. He then discusses the ways in which the legal system is corrupted to yield results contrary to justice.

Gulliver’s conversation with the master Houyhnhnm regarding his native land continues. The master Houyhnhnm has difficulty grasping why any human would willingly engage in a “confederacy of injustice” (147) against another. Gulliver attributes the rationale to greed and exploitation of the weak by the rich. He claims that as avarice grew in human society, the need to acquire luxury items also grew, which meant robbing the poor of the basic necessities of life, such as food, in exchange for these items.

Gulliver then chronicles the myriad ways men and women engage in habits that are self-injurious, such as drinking too much alcohol and eating when not hungry. He also mentions that prostitutes essentially help spread disease even into their children. All of these maladies lead to outbreaks of disease and unhealthiness in general. In consequence, Gulliver claims that doctors seize on the spread of disease and make people think they are sick even if they are not. He also asserts that doctors prescribe so-called cures for imaginary ailments and can even be persuaded to help a husband kill his wife, or vice-versa.

His rant continues as he then discusses first ministers of state who are good for only their excessive greed and lust for power. Their first skill is in finding means to kill their wives. As Gulliver’s tirade concludes, the master Houyhnhnm compliments him and says that he must be from nobility. He suggests that how a fellow Houyhnhnm is born is exactly how he will fit into their society. To move outside one’s class is unthinkable. Gulliver points out that the master’s idea of nobility is different than his own, insisting that the nobility of England are essentially born into it—therefore, they are by nature lazy, greedy, and entirely absent of the virtue the master Houyhnhnm ascribes to the nobility.