Gulliver's Travels
what are the laws passes by the king of laputa?
gullivers travel part 3
gullivers travel part 3
The King's punishment is enough to deter any misbehavior of his people.
"If any town should engage in rebellion or mutiny, fall
into violent factions, or refuse to pay the usual tribute,
the king has two methods of reducing them to obedience.
The first and the mildest course is, by keeping
the island hovering over such a town, and the lands
about it, whereby he can deprive them of the benefit of
the sun and the rain, and consequently afflict the inhabitants
with dearth and diseases: and if the crime
deserve it, they are at the same time pelted from above
with great stones, against which they have no defence
but by creeping into cellars or caves, while the roofs of
their houses are beaten to pieces."
But if they still continue
obstinate, or offer to raise insurrections, he proceeds to the last remedy, by letting the island drop directly upon their heads, which makes a universal destruction both of houses and men."
Gulliver's Travels