4 War!

Chapter 4 War! Lilliput seemed like a peaceful place but Gulliver soon found out it wasn't. One day, the emperor's secretary came to see him.

"We have a problem," he said. "There are two groups of people in Lilliput. The Tramecksans wear high heels and the Slamecksans wear low ones. They're bitter enemies and both groups want to rule."

"The emperor likes low heels at the moment, so the Slamecksans have more power. But if he changes his mind, war could break out!" "That's terrible!" said Gulliver.

"And that's not all!" cried the secretary. "We're already at war, with a nearby island called Blefescu." Blefescu is going to attack us! "Why?" said Gulliver. "Whatever happened?"

"It's all about eggs," explained the secretary. "Boiled eggs and a cut finger." Gulliver was astonished. "Eggs!" he said. "How?" Ouch! The secretary blushed. "Well, many years ago, everyone opened their eggs at the big end. But then the prince cut his finger when breaking his egg open."

"His father passed a law at once. No one was to crack their eggs at the big end, ever again. Eggs always had to be eaten from the smaller end."