The Gullivers Travel Story & Summary For Kids

The Gullivers travel story is undoubtedly one of the fascinating stories for most of us. The basic theme which is set in the story – the size of the people that Gulliver’s gets to meet during his various adventures – creates a set of interest both for kids and adults alike.

Origin of the Gulliver’s travels story

The series of Gulliver’s travels has its origin from the book Gulliver’s Travels or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World written by the famous Irish writer Jonathan Swift. The book in its essence contains four different voyages undertaken by Gulliver. However, the Gulliver travel summary for kids mainly focuses on his travel experiences in the kingdom of the Lilliput. 

Here is the retelling of the famous story of Gulliver and his experiences in the land of Lilliputians.

Summary of Gullivers travel

A long time ago, there lived a businessman and a merchant with the name Lemuel Gulliver. In those days, merchants had to travel to other countries using ships to buy and sell the products. In the same way, Gulliver once set out on his business trip on a ship. 

To his misfortune, the ship Gulliver was traveling was struck in a cyclone. The ship gets wrecked. Gulliver somehow manages to find a wooden log and holds to it. The log keeps him afloat on the ocean. It washes him to the shore of an island after many days. 

That island is the Kingdom of Lilliputians. The people here are called Lilliputians or Lilliputs. Their capital city is Lilliput. They are the size of a pen and pencil and shorter than 6 inches!!

When he was washed onto this fascinating land, the Lilliputians found Gulliver. They assume him to be a giant from a foreign land to conquer and occupy their kingdom. They tie him up with ropes and strings. 

While he is being carried to the capital city to be summoned before the King, Gulliver regains his senses. When he tries to get up from the cart he is on, Gulliver finds that he is tied to the cart and cannot move. However, what fascinates him is the size of the people around him. They are the size of his fingers! They are standing on him, around him and all over him!!

In the middle, Gulliver sneezes. Due to the air from his nose, all the Lilliputians are thrown away! They start getting more scared of him and rush him to the King.

The King of the Lilliput gets amazed when he sees Gulliver. Never he has seen any such huge creature resembling a human nor did he read in his books. However, Gulliver assures the king that he is not here to harm them in any sort. He tells about his shipwreck and requests the King to permit him to stay in Lilliput.

The King assures him a safe stay provided that he should not harm the country and the people. Soon, Gulliver starts helping Lilliputians in many ways. With his friendly actions, they realize that Gulliver is a helpful person and not as harmful as they imagined. 

After some months, the neighboring country Blefuscu comes to a war with Lilliput. The people of Blefuscu are also the size of Lilliputians. Their army comes with many ships and soldiers. The King of Lilliput starts worrying about how to win them over. However, Gulliver assures his help to the Lilliputians. He comes to the shore where the ships of Blefuscudians are present. He blows them away with a big blow of air. All the ships get torn apart and some drown in the water. 

The King of Lilliput could not be more than happy! What takes many lives of Lilliputians took a single breath for Gulliver! He thanks Gulliver immensely and all the people celebrate the victory over the enemies in a grand way.

While things are going well in this way, one day the King of Lilliput asks Gulliver for a favor. He wants Blefuscu to become a part of Lilliput and seeks the help of Gulliver for this. However, Gulliver finds this unethical and refuses to oblige him. This creates a bad impression of Gulliver on the King.

On another occasion, it so happens that there was a fire accident in the city’s market. There were many women, kids, and animals at that place of fire. To rescue them immediately, Gulliver urinates on the fire to stop it. Thus, he prevents the fire from spreading and saves lives. However, this does not go well with the King and Ministers. They want him to apologize for his behavior. Gulliver tries to explain the reason behind his action, but they are in no mood to pay heed to his explanation. 

Such misunderstandings start turning a headache to Gulliver and the King too. The King tries to get rid of Gulliver in a feeling of mistrust of him. All of them together charge Gulliver with treason and declare him as a threat to the Land of Lilliput. 

There is a good minister in the court who believes that Gulliver is a harmless man. He wants to save him from the harmful thoughts of the King. He conveys to Gulliver that the King and others want to get rid of him for all the reasons. He shows him a safe exit on how to leave the Kingdom of Lilliput. With his help, Gulliver escapes from Lilliput and reaches Blefuscu. 

Gulliver explains the incidents at Lilliput and why he was declared treason. The King of Blefuscu understands him and promises that he will help him reach his home. He orders his people to make a boat for Gulliver. 

Soon Gulliver gets a good boat from Blefescudians and the King presents him with many animals, fruits, crops, and gifts for his journey. As he traveled for many days, he comes across another boat from England and gets into it safely. 

They listen to his voyage story and get astonished by the size of the animals and fruits that are gifted to Gulliver. After many days of travel, Gulliver finally sets his foot in his homeland.

Conclusion

There are many endings for Gulliver’s travels. In one story of Gulliver’s travels summary, it so goes that – the King of Lilliput helps Gulliver with a boat and gifts when Gulliver expresses his desire to go back to his family. And after traveling for many months on the boat presented by the King of Lilliput, he reaches a boat from London and finally reaches his home safely.

Whatever is the conclusion, Gulliver’s travels tell the world his fascinating experiences in the country of Lilliputians. The size of the people who are no longer than 6 inches and their experiences with a man of 6 feet tall all create a sense of fun and fascination to those who read Gulliver’s travels summary. This part of the Gulliver travels is also made into numerous films across the world in many languages.

However, there are three more voyage adventures of Gullivers which we shall see in the next posts. Hope you enjoyed reading Gulliver’s travels story. Please share this story with your children and let them sail into the dreamland of Lilliputians!