The belt. This contains some metal balls andsome black powder - we do not know what these are. I did not show the two men the pocket where I kept my glasses. The Emperor was very curious to see all the objects described in thereport. First he asked to see my sword. Then he wanted to see the verylong tube of metal attached to a piece of wood. I explained that thiswas my pistol, and I offered to fire it for him. I took some of the blackpowder, and put it into the pistol. Then I fired - the noise frightenedthe Emperors soldiers very much! Next the Emperor wanted to see mywatch. He did not know what it was, but he was very interested in thenoise it made. Everybody in Lilliput was very happy with my behaviour, and thepeople began to trust me.
Sometimes they came to dance on my hand.The children played hide and seek 1 in my hair. The Emperor was very pleased with me as well, and he invited me tosee some special dances. These dances are performed in the Emperorscourt, by his ministers and other important people. They are verystrange dances. For the first dance, they place a rope above the ground,and the ministers dance on this rope. The government minister whodoes the best dance is given a government job. These dances are verydangerous, and there are many accidents. Most of the Emperorsministers fall off the rope sooner or later, and are injured. There is another kind of dance that is performed in the Emperorscourt. This dance is performed for the Emperor, the Empress, and thefirst minister. The Emperor puts some coloured threads 2 on a table. Thethreads are blue, red, and green. Then the dancers enter the room, andthe performance begins. The Emperor holds a long piece of wood.
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