my country, which my master said, was altogether past his conception, he desired to know, whether we had Houyhnhnms among us, and what was their employment: I told him, we had great numbers; that in summer, they grazed in the fields; and in winter, were kept in houses with hay and oats, where yahoo-servants were employed to rub their skins smooth, comb their manes, pick their feet, serve them with food, and make their beds. I understand you well, said my master; it is now very plain from all you have spoken, that whatever share of reason the yahoos pretend to, the Houyhnhnms are your masters; I heartily wish our yahoos would be so tractable. I begged his honour would please to excuse me from proceeding any farther, because I was very certain that the account he expected from me, would be highly displeasing. But he[1] insisted in commanding me to let him know the best and the worst: I told him he should be obeyed. I owned that the Houyhnhnms among us, whom we called horses, were the most generous and comely animal we had; that they excelled in strength and swiftness; and when they belonged to persons of quality, were employed in travelling, racing, or drawing chariots; they were treated with much kindness and care, till they fell into diseases, or became foundered in the feet; but then they were sold, and used to all kind of drudgery, till they died; after which, their skins were stripped, and sold for what they were worth, and their bodies left to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey. But the common race
- ↑ 'Insisted in commanding,' is not English; it should be, 'persisted in commanding,' &c.
