Gulliver's Travels (Voyage to Lilliput , Chapter-3)

Gulliver wins the favour of the Emperor

Gulliver's gentleness win him a favourable place in the court. The Emperor,the army and the people in general liked him. He become hopeful that he would soon be liberated from the chains. By now, he had also learnt the language of Lilliputians. The Lilliputians too were not so apprehensive of him. Gulliver would sometime let five or six little men dance on his hand.

Rope - dancing

Some of the activities of Lilliputians amused and entertained him. One activity was rope dancing. It was performed by those persons who were candidates were asked to dance on a rope. Whoever jumped the highest without falling was given a high office. Many times the Emperor aak the chief ministers or high officials to display the skill. For example, once , Flimnap, the Treasurer ,was asked to dance on a tight rope and exhibit his superiority over others. . In the same way, Reldresal, Principal Secret for Private Affairs, was asked to show rope dancing skill.

Leaping over sticks

In order to gain high office, another activity was performed by candidates. They were to leap over a creep under a stick which the Emperor held. Anyone who performed this activity was awarded a blue colour silken thread. The man who stood second was given a red coloured thread and one who stood third was awarded a green colour thread. The winners wore these threads as round their their waists as a mark of honour. 

Conditional release of  Gulliver

  Gulliver made petitions for his release time and again. The Emperor made up his mind. The Emperor made up his mind to release him on certain conditions. These conditions were framed by Skyrris Bolgolam,an influential member of the Royal Court. Accordingly, Gulliver was to take an oath to abide by the conditions laid down by them. It was decided that Gulliver would be given a specific quantity that Gulliver would be given a specific quantity of meat and drink enough to support 1722 Lilliputians. This quantity was calculated by the imperial mathematics.