why was the ancient way of breaking an egg prohibited in Lilliput?
Answers
Answer :
In the book 'Gulliver's Travels' by Jonathan Swift, the ancient way of breaking an egg was prohibited in Lilliput. This was because the current Emperor's grandfather had cut one of his fingers while breaking an egg at the bigger end during childhood. So, his father had published an order to abolish the ancient practice of breaking eggs and commanded his countrymen to break their eggs at the smaller end.
This order had met with high resentment from the masses. It had lead to many rebellions and was the cause of war between the empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu. Several books had been written on the controversy.
The following lines from the book supply the answer :
'It is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger end; but his present majesty's grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon the emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs.'