Adept at languages, Gulliver learns rather quickly to talk with the Houyhnhnms. They speak a strange language, he says, yet it is similar to High Dutch. Besides the Houyhnhnms teaching Gulliver, he teaches them. They have no books, so Gulliver shows them how to write. The Houyhnhnms are truly mystified by their visitor; he seems to be so much like a Yahoo, but he also seems to be a rational Yahoo—a combination which they believe to be impossible. Gulliver describes for the Houyhnhnms the mutiny that stranded him, and they are astonished by the notion of a “lie.” Horses, they say, do not even have a word for the concept of lying. They explain further that besides Houyhnhnm meaning “horse,” it is derived from a word meaning “perfection of nature.” Gulliver’s Houyhnhnm host is curious about Gulliver’s modesty. After all, he reasons, why would anyone want to conceal what nature has made? When he is naked, however, Gulliver looks very much like a Yahoo, so Gulliver’s host promises to keep his guest’s clothing a secret.
