In which the narrator encounters the peculiar people of Laputa, whose heads lean aside and whose attention is so absorbed by mathematical and musical abstractions that they require attendants to rouse them to conversation and action. Amidst their whimsical customs, phobias of celestial catastrophes, and odd manners—especially concerning the liveliness of the women—the author slowly learns their language and navigates the eccentric court of a king who prizes science above all else.