作者：（英）丹尼尔·笛福
出版社：航空工业出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
床头灯英语5000词纯英文：鲁滨逊漂流记试读：
CHAPTER 1
I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family. My father got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterward at York where he had married my mother. Relations were named Robinson, and from whom I was called Robinson Cruson.
I had two elder brothers, one of which was killed in a battle. What became of my second brother I never knew any more than Father or Mother did know what became of me.
Being the third son of the family, and not to any trade, my head began to be filled very early with thoughts. My father, who was very ancient, had given me share of learning, as far as house-education, and a country free-school generally went, and designed for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but to go to sea, and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, or the commands of my father, and against all the requests of my mother and other friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in nature directly to the life of misery which was to happen to me.
My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious excellent counsel against what he foresaw was my design. He told me that this was the state of life which all other people envied, that kings had frequently the miserable consequences of being born to great things, and wished they had been placed in the middle of the two extremes, between mean and the great; that the wise man gave his testimony to this as the just standard of true happiness prays to have neither poverty nor riches.
I was sincerely affected by this discourse, as indeed who could be otherwise? And I decided not to think of going abroad any more, but to settle at home according to my father's desire. But a few days wore it all off; and in short, I decided to run quite far away from him. However, I did not act so neither, as my first heat of resolution, but I took my mother, at a time when I thought her a little more pleasant than ordinary, and told her that my thoughts were so entirely bent upon seeing the world, that I should never settle to anything with enough resolution to go through with it, and my father had better give me his consent than force me to go without it. This put my mother into a great passion. She told me that she knew it would be to no purpose to speak to my father upon any such subject; and that he knew too well what was my interest to give his consent to anything so much for my hurt. My mother refused to move it to my father, yet as I had heard afterwards, she reported all the discourse to him. It was not until almost a year after this that I broke loose. On the first of September 1651, I went on board a ship bound for London. Never did any young adventurer's misfortunes, I believe, begin sooner, or continued longer than mine. The ship was no sooner gotten out of the Humber, but the wind began to blow, and the sea to rise in a most frightful manner; and as I had never been at sea before, I was most sick in body, and terrified in my mind. I began now seriously to think upon what I had done while the storm increased, and the sea, which I had never been upon before, went very high, though nothing like what I have seen many times since; no, nor like what I saw a few days later. But it was enough to affect me then, who was but a young sailor, and had never known anything of the matter. These wise and sober thoughts continued all the time while the storm continued, and indeed some time afterwards; but the next day the wind stopped and the sea calmer, and I began to be a little used to it. Towards night the weather cleared up, the wind was quite over, and a charming fine evening followed. The sun went down perfectly clear and rose so the next morning; and having little or no wind and a smooth sea, the sun shining upon it, the sight was, as I thought, the most delightful that ever I saw.
The sixth day of our being at sea we came into Yarmouth. We were to come to an anchor, and here we lay, the wind continuing contrary, at southwest, for seven or eight days, during which time a great many ships from Newcastle came into the same roads.
We had not however rid here so long, but should have it up the river, but that the wind blew too fresh; and after we had laid four or five days, blew very hard. However, our men were unconcerned, and not in the least of danger, but spent the time in rest and fun; but the eighth day in the morning, the wind increased. It blew a terrible storm indeed, and I began to see terror and amazement in the faces even of the seamen themselves. During these first hurries, I was stupid, lying still in my room, and couldn't describe my temper. I got out of my room, and looked out; but such a sight I never saw. The sea went mountains high, and broke upon us every three or four minutes. When I could look about, I could see nothing but distress round us.
Anyone may judge what a condition I must be in? Who was but a young sailor, and who had been in such fright before at but a little. But if I can express at this distance the thoughts I had about me at that time, I was in more horror of mind upon account of my former convictions, and the having returned from them to the resolutions I had taken at first, than I was at death itself; and these added to the terror of the storm, putting me into such a condition, that I can by no words describe it. But the worst had not come yet. The storm continued with such fury, that the seamen themselves they had never known a worse. We had a good ship, but she was deep loaded, and rocked in the sea, so that the seamen every now and then cried out that she would founder. In the middle of the night, and under all the rest of our distresses, one of the men cried out we had sprung a leak. At that word, my heart, as I thought, died within me, and I fell backwards upon the side of my bed where I sat, into the room. However, the men roused me, and told me, that I, who was able to do nothing before, was as well able to pump as others, at which I got up, and went to the pump and worked very heartily. We worked on, but the water was increasing in the hold. It was that the ship would sink, and though the storm began to calm a little, yet as it was not possible that she could swim till we might run into a port, so the master continued firing guns for help; and a light ship, which had ridden out just ahead of us, set a boat out to help us. It was with the hazard that the boat came near us, but our men cast them a rope over the stern, which they took hold of with great labor and hazard, and we hauled them close under our stern and all got into their boat. It was to no purpose for us after we were in the boat to think of reaching our own ship, so we all agreed to let her drive and only to pull her in towards shore as much as we could. We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship till we saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by a ship sinking in the sea; I must acknowledge I had hardly eyes to look up when the seamen told me she was sinking.
While we were in this condition, the men yet laboring the oar to bring the boat near the shore, we could see the shore, a great many people running along the shore to assist us when we should come near. We got in, and though not without much difficulty got all safely on shore and walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth.
My ill fate pushed me on now with a determination that nothing could resist; and though I had several times loud calls from my reason and my more judgment to go home, yet I had no power to do it. I knew not what to call this, nor would I, that it was a secret decree that hurried us on to be the instruments of our own destruction.
Having some money in my pocket, I traveled to London by land; and there, as well as on the road, had many struggles with myself, what course of life I should take, and whether I should go home, or go to sea.
As to going home, shame opposed the best motions that offered to my thoughts; and it immediately came to me how I should be laughed at among the neighbors and bring shame upon my house.
I fell with the master of a ship who had been on the coast of Guinea. Having had very good success there, he decided to go again; and hearing me say I had a mind to see the world, told me if I would go the voyage with him, I should be at no cost. I should be his messmate and his companion.
I took the offer, and started into a strict friendship with this captain who was an honest and plain dealing man. I went the voyage with him, and carried a small adventure with me. This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my adventures, and which I owed to the integrity and honesty of my friend the captain, under whom I also got a competent knowledge of the math and the rules of navigation, learned how to keep an account of the ship's course, and took an observation; and in short, to understand some things that were needful to be understood by a sailor.
Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too. Particularly, I was continually sick.
I was now setting up for Guinea; and my friend, to my great misfortune, died soon after his arrival. I decided to go the same voyage again, and I embarked in the same vessel with one who was his mate in the former voyage, and had now got the command of the ship. This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man made. I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage; and the first was this, viz. our ship making her course towards the Canary surprised in the grey of the morning by a rover of Sallee giving chase to us with all the sail she could make. He prepared to attack us and came 60 men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and rigging. We hit them with small shot, and such like, and cleared our deck of them twice. However, to cut short this sad part of our story, our ship being disabled, and three of our men killed, and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Sallee belonging to the Moors.
The usage I had there was not so as at first I apprehended, but I was kept by the captain of the rover, as his proper prize, and made his slave, being young and quick, and fit for his business. At this surprising change of my circumstances from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly upset; and now I looked back upon my father's speech to me, that I should be miserable, and have none to me. But this was but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will appear in the next part of this story.
When my new patron or master went to sea, he left me on shore to look after his little garden, and do the common work of slaves about his house; and when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in the room to look after the ship.
After about two years an odd circumstance presented itself which put the thought of making some attempt for my liberty in my head. My patron lay at home longer than usual, without fitting out his ship, which, as I heard, was for want of money. He used constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes more, if the weather was fair, to take the ship and go out into the road; and as he always took me and a young Maresco with him to row the boat, we made him very merry, and I was very good in catching fish; so much that sometimes he would send us with a Moor, one of his kinsmen, to catch a dish of fish for him.
This moment my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts, for now I found I was likely to have a little ship at my command; and my master being gone, I prepared to furnish myself, not for a fishing business but for a voyage; though I knew not, neither did I so much as consider where I should, for anywhere to get out of that place was my way.
When the boat was furnished with everything needful, we sailed out of the port to fish. The guards of the castle who were at the entrance of the port knew who we were, and took no notice of us; and we were not above a mile out of the port before we pulled in our sail, and set us down to fish.
After we had fished some time and caught nothing, for when I had fish on my hook, I would not pull them up, so that he might not see them; I said to the Moor, "This will not do, our master will not be thus served, and we must stand farther off."
He, thinking no harm, agreed, and being in the head of the boat, set the sails. I stepped forward to where the Moor was, and making as if I bent for something behind him, I took him by surprise with my arm under his waist, and threw him clear into the sea. When he was gone I turned to the boy, who they called Xury, and said to him, "Xury, if you will be faithful to me, I'll make you a great man, but if you will not be true to me, that is, by Mahomet, I must throw you into the sea too." The boy smiled in my face and sweared that he would be faithful to me, and go all over the world with me.
As soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course, and directly south and by east. I would not stop, or go on shore, or come to an anchor, the wind continuing fair till I had sailed in that manner for five days. And then the wind to the southward, I concluded that if any of our vessels were in chase of me, they also would now give over; so I moved to make to the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what, nor where; neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or what river. I neither saw, nor wanted to see any people. The thing I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening, to swim on shore as soon as it was dark and discover the country. But as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and begged me not to go on shore till day. Xury was frightened, and indeed so was I too.
After this stop we made on to the southward continually for ten or twelve days, living very sparingly on our provisions, which began to decrease, and going no more into the shore than we needed to for fresh water. I knew that all the ships from Europe, which sailed either to the coast of Guinea, or to Brazil, or to the East Indies, would pass this cape or those islands; and in a word, I put the whole of fortune upon this single point, either that I must meet with some ship, or must perish.
When I had this resolution about ten days longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land was inhabited, and in two or three places as we sailed by, we saw people standing upon the shore to look at us. We could also perceive they were quite black and stark. I talked with them by signs as well as I could particularly made signs for something to eat. They told me to stop my boat, and that they would bring me some meat. Upon this I lowered the top of my sail, and laid two of them running up into the country, and in less than half an hour they came back and brought with them two pieces of dry flesh and some corn. I was not to venture on shore and they were as much afraid of us; but they took a safe way for us all, for they brought it to the shore and laid it down, and went and stood a great way off till we fetched it on board, and then came close to us again.
We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing to make them amend. I made signs to them for some water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning it bottom upward to show that it was empty, and that I wanted to have it filled. They called immediately to some of their friends, and there came two women and brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt, as I supposed, in the sun. This they set down for me, as before, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and filled them all three. The women were as naked as the men.
I was now furnished with roots and corn, such as it was, and water, and leaving my friendly negroes, I made forward for some days more till I saw plainly land on the other side to seaward. Then I concluded, as it was most certain indeed, that this was the Cape Verde and those islands, called from then Cape de Verde. However they were at a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had best to do, for if I should be taken with a fresh of wind I might neither reach one or the other.
In this dilemma, as I was very thoughtful, I sat down, Xury having the helm, when the boy cried out, "Master, master, a ship with a sail." And I saw not only the ship, but what she was, viz. that it was a Portuguese ship, upon which I stretched out to sea as much as I could, resolving to speak with them if possible.
I made a fire for a signal of distress, and shot a gun, both of which they saw, for they told me they saw the smoke, though they did not hear the gun; upon these signals they very kindly brought to, and lay by for me, and in about three hours, I came up with them.
They asked me what I was, in Portuguese, and in Spanish, and in French, but I understood none of them; but at last a Scot was on board, and called to me, and I answered him, and told him I was an Englishman, and that I had made my escape out of slavery from the Moors at Sallee. They had me come on board, and very kindly took me in, and all my goods.
It was a joy to me, that anyone will believe, that I was thus delivered, as I esteemed it, from such a miserable and almost hopeless condition as I was in, and I immediately offered all I had to the captain of the ship as a return for my deliverance; but he told me, he would take nothing from me, but that all I had should be delivered safe to me when I came to Brazil, for said he, "I have saved your life on no other terms than I would be glad to be saved myself and it may be one time or other my lot to be taken up in the same condition."
He was charitable in his proposal, as he ordered the seamen that none should offer to touch anything I had. Then he took everything into his own possession, and gave me back an exact inventory of them, that I might have them, even so much as my three earthen jars.
As to my boat it was a very good one, and that he saw, and told me he would give me a note of his hand to pay me 80 pieces of eight for it at Brazil when it came there, if one offered to give more, he would make it up. He offered me also 60 pieces of eight more for my boy Xury, which I was unhappy to take, not that I was not willing to let the captain have him, but I was very unhappy to sell the poor boy's liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully in saving my own. However, when I let him know my reason, he owned it to be just, and offered me this medium that he would give the boy an obligation to set him free in ten years, if he turned Christian. Upon this, and Xury saying he was willing to go with him, I let the captain have him.
We had a very good voyage to Brazil, and arrived in the Bay de Todos Santos about twenty-two days later. And now I was once more delivered from the most miserable of all conditions of life, and what to do next with myself I was now to consider.
The treatment the captain gave me, I could never enough remember. In a word, I made about 220 pieces of Spanish silver coins of all my cargo, and with this stock I went on shore in Brazil.
I had not been long here, but acquainted myself with the manner of their planting and making of sugar; and as much land that was not yet farmed as my money would reach, and formed a plan for my plantation and settlement.
I had a neighbor, a Portuguese of Lisbon of English parents, whose name was Wells, and we got on very well. My stock was but low as well as his; and we planted for food rather than anything else for about two years. However, we began to increase, and our land began to come into order; but we both wanted help, and now I found more than before that I had done wrong in parting with my boy Xury.
I was coming into the very middle station, or the upper degree of low life, which my father advised me to before, and which if I decided to go on with, I might as well have stayed at home, and never have tired myself in the world as I had done; and I often said to myself, that I could have done this as well in England among my friends.
In this manner I used to look upon my condition with the utmost
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