Looking for the beginning of "Robinson Crusoe"

Chapter 1

In 1632, I was born into an upper-class family in York. We are not locals. His father is from Bremen, Germany. After he immigrated to England, he first lived in Hull, made a fortune in business, then closed the business, and finally moved to York to settle down, where he married my mother. My mother’s maiden name was Robinson, and she was from a prominent local family, so she named me Robinson-Kreuzner. Because the British people's pronunciation of the German surname "Kreuzner" changed when they pronounced it, so everyone called us "Kreuzner", and even we ourselves called it that and wrote it that way. So, my friends call me Crosso.

I have two brothers. The eldest brother is a lieutenant colonel in the British infantry regiment in Flanders. The famous Colonel Lockhart once led this unit. The eldest brother was killed fighting the Spanish near Dunkirk. As for the whereabouts of my second brother, I still know nothing about it, just like my parents have no idea about my subsequent situation.

I am the youngest son in my family. My parents did not let me learn the craft of making a living, so I just liked to think wildly and wanted to travel overseas since I was a child. At that time, my father was very old, but he still gave me a pretty good education. He sent me to a boarding school and allowed me to attend a free school to receive rural compulsory education. He wanted me to study law in the future. But I was not interested in anything but sailing.

I completely ignored my father's wishes, even disobeyed my father's orders, and completely ignored my mother's pleas and my friends' dissuasion. This nature of mine seems to have destined me to an unfortunate fate in the future.

My father is smart and cautious. He foresaw that my intentions would inevitably bring me misfortune, so he often enlightened me seriously and gave me a lot of useful advice. One morning, he called me into his bedroom; because at that time he was suffering from a gout attack and had difficulty moving. He advised me very earnestly. He asked me, apart from satisfying my wanderlust, what was the reason for leaving my parents and my homeland? In my hometown, I can be recommended by others and establish myself in society. If I work hard, I can definitely make a fortune and live a comfortable and happy life in the future. He told me that people who generally venture abroad are either penniless or want to get rich suddenly; they are ambitious and want to become famous in the world with extraordinary undertakings. But for me, it's neither worth it nor necessary. In terms of my social status, I'm right in between, what's commonly known as the middle position. Judging from his long experience, this is the best class in the world, and this middle position also makes people the happiest. They neither have to engage in hard physical labor like the lower class people and still live in poverty; nor do they have to be exhausted mentally and physically like the upper class people due to arrogance, ambition and mutual strife. He said, I myself can realize from the following facts that life in the middle position is indeed extremely happy; that is, everyone envied this position, and many emperors lamented the unfortunate consequences of their noble birth and wished they could Born in the middle class between poverty and nobility. Wise people also prove that people in the middle class can achieve real happiness. The wise man in the Bible also prayed: "Make me neither poor nor rich." He reminded me that as long as we observe carefully, we will find that people in the upper and lower classes are in trouble, but only the middle class is in trouble. least. The life of the middle class will not be like the ups and downs of honor and disgrace like those of the upper and lower classes, and the rapid changes. Moreover, those in the middle position will not become physically and mentally ill like the rich due to extravagant spending and corruption; nor will they become haggard like the poor due to long-term toil and lack of food and clothing. Only people in the middle position can enjoy all the happiness and comfort in the world. The average person leads a stable and prosperous life all year round. Moderation, moderation, self-restraint, health and peace, friends and entertainment, and all kinds of pleasures in life are the blessings of the average person. This kind of lifestyle makes people calm and happy, and they can live their whole life contentedly without suffering from hard work. They do not have to work for their daily livelihood, or be forced by difficult circumstances, which may lead to physical and mental distress; nor will they be irritable and restless because of jealousy or greed. People in the middle class can spend their lives peacefully and fully appreciate the sweetness of life without any hardships; they feel happy, and as time goes by, they realize this happiness more and more deeply.

Then, with a sincere and loving attitude, he advised me not to be childish and not to be too eager to ask for trouble; because, neither from the perspective of human nature nor from the perspective of my family background, It will make me suffer. He said that I don’t have to work hard for my daily livelihood. He will make all arrangements for me and will try his best to let me live the middle-class life mentioned above. If I cannot live an easy and happy life on earth, it is entirely due to my fate or my own fault, and he has done his part. For he saw that the course of action I was about to take would certainly bring misery upon myself, and therefore gave me counsel. All in all, he promised that if I listened to him and stayed at home, he would try his best to make arrangements for me. He never allowed me to travel far away from home. If something bad happens to me in the future, don't blame him. At the end of the conversation, he said that I should learn from my elder brother. He had also earnestly advised his eldest brother not to go to Flanders to fight, but the eldest brother did not listen to his advice. At that time, he was young and energetic, and determined to serve in the army, but he died on the battlefield.

He also told me that of course he would always pray for me, but if I insisted on taking such stupid actions, then, he dared to say, God would not bless me. I will regret not heeding his advice in the future when I am unable to call for help.

Thinking about it afterwards, my father’s last few words became a prophecy for my subsequent encounters; of course, I believe that my father himself may not have been aware of this foresight at the time. I noticed that when my father said these words, he burst into tears. Especially when he talked about my elder brother’s corpse on the battlefield, and when he talked about how I would be unable to call for help in the future and regret it, he was so sad that he had to stop. his conversation. Finally, he told me that he was so worried that he could no longer speak.

I was deeply moved by this conversation. Really, who would remain indifferent after hearing such words? I decided not to think about going abroad anymore, but to obey my father's wishes and stay at home with peace of mind. But, my God! After only a few days, I threw my determination out of the window. Simply put, I stayed away from my father for weeks after that conversation in order to keep him from haunting me. However, I did not act hastily, as I had done before when my head was hot, but I waited for my mother to find her when she was in a better mood. I told her that all I wanted to do was go out and see the world, and I didn't want to do anything else. Father had better agree to this, so as not to force me to run away privately. I said that I was already eighteen years old and it was too late to become an apprentice or a lawyer's assistant. Moreover, I absolutely believe that even if I become an apprentice or an assistant, I will definitely escape from my master and go sailing before I can become a master. If she could go to my father and intercede for me, and get him to allow me to take a sea voyage, if I came home and decided that I didn't like sailing, I would work harder to make up for the time I wasted.

My mother lost her temper after hearing what I said. She told me that she knew it would be useless to tell her father such things. My father is very aware of the stakes in this matter for me and will never allow me to do anything that would harm myself. She also said that it was really hard for her to understand that my father's conversation with me was so thoughtful and seductive, yet I actually wanted to travel far away from home. All in all, she said, if I insist on finding a way out, no one will help me. She wanted me to believe that neither my mother nor my father would agree to my overseas voyage, so if I committed suicide, it would have nothing to do with her, lest I say in the future that my father did not agree at that time, but my mother did. .

Although my mother refused my request in person and expressed her unwillingness to convey my words to my father, I heard afterwards that she still told my father exactly what we had said. My father was deeply worried after hearing this. He sighed to his mother and said that if the child could stay at home, he might be very happy; but if he went overseas, he would become the most unfortunate person in the world. Therefore, he could not agree to my going out no matter what.

A year later, I finally ran away from home. During this year, although my family suggested many times that I should do something serious, I was stubborn and refused to listen. , but always struggled with the parents, asking them not to oppose their children's wishes like that. One day I came to Hull by chance. At that time, I had no idea of ??running away privately. But there I met a friend. He said he would go to London on his father's ship, and encouraged me to go with them. He told me, in the usual way of enticing sailors to sail, that I would not have to pay the passage. At this time, I neither consulted my parents nor sent them a message. I thought they would hear the news sooner or later after I left. At the same time, without praying to God or asking my father to bless me, without even considering the circumstances and future consequences, I boarded a ship bound for London. The time is September 1, 1651. Who knew this was an evil hour! I believe that no young person who goes out to take risks will be unlucky as soon as he goes out, and it will be difficult to get rid of the bad luck for such a long time. As soon as our boat sailed out of the Gangbier River, there was a strong wind. The wind helped the waves, which was really scary. Because it was my first time to go to sea, I felt terribly sad and scared to death. At this point, I began to regret what I had done. I am an unfilial son who abandoned my parents and failed to fulfill my vocation. God punished me so quickly. It is really just and fair.

At this time, my parents’ advice, my father’s tears and my mother’s prayers all came to my mind. My conscience was not exhausted after all, and I could not help but condemn myself: I should not have ignored the advice of others and abandoned my vocation to God and my father.

At this time, the storm was getting stronger and stronger, the sea was turbulent, and the waves were huge. I've never seen this before. But compared to the roaring sea that I saw many times later, it was nothing compared to what I saw a few days later. However, at that time, for me, a young man who was sailing for the first time, it was enough to frighten me because I knew nothing about sailing. I feel that the River Humber, also known as the Humber, originates in central England and flows into the North Sea.

The waves will swallow us up at any time. Every time our boat fell into a vortex, I thought we would capsize and sink to the bottom of the sea at any time, never to float again.

In this panic-stricken mood, I swore again and again and made countless determinations, saying that if God spared me my life during this voyage, I would return as soon as I set foot on land. My father will never go out on a boat again in this life. I will follow my father's advice and never look for trouble again. At the same time, I also realized that my father’s views on middle-class life were indeed true. Take my father, for example. He lived a peaceful and comfortable life. He never encountered violent storms at sea or hardships on land. I was determined to return home to my father like a truly prodigal son.

These wise and sober thoughts kept swirling in my mind while the storm was raging and even for a short time after it stopped. By the next day, the storm had passed, the sea was much calmer, and I began to get used to life at sea. But I was still looking gloomy all day long; plus I was a little seasick, which made me even less energetic. In the evening, the weather cleared up completely and the wind stopped completely, followed by a beautiful and lovely golden dusk. The weather was clear that night and the next morning, and the sunset and sunrise were exceptionally beautiful. At this time, the sun shines on the calm sea, which is refreshing. It was a beauty I had never seen before.

I slept soundly that night, so I no longer felt seasick the next day and felt refreshed. Looking at the sea that was roaring and roaring the day before yesterday, it is incredible to see it suddenly become so calm and soft. The friend who had lured me on board came to see me lest I should really make up my mind to never sail again. "Hey, Bob," he patted me on the shoulder and said, "how do you feel now? I said, there was a little breeze that night. It must have scared you, right?" "You said it was a little breeze?" I said, "That was a terrible storm!" "Storm? You fool," he replied, "you call that a storm? What does that mean? As long as the ship is stable and the sea is wide, a little wind like this will We don't take it seriously. Of course, it's your first time to go to sea, Bob. Come on, let's have a bowl of sweet wine and forget all about it! "I don't want to!" Describe this sad incident in detail.

To put it simply, we followed the lifestyle of ordinary sailors and made sweet wine, and I was very drunk. That night, I drank as much as I could and threw all my regrets and reflections on my past actions, as well as my determination for the future, out of my mind. In short, after the storm passed, the sea became calm as a mirror, and the chaotic thoughts in my mind were swept away. The fear of being swallowed by the sea also disappeared, and my passion for sailing came back to my heart. . I forgot all about the determination I made in times of crisis and the vows I made. Sometimes, I also find that those confessions and determinations come back to my mind from time to time. But I tried to shake them off and pull myself together, as if I were recovering from some bad mood. So I went on drinking and fooling around with the sailors as usual. Soon I was able to control my impulses and prevent those serious thoughts from resurrecting. Within five or six days, like those young people who want to get rid of the condemnation of conscience, I completely defeated my conscience. For this reason, I am bound to suffer new disasters. When God saw that I didn't want to repent, he decided to punish me without mercy. Moreover, this was entirely my own fault and I had no excuse. Since I did not regard my safe passage through the first disaster as God's salvation for me, the next disaster would be even worse; at that time, even the most cruel, insidious, and daring sailors on the ship would be afraid. , all asked for mercy.

On the sixth day at sea, we arrived at Yarmouth Anchorage ①. Our ship did not get very far after the great storm, for, although the weather was fine, there was a constant headwind, and we were therefore obliged to anchor at this mooring in the middle of the sea. There was a headwind for seven or eight days, and the wind was blowing from the southwest. During this period, many ships from Newcastle also anchored at this open anchorage, because this is a port that must be passed by the sea. The ships are waiting here for favorable winds to sail into the Yere River.

We should not have anchored here for too long, but should have taken advantage of the tide and sailed into the river mouth. Unfortunately, the wind blew too hard, and after four or five days of lull, the wind became even stronger. But this anchorage has always been considered a good harbor, and our anchor is very strong, and all the equipment on the ship, such as the anchor rope, the windlass, the cable canopy, etc. are very strong, so the sailors are indifferent to the strong wind and are not afraid at all. Rest and have fun according to their way of life. On the morning of the eighth day, the wind suddenly increased. So the entire crew mobilized and worked together to lower the topsail and arrange everything on the ship so that the ship could withstand the strong wind and anchor safely. At noon, the sea rolled up into violent waves. The bow of our boat penetrated into the water several times and brought in a lot of water. Once or twice we thought we had lost the anchor, so the captain ordered the spare anchor to be lowered. In this way, we lowered two anchors on the bow and extended the anchor rope to the longest limit.

At this time, the storm was so powerful that I saw even the faces of the sailors showed fear. Although the captain was careful and tried to protect his ship, as he went in and out of his cabin and passed mine, I heard him several times whispering to himself, "God, have mercy on us! We We're all going to die!" He said a lot of things like this.

In the initial confusion, I was at a loss. I just lay motionless in my cabin - my cabin was in the bow. I can't describe my feelings at that time. Initially, instead of repenting like I did the first time, I became insensitive. I had thought that the pain of death was over and that this storm, like the last, would pass. But as I said before, I was frightened when the captain passed by my cabin and said we were all doomed. I walked out of my cabin and looked outside, and all I saw was desolation; I had never seen such a tragic scene before: huge waves on the sea were coming towards us every three or four minutes. Looking around again, the situation is even more miserable. We discovered that the two ships that were anchored near us had cut off the masts on their sides because of their heavy cargo loads. Suddenly, the people on our boat screamed. It turned out that a ship about a mile ahead of us had sunk. The other two ships were blown off their anchors by strong winds and had to risk leaving the anchorage and sailing to the sea. Even the masts on the ships were not left. The situation of small boats is the best because it is easier to travel on the sea. But there were also two or three small boats that were blown by the wind and flew past our boat. Only the corner sail was left on the boat and floated out to sea.

In the evening, the first mate and boatswain begged the captain to cut off the foremast; which of course the captain was never willing to do. But the boatswain protested that if the captain did not agree to cut off the foremast, the ship would sink. In this way, the captain had no choice but to agree. But once the foremast on the ship was cut off, the mainmast swayed out of control in the wind, and the ship swayed violently, so they had to cut off the mainmast too. This leaves an empty deck.

Anyone can imagine how I felt at that time. Because I was just a young man sailing for the first time, and the small storm not long ago had scared me half to death, not to mention that I really encountered a big storm this time. At this moment, when I wrote down my feelings at that time, I felt that of course I was afraid of death at that time, but what scared me even more was the thought that I had violated the confession I had made not long ago, and that I was like in the previous crisis. The fear of making all kinds of decisions again is worse than my fear of death. Since I felt like this at that time, coupled with the fear of the storm, I can't describe that state of mind in words even now. But the scene at that time was not the worst! What's worse is that the storm is getting stronger and stronger. Even the sailors themselves admit that they have never encountered such a severe storm in their lives. Although our ship was strong, it was carrying too much cargo and had a deep draft, so it was rocking and bumping violently in the water. Only the sailors were heard shouting that the ship was sinking from time to time. At that time, I didn't know what "shen" meant, which was a good thing for me. Later I found out the truth after asking others. At this time, the wind and waves became more fierce, and I saw something I rarely see: the captain, boatswain, and other more thoughtful people were praying constantly, and they all felt that the ship was in danger of sinking at any time. In the middle of the night, the disaster worsened. Among those who went to check the bottom of the ship, one of them suddenly ran up and shouted: There is water in the bottom of the ship; then another sailor ran up and said that there was already four feet of water in the bottom of the ship. So everyone on the ship was called to pump water. When I heard water leaking from the bottom of the boat, I felt as if my heart suddenly stopped beating; I was sitting on the edge of the bed in my cabin, and suddenly I felt that I could no longer hold on, so I collapsed in the cabin. At this time, someone woke me up and told me that I couldn't do anything before, but now I could at least help pump water. After hearing this, I immediately cheered up, went to the water pump, and started working very hard. While everyone was pumping water with all their strength, the captain discovered that several small coal boats could not withstand the wind and waves and had to drift to the sea with the wind. When they passed near us, the captain ordered a shot to be fired as a signal for help. I didn't know why the gun was fired at the time. I was shocked when I heard the gunshot. I thought the ship had broken or something terrible had happened. In one sentence, I was so scared that I fainted next to the water pump.