Robinson grusoe Part I

My name is Robinson Crusoe and I was born in the City of York. I always wanted to go to sea. One day, when I was eight­een years old, I went to Hull. There I met a boy whom I knew. The boy's father was the captain of a ship. That boy said to me, "Rob, do you want to sail on our ship? We start for London today."

I was very glad, of course, and agreed at once.

In the open sea we were caught in a terrible storm. Our ship struggled with the waves for a long time. Finally it went to the bottom and we were all thrown into the sea. A ship which was passing by sent a boat and saved us. In the morning we reached the shore.

I was very young then and soon forgot the terrible storm. I still wanted to be a sailor. I went to London. There I met the captain of a ship which was going to Africa. The captain was a very nice gentleman. We liked each other and soon became friends. The captain invited me to sail to Africa with him. Of course, I agreed with pleasure.

Our voyage to Africa was lucky. But when we came back to England, the captain died, and I had to go on my second voyage to Africa without my friend.

At first everything went well. The weather was fine and the sea was calm. But not far from the shores of Africa we met a ship with a black flag. It was a pirate ship and the pirates attacked us. Our sailors fought bravely, but the pirates were stronger. Some of our men were killed, and the others were taken pris­oner. When the pirate ship came to the port, the captain took me to his house and made me his slave.

I spent two years in the pirate captain's house.

Part II

When I opened my eyes, the storm was over. There was no wind and the sea was calm. Not far from the shore I saw our ship on the rocks. I decided to swim to it and try to get some clothes and food. I took off my coat and shoes and swam to­wards the ship. When I reached it, I climbed on board. First of all I saw the ship's dog and two cats. The poor animals were very glad to see me. I went to look for food. I was very glad when I found a lot of food. There was bread, cheese and meat. Then I walked about the ship to see what other things I could take with me. I found some tobacco, some clothes and a large box of tools. I also found some guns and two swords.

To carry all these things to the shore, I made a raft from parts of the ship. It was hard work for one man and I was very tired when the raft was at last ready.

I put everything on the raft. Of course, the dog and the cats came with me. I found an old oar and started back.

It was a very difficult journey. There was a strong wind now, and the waves could overturn the raft any minute. At last I reached the shore. How glad I was!

But I still knew nothing about the place where I was. There was a high hill not far away. I climbed to the top of that hill and saw water all around me. I could see no people or signs of peo­ple. So I was all alone on a desert island.

The next day I went to she ship again. This time I brought a bed and a sail out of which I made a tent. That night I slept on the bed in the tent and had a good rest.

I went to the ship every day and each time brought useful things like pieces of iron, planks, ropes, pens and ink, paper, some books, needles and thread, string, all the sails that I could find, the captain's guns, his spy-glasses and many other things.

On the thirteenth day there was a storm, and the ship broke, to pieces. When I looked at the sea there was nothing on the rocks. I was glad that I had so many things from the ship in my camp. I put up my tent by the side of the hill. I had a bed now, so I could sleep quite well at night. But I was afraid of wild animals, so I did not feel safe in my tent.

The side of the hill near which my tent stood, rose up very steeply; it was like a wall. On the other three sides I drove two rows of tall posts into the ground. I filled the spaces between the two rows of posts with pieces of thick heavy rope from the ship. So now my tent was surrounded by strong walls on all sides. I used a ladder to get in and out of my house. When I came home I pulled the ladder up after me. So I was quite safe when I Was in my house.

The rains on my island were very heavy. When it rained wa­ter came in through the roof of my tent. I had to think of a way to make a better roof. I decided to make a very large tent out of the sails from the ship. Then I put my smaller tent inside the big one. In this way I was safe from the rain.

Every day I took my gun and went out to look for food. My dog always went with me. There were a lot of birds and wild goats on the island. My food was the meat of wild goats and birds which I shot with my gun. Sometimes I found birds' nests in the rocks, then I had eggs for my breakfast. Once I shot at a young goat, but did not kill it. It could not run away because its leg was broken. I caught it and brought it home on a rope. I fed the goat and took care of it, and soon it became quite tame.