Даниэль Дефо - Робинзон Крузо / Robinson Crusoe

I was terribly frightened when I saw him running towards me. I thought that all the others would follow him, however only three men were pursuing him. The prisoner came to the river, and swam across. When the three persons came to the creek, I found that two of them could swim, but the third could not, and that, standing on the other side, he looked at the others, but went no farther, and soon after went softly back again; which, as it happened, was very well for him in the end. I observed that the two who swam were yet more than twice as strong swimming over the creek as the fellow was that fled from them. It came very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was the time to get me a servant, and, perhaps, a companion or assistant; and that I was plainly called by Providence to save this poor creature’s life. I took my guns and ran down to the shore. I hit the first one of the pursuers with my gun and knocked this fellow down. I walked towards the other: I perceived presently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at me: so I was then obliged to shoot at him first, which I did, and killed him at the first shot.

The poor savage who fled, but had stopped, though he saw both his enemies fallen and killed, as he thought, yet was so frightened with the fire and noise of my piece that he stood stock still, and neither came forward nor went backward, though he seemed rather inclined still to fly than to come on. I hallooed [153]again to him, and made signs to come forward, which he easily understood, and came a little way; then stopped again, and then a little farther, and stopped again; and I could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had been taken prisoner, and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies were. I beckoned to him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of encouragement that I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer, kneeling down every ten or twelve steps. When he came close to me, he knelt down and kissed the earth, after that he put his head upon the ground and took my foot upon his head in a sign of his obedience and loyalty. After that, ha stood up and run to his enemies, lying on the sand, and at one blow cut off his heads so cleverly, no executioner in Germany could have done it sooner or better. He made me signs that we should dig them up and eat them, however I made signs of vomiting and let him know how much I hated this idea.

He was a comely, handsome fellow, [154]perfectly well made, with straight, strong limbs, not too large; tall, and well-shaped; and, as I reckon, about twenty-six years of age. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce and surly aspect, but seemed to have something very manly in his face; and yet he had all the sweetness and softness of a European in his countenance, too, especially when he smiled. I told him that his name would be Friday, for the name of the day on which I saved his life. I took Friday to my castle, gave him some bread and rum, to feel better and pointed to the blanket (the old goat’s skin) to sleep for some time. During the sleeping hour I observed that savages with their canoed were gone.

After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half-an-hour, he awoke again, and came out of the cave to me: for I had been milking my goats which I had in the enclosure just by: when he espied me he came running to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an humble, thankful disposition, making a great many antic gestures to show it.

Till that day we began to live together. I began to speak to Friday and teach him how to speak to me, and that was a great joy for me, for I spent about seventeen years on the island, listening nor the human speech, nor some other sounds of human being. I made a little tent for him in the vacant place between my two fortifications, in the inside of the last, and in the outside of the first. I made clothes for him with hare’s and goat’s skin.

I thought that, in order to bring Friday off from his horrid way of feeding, [155]and from the relish of a cannibal’s stomach, I ought to let him taste other flesh; so I took him out with me one morning to the woods. I went, indeed, intending to kill a kid out of my own flock; and bring it home and dress it. I took the kid’s skin off, and cut it out as well as I could; and having a pot fit for that purpose, I boiled or stewed some of the flesh, and made some very good broth. [156]After I had begun to eat some I gave some to my man, who seemed very glad of it, and liked it very well. He enjoyed it so much, that he told me he would never again eat man’s flesh and I was very glad to hear that.

All the years that I spent on island with Friday were the most wonderful of all the life I led in this place. Friday began to talk pretty well, and understand the names of almost everything I had occasion to call for, and of every place I had to send him to, and talked a great deal to me; so that, in short, I began now to have some use for my tongue again, which, indeed, I had very little occasion for before. He was very good pupil and I was not so bad teacher: I taught him how to plant corn and barley, how to use the guns, how to milk my goats, to make butter and cheese. I began now to consider, that having two mouths to feed instead of one, I must provide more ground for my harvest, and plant a larger quantity of corn than I used to do; so I marked out a larger piece of land, and began the fence in the same manner as before, however now it wasn’t a difficult task for me, for I had four work-hands now. We speak a lot about the God, and sometimes I read Bible stories aloud.

Friday told me a lot of things about the people of his barbarian nation and the nations nearby. He told, that at a great distance from his nation on the main land there lived white people like me, and that they were very cruel, for they killed lots of savages. I asked him if I could go from my island to the place where the other white men were. However he said I could, but I would need something like ship, or at last a very big canoe. We made several attempts to build a canoe with an iron wood, but all the attempts were unsuccessful. So I resigned to my fate again. Years passed, and one morning I observed, that there were twenty seven circles on my wooden calendar – so I lived on the island for 27 years.

One morning, the strange and unforeseen accident intervened, of which the like has not, perhaps, been heard of in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning, when my man Friday came running in to me, and called aloud, “Master, master, there is a ship. A very big ship!” I could not believe my ears, as I aited for the appearance of the ship for 27 long years!

I was surprised when, turning my eyes to the sea, I presently saw a ship on the horizon [157]and boat at about a league and a half distance, standing in for the shore. At first, I was about to start screaming loudly, calling for help, shooting with all the guns to make people in the boat to notice me. However, we might not know yet whether they were friends or enemies. Upon this I called Friday in, and bade him lie close. In the next place I went in to fetch my perspective glass to see what I could make of them; and having taken the ladder out, I climbed up to the top of the hill, as I used to do when I was apprehensive of anything, and to take my view the plainer without being discovered.

I saw the boat land on the beach. There were eight men, sitting in the boat, and three were lying in the bottom of the vessel, bound with ropes. When they rich the shore, the three prisoners started crying out to the others, begging for mercy. I was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not what the meaning of it should be. Friday called out to me in English, as well as he could, “O master! you see English mans eat prisoner as well as savage mans.” “Why, Friday,” says I, “do you think they are going to eat them, then?” “Yes,” says Friday, “they will eat them.” “No no,” says I, “Friday; I am afraid they will murder them, indeed; but you may be sure they will not eat them.”