Robinson Crusoe
Chp1: Alone on a Desert Island
I was born in 1632, in the city of York, in the north of England. My father, who was a foreigner, had settled there. I was the youngest of his three sons and perhaps the most rebellious, doing whatever I liked and never obeying anyone.
My father wanted me to become a lawyer, but my only wish was to become a sailor. My father tried to make me see the dangers of a sailor's life, but as I was young and foolish, I did not listen to his advice. While I was visiting a friend in the seaport of Hull, I sailed in a ship for the first time. I was so excited that I decided at once to become a sailor, without waiting for my father's permission. I soon discovered what it was like to be seasick, and also how fierce and terrible a storm at sea could be. However, I was not willing to give up a sailor's life.
Eight years later, I was to have the greatest adventure of my life. In the meantime, I had left England and settled in Brazil, where I bought some land and started a sugarcane plantation. I soon became rich, but I always had a strongdesire to return to the sea. I saw that there was a lot of money to be made in the slave trade and became a sailor on a slave-ship, sailing to the west coast of Africa in search of slaves who could be brought back on our ship and sold for a profit.
There were fourteen of us in all, the captain. twelve other sailors and I.
A terrible storm arose when we were sailing close to the African coast, and for twelve days, our ship was tossed about by the angry waves. We felt sure it was going to sink. We decided to head for some place on the shore where we could repair the ship but were caught in a second storm and driven back into the sea. On the third day, however, one of the sailors saw land. We rushed out onto the deck to look and saw that the shore was not too far away. We had to leave the ship quickly, before it sank. We lowered a small boat and rowed towards the land. But a wave as high as a mountain came down on us and turned our little boat over.
We were thrown into the sea. For some time, I did not know where I was. Then I found myself being lifted by a second and a third wave and finally carried to the shore. I lay quiet for sometime, feeling more dead than alive. Ivomited out all the salt water from my stomach. When I felt a little better, I went down on my knees and thanked God for saving my life. As far as I could see, I was the only one of the ship's crew to have reached the shore alive. The others must have drowned.
As I looked around, however, I began to get frightened. How was I going to stay alive in this unknown place? I was wet and hungry and had no food or fresh clothing. It was getting dark; there might be dangerous animals around. I decided to climb up a tree and spend the night there.