did the pigeons know they could fly away, or was that just growing into instinct?
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5 Crusoe Grows Corn
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did the pigeons know they could fly away, or was that just growing into instinct?
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Robinson Crusoe
5 Crusoe Grows Corn
Every day I went around the forest, and discovered something new. When I found a kind of wild pigeon, I took the young ones home, and tried to tame them to make them into pets. But when they grew older, they all flew away.
In the evening I could not do anything, for I did not have a candle. It grew dark around seven o'clock, and I had to go straight to bed and lie there with nothing to do. I then decided to make a candle. Whenever I killed a goat, I saved the fat from its body in a little mud dish. Into this I put a piece of rope, which would burn and give me light. I now had a nice lamp; it did not give me a clear light like a candle, but it was enough to see in the dark.
I then grew some grain-but it was by accident! This is how it happened. I had found a little bag of grain in the ship. The rats had eaten all the grain, and there was nothing in the bag except the dry outer husks. I wanted to use the bag, so I shook the dry corn husks out into the ground.
I had forgotten all about the husks. Soon therains came, and one day, I was surprised to see something green sending up new shoots from the ground. What it could be? Was it some plant I had seen before? It was not long before ten or twelve ears of corn came out! I thought that this was very strange-grain growing out of nothing. It seemed as if this was God's way of giving me food, and tears of happiness came into my eyes.
I went all over the island, and looked under every rock to see if there was any more grain growing, but I found none. At last, I remembered the husks of the grain I had thrown out in front of my house, and realised what had happened. They had lain over there, and had sprouted when the rains came.
I carefully saved half the ears of corn, and sowed them again. But I sowed them just before the dry season, and did not get a good crop. It was not the right time, and all my plants withered. The next year I took greater care, and sowed them at the proper time. The rains made the plants grow, and soon I had a good crop.
As the years passed, I learnt more and more about farming. Several years later, I could start to make my own bread, but not before I had increased my crop of corn.
Thoughts
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the part where he messed up the first crop and had to start over. that's just how it actually happens.
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that moment when he realizes what actually happened with the husks. just sat with that one.
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the accidental corn thing genuinely feels magical. idk, maybe it's obvious to everyone else but i still can't believe it happened.
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are you reading through the whole book for a class, or picking out the passages that stick?
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did the pigeons know they could fly away, or was that just growing into instinct?