Английский язык с Робинзоном Крузо
Шрифт:
be near enough to hear the sound.
I was afraid to build a fire at my castle, lest the smoke should be seen.
At last I carried some of my pots and kettles to my hidden field in the woods. I
could do my cooking there much more safely than at my castle.
Hardly had I put things in order there when I found something that made me very
glad. What do you suppose it was?
It was a cave — a real cave. The door into it was through a little hollow place at
the bottom of a great rock. It was so well hidden that no one could have found it even by
looking for it.
Shall I tell you how I came upon it?
I was afraid to make a smoke near my house, and yet I could not live without
cooking meat. I tried all kinds of dry wood, and yet there was always some smoke. Then
I thought I would try charcoal. But I must first make the charcoal.
I found a place in the darkest part of the woods where the smoke would hardly
rise to the tops of the trees. There I built my charcoal pit.
This was done in the following way:
First, I cleared off a round space about ten feet in diameter. Here I dug out the
earth till I made a pit about a foot deep. Then I cut a cord or more of wood and piled it up
in this space. I piled it up until it was almost as high as my shoulders. I covered it a foot
deep with earth and turf, leaving a small open place at the bottom.
When this was done, I set fire to the wood through the hole in the bottom. It
burned slowly. The wood became charcoal.
One day, while cutting wood for my charcoal pit, I happened to see a hollow
place in the rock close by a tree I was chopping.
It was half covered with brush. I pushed this aside and looked in. I saw a little
cave just large enough for me to creep into on my hands and knees.
But, a little farther in, it was larger. It was so high that I could stand upright, and
it was so wide that two men could have walked in it side by side.
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It was a very dark place, and I stood still a moment till my eyes should become a
little used to it.
All at once I saw something in the darkness that made me scramble out of that
place much faster than I had come into it.
What do you think it was? Two big shining eyes that glowed like coals in the
darkness. Whether they were the eyes of a man or of some fierce beast, I did not stop to
see.
I stood a little while by the mouth of the cave and then I began to get over my
fright.
What could there be in this cave that would do me harm? No man could live there
in the darkness. As for any animal, I knew there was nothing fiercer on the island than
one of my cats.
So, with a blazing stick for a torch, I crept back into the cave. But I had not gone
three steps before I was frightened almost as much as before.
I heard a loud sigh, like that of a man in trouble. Then there were low moans, and
sounds as of some one trying to speak.
I stopped short. Cold chills ran down my back. My hair seemed to stand on end.
But I would not allow myself to run out again.
I pushed my little torch forward into the darkness, as far as I could. The blaze lit
up the cave. And what do you suppose I saw then?
Why, nothing but a shaggy old goat that I had missed from my flock for nearly a
week past.
He was stretched on the floor of the cave, and too weak to rise up. He was a very
old fellow, and perhaps had gone in there to die.
I gave him some food and water, and made him as comfortable as I could. But he
was too far gone to live long.
I found that, although I could stand up in the cave, it was very small. It was only a
hole in the rocks, and was neither round nor square.
But at the end of this little chamber there seemed to be a passage that led farther
in. This passage was very narrow and dark, and as my torch had burned out, I did not try
to follow it.
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I went back to my wood chopping.
I EXPLORE MY CAVE FURTHER (я исследую мою пещеру дальше)
THE next day I brought out with me six big candles (на следующий день в
вынес с собой шесть больших свечей).
For you must know that I was a candle maker (так как вы должны знать, что я
был создателем свечей = делал свечи) as well as a baker (равно как и пекарем).
Indeed, I made very good candles of goats' tallow, using some bits of old ropes for the
wicks (в самом деле, я делал очень хорошие свечи из сала коз, использую куски
веревки для фитилей).
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www
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As I have just said, I took six candles with me, for I had made up my mind to
learn more about the cave I had found (как я только что сказал, я взял шесть свечей