Английский язык с Робинзоном Крузо
Шрифт:
looked up as if asking for more.
After this I went on board. A sad sight met my eyes. For in the cookroom I saw
two sailors who had been drowned, with their arms fast around each other.
I suppose that when the ship struck the waves dashed all over her and the men had
no way of escape. Those who were not swept overboard were drowned between decks.
Besides the dog there was no other live thing on board.
I found some chests that had belonged to the sailors. With much labor I got two of
them into the canoe without stopping to look inside of them.
Besides these chests, I took a fire shovel and tongs, which I needed very much. I
found, also, two little brass kettles, a gridiron, and a large copper pot.
The tide was now setting in toward the island again. So, with the few goods I had
found and the poor dog, I started for home.
By keeping on the outside of the eddying current I had no trouble in bringing the
canoe safe to land. The sun was almost down when I anchored her in a little inlet just off
the point of rocks.
I was so tired that I could do nothing more that day. So, after eating my supper, of
which I gave the dog a good share, I lay down in the canoe and went to sleep.
I slept very soundly, and did not wake until morning.
In looking over my goods, I made up my mind to store them in my new cave in
the woods. For that was much nearer than my home castle.
When I opened the chests I found several things that I was very glad to get.
In one I found two jars of very good sweetmeats. They were so well corked that
the salt water had not harmed them. There were two other jars of the same kind; but they
were open at the top, and the water had spoiled the sweetmeats.
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In the other chest there were some good shirts, which I needed very much. There
were also about a dozen and a half of white linen handkerchiefs. I was very glad to find
these, for they would be pleasant to wipe my face with on a hot day.
In a secret drawer of the first chest I found three bags of Spanish money. I
counted eleven hundred pieces of silver.
At the bottom of one of the bags there were six Spanish gold pieces, each worth
about fifteen dollars. These were wrapped up in a piece of paper.
At the bottom of the other bag there were some small bars of gold. I suppose there
was at least a pound of these yellow pieces.
After all, I got very little by this voyage. I had no use for the money. It was worth
no more to me than the dust under my feet. I would have given it all for a pair of good
shoes or some stockings for my feet.
After I had carried everything to my cave I took the canoe back to her old harbor
on the farther side of the island. Then I returned to my castle, where I found everything in
good order.
And now I began to live easily again. I was as watchful as before, and never went
from my castle without looking carefully around.
I seldom went to the other side of the island. When I visited my cave in the
woods, or went to see my goats, I took good care to be well armed.
I HAVE A QUEER DREAM (я
TWO years passed without any alarms (без тревог; alarm — /боевая/ тревога),
and I was beginning to think that nothing would ever again happen to disturb the quiet of
my life (что ничто никогда не случится опять, что могло бы нарушить спокойствие
моей жизни).
One night in the rainy season of March I could not sleep. I lay for hours in my
hammock and was not able to close my eyes (лежал часами в гамаке и не мог
сомкнуть глаз).
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I was thinking, thinking, thinking.
I thought of all that had ever happened to me both before and after my shipwreck
(что случилось со мной до и после кораблекрушения).
I thought of my first happy years on the island (о первых счастливых годах на
острове).
I thought of the fear and care that I had lived in ever since I saw the first footprint
in the sand (думал о страхе и заботах, в которых я жил постоянно с того времени,
как я увидел первый отпечаток ноги в песке).
Then I thought of my great desire to see my native land once more (большом
желании увидеть мою родную землю еще раз), and to have friends and companions
with whom I could talk.
These thoughts brought to mind the savages of whom I had so great a dread (эти
мысли вызвали в уме дикарей, которых я столь боялся), and I began to ask myself a
thousand questions about them.
How far off was the coast from which they came (как далеко был берег, с
которого они приплывали)?
Why did they come to my island from so great a distance (с такого большого
расстояния)?
What kind of boats did they have?
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