鲁宾孙飘流记 英文版 Robinson Crusoe
丹尼尔.笛福 Daniel Defoe
CHAPTER II - SLAVERY AND ESCAPE Page 2
Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on shore somewhere orother for water, for we had not a pint left in the boat; when andwhere to get to it was the point. Xury said, if I would let him goon shore with one of the jars, he would find if there was anywater, and bring some to me. I asked him why he would go? why Ishould not go, and he stay in the boat? The boy answered with somuch affection as made me love him ever after. Says he, "If wildmans come, they eat me, you go wey." "Well, Xury," said I, "wewill both go and if the wild mans come, we will kill them, theyshall eat neither of us." So I gave Xury a piece of rusk bread toeat, and a dram out of our patron's case of bottles which Imentioned before; and we hauled the boat in as near the shore as wethought was proper, and so waded on shore, carrying nothing but ourarms and two jars for water.
I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the comingof canoes with savages down the river; but the boy seeing a lowplace about a mile up the country, rambled to it, and by-and-by Isaw him come running towards me. I thought he was pursued by somesavage, or frighted with some wild beast, and I ran forward towardshim to help him; but when I came nearer to him I saw somethinghanging over his shoulders, which was a creature that he had shot,like a hare, but different in colour, and longer legs; however, wewere very glad of it, and it was very good meat; but the great joythat poor Xury came with, was to tell me he had found good waterand seen no wild mans.
But we found afterwards that we need not take such pains for water,for a little higher up the creek where we were we found the waterfresh when the tide was out, which flowed but a little way up; sowe filled our jars, and feasted on the hare he had killed, andprepared to go on our way, having seen no footsteps of any humancreature in that part of the country.
As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I knew very wellthat the islands of the Canaries, and the Cape de Verde Islandsalso, lay not far off from the coast. But as I had no instrumentsto take an observation to know what latitude we were in, and notexactly knowing, or at least remembering, what latitude they werein, I knew not where to look for them, or when to stand off to seatowards them; otherwise I might now easily have found some of theseislands. But my hope was, that if I stood along this coast till Icame to that part where the English traded, I should find some oftheir vessels upon their usual design of trade, that would relieveand take us in.
By the best of my calculation, that place where I now was must bethat country which, lying between the Emperor of Morocco'sdominions and the negroes, lies waste and uninhabited, except bywild beasts; the negroes having abandoned it and gone farther southfor fear of the Moors, and the Moors not thinking it worthinhabiting by reason of its barrenness; and indeed, both forsakingit because of the prodigious number of tigers, lions, leopards, andother furious creatures which harbour there; so that the Moors useit for their hunting only, where they go like an army, two or threethousand men at a time; and indeed for near a hundred milestogether upon this coast we saw nothing but a waste, uninhabitedcountry by day, and heard nothing but howlings and roaring of wildbeasts by night.
Once or twice in the daytime I thought I saw the Pico of Teneriffe,being the high top of the Mountain Teneriffe in the Canaries, andhad a great mind to venture out, in hopes of reaching thither; buthaving tried twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds, thesea also going too high for my little vessel; so, I resolved topursue my first design, and keep along the shore.
Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water, after we hadleft this place; and once in particular, being early in morning, wecame to an anchor under a little point of land, which was prettyhigh; and the tide beginning to flow, we lay still to go fartherin. Xury, whose eyes were more about him than it seems mine were,calls softly to me, and tells me that we had best go farther offthe shore; "For," says he, "look, yonder lies a dreadful monster onthe side of that hillock, fast asleep." I looked where he pointed,and saw a dreadful monster indeed, for it was a terrible, greatlion that lay on the side of the shore, under the shade of a pieceof the hill that hung as it were a little over him. "Xury," saysI, "you shall on shore and kill him." Xury, looked frighted, andsaid, "Me kill! he eat me at one mouth!" - one mouthful he meant.However, I said no more to the boy, but bade him lie still, and Itook our biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and loaded itwith a good charge of powder, and with two slugs, and laid it down;then I loaded another gun with two bullets; and the third (for wehad three pieces) I loaded with five smaller bullets. I took thebest aim I could with the first piece to have shot him in the head,but he lay so with his leg raised a little above his nose, that theslugs hit his leg about the knee and broke the bone. He startedup, growling at first, but finding his leg broken, fell down again;and then got upon three legs, and gave the most hideous roar thatever I heard. I was a little surprised that I had not hit him onthe head; however, I took up the second piece immediately, andthough he began to move off, fired again, and shot him in the head,and had the pleasure to see him drop and make but little noise, butlie struggling for life. Then Xury took heart, and would have melet him go on shore. "Well, go," said I: so the boy jumped intothe water and taking a little gun in one hand, swam to shore withthe other hand, and coming close to the creature, put the muzzle ofthe piece to his ear, and shot him in the head again, whichdespatched him quite.
This was game indeed to us, but this was no food; and I was verysorry to lose three charges of powder and shot upon a creature thatwas good for nothing to us. However, Xury said he would have someof him; so he comes on board, and asked me to give him the hatchet."For what, Xury?" said I. "Me cut off his head," said he.However, Xury could not cut off his head, but he cut off a foot,and brought it with him, and it was a monstrous great one.
I bethought myself, however, that, perhaps the skin of him might,one way or other, be of some value to us; and I resolved to takeoff his skin if I could. So Xury and I went to work with him; butXury was much the better workman at it, for I knew very ill how todo it. Indeed, it took us both up the whole day, but at last wegot off the hide of him, and spreading it on the top of our cabin,the sun effectually dried it in two days' time, and it afterwardsserved me to lie upon.