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7 Man Friday |
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For two years I never went anywhere without my gun. |
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I felt lonely and afraid, and had many sleepless nights. |
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One night there was a very bad storm, |
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And I thought I heard the sound of guns out at sea. |
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The next morning I looked out, and saw a ship. |
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It was lying on its side not far from the shore. |
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Quickly, I put my little boat in the water and sailed out to it. |
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There were two dead men on the ship, but no one alive. |
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The bodies of the other sailors were lost in the sea. |
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I took some clothes and tools, and also a box of Spanish gold and silver money. |
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I was a rich man now, but what use was money to me? |
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I could not buy anything with it. |
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I wanted people, a friend, somebody to talk to |
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Somebody who could help me escape from my island. |
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One morning I woke up and made a plan. |
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' I' ll try to catch one of the prisoners of the wild men,' I said to myself. |
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' He' ll be happy to be alive and perhaps he' ll help me to escape.' |
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I watched day and night, but for a year and a half there were no boats. |
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Then one day five boats came. |
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There were about thirty men and they had two prisoners. |
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They made their fire on the sand and danced round it. |
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Then they killed one of the prisoners and began to cook their terrible meal. |
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The second prisoner waited under the trees, with two men to watch him. |
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Suddenly, the prisoner turned and ran. |
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The two men ran after him, but the other wild men were busy round the fire |
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And did not see what was happening. |
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The prisoner ran like a wild goat, |
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And soon I saw that he was coming near the bottom of my hill. |
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As fast as I could, I ran down the hill |
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And jumped out of the trees between the prisoner and the two wild men. |
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I hit the first man with the wooden end of my gun and he fell down, |
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But I had to shoot the second man. The poor prisoner did not move. |
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He was afraid of the noise of my gun. |
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I called to him and tried to show him that I was friendly. |
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Slowly, he moved nearer to me, |
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But just then the first wild man began to get up from the ground. |
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Then the prisoner spoke and I understood that he wanted my sword. |
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How happy I was to hear words again! |
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I gave him my sword, and at once he cut off the head of his enemy. |
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Hurriedly, we hid the dead bodies under some leaves, and then left quickly. |
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I took my prisoner to my secret cave on the other side of the island |
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And gave him food and drink. After that, he went to sleep. |
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He was a fine young man, about twentyfive years old, |
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Tall and well built, with a kind face and a nice smile. |
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He had a brown skin, black hair, bright eyes and strong white teeth. |
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I decided to give him the name of' Man Friday', because I first saw him on a Friday. |
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When he woke up in the morning, he ran out to me. |
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I was milking my goats in the field, |
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And he got down on the ground and put his head near my foot. |
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I understood that he was thanking me, and I tried to show him that I was his friend. |
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I began to teach him to speak English, |
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And soon he could say his name,' Master', and' Yes' and' No'. |
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How good it was to hear a man' s voice again! |
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Later that day we went back to my first house. |
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We went carefully along the beach, but there were no boats and no wild men. |
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Just blood and bones all over the sand. I felt ill, |
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But Friday wanted to eat the pieces of men' s bodies which were still on the ground. |
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I showed him that this was terrible for me, and he understood. |
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When we got to my house, I gave Man Friday some trousers, |
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And I made him a coat and a hat. He liked his new clothes very much. |
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Then I made him a little tent to sleep in, |
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But for a few weeks I always took my gun to bed with me. |
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Perhaps Friday was still a wild man and would try to kill me in the night. |
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At first, Friday was very afraid of my gun. |
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Sometimes he talked to it, and asked it not to kill him. |
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Friday was a quick learner and his English got better day by day. |
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He helped me with the goats and with the work in the cornfields, |
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And soon we were good friends. |
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I enjoyed teaching him and, most of all, having a friend to talk to. |
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This was the happiest of all my years on the island. |
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Friday and I lived together happily for three years. |
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I told him the story of my adventures and about life in England, |
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And he told me about his country and his people. |
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One day we were at the top of the highest hill on the island, |
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And we were looking out to sea. |
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It was a very clear day and we could see a long way. |
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Suddenly, Friday began to jump up and down, very excited. |
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' What' s the matter?' I said. |
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' Look, Master, look!' Friday cried.' I can see my country. Look over there!' |
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I looked, and there to the northwest, between the sea and the sky, |
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Was a long thin piece of land. I learnt later that it was the island of Trinidad, |
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And that my island was in the mouth of the River Orinoco |
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On the north coast of South America. |
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I began to think again about escape. Perhaps Friday wanted to go home too. |
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Perhaps together we could get to his country. But what then? |
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Would Friday still be my friend, or would his people kill me and eat me? |
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I took Friday to the other side of the island and showed him my big canoe. |
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It still lay under the trees. It was very old now, and there were holes in the wood. |
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' Could a boat like this sail to your country, Friday?' I asked him. |
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' Oh yes,' he answered.' A boat like this can carry a lot of food and drink.' |
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' Then we' ll make another canoe like it, and you can go home in it,' I said. |
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But Friday looked very unhappy.' Why are you angry with me?' he asked. |
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' What have I done? Why do you want to send me home?' |
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' But I thought you wanted to go home,' I said. |
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' Yes. But you must come with me. |
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Kill me if you want, but don' t send me away from you!' |
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Then I saw that Friday was a true friend, and so I agreed to go with him. |
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We began work on the canoe at once. |
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Friday chose the tree himself he understood wood better than I did |
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And we cut it down. We worked hard and in a month the boat was finished. |
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Two weeks later it was in the sea, and we began to get ready for our long journey. |