Before I begin my story, I would like to tell you a little about myself.
I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York in the north of England. My father was German, but he came to live and work in England. Soon after that, he married my mother, who was English. Her family name was Robinson, so, when I was born, they called me Robinson, after her.
My father did well in his business and I went to a good school. He wanted me to get a good job and live a quiet, comfortable life. But I didnt want that. I wanted adventure and an exciting life.
“I want to be a sailor and go to sea,” I told my mother and father. They were very unhappy about this.
“Please dont go,” my father said. “You wont be happy, you know. Sailors have a difficult and dangerous life.” And because I loved him, and he was unhappy, I tried to forget about the sea.
But I couldnt forget, and about a year later, I saw a friend in town. His father had a ship, and my friend said to me, “Were sailing to London tomorrow. Why dont you come with us?”
And so, on September 1st, 1651, I went to Hull, and the next day we sailed for London.
But, a few days later, there was a strong wind. The sea was rough and dangerous, and the ship went up and down, up and down. I was very ill, and very afraid.
“Oh, I dont want to die!” I cried. “I want to live! If I live, Ill go home and never go to sea again!”
The next day the wind dropped, and the sea was quiet and beautiful again.
“Well, Bob,” my friend laughed. “How do you feel now? The wind wasnt too bad.”
“What!” I cried. “It was a terrible storm.”
“Oh, that wasnt a storm,” my friend answered. “Just a little wind. Forget it. Come and have a drink.”
After a few drinks with my friend, I felt better. I forgot about the danger and decided not to go home. I didnt want my friends and family to laugh at me!
I stayed in London for some time, but I still wanted to go to sea. So, when the captain of a ship asked me to go with him to Guinea in Africa, I agreed. And so I went to sea for the second time.
It was a good ship and everything went well at first, but I was very ill again. Then, when we were near the Canary Islands, a Turkish pirate ship came after us. They were famous thieves of the sea at that time. There was a long, hard fight, but when it finished, we and the ship were prisoners.
The Turkish captain and his men took us to Sallee in Morocco. They wanted to sell us as slaves in the markets there. But in the end the Turkish captain decided to keep me for himself, and took me home with him. This was a sudden and terrible change in my life. I was now a slave and this Turkish captain was my master.
在開始講我的故事之前,我想先向你們談一點(diǎn)我自己的情況。
1632年我出生于英國(guó)北部的約克郡。我父親是德國(guó)人,但他卻來(lái)到英國(guó)居住和工作。此后不久,他與我母親結(jié)了婚。我母親是英國(guó)人,娘家姓魯濱孫,因此,我出生后他們都沿用我母親的姓氏稱呼我為魯濱孫。
我父親在生意上做得很出色,并且我進(jìn)了一所好學(xué)校。他想我找到一份好工作,過平靜舒適的生活。但是我不想如此。我想要冒險(xiǎn)和刺激的生活。
“我想成為一名水手去航行。”我告訴父母親。他們對(duì)此很不高興。
“請(qǐng)別去,”父親說(shuō),“你不會(huì)幸福的,你知道的。水手們過著艱苦而危險(xiǎn)的生活。”因?yàn)槲覑鄹赣H,并且他不高興,我便盡力忘掉出海航行的事。
但我不可能忘記,大約一年后,我在鎮(zhèn)上遇到一個(gè)朋友。他的父親有一艘船,他對(duì)我說(shuō):“明天我們航行去倫敦。你為什么不和我們一起去呢?”
于是,1651年9月1日,我去了赫爾港,第二天我們起航前往倫敦。
但是,幾天后,刮起了狂風(fēng)。大海波濤洶涌,危機(jī)四伏,船不斷顛簸。我暈船暈得厲害,感到非常害怕。
“哦,我不想死!”我哭喊起來(lái),“我想活著!假如我活著,我要回家,再也不出海了!”
第二天,風(fēng)停了,大海又恢復(fù)了平靜和美麗。
“好了,鮑伯,”我的朋友笑著說(shuō),“現(xiàn)在你感覺如何?這風(fēng)并不是太嚴(yán)重?!?/p>
“什么!”我大叫起來(lái),“這可是一場(chǎng)可怕的風(fēng)暴?!?/p>
“哦,這不算風(fēng)暴,”我的朋友回答道,“僅僅是一陣小風(fēng)而已。忘記它吧。來(lái),喝一杯?!?/p>
和朋友喝了幾杯之后,我感覺好多了。我忘記了危險(xiǎn),決定不回家了。我不想我的朋友和家人嘲笑我!
我在倫敦待了一段時(shí)間,但我仍然想出海航行。所以,當(dāng)一位船長(zhǎng)讓我和他一起去非洲的幾內(nèi)亞時(shí),我答應(yīng)了。于是,我第二次去航海。
這是一艘好船,開始一切都很順利,但是我又暈船暈得厲害。此后,當(dāng)我們接近加納利群島時(shí),一艘土耳其海盜船跟上了我們。他們是當(dāng)時(shí)海上有名的海盜。雖然經(jīng)過了一場(chǎng)長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的激烈交火,但當(dāng)一切都結(jié)束時(shí),我們連人帶船都成了俘虜。
土耳其船長(zhǎng)和他的部下把我們帶到摩洛哥的薩利。他們想在那兒的市場(chǎng)上把我們當(dāng)作奴隸賣掉。但最后土耳其船長(zhǎng)決定把我留給他自己,帶我隨他回家。這是我人生中一次突然且可怕的變故。現(xiàn)在我成了奴隸,這位土耳其船長(zhǎng)是我的主人。
Word Study
rough /r?f/ adj. 洶涌的;風(fēng)浪很大的
It was too rough to sail that night.
up and down 起伏;上下波動(dòng)
The boat bobbed up and down on the water.
drop /dr?p/ v. (使)變?nèi)酰档?,減少
The temperature has dropped considerably.
slave /sle?v/ n. 奴隸