c09

Chapter 9
A Footprint in the Sand
I looked around me, but I did not see anyone. My heart was pounding. Could it be, after all these years, someone had found me?
A few seconds later I heard the voice again. It was then that I realized that it was Polly the parrot! All the time I had spent teaching her to talk had been successful! I burst out laughing.
I decided that I did not want to travel anymore for some time. I wanted to have my boat with me, but it had taken so long to make it, and sailing was difficult. So I decided that it could stay where it was.
I still did not have any cooking pots, so I decided to improve my building skills and make some. It took me a very long time, but I figured out how to make things with wet clay. From this clay I was able to make myself a pipe and some cooking pots.
I also made more baskets. I became very good at this. 
More years passed. By the time I had been on the island for ten years, I could do many things. I could build things from wood; I could make pots, and very beautiful baskets. My mother would have been proud of me!
By now my supply of gun powder and bullets was very small. I started to think about how I would go hunting when I could not use my guns any more.
I decided to make some goat traps. These worked very well. One morning I found a mother goat and her children in one of the traps. There were two little females and a male.
I let the mother goat go, and after I had tied the three little ones together, I led them home. I began to build a fenced-in area for them in an open field. This area had enough grass and water to keep them happy. When I was done with the fence, I set my three goats free in it.
Within a year, I had twelve goats, and a year later I had thirty-three of them. They certainly liked to have babies! Now I had goats meat to eat and their milk to drink. I taught myself how to make butter and cheese from this milk as well.
Sometimes when I ate, I imagined myself the king of the island, sitting with my animal friends— Polly my old dog, and two cats who had come to live with me.
"But I certainly don't look like a king!" I said to myself one day I looked like a wild man in my goat skin clothes! My crown was a large, goat skin cap. My robes were a goat skin jacket that reached to the middle of my legs. I was wearing goat skin pants and pieces of goat skin wrapped round my feet for shoes. I probably looked like a goat.
I had a belt around my waist. On this belt were a saw and a hatchet for cutting down trees. I had a place to carry two pouches, one for my gun powder and another for my bullets. I had a basket, a gun, and an umbrella with me to protect me from the sun.
I had been walking along the beach, but suddenly I stopped. There was a footprint in the sand. I looked all around but I saw no one. I ran up and down the beach, shouting, “Hello? Hello?" but no one answered.
I wondered if the footprint belonged to someone friendly. It would be pleasant to talk to another man after so many years! But then I thought it might be a savage's footprint. This scared me terribly I ran back to my house quickly and gathered my guns.
I did not sleep at all that night. I thought I would be attacked by terrible people at any second. I had all kinds of crazy ideas about the footprint.
Maybe it was the devil, trying to trick me!
Maybe God put the footprint there to scare me, as a punishment for all the things I did wrong!
When I calmed down, I decided that the footprint was made by a person. He had taken a canoe from the nearby land, and the wind must have blown him to my island.
For the next day I did not leave the house. But I had to go outside when my food and water ran out.
Very soon I felt normal again. I laughed at my fears. There had been no one but me on the island, for more than ten years. Why would someone come here now? While I was milking my goats I had the idea that the footprint was mine.
The more I thought of it, the more I believed that this was true.
I walked back to the footprint, sure that I was right. But then I saw that the footprint was bigger than my own foot! Someone had been here, then!
It was almost impossible for me to believe that, after so many years, someone had visited the island, or was living on it. I did not understand what had happened, so I tried to forget about it. Soon things returned to normal. I lived my life with almost the same freedom as before.
But one day I was looking out at the ocean from the top of a hill. I saw a little boat leaving the island. I waited until it had disappeared. Then I ran to the part of the island where the boat had left from.
When I reached the beach, I saw a horrible sight. The ground was covered with human bones! They were in a huge hole in the ground. The remains of a large fire were next to the bones. I realized immediately what had happened.
Whoever had made the fire had cooked and eaten those people.
My island had been visited by cannibals—men who liked to eat other men!
From that day on, I went to my house and my  garden, but nowhere else. I always had guns with me. I did not shoot the guns too often, in case the savages might hear the sound. Luckily I had plenty of goats to eat, so I no longer needed to hunt in the forest.
The thought of people eating other people made me angry. I decided to try to catch the savages and save their prisoners, if I could!
My chance to do this came eighteen months later. One morning I saw five canoes on the beach near my house. When I climbed to the top of a tree to get a better view I saw thirty naked men dancing around a fire, a little distance from the boats.
Keeping still so they would not see me, I saw them take two prisoners out of the canoes.
As soon as they were on the beach, one of the savages hit one of the prisoners with a large, thick stick. As soon as he was on the ground, the savages ran to him and started to cut the meat from his bones. They threw the meat on the fire, laughing. The man's screams were horrible to hear—even now I shake when I think about them!
While the savages killed this man, the other  victim was left standing alone. Clearly he saw his chance to escape, because he ran along the beach towards me.
I knew then that I had to save the poor man's life.
By now; two of the savages were chasing the man. I jumped out of the tree and picked up my guns. I ran just to the edge of the trees, where they met the beach. Now the running man and the savages who were chasing him were far from the others. I was close to the prisoner.
I called to the prisoner, and told him to come to me very quickly. When the savages saw me, they stopped in surprise. Quickly, I hit the first savage with my large gun and he fell to the ground. The other savage took a bow and arrow from his shoulders and pointed it at me. But one shot from my gun killed him instantly!
By this time, the prisoner was by my side. He stared in amazement at my gun. I saw that he did not know how this thing could have killed a man so easily.
He fell to his knees and kissed my feet. Then  he picked up my right foot and put it on his head. I thought he was trying to say, "I am your slave forever."
He stood up, and we went towards the man whom I had hit with my gun. As we came near, I raised my gun, but the man suddenly pointed to my large knife, then to himself. Immediately I understood what he wanted. I gave it to him, and watched as with one quick, strong movement, he cut the savage's head off.
He picked the head up by the hair, and laid it at my feet along with the sword.
I pointed in the direction of my house, and motioned for him to go with me. But the prisoner first pointed to the two dead bodies on the ground, and then to the place where the other savages were still dancing around the fire. Clearly they did not know what had happened.
I understood that the prisoner wanted to bury the bodies, so that the other man-eating savages would not find them.
I nodded, and he began to work. When he was done, he followed me to my house. The house was so well hidden by bushes and trees that the savages would never find us there.
The prisoner was a good-looking man, with strong, straight arms and legs. He was tall and very strong. He seemed young, about twenty-six years old.
I knew he must be hungry so I gave him some milk and showed him how to drink it. Then I taught him how to dip pieces of bread in the milk.
If the man was going to live with me, he had to have a name, of course. I named him Friday which was the day of the week that day Then I taught him my name, which was to be Master.
I kept him with me all that night. After so many years alone, it was very nice to have some company even if he could not speak to me. The next morning we went to see if the savages had left the island.
The beach looked terrible. The sand was covered with human bones, and it was colored red with blood.
When we were sure the savages had gone, I got Friday to gather all the remains of the human bodies together. When that was done, we lit a fire and burned them all to ashes.
We went back to my home. I gave my man Friday some clothes, for he only had a cloth around his waist. Then I began to make him a goat skin coat and a hat made of rabbit skin.
The next thing to be done was to decide where he was to live. He could not stay in my house with me. If he was going to be my servant, he could not live so close to his master So, I built him a tent next to my house, and he seemed to like this very much.  
第九章
沙滩上的一个脚印
我四下张望，但一个人也没看到。我 的心怦怦直跳。过了这么多年，是有人发 现了我吗？
几秒钟后，我又听到了这个声音。这 时，我才意识到是鹦鹉波尔！教她说话的 时间毕竟没有白费！我大笑起来。
我决定这一阵子不再进行任何旅行。 我想身边有条船，但我花了很长的时间制 造它，而且航行很困难。因此，我决定让 它停在它原来的地方。
我还是没有烹饪用的盆盆罐罐，因而 我决定提高自己的手艺做一些。我用了很 长时间，学会了如何用湿黏土做这些东西。 用这种黏土，我做了一个烟斗和一些烹饪 用的盆盆罐罐。
我还编了更多的篮子，而且手艺相当好。
日复一日，年复一年。当我在岛上待 了 10年时，我学会做许多事了。我会用木 头做东西；我可以做盆盆罐罐和很漂亮的 篮子。我母亲肯定会为我而自豪的！
正在此时，我的火药和子弹所剩不多 了。我开始考虑当弹药耗尽时，如何打猎。
• 我决定设置陷阱捕捉山羊，这相当有 效。一天早上，我发现一个陷阱里有一只 老母羊和三只小羊——两只母的和一只 公的。
我放走了那只老母羊，把三只小羊拴 在一起，牵回家。我开始在空旷的草地上 为它们修一圈栅栏，里面有足够的草和水 让它们快活地生长。完工时，我把三只小 羊自由地放养在里面。
一年之内，我就有12只羊了，一年 后，我有了 33只羊。它们肯定喜欢生儿育 女！现在，我有羊肉吃，有羊奶喝。我还 学会了如何用羊奶做奶油和奶酪。
有时在吃饭时，我把自己想象成一个 岛国的国王，和我的动物朋友们坐在一 起----波尔、老狗和那两只回来和我同住 的猫。
“但我肯定不像国王!” 一天我自言自 语道。我看起来像一个穿羊皮的野人！我 的王冠是一顶大大的羊皮帽子。我的长袍 是一件羊皮做的夹克，下摆长至腿的中部。 我穿着羊皮裤，用几块羊皮裹住脚当鞋子。 我看起来可能更像一只山羊。
我在腰上系了一条带子，上面挂着一 把锯和砍树用的斧头。我带着两个口袋, 一个装火药，另一个装子弹。我有一个篮 子，一杆枪和一把遮阳伞。
我一直沿海滩走着，但突然停下了脚 步。沙地上有一个脚印。我环顾四周，但 一个人也没看见。我在海滩上跑来跑去, 大声呼喊：“喂？喂?”但没人回答。
我不知道这个脚印是否是友好人士留下的。过了这么多年，能和另外一个人说  话是件多么美的事啊！但接着我想这可能 是野人的脚印，这可吓坏了我。我赶快跑 回家，拿起枪。
整个晚上，我都没睡着。我想我随时 都会遭到野人的袭击。那脚印使我产生了 许多疯狂的想象。
也许是魔鬼在戏弄我！
这个脚印也许是上帝放在那儿吓唬我 的.是对我所有罪孽的一种惩罚！
平静下来时，我想那个脚印肯定是一 个乘独木舟从附近的大陆出海后，被风带 到我的岛上的人留下的。
第二天，我没有出门。但我的食物和 水快要耗尽时，我不得不出去了。
不久，我又感觉正常了，我对自己的 担心感到好笑。十多年来，岛上只有我一 个人。现在为什么会有人来这儿呢？挤羊 奶时，我突然想到那个脚印也许是我自 己的。
我越想越觉得那个脚印是自己的。
我走回脚印处，相信自己是对的。但 我看见那个脚印比我自己的脚要大得多！ 那么，肯定有人来过这里！
过了这么多年，我很难相信有人来过 该岛或岛上住着人。我不知道发生了什么 事，因而我试图忘了它。不久一切又恢复 了正常。我仍然带着与从前一样的自由感 生活着。
但一天，我从山顶朝海上望去时，看 见一条小船正在离岛。我看着它，直到它 从视野中消失，才跑向船离开岛的那个 地方。
我到达那片海滩，一片恐怖的景象呈 现在我面前。地上满是人的骨头！这些骨 头被扔在地上的大坑里。大火的灰烬与骨 头紧挨着。我立刻明白发生了什么。
他们生起了火，烤熟并吃掉了这些可怜的生灵。
我这个岛上已有食人的野人来过！
从那天起，我很少离开我的房子和花园。无论我走到哪儿，都随身带着枪。我 不经常放枪，以免野人听见。谢天谢地, 我有一大群羊可吃，再也不需要在森林里 打猎了。
一想到人吃人的事，我就感到特别生 气，我下定决心如果有机会一定要抓住这 些野人，拯救他们的俘虏！
18个月后，机会来了。一天早上，我 看见我房子附近的海滩上有5条独木舟。 我爬到树顶以便更好地观察，发现30个 赤裸的野人在离船不远的地方围着一堆火 跳舞。
我静止不动，以免他们看见我，我看 见他们从独木舟上拽出两个俘虏。
他们一上海滩，其中一个野人就用一 根又大又粗的木棒打其中一个俘虏。他一 倒在地上，野人们就扑向他，割他身上的 肉，大笑着把肉扔进火里。那个人的尖叫 声听起来相当恐怖——即使现在想起来， 我还浑身发抖！ 
受害者独自留在一边站着。他显然意识到这是 .逃跑的机会，他沿着沙滩朝我跑来。
我知道我必须救这个可怜的家伙。
此时，两个野人正追赶这个可怜的家 伙。我从树上跳下来，拿起枪，跑到通向 海滩的那片树丛的边缘。现在，正逃跑的 人和追他的两个野人离其他人已经很远了。 我离那个俘虏很近。
我喊那个俘虏，让他快到我这边来。 野人看见我时，他们吃惊地停了下来。我 很快用我的长枪击中了第一个野人，他倒在 了地上。另一个野人从肩上取下一把弓箭, 瞄准了我。但我立刻开火把他打死了！
这时，那个俘虏在我身边，吃惊地看 着我的枪。我知道，他不明白为什么这东 西能这么容易就把人打死。
他跪下来，吻我的脚。然后，搬起我的右脚放在他头上，我想他是想说：“我永 远都是你的奴隶。”
他站起来，我们朝我用枪击中的那人 走去。我们走近时，我端起枪，但俘虏马 上指了指我的大刀，然后指指他自己。我 立即明白他想干什么。我把刀递给那个俘 虏，看着他猛地一挥刀，砍下了那个野人 的脑袋。
他拽着头发把野人的头提起来，和剑 一起摆在我脚边。
我指着我房子的方向，示意他跟我走。 但这个俘虏先指了指地上的两具尸体，又 指了指其他野人围着火跳舞的地方。他们 显然不知道发生了什么事。
我知道这个俘虏想把尸体埋了，这样 其他吃人的野人就找不到他们了。
我点点头，他就干了起来。干完后, 他跟我去了我的房子。房子被灌木和树丛遮 掩得严严实实，野人永远不会找到我们的。
这个俘虏是一个英俊的小伙子，胳膊 和腿强壮笔直，高高的个子，身体强壮。 他看起来很年轻，大概有26岁。
我知道他一定饿了，我给他倒了些奶, 教他怎样喝。然后，教他怎样用面包蘸牛 奶吃。
如果这个俘虏和我住在一起，他当然 必须得有一个名字。我给他取名为星期五， 一星期中的一天。然后，我教他我的名字, 即“主人”。
我让他与我待了整整一夜。独自住了 那么多年后，有一个伴真好，即使他不能 跟我说话。第二天早上，我们去看野人是 否离开岛了。
沙滩上的景象可怕极了。地上都是人 的骨头，沙地被流淌的鲜血染红了。
一旦我们确信野人走了，我就让星期 五把人的尸体所有的残骸收集在一起。做完后，我们点了一堆火，把它们烧成灰烬。
我们回到我的房子中，因为星期五只 有腰间一块布，我给了他一些衣服。然后, 我为他做了一件羊皮大衣和一顶野兔皮帽。
下一件要做的事是决定他住在哪儿。 他不能和我一起待在房子里。如果他要当 我的仆人，就不能和主人住得这么近。因 而，我在房子旁边给他搭了一个帐篷，他 似乎很喜欢。