鲁宾逊漂流记 节选
我来到岛上已经是第十一个年头了。
正如我所说的那样,我的弹药越来越少了,于
是我开始琢磨如何用陷阱来捕羊,看看能不能
活捉上一两只。
于是,我在我观察到的山羊常吃草的地
方,在地上挖了几个大陷阱,然后在陷井上盖
了几块自己做的木格子,再压上一些重物。
一天早上,我前去看陷阱,只见一个陷阱
里有一只老公羊,另一个陷阱里有三只小山羊,
其中一只是公的,两只是母的。
我不知道怎么对付那只老公羊,因为它很
凶,我几乎不敢下到陷阱里接近它。也就是说,
我不敢按照自己的想法把它活捉出来。
当时,我想不出更好的办法,只好把它放
走了。然后我就走到那些小山羊旁边,把它们
一只一只提出来,用细绳把它们拴在一起,费
了很大周折才把它们带回家。
三只山羊起初不肯吃东西,我丢给它们一
些新鲜的玉米,吊吊它们的胃口,*后它们被
驯服了。
这时候,我忽然想到,我必须把驯养的羊
和野羊隔离开,不然它们一长大,肯定会跑掉
的。唯一有效的办法,就是找一个四周封闭的
地方,扎上牢固的篱笆和木栅,把这些羊圈在
里面,使里边的不至于冲出去,外边的不至于
冲进来。
对于一个没有什么工具的人来说,这其实
But being now in the eleventh year of my residence, and, as I
have said, my ammunition growing low, I set myself to study some
art to trap and snare the goats, to see whether I could not catch
some of them alive.
So I dug several large pits in the earth, in places where I had
observed the goats used to feed, and over those pits I placed
hurdles of my own making too, with a great weight upon them.
Going one morning to see my traps, I found in one of them a
large old he-goat; and in one of the others three kids, a male and
two females.
As to the old one, ! knew not what to do with him; he was so
fierce I durst~ not go into the pit to him; that is to say, to bring
him away alive, which was what I wanted.
For the present I let him go, knowing no better at that time;
then I went to the three kids, and taking them one by one, I tied
them with strings together, and with some difficulty brought them
all home.
It was a good while before they would feed; but throwing
them some sweet corn, it tempted them, and they began to be
tame.
But then it occurred to me that I must keep the tame from the
wild, or else they would always run wild when they grew up; and
the only way for this was to have some enclosed piece of ground,
well fenced either with hedge ~ or pale ~, to keep them in so
effectually, that those within might not break out, or those without
break in.
This was a great undertaking for one pair of hands yet, as I
是一项大工程,也是一件绝对必要的事情,因
此我**件要做的事是要物色一块好地,在那
儿这些山羊有草吃、有水喝并且可以遮荫的地
方。
我用了几乎三个月,圈好了**块地。
我的目标总算实现了。在近一年半的时间
里,我已拥有了大小山羊一共十二只。又过了
两年,不算我已经宰杀吃掉的几只,我已有四
十三只羊了。在那之后,我又圈了五六块地方
来喂养山羊,把羊赶到许多小羊圈中,在各个
圈地之间有门相通,我随时可以去捕捉它们。
但是这并不是全部,我现在不仅随时有新
鲜的羊肉吃,还有羊奶喝。这是我过去做梦都
想不到的事情。
我已经建立起了自己的奶房,有时候一天
可以挤出一两加仑羊奶。大自然不仅为每个生物
提供食物,同时也指导它们如何自然而然地去加
以利用。我本人从来没有挤过牛奶,更没有挤过
羊奶,只在小时候看过别人制作奶油和奶酪,但
经过多次的试验,终于做成了奶油和奶酪。
你看我用餐的时候,俨然像位国王,并不
感到孤单。一个人高高坐在上面,臣仆们在旁侍
候着我。波儿就是我的宠臣,只有它才有权利与
我交谈。我那条没法找到同类配对繁衍的狗,现
在又老又昏聩,总是坐在我的右侧。那两只猫
呢?一只坐在桌子一边,一只坐在桌子另一边,
常常希望能从我的手中得到些特殊的赏赐。
鲁宾逊漂流记 作者简介
p>丹尼尔·笛福(Daniel Defoe,
1660~1731)英国著名作家,曾被
誉为英国小说和报刊文学之父。
《鲁宾逊漂流记》是他的第一部小
说,出版当年就备受读者欢迎,至
今一直是英美人的必读书。
《鲁宾逊漂流记》讲述英国人
鲁宾逊出海冒险的故事。鲁宾逊三
次出海经商,结果最后一次船触礁
沉没,只有他一人幸存,流落到了
南美海上的一个孤岛。他自立更
生,艰苦奋斗,与大自然、当地野
人做斗争,一个人度过了二十多
个