Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe

Another five years passed, and during that time, as far as I can remember, no extraordinary events occurred. My life proceeded as before - quietly and peacefully; I lived in the old place and still devoted all my time to work and hunting. Now I already had so much grain that my sowing was enough for me for a whole year; There were also plenty of grapes. But because of this, I had to work even more in the forest and in the field than before. However, my main job was building a new boat. This time I not only made the boat, but also launched it: I took it into the cove along a narrow channel that I had to dig for half a mile. As the reader already knows, I made my first boat of such enormous size that I was forced to leave it at the site of its construction as a monument to my stupidity. He constantly reminded me to be smarter from now on. Now I was much more experienced. True, this time I built the boat almost half a mile from the water, since I could not find a suitable tree closer, but I was confident that I would be able to launch it. I saw that the work I had started this time did not exceed my strength, and I firmly decided to complete it. For almost two years I fussed over the construction of the boat. I so passionately wanted to finally have the opportunity to sail the sea that I spared no effort. It should be noted, however, that I did not build this new pirogue in order to leave my island. I had to say goodbye to this dream a long time ago. The boat was so small that there was no point in even thinking about sailing on it those forty or more miles that separated my island from the mainland. Now I had a more modest goal: to go around the island - and that’s all. I had already visited the opposite shore once, and the discoveries I made there interested me so much that even then I wanted to explore the entire coastline surrounding me. And now, when I had a boat, I decided to go around my island by sea at all costs. Before setting off, I carefully prepared for the upcoming voyage. I made a tiny mast for my boat and sewed the same tiny sail from pieces of canvas, which I had a fair supply of. When the boat was rigged, I tested her progress and found that she sailed quite satisfactorily. Then I built small boxes on the stern and bow to protect provisions, charges and other necessary things that I would take with me on the journey from rain and waves. For the gun, I hollowed out a narrow groove in the bottom of the boat. Then I strengthened the open umbrella, giving it a position so that it was above my head and protected me from the sun, like a canopy. Until now I had taken short walks along the sea from time to time, but had never gone far from my bay. Now, when I intended to inspect the borders of my small state and equipped my ship for a long voyage, I carried there the wheat bread I had baked, a clay pot of fried rice and half a goat carcass. On November 6 I set off. I drove much longer than I expected. The fact is that although my island itself was small, when I turned to the eastern part of its coast, an unforeseen obstacle arose in front of me. At this point a narrow ridge of rocks separates from the shore; some of them stick out above the water, others are hidden in the water. The ridge extends for six miles into the open sea, and further, behind the rocks, a sandbank stretches for another mile and a half. Thus, in order to go around this spit, we had to drive quite far from the coast. It was very dangerous. I even wanted to turn back, because I could not determine with accuracy how far I would have to go in the open sea before I rounded the ridge of underwater rocks, and I was afraid to take risks. And besides, I didn’t know if I would be able to turn back. Therefore, I dropped the anchor (before setting off, I made myself some kind of anchor from a piece of an iron hook that I found on the ship), took the gun and went ashore. Having spotted a fairly high hill nearby, I climbed up it, measured by eye the length of the rocky ridge, which was clearly visible from here, and decided to take a chance. But before I had time to reach this ridge, I found myself at a terrible depth and then fell into a powerful stream of the sea current. I was spun around as if in a mill sluice, picked up and carried away. There was no point in thinking about turning towards the shore or turning to the side. All I could do was stay close to the edge of the current and try not to get caught in the middle. Meanwhile, I was carried further and further. If there had been even a slight breeze, I could have raised the sail, but the sea was completely calm. I worked the oars with all my might, but I could not cope with the current and was already saying goodbye to life. I knew that in a few miles the current in which I found myself would merge with another current going around the island, and that if I did not manage to turn aside before then, I would be irrevocably lost. Meanwhile, I didn’t see any possibility of turning around. There was no salvation: certain death awaited me - and not in the waves of the sea, because the sea was calm, but from hunger. True, on the shore I found a turtle so large that I could barely lift it, and I took it with me into the boat. I also had a decent supply of fresh water - I took the largest of my clay jugs. But what did this mean for a miserable creature, lost in a boundless ocean, where you can swim a thousand miles without seeing any sign of land! I now remembered my deserted, abandoned island as an earthly paradise, and my only desire was to return to this paradise. I passionately extended my arms to him. - O desert, which gave me happiness! - I exclaimed. - I will never see you again. Oh, what will happen to me? Where are the merciless waves taking me? How ungrateful I was when I grumbled about my loneliness and cursed this beautiful island! Yes, now my island was dear and sweet to me, and it was bitter for me to think that I had to say goodbye forever to the hope of seeing it again. I was carried and carried into the boundless watery distance. But, although I felt mortal fear and despair, I still did not give in to these feelings and continued to row without ceasing, trying to steer the boat north to cross the current and go around the reefs. Suddenly, around noon, a breeze picked up. This encouraged me. But imagine my joy when the breeze began to quickly freshen and after half an hour turned into a good breeze! By this time I had been driven far from my island. If the fog had risen at that time, I would have died! I did not have a compass with me, and if I had lost sight of my island, I would not have known where to go. But, fortunately for me, it was a sunny day and there was no sign of fog. I set the mast, raised the sail and began to steer north, trying to get out of the current. As soon as my boat turned into the wind and went against the current, I noticed a change in it: the water became much lighter. I realized that for some reason the current was beginning to weaken, since before, when it was faster, the water was cloudy all the time. And indeed, soon I saw cliffs to my right, in the east (they could be distinguished from afar by the white foam of the waves seething around each of them). It was these cliffs that slowed down the flow, blocking its path. I soon became convinced that they not only slowed down the current, but also split it into two streams, of which the main one deviated only slightly to the south, leaving the cliffs to the left, and the other turned sharply back and headed northwest. Only those who know from experience what it means to receive a pardon while standing on the scaffold, or to escape from robbers at that last minute when a knife is already pressed to the throat, will understand my delight at this discovery. With my heart beating with joy, I sent my boat into the opposite stream, set the sail to a fair wind, which became even more refreshing, and rushed back merrily. At about five o'clock in the evening I approached the shore and, having looked for a convenient place, moored. It is impossible to describe the joy that I experienced when I felt solid ground beneath me! How sweet every tree of my blessed island seemed to me! With hot tenderness I looked at these hills and valleys, which only yesterday caused melancholy in my heart. How glad I was that I would again see my fields, my groves, my cave, my faithful dog, my goats! How beautiful the road from the shore to my hut seemed to me! It was already evening when I reached my forest dacha. I climbed over the fence, lay down in the shade and, feeling terribly tired, soon fell asleep. But what was my surprise when someone’s voice woke me up. Yes, it was the voice of a man! Here on the island there was a man, and he shouted loudly in the middle of the night: - Robin, Robin, Robin Crusoe! Poor Robin Crusoe! Where have you gone, Robin Crusoe? Where did you end up? Where have you been? Exhausted by the long rowing, I slept so soundly that I could not immediately wake up, and for a long time it seemed to me that I heard this voice in my sleep. But the cry was insistently repeated: “Robin Crusoe, Robin Crusoe!” Finally I woke up and realized where I was. My first feeling was terrible fear. I jumped up, looking around wildly, and suddenly, raising my head, I saw my parrot on the fence. Of course, I immediately guessed that it was he who shouted these words: in exactly the same plaintive voice, I often spoke these very phrases in front of him, and he confirmed them perfectly. He would sit on my finger, bring his beak close to my face and wail sadly: “Poor Robin Crusoe! Where have you been and where have you ended up?” But, even after making sure that it was a parrot, and realizing that there was no one else to be here except the parrot, I could not calm down for a long time. I didn’t understand at all, firstly, how he got to my dacha, and secondly, why he flew here and not to another place. But since I didn’t have the slightest doubt that it was him, my faithful Popka, then, without racking my brains over questions, I called him by name and extended my hand to him. The sociable bird immediately sat on my finger and repeated again: “Poor Robin Crusoe!” Where did you end up? Popka was definitely happy to see me again. Leaving the hut, I put him on my shoulder and took him with me. The unpleasant adventures of my sea expedition for a long time discouraged me from sailing the sea, and for many days I reflected on the dangers to which I was exposed when I was carried into the ocean. Of course, it would be nice to have a boat on this side of the island, closer to my house, but how can I get it back from where I left it? To go around my island from the east - just the thought of it made my heart clench and my blood run cold. I had no idea what things were like on the other side of the island. What if the current on the other side is as fast as the current on this side? Couldn't it throw me onto the coastal rocks with the same force with which another current carried me into the open sea? In a word, although building this boat and launching it cost me a lot of work, I decided that it was still better to be left without a boat than to risk my head for it. It must be said that I have now become much more skilled in all the manual works that the conditions of my life required. When I found myself on the island, I had absolutely no skill with an axe, but now I could pass for a good carpenter on occasion, especially considering how few tools I had. I also (quite unexpectedly!) made a big step forward in pottery: I built a machine with a rotating wheel, which made my work faster and better; Now, instead of clumsy products that were disgusting to look at, I had very good dishes with a fairly regular shape. But never, it seems, have I been so happy and proud of my ingenuity as on the day when I managed to make a pipe. Of course, my pipe was of a primitive type - made of simple baked clay, like all my pottery, and it did not turn out very beautiful. But it was strong enough and passed smoke well, and most importantly, it was still the pipe that I had dreamed about so much, since I had been accustomed to smoking for a very long time. There were pipes on our ship, but when I transported things from there, I did not know that tobacco grew on the island, and I decided that it was not worth taking them. By this time I discovered that my supplies of gunpowder were beginning to noticeably decrease. This alarmed and upset me extremely, since there was nowhere to get new gunpowder. What will I do when all my gunpowder runs out? How will I hunt goats and birds then? Will I really be left without meat food for the rest of my days?

Current page: 7 (book has 13 pages total) [available reading passage: 9 pages]

Chapter 15

Robinson builds another boat, smaller, and tries to go around the island

Another five years passed, and during that time, as far as I can remember, no extraordinary events occurred.

My life proceeded as before - quietly and peacefully; I lived in the old place and still devoted all my time to work and hunting.

Now I already had so much grain that my sowing was enough for me for a whole year; There were also plenty of grapes. But because of this, I had to work even more in the forest and in the field than before.

However, my main job was building a new boat. This time I not only made the boat, but also launched it: I took it into the cove along a narrow channel that I had to dig for half a mile. As the reader already knows, I made my first boat of such enormous size that I was forced to leave it at the site of its construction as a monument to my stupidity. He constantly reminded me to be smarter from now on.

Now I was much more experienced. True, this time I built the boat almost half a mile from the water, since I could not find a suitable tree closer, but I was confident that I would be able to launch it. I saw that the work I had started this time did not exceed my strength, and I firmly decided to complete it. For almost two years I fussed over the construction of the boat. I so passionately wanted to finally have the opportunity to sail the sea that I spared no effort.

It should be noted, however, that I did not build this new pirogue in order to leave my island. I had to say goodbye to this dream a long time ago. The boat was so small that there was no point in even thinking about sailing on it those forty or more miles that separated my island from the mainland. Now I had a more modest goal: to go around the island - and that’s all. I had already visited the opposite shore once, and the discoveries I made there interested me so much that even then I wanted to explore the entire coastline surrounding me.

And now, when I had a boat, I decided to go around my island by sea at all costs. Before setting off, I carefully prepared for the upcoming voyage. I made a tiny mast for my boat and sewed the same tiny sail from pieces of canvas, which I had a fair supply of.

When the boat was rigged, I tested her progress and found that she sailed quite satisfactorily. Then I built small boxes on the stern and bow to protect provisions, charges and other necessary things that I would take with me on the journey from rain and waves. For the gun, I hollowed out a narrow groove in the bottom of the boat.

Then I strengthened the open umbrella, giving it a position so that it was above my head and protected me from the sun, like a canopy.

* * *

Until now I had taken short walks along the sea from time to time, but had never gone far from my bay. Now, when I intended to inspect the borders of my small state and equipped my ship for a long voyage, I carried there the wheat bread I had baked, a clay pot of fried rice and half a goat carcass.

I drove much longer than I expected. The fact is that although my island itself was small, when I turned to the eastern part of its coast, an unforeseen obstacle arose in front of me. At this point a narrow ridge of rocks separates from the shore; some of them stick out above the water, others are hidden in the water. The ridge extends for six miles into the open sea, and further, behind the rocks, a sandbank stretches for another mile and a half. Thus, in order to go around this spit, we had to drive quite far from the coast. It was very dangerous.

I even wanted to turn back, because I could not determine with accuracy how far I would have to go in the open sea before I rounded the ridge of underwater rocks, and I was afraid to take risks. And besides, I didn’t know if I would be able to turn back. Therefore, I dropped the anchor (before setting off, I made myself some kind of anchor from a piece of an iron hook that I found on the ship), took the gun and went ashore. Having spotted a fairly high hill nearby, I climbed up it, measured by eye the length of the rocky ridge, which was clearly visible from here, and decided to take a chance.

But before I had time to reach this ridge, I found myself at a terrible depth and then fell into a powerful stream of the sea current. I was spun around as if in a mill sluice, picked up and carried away. There was no point in thinking about turning towards the shore or turning to the side. All I could do was stay close to the edge of the current and try not to get caught in the middle.

Meanwhile, I was carried further and further. If there had been even a slight breeze, I could have raised the sail, but the sea was completely calm. I worked the oars with all my might, but I could not cope with the current and was already saying goodbye to life. I knew that in a few miles the current in which I found myself would merge with another current going around the island, and that if I did not manage to turn aside before then, I would be irrevocably lost. Meanwhile, I didn’t see any possibility of turning around.

There was no salvation: certain death awaited me - and not in the waves of the sea, because the sea was calm, but from hunger. True, on the shore I found a turtle so large that I could barely lift it, and I took it with me into the boat. I also had a decent supply of fresh water - I took the largest of my clay jugs. But what did this mean for a miserable creature, lost in a boundless ocean, where you can swim a thousand miles without seeing any sign of land!

I now remembered my deserted, abandoned island as an earthly paradise, and my only desire was to return to this paradise. I passionately extended my arms to him.

- O desert, which gave me happiness! - I exclaimed. - I will never see you again. Oh, what will happen to me? Where are the merciless waves taking me? How ungrateful I was when I grumbled about my loneliness and cursed this beautiful island!

Yes, now my island was dear and sweet to me, and it was bitter for me to think that I had to say goodbye forever to the hope of seeing it again.

I was carried and carried into the boundless watery distance. But, although I felt mortal fear and despair, I still did not give in to these feelings and continued to row without ceasing, trying to steer the boat north to cross the current and go around the reefs.

Suddenly, around noon, a breeze picked up. This encouraged me. But imagine my joy when the breeze began to quickly freshen and after half an hour turned into a good breeze!

By this time I had been driven far from my island. If the fog had risen at that time, I would have died!

I did not have a compass with me, and if I had lost sight of my island, I would not have known where to go. But, fortunately for me, it was a sunny day and there was no sign of fog.

I set the mast, raised the sail and began to steer north, trying to get out of the current.

As soon as my boat turned into the wind and went against the current, I noticed a change in it: the water became much lighter. I realized that for some reason the current was beginning to weaken, because before, when it was faster, the water was cloudy all the time. And indeed, soon I saw cliffs to my right, in the east (they could be distinguished from afar by the white foam of the waves seething around each of them). It was these cliffs that slowed down the flow, blocking its path.

I soon became convinced that they not only slowed down the current, but also split it into two streams, of which the main one deviated only slightly to the south, leaving the cliffs to the left, and the other turned sharply back and headed northwest.

Only those who know from experience what it means to receive a pardon while standing on the scaffold, or to escape from robbers at that last minute when a knife is already pressed to the throat, will understand my delight at this discovery.

With my heart beating with joy, I sent my boat into the opposite stream, set the sail to a fair wind, which became even more refreshing, and rushed back merrily.

At about five o'clock in the evening I approached the shore and, having looked for a convenient place, moored.

It is impossible to describe the joy that I experienced when I felt solid ground beneath me!

How sweet every tree of my blessed island seemed to me!

With hot tenderness I looked at these hills and valleys, which only yesterday caused melancholy in my heart. How glad I was that I would again see my fields, my groves, my cave, my faithful dog, my goats! How beautiful the road from the shore to my hut seemed to me!

It was already evening when I reached my forest dacha. I climbed over the fence, lay down in the shade and, feeling terribly tired, soon fell asleep.

But what was my surprise when someone’s voice woke me up. Yes, it was the voice of a man! Here on the island there was a man, and he shouted loudly in the middle of the night:

- Robin, Robin, Robin Crusoe! Poor Robin Crusoe! Where have you gone, Robin Crusoe? Where did you end up? Where have you been?

Exhausted by the long rowing, I slept so soundly that I could not immediately wake up, and for a long time it seemed to me that I heard this voice in my sleep.

But the cry was insistently repeated:

- Robin Crusoe, Robin Crusoe!

Finally I woke up and realized where I was. My first feeling was terrible fear. I jumped up, looking around wildly, and suddenly, raising my head, I saw my parrot on the fence.

Of course, I immediately guessed that it was he who shouted these words: in exactly the same plaintive voice, I often spoke these very phrases in front of him, and he confirmed them perfectly. He would sit on my finger, bring his beak close to my face and wail sadly: “Poor Robin Crusoe! Where have you been and where have you ended up?

But, even after making sure that it was a parrot, and realizing that there was no one else to be here except the parrot, I could not calm down for a long time.

I didn’t understand at all, firstly, how he got to my dacha, and secondly, why he flew here and not to another place.

But since I didn’t have the slightest doubt that it was him, my faithful Popka, then, without racking my brains over questions, I called him by name and extended my hand to him. The sociable bird immediately sat on my finger and repeated again:

- Poor Robin Crusoe! Where did you end up?

Popka was definitely happy to see me again. Leaving the hut, I put him on my shoulder and took him with me.

The unpleasant adventures of my sea expedition for a long time discouraged me from sailing the sea, and for many days I reflected on the dangers to which I was exposed when I was carried into the ocean.

Of course, it would be nice to have a boat on this side of the island, closer to my house, but how can I get it back from where I left it? To go around my island from the east - just the thought of it made my heart clench and my blood run cold. I had no idea what things were like on the other side of the island. What if the current on the other side is as fast as the current on this side? Couldn't it throw me onto the coastal rocks with the same force with which another current carried me into the open sea? In a word, although building this boat and launching it cost me a lot of work, I decided that it was still better to be left without a boat than to risk my head for it.

It must be said that I have now become much more skilled in all the manual works that the conditions of my life required. When I found myself on the island, I had absolutely no skill with an axe, but now I could pass for a good carpenter on occasion, especially considering how few tools I had.

I also (quite unexpectedly!) made a big step forward in pottery: I built a machine with a rotating wheel, which made my work faster and better; Now, instead of clumsy products that were disgusting to look at, I had very good dishes with a fairly regular shape.

But never, it seems, have I been so happy and proud of my ingenuity as on the day when I managed to make a pipe. Of course, my pipe was of a primitive type - made of simple baked clay, like all my pottery, and it did not turn out very beautiful. But it was strong enough and passed smoke well, and most importantly, it was still the pipe that I had dreamed about so much, since I had been accustomed to smoking for a very long time. There were pipes on our ship, but when I transported things from there, I did not know that tobacco grew on the island, and I decided that it was not worth taking them.

By this time I discovered that my supplies of gunpowder were beginning to noticeably decrease. This alarmed and upset me extremely, since there was nowhere to get new gunpowder. What will I do when all my gunpowder runs out? How will I hunt goats and birds then? Will I really be left without meat food for the rest of my days?

Chapter 16

Robinson taming wild goats

In the eleventh year of my stay on the island, when my gunpowder began to run low, I began to seriously think about how to find a way to catch wild goats alive. Most of all I wanted to catch the queen with her kids. At first I set snares, and the goats often got caught in them. But this was of little use to me: the goats ate the bait, and then broke the snare and calmly ran away into freedom. Unfortunately, I didn't have any wire, so I had to make a snare out of string.

Then I decided to try wolf pits. Knowing the places where the goats grazed most often, I dug three deep holes there, covered them with wickerwork of my own making, and placed an armful of ears of rice and barley on each wicker. Soon I became convinced that goats were visiting my pits: the ears of corn were eaten and traces of goat hooves were visible all around. Then I set up real traps and the next day I found a large old goat in one hole, and three kids in another: one male and two females.

I released the old goat because I didn’t know what to do with him. He was so wild and angry that it was impossible to take him alive (I was afraid to go into his hole), and there was no need to kill him. As soon as I lifted the braid, he jumped out of the hole and started running as fast as he could.

Subsequently, I had to discover that hunger tames even lions. But I didn't know that then. If I made the goat fast for three or four days, and then brought him water and some ears of corn, he would become as docile as my kids.

Goats are generally very smart and obedient. If you treat them well, they don't cost anything to tame.

But, I repeat, at that time I did not know this. Having released the goat, I went to the hole where the kids were sitting, pulled out all three one by one, tied them together with a rope and with difficulty dragged them home.

For quite a long time I could not get them to eat. Besides mother's milk, they did not yet know any other food. But when they got pretty hungry, I threw them a few juicy ears of corn, and little by little they began to eat. Soon they got used to me and became completely tame.

Since then I started raising goats. I wanted to have a whole herd, since this was the only way to provide myself with meat by the time I ran out of gunpowder and shot.

A year and a half later, I already had at least twelve goats, including kids, and two years later my herd had grown to forty-three heads. Over time I set up five fenced paddocks; they were all connected to each other by gates so that the goats could be driven from one meadow to another.

I now had an inexhaustible supply of goat meat and milk. Frankly, when I started raising goats, I didn’t even think about milk. Only later did I start milking them.

I think that the most gloomy and gloomy person could not resist smiling if he saw me with my family at the dinner table. At the head of the table sat I, the king and ruler of the island, who had complete control over the lives of all my subjects: I could execute and pardon, give and take away freedom, and among my subjects there was not a single rebel.

You should have seen with what royal pomp I dined alone, surrounded by my courtiers. Only Popka, as a favorite, was allowed to talk to me. The dog, which had long since become decrepit, always sat at the right hand of its master, and the cats sat on the left, waiting for handouts from my own hands. Such a handout was considered a sign of special royal favor.

These were not the same cats that I brought from the ship. They died long ago, and I personally buried them near my home. One of them has already calved on the island; I left a couple of kittens with me, and they grew up tame, and the rest ran into the forest and became wild. In the end, so many cats bred on the island that there was no end to them: they climbed into my pantry, carried provisions and left me alone only when I shot two or three.

I repeat, I lived like a real king, not needing anything; Next to me there was always a whole staff of courtiers devoted to me - there were only people. However, as the reader will see, the time soon came when too many people appeared in my domain.

I was determined never to undertake dangerous sea voyages again, and yet I really wanted to have a boat at hand - if only to make a trip in it close to the shore! I often thought about how I could get her to the other side of the island where my cave was. But, realizing that it was difficult to implement this plan, I always reassured myself that I was fine without a boat.

However, I don’t know why, I was strongly drawn to the hill I climbed during my last trip. I wanted to take another look from there at what the outlines of the banks were and where the current was heading. In the end, I couldn’t stand it anymore and set off on my way – this time on foot, along the shore.

If a person appeared in England wearing the kind of clothes I was wearing at that time, all the passers-by, I am sure, would run away in fear or roar with laughter; and often, looking at myself, I involuntarily smiled, imagining how I was marching through my native Yorkshire with such a retinue and in such attire.

On my head stood a pointed, shapeless hat made of goat fur, with a long back-piece falling down my back, which covered my neck from the sun, and during rain prevented water from getting through the collar. In a hot climate, there is nothing more harmful than rain falling behind a dress on a naked body.

Then I wore a long camisole of the same material, almost reaching to my knees. The pants were made from the skin of a very old goat with such long hair that they covered my legs up to half of my calves. I didn’t have any stockings at all, and instead of shoes I made myself—I don’t know what to call them—simply ankle boots with long laces tied at the side. These shoes were of the strangest kind, as was the rest of my outfit.

I tied the camisole with a wide belt made of goat skin, cleaned of wool; I replaced the buckle with two straps, and sewed a loop on the sides - not for a sword and dagger, but for a saw and an ax.

In addition, I wore a leather sling over my shoulder, with the same clasps as on the sash, but a little narrower. I attached two bags to this sling so that they fit under my left arm: one contained gunpowder, the other shot. I had a basket hanging behind me, a gun on my shoulder, and a huge fur umbrella over my head. The umbrella was ugly, but it was perhaps the most necessary accessory of my travel equipment. The only thing I needed more than an umbrella was a gun.

My complexion was less like a Negro than might have been expected, considering that I lived not far from the equator and was not at all afraid of sunburn. First I grew my beard. A beard grew to an exorbitant length. Then I shaved it off, leaving only the mustache; but he grew a wonderful mustache, a real Turkish one. They were of such monstrous length that in England they would frighten passersby.

But I mention all this only in passing: there weren’t too many spectators on the island who could admire my face and posture - so who cares what my appearance was! I spoke about it simply because I had to, and I won’t talk about this subject any more.

Chapter 17

Unexpected alarm. Robinson strengthens his home

Soon an event occurred that completely disrupted the calm flow of my life.

It was about noon. I was walking along the seashore, heading towards my boat, and suddenly, to my great amazement and horror, I saw the footprint of a naked human foot, clearly imprinted on the sand!

I stopped and could not move, as if I had been struck by thunder, as if I had seen a ghost.

I began to listen, I looked around, but I didn’t hear or see anything suspicious.

I ran up the coastal slope to better examine the entire surrounding area; again he went down to the sea, walked a little along the shore - and found nothing anywhere: no signs of the recent presence of people, except for this single footprint.

I returned again to the same place. I wanted to know if there were any more prints there. But there were no other prints. Maybe I was imagining things? Maybe this trace does not belong to a person? No, I was not mistaken! It was undoubtedly a human footprint: I could clearly distinguish the heel, toes, and sole. Where did people come from here? How did he get here? I was lost in guesses and could not settle on one.

In terrible anxiety, not feeling the ground under my feet, I hurried home, to my fortress. Thoughts were confused in my head.

Every two or three steps I looked back. I was afraid of every bush, every tree. From a distance I took each stump for a person.

It is impossible to describe what terrible and unexpected forms all the objects took in my excited imagination, what wild, bizarre thoughts worried me at that time and what absurd decisions I made along the way.

Having reached my fortress (as from that day on I began to call my home), I instantly found myself behind a fence, as if a pursuit was rushing after me. I couldn’t even remember whether I climbed over the fence using a ladder, as always, or entered through the door, that is, through the outer passage that I dug into the mountain. I couldn’t remember it the next day either.

Not a single hare, not a single fox, fleeing in horror from a pack of dogs, hastened to their hole as much as I did.

All night I could not sleep and asked myself the same question a thousand times: how could a person get here?

This is probably the footprint of some savage who came to the island by accident. Or maybe there were a lot of savages? Maybe they went out to sea on their pirogue and were driven here by the current or the wind? It is quite possible that they visited the shore and then went out to sea again, because they obviously had as little desire to remain in this desert as I had to live next door to them.

Of course, they did not notice my boat, otherwise they would have guessed that people lived on the island, would have started looking for them and would undoubtedly have found me.

But then a terrible thought struck me: “What if they saw my boat?” This thought tormented and tormented me.

“It’s true,” I said to myself, “they went back to sea, but that doesn’t prove anything; they will return, they will certainly return with a whole horde of other savages and then they will find me and eat me. And even if they don’t manage to find me, they will still see my fields, my hedges, they will destroy all my grain, steal my flock, and I will have to die of hunger.”

For the first three days after my terrible discovery, I did not leave my fortress for a minute, so that I even began to go hungry. I did not keep large supplies of provisions at home, and on the third day I had only barley cakes and water left.

I was also tormented by the fact that my goats, which I usually milked every evening (this was my daily entertainment), were now left unfinished. I knew that the poor animals must suffer greatly from this; Besides, I was afraid that they might run out of milk. And my fears were justified: many goats fell ill and almost stopped producing milk.

On the fourth day I plucked up courage and went out. And then one thought came to me that finally returned to me my former vigor. In the midst of my fears, when I was rushing from guess to guess and could not stop at anything, it suddenly occurred to me whether I had made up this whole story with the human footprint and whether it was my own footprint. He could have stayed on the sand when I went to look at my boat for the penultimate time. True, I usually returned along a different road, but that was a long time ago and could I say with confidence that I was walking exactly that road and not this one?

I tried to assure myself that it was so, that this was my own trace and that I turned out to be like a fool who composed a tale about a dead man rising from the coffin and was afraid of his own tale.

Yes, undoubtedly, it was my own trace!

Having strengthened in this confidence, I began to leave the house on various household errands. I began to visit my dacha every day again. There I milked goats and picked grapes. But if you had seen how timidly I walked there, how often I looked around, ready at any moment to throw my basket and run away, you would certainly think that I was some kind of terrible criminal, haunted by remorse. However, two more days passed and I became much bolder. I finally convinced myself that all my fears were instilled in me by an absurd mistake, but so that there would be no doubt left, I decided to once again go to the other side and compare the mysterious footprint with the imprint of my foot. If both tracks turn out to be equal in size, I can be sure that the track that scared me was my own and that I was scared of myself.

With this decision I set off. But when I came to the place where there was a mysterious trail, it became obvious to me, firstly, that, having gotten out of the boat that time and returning home, I could in no way find myself in this place, and secondly , when I put my foot on the footprint for comparison, my foot turned out to be significantly smaller!

My heart was filled with new fears, I trembled as if in a fever; a whirlwind of new guesses swirled in my head. I went home in full conviction that a person had been there on the shore - and maybe not just one, but five or six.

I was even ready to admit that these people were by no means newcomers, that they were residents of the island. True, until now I have not noticed a single person here, but it is possible that they have been hiding here for a long time and, therefore, can take me by surprise at any moment.

I racked my brain for a long time on how to protect myself from this danger, but still could not come up with anything.

“If the savages,” I said to myself, “find my goats and see my fields with earing grain, they will constantly return to the island for new prey; and if they notice my house, they will certainly begin to look for its inhabitants and will eventually get to me.”

Therefore, I decided in the heat of the moment to break the fences of all my pens and let out all my cattle, then, having dug up both fields, destroy the rice and barley seedlings and demolish my hut so that the enemy could not discover any sign of a person.

This decision arose in me immediately after I saw this terrible footprint. The expectation of danger is always worse than the danger itself, and the expectation of evil is ten thousand times worse than the evil itself.

I couldn't sleep all night. But in the morning, when I was weak from insomnia, I fell into a deep sleep and woke up as fresh and cheerful as I had not felt for a long time.

Now I began to think more calmly and this is what I came to. My island is one of the most beautiful places on earth. There is a wonderful climate, a lot of game, a lot of luxurious vegetation. And since it is located near the mainland, it is not surprising that the savages living there drive up in their pirogues to its shores. However, it is also possible that they are driven here by the current or the wind. Of course, there are no permanent residents here, but there are certainly visiting savages here. However, during the fifteen years that I lived on the island, I have not yet discovered human traces; therefore, even if savages come here, they never stay here for long. And if they have not yet found it profitable or convenient to settle here for a more or less long period, one must think that this will continue to be the case.

Consequently, the only danger I could face was to stumble upon them during the hours when they were visiting my island. But even if they come, we are unlikely to meet them, since, firstly, the savages have nothing to do here and, whenever they come here, they are probably in a hurry to return home; secondly, it is safe to say that they always stick to the side of the island that is furthest from my home.

And since I very rarely go there, I have no reason to be especially afraid of the savages, although, of course, I should still think about a safe haven where I could hide if they appear on the island again. Now I had to bitterly repent that, by expanding my cave, I had taken a passage out of it. It was necessary to correct this oversight one way or another. After much thought, I decided to build another fence around my home at such a distance from the previous wall that the exit from the cave would be inside the fortification.

However, I didn’t even need to put up a new wall: the double row of trees that I planted twelve years ago in a semicircle along the old fence already provided reliable protection in itself - these trees were planted so densely and grew so much. All that remained was to drive stakes into the gaps between the trees to turn this entire semicircle into a solid, strong wall. So I did.

Now my fortress was surrounded by two walls. But my work did not end there. I planted the entire area behind the outer wall with the same trees that looked like willow. They were so well received and grew with extraordinary speed. I think I planted at least twenty thousand of them. But between this grove and the wall I left a fairly large space so that the enemies could be noticed from afar, otherwise they could sneak up on my wall under the cover of the trees.

Two years later, a young grove grew green around my house, and after another five or six years, I was surrounded on all sides by a dense forest, completely impenetrable - these trees grew with such monstrous, incredible speed. Not a single person, be he savage or white, could now guess that a house was hidden behind this forest. To enter and leave my fortress (since I did not leave a clearing in the forest), I used a ladder, placing it against the mountain. When the ladder was removed, not a single person could get to me without breaking his neck.

This is how much hard work I put on my shoulders just because I imagined that I was in danger! Having lived for so many years as a hermit, far from human society, I gradually became unaccustomed to people, and people began to seem more terrible to me than animals.

Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe was first published in April 1719. The work gave rise to the development of the classic English novel and made the pseudo-documentary genre of fiction popular.

The plot of "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" is based on the true story of boatswain Alexander Selkir, who lived on a desert island for four years. Defoe rewrote the book many times, giving its final version a philosophical meaning - Robinson's story became an allegorical depiction of human life as such.

Main characters

Robinson Crusoe- the main character of the work, delirious about sea adventures. Spent 28 years on a desert island.

Friday- a savage whom Robinson saved. Crusoe taught him English and took him with him.

Other characters

Captain of the ship- Robinson saved him from captivity and helped him return the ship, for which the captain took Crusoe home.

Xuri- a boy, a prisoner of Turkish robbers, with whom Robinson fled from the pirates.

Chapter 1

From early childhood, Robinson loved the sea more than anything in the world and dreamed of long voyages. The boy's parents did not like this very much, as they wanted a calmer, happier life for their son. His father wanted him to become an important official.

However, the thirst for adventure was stronger, so on September 1, 1651, Robinson, who was eighteen years old at that time, without asking permission from his parents, and a friend boarded a ship departing from Hull to London.

Chapter 2

On the first day the ship was caught in a strong storm. Robinson felt bad and scared from the strong motion. He swore a thousand times that if everything worked out, he would return to his father and never swim in the sea again. However, the ensuing calm and a glass of punch helped Robinson quickly forget about all the “good intentions.”

The sailors were confident in the reliability of their ship, so they spent all their days having fun. On the ninth day of the voyage, a terrible storm broke out in the morning and the ship began to leak. A passing ship threw a boat at them and by evening they managed to escape. Robinson was ashamed to return home, so he decided to set sail again.

Chapter 3

In London, Robinson met a respectable elderly captain. A new acquaintance invited Crusoe to go with him to Guinea. During the journey, the captain taught Robinson shipbuilding, which was very useful for the hero in the future. In Guinea, Crusoe managed to profitably exchange the trinkets he brought for gold sand.

After the captain's death, Robinson went to Africa again. This time the journey was less successful; on the way, their ship was attacked by pirates - Turks from Saleh. Robinson was captured by the captain of a robber ship, where he remained for almost three years. Finally, he had a chance to escape - the robber sent Crusoe, the boy Xuri and the Moor to fish in the sea. Robinson took with him everything he needed for a long voyage and on the way threw the Moor into the sea.

Robinson was on his way to Cape Verde, hoping to meet a European ship.

Chapter 4

After many days of sailing, Robinson had to go ashore and ask the savages for food. The man thanked them by killing a leopard with a gun. The savages gave him the skin of the animal.

Soon the travelers met a Portuguese ship. On it Robinson reached Brazil.

Chapter 5

The captain of the Portuguese ship kept Xuri with him, promising to make him a sailor. Robinson lived in Brazil for four years, farming sugar cane and producing sugar. Somehow, familiar merchants suggested that Robinson travel to Guinea again.

“In an evil hour” - on September 1, 1659, he stepped onto the deck of the ship. “It was the same day on which eight years ago I ran away from my father’s house and so madly ruined my youth.”

On the twelfth day, a strong squall hit the ship. The bad weather lasted twelve days, their ship sailed wherever the waves drove it. When the ship ran aground, the sailors had to transfer to a boat. However, four miles later, an “angry wave” capsized their ship.

Robinson was washed ashore by a wave. He was the only one of the crew to survive. The hero spent the night on a tall tree.

Chapter 6

In the morning Robinson saw that their ship had washed closer to the shore. Using spare masts, topmasts and yards, the hero made a raft, on which he transported planks, chests, food supplies, a box of carpentry tools, weapons, gunpowder and other necessary things to the shore.

Returning to land, Robinson realized that he was on a desert island. He built himself a tent from sails and poles, surrounding it with empty boxes and chests for protection from wild animals. Every day Robinson swam to the ship, taking things that he might need. At first Crusoe wanted to throw away the money he found, but then, after thinking about it, he left it. After Robinson visited the ship for the twelfth time, a storm carried the ship out to sea.

Soon Crusoe found a convenient place to live - in a small smooth clearing on the slope of a high hill. Here the hero pitched a tent, surrounding it with a fence of high stakes, which could only be overcome with the help of a ladder.

Chapter 7

Behind the tent, Robinson dug a cave in the hill that served as his cellar. Once, during a severe thunderstorm, the hero was afraid that one lightning strike could destroy all his gunpowder and after that he put it into different bags and stored it separately. Robinson discovers that there are goats on the island and begins to hunt them.

Chapter 8

In order not to lose track of time, Crusoe created a simulated calendar - he drove a large log into the sand, on which he marked the days with notches. Along with his things, the hero transported two cats and a dog that lived with him from the ship.

Among other things, Robinson found ink and paper and took notes for some time. “At times despair attacked me, I experienced mortal melancholy, in order to overcome these bitter feelings, I took up a pen and tried to prove to myself that there was still a lot of good in my plight.”

Over time, Crusoe dug a back door in the hill and made furniture for himself.

Chapter 9

From September 30, 1659, Robinson kept a diary, describing everything that happened to him on the island after the shipwreck, his fears and experiences.

To dig the cellar, the hero made a shovel from “iron” wood. One day there was a collapse in his “cellar”, and Robinson began to firmly strengthen the walls and ceiling of the recess.

Soon Crusoe managed to tame the kid. While wandering around the island, the hero discovered wild pigeons. He tried to tame them, but as soon as the chicks' wings became stronger, they flew away. Robinson made a lamp from goat fat, which, unfortunately, burned very dimly.

After the rains, Crusoe discovered seedlings of barley and rice (shaking bird food onto the ground, he thought that all the grains had been eaten by rats). The hero carefully collected the harvest, deciding to leave it for sowing. Only in the fourth year could he afford to separate some of the grain for food.

After a strong earthquake, Robinson realizes that he needs to find another place to live, away from the cliff.

Chapter 10

The waves washed the wreckage of the ship onto the island, and Robinson gained access to its hold. On the shore, the hero discovered a large turtle, whose meat replenished his diet.

When the rains began, Crusoe fell ill and developed a severe fever. I was able to recover with tobacco tincture and rum.

While exploring the island, the hero finds sugar cane, melons, wild lemons, and grapes. He dried the latter in the sun to prepare raisins for future use. In a blooming green valley, Robinson arranges a second home for himself - a “dacha in the forest”. Soon one of the cats brought three kittens.

Robinson learned to accurately divide the seasons into rainy and dry. During rainy periods he tried to stay at home.

Chapter 11

During one of the rainy periods, Robinson learned to weave baskets, which he really missed. Crusoe decided to explore the entire island and discovered a strip of land on the horizon. He realized that this was a part of South America where wild cannibals probably lived and was glad that he was on a desert island. Along the way, Crusoe caught a young parrot, which he later taught to speak some words. There were many turtles and birds on the island, even penguins were found here.

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Robinson got hold of good pottery clay, from which he made dishes and dried them in the sun. Once the hero discovered that pots could be fired in a fire - this became a pleasant discovery for him, since now he could store water in the pot and cook food in it.

To bake the bread, Robinson made a wooden mortar and a makeshift oven out of clay tablets. Thus passed his third year on the island.

Chapter 14

All this time, Robinson was haunted by thoughts about the land he saw from the shore. The hero decides to repair the boat, which was thrown ashore during the shipwreck. The updated boat sank to the bottom, but he could not launch it. Then Robinson set about making a pirogue from a cedar tree trunk. He managed to make an excellent boat, however, just like the boat, he could not lower it to the water.

The fourth year of Crusoe's stay on the island has ended. His ink had run out and his clothes were worn out. Robinson sewed three jackets from sailor peacoats, a hat, jacket and pants from the skins of killed animals, and made an umbrella from the sun and rain.

Chapter 15

Robinson built a small boat to go around the island by sea. Rounding the underwater rocks, Crusoe swam far from the shore and fell into the current of the sea, which carried him further and further. However, soon the current weakened and Robinson managed to return to the island, which he was infinitely happy about.

Chapter 16

In the eleventh year of Robinson's stay on the island, his supplies of gunpowder began to deplete. Not wanting to give up meat, the hero decided to come up with a way to catch wild goats alive. With the help of "wolf pits" Crusoe managed to catch an old goat and three kids. Since then he started raising goats.

“I lived like a real king, not needing anything; Next to me there was always a whole staff of courtiers [tamed animals] devoted to me - there were not only people.”

Chapter 17

Once Robinson discovered a human footprint on the shore. “In terrible anxiety, not feeling the ground under my feet, I hurried home, to my fortress.” Crusoe hid at home and spent the whole night thinking about how a man ended up on the island. Calming himself, Robinson even began to think that it was his own trail. However, when he returned to the same place, he saw that the footprint was much larger than his foot.

In fear, Crusoe wanted to loose all the cattle and dig up both fields, but then he calmed down and changed his mind. Robinson realized that savages come to the island only sometimes, so it is important for him to simply not catch their eye. For additional security, Crusoe drove stakes into the gaps between the previously densely planted trees, thus creating a second wall around his home. He planted the entire area behind the outer wall with willow-like trees. Two years later, a grove grew green around his house.

Chapter 18

Two years later, on the western part of the island, Robinson discovered that savages regularly sailed here and held cruel feasts, eating people. Fearing that he might be discovered, Crusoe tried not to shoot, began to light the fire with caution, and acquired charcoal, which produces almost no smoke when burning.

While searching for coal, Robinson found a vast grotto, which he made his new storeroom. “It was already the twenty-third year of my stay on the island.”

Chapter 19

One day in December, leaving the house at dawn, Robinson noticed the flames of a fire on the shore - the savages had staged a bloody feast. Watching the cannibals from a telescope, he saw that with the tide they sailed from the island.

Fifteen months later, a ship sailed near the island. Robinson burned a fire all night, but in the morning he discovered that the ship had been wrecked.

Chapter 20

Robinson took a boat to the wrecked ship, where he found a dog, gunpowder and some necessary things.

Crusoe lived for two more years “in complete contentment, without knowing hardship.” “But all these two years I was only thinking about how I could leave my island.” Robinson decided to save one of those whom the cannibals brought to the island as a sacrifice, so that the two of them could escape to freedom. However, the savages appeared again only a year and a half later.

Chapter 21

Six Indian pirogues landed on the island. The savages brought with them two prisoners. While they were busy with the first one, the second one started to run away. Three people were chasing the fugitive, Robinson shot two with a gun, and the third was killed by the fugitive himself with a saber. Crusoe beckoned the frightened fugitive to him.

Robinson took the savage to the grotto and fed him. “He was a handsome young man, tall, well-built, his arms and legs were muscular, strong and at the same time extremely graceful; he looked about twenty-six years old." The savage showed Robinson with all possible signs that from that day on he would serve him all his life.

Crusoe began to gradually teach him the necessary words. First of all, he said that he would call him Friday (in memory of the day on which he saved his life), taught him the words “yes” and “no”. The savage offered to eat his killed enemies, but Crusoe showed that he was terribly angry at this desire.

Friday became a real comrade for Robinson - “never has a single person had such a loving, such a faithful and devoted friend.”

Chapter 22

Robinson took Friday with him hunting as an assistant, teaching the savage to eat animal meat. Friday began helping Crusoe with the housework. When the savage learned the basics of English, he told Robinson about his tribe. The Indians, from whom he managed to escape, defeated Friday's native tribe.

Crusoe asked his friend about the surrounding lands and their inhabitants - the peoples who live on the neighboring islands. As it turns out, the neighboring land is the island of Trinidad, where wild Carib tribes live. The savage explained that the “white people” could be reached by a large boat, this gave Crusoe hope.

Chapter 23

Robinson taught Friday to shoot a gun. When the savage mastered English well, Crusoe shared his story with him.

Friday said that once a ship with “white people” crashed near their island. They were rescued by the natives and remained to live on the island, becoming “brothers” for the savages.

Crusoe begins to suspect Friday of wanting to escape from the island, but the native proves his loyalty to Robinson. The savage himself offers to help Crusoe return home. The men took a month to make a pirogue from a tree trunk. Crusoe placed a mast with a sail in the boat.

“The twenty-seventh year of my imprisonment in this prison has come.”

Chapter 24

After waiting out the rainy season, Robinson and Friday began to prepare for the upcoming voyage. One day, savages with more captives landed on the shore. Robinson and Friday dealt with the cannibals. The rescued prisoners turned out to be the Spaniard and Friday's father.

The men built a canvas tent especially for the weakened European and the savage’s father.

Chapter 25

The Spaniard said that the savages sheltered seventeen Spaniards, whose ship was wrecked on a neighboring island, but those rescued were in dire need. Robinson agrees with the Spaniard that his comrades will help him build a ship.

The men prepared all the necessary supplies for the "white people", and the Spaniard and Friday's father went after the Europeans. While Crusoe and Friday were waiting for guests, an English ship approached the island. The British on the boat moored to the shore, Crusoe counted eleven people, three of whom were prisoners.

Chapter 26

The robbers' boat ran aground with the tide, so the sailors went for a walk around the island. At this time Robinson was preparing his guns. At night, when the sailors fell asleep, Crusoe approached their captives. One of them, the captain of the ship, said that his crew rebelled and went over to the side of the “gang of scoundrels.” He and his two comrades barely convinced the robbers not to kill them, but to land them on a deserted shore. Crusoe and Friday helped kill the instigators of the riot, and tied up the rest of the sailors.

Chapter 27

To capture the ship, the men broke through the bottom of the longboat and prepared for the next boat to meet the robbers. The pirates, seeing the hole in the ship and the fact that their comrades were missing, got scared and were going to return to the ship. Then Robinson came up with a trick - Friday and the captain's assistant lured eight pirates deep into the island. The two robbers, who remained waiting for their comrades, unconditionally surrendered. At night, the captain kills the boatswain who understands the rebellion. Five robbers surrender.

Chapter 28

Robinson orders to put the rebels in a dungeon and take the ship with the help of the sailors who sided with the captain. At night, the crew swam to the ship, and the sailors defeated the robbers on board. In the morning, the captain sincerely thanked Robinson for helping to return the ship.

By order of Crusoe, the rebels were untied and sent deep into the island. Robinson promised that they would be left with everything they needed to live on the island.

“As I later established from the ship’s log, my departure took place on December 19, 1686. Thus, I lived on the island for twenty-eight years, two months and nineteen days.”

Soon Robinson returned to his homeland. By that time, his parents had died, and his sisters with their children and other relatives met him at home. Everyone listened with great enthusiasm to Robinson's incredible story, which he told from morning until evening.

Conclusion

D. Defoe's novel “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” had a huge impact on world literature, laying the foundation for an entire literary genre - “Robinsonade” (adventure works describing the life of people in uninhabited lands). The novel became a real discovery in the culture of the Enlightenment. Defoe's book has been translated into many languages ​​and filmed more than twenty times. The proposed brief retelling of “Robinson Crusoe” chapter by chapter will be useful for schoolchildren, as well as anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with the plot of the famous work.

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"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 1
Robinson Crusoe loved the sea from early childhood. At the age of eighteen, on September 1, 1651, against the wishes of his parents, he and a friend set off on the ship of the latter’s father from Hull to London.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 2

On the very first day, the ship encounters a storm. While the hero is suffering from seasickness, he makes a promise never to leave solid land again, but as soon as calm sets in, Robinson immediately gets drunk and forgets about his vows.

While anchored in Yarmouth, the ship sinks during a violent storm. Robinson Crusoe and his team miraculously escape death, but shame prevents him from returning home, so he sets off on a new journey.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 3

In London, Robinson Crusoe meets an old captain, who takes him with him to Guinea, where the hero profitably exchanges trinkets for gold sand.

During the second voyage, made after the death of the old captain, between the Canary Islands and Africa, the ship is attacked by Turks from Saleh. Robinson Crusoe becomes the slave of a pirate captain. In the third year of slavery, the hero manages to escape. He deceives the old Moor Ismail, who is looking after him, and goes out to the open sea on the master's boat with the boy Xuri.

Robinson Crusoe and Xuri are swimming along the shore. At night they hear the roar of wild animals, and during the day they land on the shore to get fresh water. One day the heroes kill a lion. Robinson Crusoe is on his way to Cape Verde, where he hopes to meet a European ship.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 4

Robinson Crusoe and Xuri replenish provisions and water from friendly savages. In exchange, they give them the killed leopard. After some time, the heroes are picked up by a Portuguese ship.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 5

The captain of the Portuguese ship buys things from Robinson Crusoe and delivers him safe and sound to Brazil. Xuri becomes a sailor on his ship.

Robinson Crusoe has lived in Brazil for four years, where he grows sugar cane. He makes friends, to whom he tells about two trips to Guinea. One day they come to him with an offer to make another trip in order to exchange trinkets for gold sand. On September 1, 1659, the ship sails from the coast of Brazil.

On the twelfth day of the voyage, after crossing the equator, the ship encounters a storm and runs aground. The team transfers to the boat, but it also goes to the bottom. Robinson Crusoe is the only one who escaped death. At first he rejoices, then mourns his fallen comrades. The hero spends the night on a spreading tree.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 6

In the morning, Robinson Crusoe discovers that a storm has washed the ship closer to the shore. On the ship, the hero finds dry provisions and rum. He builds a raft from spare masts, on which he transports ship planks, food supplies (food and alcohol), clothing, carpenter's tools, weapons and gunpowder to the shore.

Having climbed to the top of the hill, Robinson Crusoe realizes that he is on an island. Nine miles to the west, he sees two more small islands and reefs. The island turns out to be uninhabited, inhabited by a large number of birds and devoid of danger in the form of wild animals.

In the first days, Robinson Crusoe transports things from the ship and builds a tent from sails and poles. He makes eleven trips: first picking up what he can lift, and then dismantling the ship into pieces. After the twelfth swim, during which Robinson takes away knives and money, a storm rises at sea, consuming the remains of the ship.

Robinson Crusoe chooses a place to build a house: on a smooth, shady clearing on the slope of a high hill, which overlooks the sea. The installed double tent is surrounded by a high palisade, which can only be overcome with the help of a ladder.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 7

Robinson Crusoe hides food supplies and things in a tent, turns a hole in the hill into a cellar, spends two weeks sorting gunpowder into bags and boxes and hiding it in the crevices of the mountain.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 8

Robinson Crusoe sets up a homemade calendar on the shore. Human communication is replaced by the company of the ship's dog and two cats. The hero is in dire need of tools for excavation and sewing work. Until he runs out of ink, he writes about his life. Robinson works on the palisade around the tent for a year, breaking away every day only to search for food. Periodically, the hero experiences despair.

After a year and a half, Robinson Crusoe ceases to hope that a ship will pass by the island, and sets himself a new goal - to arrange his life as best as possible in the current conditions. The hero makes a canopy over the courtyard in front of the tent, digs a back door from the side of the pantry leading beyond the fence, and builds a table, chairs and shelves.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 9

Robinson Crusoe begins to keep a diary, from which the reader learns that he finally managed to make a shovel from “iron wood”. With the help of the latter and a homemade trough, the hero dug his cellar. One day the cave collapsed. After this, Robinson Crusoe began to strengthen his kitchen-dining room with stilts. From time to time the hero hunts goats and tames a kid wounded in the leg. This trick does not work with chicks of wild pigeons - they fly away as soon as they become adults, so in the future the hero takes them from their nests for food.

Robinson Crusoe regrets that he cannot make barrels, and instead of wax candles he has to use goat fat. One day he comes across ears of barley and rice that have sprouted from birdseed shaken out on the ground. The hero leaves the first harvest for sowing. He begins to use a small part of the grains for food only in the fourth year of life on the island.

Robinson arrives on the island on September 30, 1659. On April 17, 1660, an earthquake occurs. The hero realizes that he can no longer live near the cliff. He makes a whetstone and tidies up the axes.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 10

An earthquake gives Robinson access to the ship's hold. In the intervals between dismantling the ship into pieces, the hero fishes and bakes a turtle on coals. At the end of June he falls ill; Fever is treated with tobacco tincture and rum. From mid-July Robinson begins to explore the island. He finds melons, grapes and wild lemons. In the depths of the island, the hero stumbles upon a beautiful valley with spring water and arranges a summer house in it. During the first half of August, Robinson dries grapes. From the second half of the month until mid-October there are heavy rains. One of the cats gives birth to three kittens. In November, the hero discovers that the fence of the dacha, built from young trees, has turned green. Robinson begins to understand the climate of the island, where it rains from half February to half April and half August to half October. All this time he tries to stay at home so as not to get sick.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 11

During the rains, Robinson weaves baskets from the branches of trees growing in the valley. One day he travels to the other side of the island, from where he sees a strip of land located forty miles from the coast. The opposite side turns out to be more fertile and generous with turtles and birds.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 12

After a month of wandering, Robinson returns to the cave. On the way, he knocks out a parrot's wing and tames a young goat. For three weeks in December, the hero builds a fence around a field of barley and rice. He scares away the birds with the corpses of their comrades.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 13

Robinson Crusoe teaches Pop to speak and tries to make pottery. He devotes the third year of his stay on the island to baking bread.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 14

Robinson is trying to put a ship's boat washed ashore into the water. When nothing works out for him, he decides to make a pirogue and cuts down a huge cedar tree to do it. The hero spends the fourth year of his life on the island doing aimless work hollowing out the boat and launching it into the water.

When Robinson's clothes become unusable, he sews new ones from the skins of wild animals. To protect from the sun and rain, he makes a closing umbrella.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 15

For two years, Robinson has been building a small boat to travel around the island. Rounding a ridge of underwater rocks, he almost finds himself in the open sea. The hero returns back with joy - the island, which had previously caused him longing, seems sweet and dear to him. Robinson spends the night at the “dacha”. In the morning he is woken up by Popka's screams.

The hero no longer dares to go to sea a second time. He continues to make things and is very happy when he manages to make a smoking pipe.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 16

In the eleventh year of his life on the island, Robinson's supplies of gunpowder are running low. The hero, who does not want to be left without meat food, catches goats in wolf pits and tames them with the help of hunger. Over time, his herd grows to enormous sizes. Robinson no longer lacks meat and feels almost happy. He completely dresses up in animal skins and realizes how exotic he begins to look.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 17

One day Robinson finds a human footprint on the shore. The trace found frightens the hero. All night he tosses and turns from side to side, thinking about the savages who have arrived on the island. The hero does not leave his house for three days, fearing that he will be killed. On the fourth day, he goes to milk the goats and begins to convince himself that the footprint he sees is his own. To make sure of this, the hero returns to the shore, compares the footprints and realizes that the size of his foot is smaller than the size of the print left. In a fit of fear, Robinson decides to break the pen and loose the goats, as well as destroy the fields with barley and rice, but then he pulls himself together and realizes that if in fifteen years he has not met a single savage, then most likely this will not happen and henceforth. For the next two years, the hero is busy strengthening his home: he plants twenty thousand willows around the house, which in five or six years turn into a dense forest.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 18

Two years after the discovery of the footprint, Robinson Crusoe makes a trip to the western side of the island, where he sees a shore strewn with human bones. He spends the next three years on his side of the island. The hero stops improving the house and tries not to shoot, so as not to attract the attention of savages. He replaces firewood with charcoal, and while mining it he comes across a spacious, dry cave with a narrow opening, where he carries most of the most valuable things.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 19

One December day, two miles from his home, Robinson notices savages sitting around a fire. He is horrified by the bloody feast and decides to fight the cannibals next time. The hero spends fifteen months in restless anticipation.

In the twenty-fourth year of Robinson's stay on the island, a ship is wrecked not far from the shore. The hero makes a fire. The ship responds with a cannon shot, but the next morning Robinson sees only the remains of the lost ship.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 20

Until the last year of his stay on the island, Robinson Crusoe never found out whether anyone had escaped from the crashed ship. On the shore he found the body of a young cabin boy; on the ship - a hungry dog ​​and a lot of useful things.

The hero spends two years dreaming of freedom. He waits another hour and a half for the arrival of the savages to free their captive and sail away from the island with him.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 21

One day, six pirogues with thirty savages and two prisoners land on the island, one of whom manages to escape. Robinson hits one of the pursuers with the butt and kills the second. The savage he rescued asks his master for a saber and cuts off the head of the first savage.

Robinson allows the young man to bury the dead in the sand and takes him to his grotto, where he feeds him and arranges for him to rest. Friday (as the hero calls his ward - in honor of the day when he was saved) invites his master to eat the killed savages. Robinson is horrified and expresses dissatisfaction.

Robinson sews clothes for Friday, teaches him to speak and feels quite happy.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 22

Robinson teaches Friday to eat animal meat. He introduces him to boiled food, but cannot instill a love for salt. The savage helps Robinson in everything and becomes attached to him like a father. He tells him that the nearby mainland is the island of Trinidad, next to which live wild tribes of the Caribs, and far to the west - white and cruel bearded people. According to Friday, they can be reached by a boat twice the size of the pirogue.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 23

One day a savage tells Robinson about seventeen white people living in his tribe. At one time, the hero suspects Friday of wanting to escape from the island to his family, but then he is convinced of his devotion and himself invites him to go home. The heroes are making a new boat. Robinson equips it with a rudder and a sail.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 24

While preparing to leave, Friday stumbles upon twenty savages. Robinson, together with his ward, give them battle and free the Spaniard from captivity, who joins the fighters. In one of the pie, Friday finds his father - he, too, was a captive of savages. Robinson and Friday bring the rescued people home.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 25

When the Spaniard comes to his senses a little, Robinson negotiates with him for his comrades to help him build a ship. Over the next year, the heroes prepare provisions for the “white people”, after which the Spaniard and Friday’s father set off for Robinson’s future ship’s crew. A few days later, an English boat with three prisoners approaches the island.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 26

English sailors are forced to remain on the island due to low tide. Robinson Crusoe talks with one of the prisoners and learns that he is the captain of the ship, against which his own crew, confused by two robbers, rebelled. Prisoners kill their captors. The surviving robbers come under the command of the captain.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 27

Robinson and the captain punch a hole in the pirate longboat. A boat with ten armed people arrives from the ship to the island. At first, the robbers decide to leave the island, but then return to find their missing comrades. Eight of them, Friday, together with the captain's assistant, are taken deep into the island; Robinson and his team disarm the two. At night, the captain kills the boatswain who started a riot. Five pirates surrender.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 28

The captain of the ship threatens the prisoners with sending them to England. Robinson, as the head of the island, offers them pardon in exchange for help in taking possession of the ship. When the latter ends up in the captain's hands, Robinson almost faints with joy. He changes into decent clothes and, leaving the island, leaves the most evil pirates on it. At home, Robinson is met by his sisters and their children, to whom he tells his story.