Excerpts from the classic English passages of Robinson Crusoe

"Robinson Crusoe" is a novel by the British writer Daniel Defoe. It is considered to be the beginning of British realism. Below I will bring you "Robinson Crusoe" Classic English passage from "Robinson Crusoe", everyone is welcome to read!

Classic English passage from "Robinson Crusoe" 1

THAT evil influence which carried me first away from my father's house - which hurried me into the wild and indigested notion of raising my fortune, and that impressed those conceits so forcibly upon me as to make me deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties and even the commands of my father - I say, the same influence, whatever it was, presented the most unfortunate of all enterprises to my view; and I went on board a vessel bound to the coast of Africa; or, as our sailors vulgarly called it, a voyage to Guinea.

It was my great misfortune that in all these adventures I did not ship myself as a sailor; when, though I might indeed have worked a little harder than ordinary, yet at the same time I should have learned the duty and office of a fore- mast man, and in time might have qualified myself for a mate or lieutenant, if not for a master. But as it was always my fate to choose for the worse, so I did here; for having money in my pocket and good clothes upon my back, I would always go on board in the habit of a gentleman; and so I neither had any business in the ship, nor learned to do any.

　It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good company in London, which does not always happen to such loose and mis

guided young fellows as I then was; the devil generally not omitting to lay some snare for them very early; but it was not so with me. I first got acquainted with the master of a ship who had been on the coast of Guinea; and who, having had very good success there, was resolved to go again. This captain taking a fancy to my conversation, which was not at all disagreeable at that time, hearing me say I had a mind to see the world, told me if I would go the voyage with him I should be at no expense; I should be his messmate and his companion; and if I could carry anything with me, I should have all the advantage of it that the trade would admit; and perhaps I might meet with some encouragement. "Robinson Crusoe" Classic English Paragraph 2

I embraced the offer; and entering into a strict friendship with this captain, who was an honest, plain-dealing man, I went the voyage with him, and carried a small adventure with me, which, by the disinterested honesty of my friend the captain, I increased very considerably; for I carried about 40 pounds in such toys and trifles as the captain directed me to buy. These 40 pounds I had mustered together by the assistance of some of my relations whom I corresponded with; and who, I believe, got my father, or at least my mother, to contribute so much as that to my first adventure.

This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my ad

ventures, which I owe to the integrity and honesty of my friend the captain; under whom also I got a competent knowledge of the mathematics and the rules of navigation, learned how to keep an account of the ship's course, take an observation, and, in short, to understand some things that were needful to be understood by a sailor; for, as he took delight to instruct me, I took delight to learn; and, in a word, this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant; for I brought home five pounds nine ounces of gold-dust for my adventure, which yielded me in London, at my return, almost 300 pounds; and this filled me with those aspiring thoughts which have since so completed my ruin. "Robinson Robinson" Classic English Paragraph 3 of "Drifting"

　It happened one time, that going a-fishing in a calm morning, a fog rose so thick that, though we were not half a league from the shore, we lost sight of it; and rowing we knew not whither or which way, we labored all day, and all the next night; and when the morning came we found we had pulled off to sea instead of pulling in for the shore; and that we were at at least two leagues from the shore. However, we got well in again, though with a great deal of labor and some danger; for the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning; but we were all very hungry.

But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved to take more care of himself for the future; and having lyi

ng by him the longboat of our English ship that he had taken, he resolved he would not go afishing any more without a compass and some provision; so he ordered the carpenter of his ship, who also was an English slave, to build a little state-room, or cabin, in the middle of the longboat, like that of a barge, with a place to stand behind it to steer, and haul home the main-sheet; the room before for a hand or two to stand and work the sails. She sailed with what we call a shoulder-of-mutton sail; and the boom jibed over the top of the cabin, which lay very snug and low, and had in it room for him to lie, with a slave or two , and a table to eat on, with some small lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor as he thought fit to drink; and his bread, rice, and coffee.

We went out frequently with this boat a-fishing; and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me. It happened that he had appointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for fish, with two or three Moors of some distinction in that place, and for whom he had provided extraordinarily, and had, therefore, sent on board the boat overnight a larger store of provisions than ordinary; and had ordered me to get ready three fusees with powder and shot, which were on board his ship, for that they designed some sport of fowling as well as fishing. "Robinson Crusoe" Classic English Paragraph 4

HAT evil influence which carried me first away from my father's house - which hurried me into the wild and indigested notion of raising my fortune, and that impressed those conceits so forcibly upon me as to make me deaf to all good advice, and to the entreaties and even the commands of my father - I say, the same influence, whatever it was, presented the most unfortunate of all enterprises to my view; and I went on board a vessel bound to the coast of Africa; or, as our sailors vulgarly called it, a voyage to Guinea.

Not long ago, that evil force drove me to run away from home. I was young and ignorant, had wild imaginations, and wanted to get rich. This idea was so deep-rooted that I turned a deaf ear to all advice and turned a deaf ear to my father's pleas and strict orders. I mean, now it was the same evil force - whatever it was - that had led me into a most unfortunate adventure. I embarked on a ship bound for the coast of Africa; to Guinea, as the sailors say!

　It was my great misfortune that in all these adventures I did not ship myself as a sailor; when, though I might indeed have worked a little harder than ordinary, yet at the same time I should have learned the duty and office of a fore-mast man, and in time might have qualified myself for a mate or lieutenant, if not for a master. But as it was always my fate to choose for the worse, so I did here; for having money in my pocket and good clothes upon my back, I would always go on board in the habit of a gentleman; and so I neither had any business in the ship, nor learned to do any.

Neither had I been a sailor on a ship in my previous adventures. This is my misfortune. Originally, I could work harder than usual and learn to do some of the work that ordinary sailors do. At a certain point, even if you can't be a captain, you might be able to be a first mate or a captain's assistant or something.

However, I am destined to make the worst choice every time, and this time is no exception. With a few dollars in my pocket and respectable clothes on my body, I entered the boat as a gentleman, as usual. I never took part in anything that happened on the ship, and I never learned to do it.

　It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good company in London, which does not always happen to such loose and misguided young fellows as I then was; the devil generally not omitting to lay some snare for them very early; but it was not so with me. I first got acquainted with the master of a ship who had been on the coast of Guinea; and who, having had very good success there, was resolved to go again. This captain taking a fancy to my conversation, which was not at all disagreeable at that time, hearing me say I had a mind to see the world, told me if I would go the voyage with him I should be at no expense; I should be his messmate and his companion; and if I could carry anything with me, I should have all the advantage of it that the trade would admit; and perhaps I might meet with some encouragement.

In London, I made good friend. This is my destiny again. Such good things did not usually happen to a dissolute, misguided young man like me. The devil always sets a trap for them early. But not to me. Early on, I got to know a captain. He had been to the coast of Guinea; there he had made such a good deal that he decided to go again. He was interested in what I said, for it was perhaps less unpleasant then. Hearing that I wanted to go out to see the world, he told me that if I was willing to go with him, I could take his boat for free, be his companion, and dine with him. If I wanted to bring something along, he would tell me what would be the most profitable to bring, so maybe I could make some money.

I just wanted the captain’s hospitality, and shared it with the captain. They became close friends. The captain was a sincere man, so I boarded his ship and took some cargo with me. Owing to the integrity of my friend the captain, I made a considerable sum of money. for, at his advice, I brought with me a quantity of toys and other trinkets, worth about forty pounds. I got the money with the help of some relatives. I wrote to them; and I believe they told my father, or at least my mother, that my father or mother would provide the money, which would then be sent to me by a relative, as capital for my first business venture.

This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my adventures, which I owe to the honesty and integrity of my friend the captain; under whom also I got a competent knowledge of the mathematics and the rules of navigation, learned how to keep an account of the ship's course, take an observation, and, in short, to understand some things that were needful to be understood by a sailor; for, as he took delight to instruct me, I took delight to learn; and, in a word, this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant; for I brought home five pounds nine ounces of gold-dust for my adventure, which yielded me in London, at my return, almost 300 pounds ; and this filled me with those aspiring thoughts which have since so completed my ruin.

It can be said that this is the only successful voyage in my life's adventures. This was entirely due to the integrity of my friend the captain. Under his guidance, I also learned some mathematical knowledge and methods of navigation, and learned to keep a logbook and observe astronomy. In one sentence, I learned some basic common sense about being a sailor. He is happy to teach me and I am happy to learn from him. In short, this voyage made me both a sailor and a businessman. I brought back five pounds and nine ounces of gold sand from this voyage; and when I got back to London I got about three hundred pounds in exchange, a good profit. This made me even more complacent, and thus ruined my life.