1 October1. The next morning, I was surprised to find that the ship had drifted to the shore with the high tide and was much closer to the island. On the one hand, I feel a little comforted to see it sitting upright without breaking into pieces. I think if the wind weakens, I can get on the boat and get some food and necessities from it to ease it. On the other hand, it makes me sad for the loss of my companions. I think if we all stay on the boat, they may be saved, or at least they won't all drown as they are now. If those people are saved, maybe we can build a boat for ourselves from the ruins of the boat and take us to another part of the world. For most of the day, I puzzled myself about these things; But in the end, I saw that the boat was almost dry. I got as close to the beach as possible, and then I swam on the boat. It has been raining all the time, although there is no wind at all.
From 1 October1day to 24th. These days, I have spent many times sailing, trying my best to get the things out of the boat. Every time the tide rises, I drag the boat ashore with a raft. There has been a lot of rain these days, and although there will be fine weather occasionally, it seems to be the rainy season.
120 I turned out my raft and all the goods on it, but because it was in shallow water and these things were heavy, I fished many things back at low tide.
October twenty _ fifth. It rained all night and all day, and there were several strong winds. During this period, the ship broke into pieces, and the wind was stronger than before. Except for the wreckage of the ship, it was no longer visible, and only at low tide. It took me a day to cover and protect my goods from being damaged by rain.
October 26th. I walked around the seaside almost all day, trying to find a place to settle down, and I was very worried that I would be attacked by wild animals or people at night. Towards evening, I chose a suitable place under a rock and drew a semicircle as my camp. I decided to reinforce it with a project, a wall or a fortification made of double piles, with cables connected inside and turf outside.
Starting from the 26th. By the 30th. I worked very hard to move all my goods to my new residence, even though it rained heavily sometimes.
3 1st。 The next morning, I went to the island with a gun to look for food, and found this country. I killed a female goat, and her children followed me home. Later, I killed it, too, because it didn't eat.
November. 1. I set up a tent under a rock and lay there the first night. I made the tent as big as possible with wooden stakes so that I could hang a hammock on it.
1 1 2nd of the month. I set up all the boxes and boards, as well as the wooden blocks for rafts, and used them to enclose a fence in the fortifications I delineated.
1 1 3rd of the month. I went out with a gun and killed two birds like ducks. They were good food. I went to work this afternoon and made me a table.
Captain, we have been treated fairly, decently and kindly, and I am not grateful at all: when I was in danger of shipwreck, destruction and drowning on this island again, I didn't regret it at all, and I didn't think it was a punishment. I just often say to myself that I am an unfortunate dog, and I was born miserable.
Indeed, when I landed here for the first time, I found that all the crew members on my ship were drowned, and I spat myself. I felt a surprise, and there were some soul shifts. If God's grace helped me, I might be truly grateful. But it ended where it started, with a general joy, or I can say, happy that I am still alive, without thinking of the extraordinary kindness of the hand, which protected me and singled me out for protection when all other things were destroyed; Or ask why God is so kind to me; Even like the ordinary happiness that sailors usually have when they come ashore safely from a shipwreck, they will drown in the next bowl of punch and forget it almost as soon as it's over. This will be the case for the rest of my life.
Later, after proper consideration, when I realized my situation and how I was thrown into this terrible place, which was beyond the reach of human beings, and there was no hope of liberation or redemption, I only saw the hope of living and realized that I should not starve to death. All my pains disappeared and I began to become very relaxed. I concentrate on my own protection and supply, and will never be judged by heaven or punished by God. These thoughts seldom enter my mind.
As I hinted in my diary, the growth of corn didn't affect me at first, but it began to seriously affect me, as long as I thought it had something miraculous in it; But once this part of the thought is removed, all the impressions resulting from it will disappear, as I have pointed out.
Even an earthquake, although its nature is more terrible than an earthquake, or it directly points to an invisible force, which guides this kind of thing alone, but as soon as the first fear is over, the impression it makes disappears. I have no more feelings about God and his judgment, not to mention that my pain now comes from his hands, as if I were living in the most prosperous state.
But now, when I began to get sick, a leisurely view of the pain of death appeared in front of me; When my spirit began to be depressed under the weight of a strong disease, nature was exhausted by fierce beasts; My conscience, which had been sleeping for so long, began to wake up, and I began to blame myself with my past life. In the past life, I obviously angered God's justice with unusual evil, made me suffer unusual blows, and treated me in such a revenge way.
On the second or third day of my insanity, these thoughts oppressed me. In violence, pain and conscience condemnation, I had to say something, like praying to God, although I couldn't say it was a prayer with wishes or hopes. This is more like Mill's voice of fear and pain; My thoughts are confused, my beliefs come to my mind, and the fear and fear of dying in such a tragic situation pervades my mind. In the bustle of my soul, I don't know what my tongue should say, but it is really crying, such as: Lord! What a miserable creature am I? If I get sick, I will definitely die of lack of help. What will happen to me? Then, tears welled up in my eyes, and I was speechless for a long time.
During this time, I remembered my father's advice, and I mentioned his prediction at the beginning of the story, namely. If I make this stupid step, God will not bless me, and I will have leisure to reflect on and ignore his advice when possible.
In a word, the essence and experience of things tell me that all the beautiful things in this world are of no greater benefit to us except for our use, as long as we think carefully; No matter what we have accumulated to give to others, we will enjoy as much as possible, not more. If the most greedy miser in the world were in my situation, he would get rid of the bad habit of greed; Because I have much more than I know. I have no room for desire, except for things I don't have, which are just trivial matters, although they are really useful to me. As I hinted before, I have a bag of money, both gold and silver, about thirty-six pounds. Alas! Those annoying, embarrassed and useless things lie there; I have no way of doing business; I often think myself that I will trade it for a lot of pipes, or a hand mill to grind my corn; No, I am willing to trade all this for sixpence of English turnips and carrot seeds, or a handful of peas and beans and a bottle of ink. As far as the present situation is concerned, I have no benefit at all. But it lies in the drawer, and in the wet season, it is moldy due to the humidity of the cave. If I had a drawer full of diamonds, it would be the same; They are worthless to me because they are useless.
I have now made my life much easier than it was at the beginning, and it is much easier for my mind and body. I often sit down to eat with gratitude and praise God's care. He has laid the table for me in the wilderness. I learned to look at the bright side of life more and the dark side less; Consider what I like, not what I want; This sometimes gives me such secret comfort that I can't express them; I have noticed this here, and let those who are not satisfied remember this. They can't enjoy what God has given them comfortably. Because they see and covet what God has not given them: in my opinion, all our dissatisfaction with what we want stems from our lack of gratitude for what we have.
Another idea is very useful to me, and it is undoubtedly the same for anyone who is in this predicament like me. This is to compare my current situation with what I originally expected; No, if God didn't wonderfully command to throw the boat closer to the shore, I could not only get close to it, but also bring what I got from it to the shore, so that I could get relief and comfort. Without it, I need tools to work, weapons to defend myself, or gunpowder and bullets to get food.
I spent hours, even days, describing to myself in the most vivid colors how I would act if I got nothing from the ship. I don't even have any food except fish and turtles; Because it took me a long time to find any of them, I must die first. I should live, if I don't die, like a mill savage. If I kill a goat or a poultry in any way, I can't go to fleas or cut them open, or peel the meat from the skin and internal organs, or chop them up; But I must chew it with my teeth and pull it with my claws like a wild animal.
These thoughts make me very aware of God's kindness to me, and I am very grateful for my current situation and all the difficulties and misfortunes. I also have to recommend this part to those who like to say that they have pain like me to think about. Let them think about how bad some people are, and if God thinks fit, their situation may be worse.