Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children

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I could do nothing in such a current (я не мог ничего делать в таком течении).

My canoe was whirled along like a leaf in a whirlwind (крутило, как листок в вихре).

The sail was of no use (парус был бесполезным). The little vessel spun round and round

in the eddies (это маленькое судно вертелось в воронках; to spin) and was carried far

out to sea (было вынесено далеко в море).

I gave myself up for lost (сдался и думал, что пропал). I was so far out that I

could hardly see the low shores of my island (я был так далеко в открытом море, что

едва мог видеть низкие берега моего острова).

Suddenly I noticed that the canoe was only a little way from the edge of the

current (вдруг я заметил, что каноэ было лишь на небольшом расстоянии от края

течения). Just beyond it the water was quite calm and smooth (прямо за ним вода была

довольно спокойной и ровной).

I took up my paddle again (взял весло опять) and paddled with all my might

(греб со всей своей силой). With great joy I soon found myself floating in quiet water

(к большой радости я вскоре обнаружил себя плывущим в тихой воде).

The wind was fair for the shore (ветер дул к берегу), and I set my sail again

(поднял парус опять). The canoe sped swiftly back toward the island (поспешило

быстро назад к острову; to speed).

I saw then that I was sailing midway between two strong currents (я увидел

затем, что я плыл посредине между двумя сильными течениями). If I should be

caught in either (если бы я попал в одно из них), I would again be carried out to sea (я

бы опять был выброшен в море).

I needed all the skill I had to steer the canoe aright (мне нужно было все мое

умение, которое у меня было, чтобы направить каноэ прямо). At last (наконец),

when the sun was almost down (когда солнце почти зашло), I brought it into a quiet

little cove (я завел его в маленькую бухточку) where the shore was green with grass

(где берег был зеленым от травы).

furious [‘fjuris] thumb [m] knee [ni:]

I HAVE A PERILOUS ADVENTURE

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www

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118

I HAD never given up the idea of having a canoe.

My first trial, as you have seen, was a failure. I had made too big a boat, and I had

made it too far from the water. I could do better another time. One day after I had

harvested my grain, I set to work.

There was no tree near the river that was fit for a canoe. But I found a fine one

nearly half a mile away.

Before I began to chop the tree, I made all my plans for taking the canoe to the

water.

I worked now with a will, for I felt sure that I would succeed.

In a few weeks the little vessel was finished. It was a very pretty canoe, and large

enough for only two or three persons.

Small as it was, it was quite heavy. For you must remember that it was a part of

the tree, hollowed out and shaped like a boat. It was as much as I could do to lift one end

of it.

How should I ever get it to the river?

I have already told you that I had made plans for this.

Through the soft ground between the river and the canoe I dug a big ditch. It was

four feet deep and six feet wide and nearly half a mile long.

I worked at this ditch for nearly two years. When it was done and filled with

water from the river, I slid my canoe into it. It floated, as I knew it would.

As I pushed it along to the end of the great ditch and out into the river, it looked

very small. I could never hope to make a long voyage in it!

But I could sail round the island, and make little journeys close to the shore.

Before starting out, I put up a mast in the prow of the canoe and made a sail for it

of a piece of the ship's sail that I had kept with great care.

Then at each end of the little vessel I made lockers or small boxes, in which I put

a supply of food and other things that I would need on my voyage.

On the inside of the vessel I cut a little, long, hollow place or shelf where I could

lay my gun; and above this I tacked a long flap of goatskin to hang down over it and keep

it dry.

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www

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119

In the stern I set up my umbrella, so that it would keep the hot sun off of me while

I was steering the canoe.

Then every day I made short trips down the river to the sea and back again.

Sometimes, when the wind was fair, I sailed a little way out; but I was afraid to go far.

At last I made up my mind for a voyage around the island.

I filled my lockers with food. In one I put two dozen barley cakes and a pot full of

parched rice. In the other I stored the hind quarters of a goat.

I also put in powder and shot enough to kill as much game as I would need.

On a day in November I set sail on my voyage. It proved to be a harder voyage

than I had bargained for.

In the first place, there were so many rocks along the shore that I sometimes had

to sail for miles out into the sea to get around them.