Robinson's calendar. - Robinson is arranging his lodging. All books about: "Draw a Robinson's calendar ... Adrian Mole's Secret Diary Sue Townsend

Reading Daniel Defoe's wonderful novel "Robinson Crusoe", you've probably wondered if Robinson really existed, and if so, where is his island located. Robinson is not fiction. The basis of Daniel Defoe's work is a real fact. Only the name of the hero was changed in the book, and the author himself transferred the island to the Atlantic Ocean and placed it somewhere near the mouth of the Orinoco River in the Caribbean Sea. Depicting the conditions in which Robinson allegedly lived, Defoe described the nature of the islands Trinidad and Tabago.

But where is the real island of Robinson Crusoe? Look at the map. Near 80 ° W and 33 ° 40 "S you will see a group of small islands Juan-Fernandez named after the Spanish navigator who discovered them in 1563 g. This group includes volcanic islands Mas-a-Tierra(translated from Spanish "closer to the shore"), Mas-a-Fuera("Further from the coast") and a small island Santa clara.

They all belong to Chile. So, the first of them is the famous island of Robinson Crusoe. However, this is evidenced by the corresponding inscription on many maps: after all, in the 70s of our 1st century, the island Mas-a-Tierra was renamed to island Robinson Crusoe. The largest island among the islands of the Juan Fernandez archipelago Robinson Crusoe reaches only 23 km in length and about 8 km in width with an area of 144 sq. km. Like all other islands, it is mountainous. Highest point - mountain Juncke- 1000 m above sea level. The climate in this area is mild, oceanic. In August, the coldest month of the year (the island is located in the Southern Hemisphere, and the seasons here, as you know, are opposite to ours), the average daily air temperature is + 12 ° С, and in February, the warmest month, + 19 ° С.

The lowlands of the island are a typical savanna with several palm groves and thickets of tree ferns. The mountainous part of it is covered with forests, which, however, have significantly thinned out as a result of human economic activity, despite the fact that in 1935 the island was declared a national park. The uprooting of land for military installations on the basis of a treaty between Chile and the United States has especially damaged nature.

Over 100 plant species on the island are unique. Among them are the Chonta palm, the Nalka tree, various ferns and flowers that are not found anywhere else on our planet. Once upon a time, dense forests of a very valuable fragrant sandalwood grew here. But now they can be found only on the inaccessible peaks of individual mountains. The land here is very fertile, crystal clear streams flow everywhere.

There is an active life in the waters of the island; turtles, sea lions, lobsters, a lot of fish and seals are found here. They say that the latter were once so many that it was necessary to push them away with oars in order to moor to the shore.

The famous goats are also found on the island - the descendants of those that Juan Fernandez left here in 1563.

It was near this island that on February 2, 1709, two British warships, Duke and Duchess, dropped anchor. After a long voyage, the team needed some rest. The boat with seven sailors and officers set off for the shore. Soon the sailors returned to the ship. Together with them, a man overgrown with a thick beard and long hair ascended the deck of the Duke. His clothes were made of goat skins. The newcomer tried in vain to explain something to the captain. He could only utter some inarticulate sounds that vaguely resembled English.

Many days passed before the unknown came to his senses and was able to tell about his unusual adventures. It was Alexander Selkirk. He was born in 1676 in the small Scottish town of Largo into the family of a poor shoemaker, John Selcreg. As a nineteen-year-old boy, due to constant quarrels with his father and brother, he defiantly changed his last name to Selkirk and left home. He served as a sailor on various ships of the British navy. Somehow he found out that the famous royal pirate Dhampir was recruiting sailors for his crew, and he enlisted. However, Selkirk did not go to Dampir, but to the captain of another frigate, Pickering.

In September 1703, the ships set out on a journey. It was a typical extortionate pirate voyage at the time. The squadron captured Spanish ships loaded with gold and valuable goods off the coast of Peru, which sailed to Europe. Pickering died soon after, and his successor, Stredling, separated from him after falling out with Dampier. The able Selkirk, meanwhile, became the second mate of Captain Stredling. In May 1704, their ship, damaged by a storm, anchored near islands Mas-a-Tierra. It was necessary to make major repairs, which the captain did not want, and therefore a quarrel arose between him and his assistant. As a result, on the orders of Stredling, Selkirk was landed on this deserted island. The sailor was left with a gun with a small supply of gunpowder and bullets, an ax, a knife, a telescope, a blanket and some tobacco. At first it was very difficult for Selkirk. Despair and complete indifference to everything seized him. But, well aware that despair is a step towards death, he overpowered himself and took up work. “If something saved me, – he said later, - so this is labor. " First of all, Selkirk built himself a comfortable hut. And what to eat? A sailor, wandering around the island, found many nutritious root crops, cereals and even fruits (all of them were planted here by Juan Fernandez). Selkirk tamed wild goats, hunted sea turtles, and fished.

There were many cats and rats on the island. Selkirk fed the cats with goat meat so generously that over time they got used to him and began to come here in hundreds, protecting his housing from harmful rodents. Selkirk produced fire by friction, sewed clothes from goat skins, using nails instead of needles. He made himself a calendar and many useful household items.

Somehow Spanish sailors landed on the island, but England at that time was waging continuous wars with Spain, so Selkirk decided not to catch their eye and hid in the hollow of a large tree. So he lived alone on the island for about five years, until English ships accidentally sailed here.

“You have suffered a lot on this island, Captain Rogers said to Selkirk after listening to his story. but thank God: Mas-a-Tierra saved your life, because shortly after your disembarkation, Stredling's ship fell into a violent storm and sank with almost the entire crew, and the surviving captain Stredling with some of the sailors fell into the hands of the Spaniards off the coast of Costa Rica. "

Rogers took Selkirk as his assistant, and he again took up the predatory trade of the royal pirates.

In 1712 Selkirk returned to his homeland. In the same year, Woods Rogers' book "Fishing voyages around the world" appeared, which briefly described the unusual adventures of an English sailor. Following this, a small book was published with an intriguing title: "The Intervention of Providence, or the Extraordinary Description of the Adventures of Alexander Selkirk", written by himself. However, the writer from Selkirk turned out to be much worse than the sailor, because his book did not arouse interest among his contemporaries. The real fame and immortality of Selkirk was brought by Daniel Defoe's novel, published in 1719. Its title was even longer: "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York who lived twenty-eight years on a deserted island." And although the novel told about the adventures of some Robinson and his stay on the island was many times longer, everyone immediately recognized him as Alexander Selkirk. In addition, in the preface to the first edition of his book, the author directly indicated: "There is still a man among us whose life served as a canvas for this book."

Alexander Selkirk died on December 17, 1723 on the ship "Weymouth", where he was the first mate of the captain. On the 100th anniversary of the death of the sailor, a monument was erected to him in Largo, and in 1868 a memorial plaque was erected on one of the rocks of the island of Mas-a-Tierra, where, according to legend, the Selkirk observation post was located.

Not only the adventures of Selkirk-Robinson are interesting, but also the history of his island itself. It turns out that Selkirk was by no means the first Robinson to Mas-a-Tierra, and his discoverer himself is Juan Fernandez. He lived here for several years, after which he returned to the mainland. The goats left by him eventually bred, became feral and provided plenty of meat, milk and clothing for all subsequent Robinsons. And even now the local population hunts them.

In the 20s of the XVII century. Dutch sailors lived on the island for a long time. After them, from January 1680, for three years, a Negro sailor found refuge here, who alone escaped from a merchant ship that sank near the island.

In the period from 1680 to 1683, Indian William from Central America, for unknown reasons, was abandoned here by English pirates on the island of Robinson. Perhaps this predecessor of Selkirk was the prototype of Friday in Defoe's novel. On March 22, 1683, he was found by an English pirate ship.

The fifth Robinsonade was more fun. In 1687, Captain Dewis landed nine sailors on the island for gambling with dice. Provided with everything they needed, true to themselves, they spent almost all their time playing. And since there was no need for money on the uninhabited island, the partners divided the island into separate sections and ... played about them one to the other. Sometimes their game was interrupted by the Spaniards, who, during their attacks, tried in vain to catch gamblers. Three years later, all nine Robinsons left the island. And after another 14 years, Alexander Selkirk appeared on it.

The Robinsons' leapfrog did not end after Selkirk. For a long time, the island was a favorite haven for pirates. In 1715 the Spaniards formed a small colony here, which was soon destroyed by an earthquake.

In 1719, deserters from an English frigate stayed on the island for several months, and in 1720 - the crew of the sunken English ship Speedwell. Some of the sailors eventually sailed from here on a boat they built, and the rest soon died defending the colony from the Spaniards.

In 1750 the Spaniards built a fortress here, which later served as a prison for the Chilean fighters for independence. Later, when the fortress was destroyed by an earthquake, the island again became empty for a long time.

In 1855, a settlement of colonists from neighboring Chile reappeared on the island. They were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and fishing, and even built a small cannery. At the end of the last century, the Chilean government surrendered the island for a long time Mas-a-Tierra for rent to a Swiss businessman * and lover of exoticism, Baron de Rodt, who organized lobster fishing here, which has since become the main occupation of the local population.

The world wars that engulfed our planet in the turbulent XX century have not bypassed this piece of land lost in the ocean. So, during the First World War in 1915, the German cruiser "Dresden" was sunk near its shores by the British fleet, and during the second - in the waters of the island Mas-a-Tierra sometimes German and Japanese submarines and light cruisers were hiding.

In pursuit of profits, an American firm, using the land's fame as the Robinson Islands, built a large hotel here for tourists and produces many postcards with views of the island every year. Particular attention of numerous tourists is attracted by the cave, in which, according to legend, Robinson-Selkirk lived, located on the side of a mountain, and the hill from which Robinson examined the oceanic distances through a telescope.

Now on the island Robinson Crusoe in the only village San Juan Baglista is home to about 500 people.

Interestingly, many of them are named Daniel, Robinson and Friday.

The island of the Robinsons, lost in the ocean, has telephone and telegraph communications with the mainland. Every home has a TV, not to mention a radio. And at the same time, he remains isolated. Only once a year a ship arrives here with the necessary goods, although the air connection is well established.

However, during the winter months, the island Robinson completely cut off by bad weather from the whole world: neither planes nor ships come here. And at other times of the year there are not many tourists here, and the residents themselves rarely leave their island: passenger communications are too expensive.

- Soon after I settled on the island, it suddenly occurred to me that I would lose track of time and even stop distinguishing Sundays from weekdays if I did not start a calendar.

I arranged the calendar as follows: I cut a large log with an ax and drove it into the sand on the shore, in the very place where the storm had thrown me, and nailed to this post a crossbar, on which I carved the following words in large letters:

When listing the things that I transported from the ship, as already mentioned, in eleven steps, I did not mention many little things, although not particularly valuable, but which nevertheless served me a lot. For example, in the cabins of the captain and his mate, I found ink, pens and paper, three or four compasses, some astronomical instruments, telescopes, maps and a ship's log. I put all this in one of the chests just in case, not even knowing if I would need any of these things. Then I came across several books in Portuguese. I picked them up too.

We had two cats and a dog on the ship. I carried the cats ashore on a raft; the dog, even during my first trip, jumped into the water and swam after me. For many years she was my reliable assistant, served me faithfully. She almost replaced human society for me, only she could not speak. Oh, how dearly I would have given her to speak! I tried to protect ink, pens and paper in every possible way. While I had ink, I wrote down in detail everything that happened to me; when they ran out, I had to stop recording, since I did not know how to make ink and could not think of how to replace it.

In general, although I had such an extensive warehouse of all sorts of things, I still lacked a lot besides ink: I had no shovel, no spade, no pick - not a single tool for earthwork. There were no needles or threads. My linen was completely unusable, but soon I learned to do without linen at all, without experiencing much deprivation.

Since I didn’t have the necessary tools, all my work went very slowly and was given with great difficulty. Above that picket fence, which I circled around my dwelling, I worked for almost a year. Chopping thick poles in the forest, carving stakes out of them, dragging these stakes to the tent - all this took a lot of time. The stakes were very heavy, so I could only lift one at a time, and sometimes it took me two days just to hew out the stake and bring it home, and the third day to drive it into the ground.

Driving stakes into the ground, I used a heavy club at first, but then I remembered that I have iron crowbars, which I brought from the ship. I began to work with a crowbar, although I will not say that this greatly facilitates my work. In general, driving stakes was one of the most tedious and unpleasant jobs for me. But was it embarrassing for me? After all, all the same, I did not know what to do with my time, and I had no other business than wandering around the island in search of food; I did this business carefully day in and day out.

Sometimes despair attacked me, I felt a mortal melancholy, in order to overcome these bitter feelings, I took a pen and tried to prove to myself that there is still a lot of good in my distress.

I split the page in half and wrote “bad” on the left and “good” on the right, and this is what I got:

HUDO - GOOD

I am abandoned on a dull, uninhabited island, and I have no hope of escape. “But I survived, although I could have drowned, like all my companions.

I am removed from all of humanity; I am a hermit, banished forever from the human world. “But I didn’t starve or die in this desert.

I have few clothes, and soon I will have nothing to cover my nakedness. “But the climate here is hot, and you can do without clothes.

I cannot defend myself if evil people or wild animals attack me. “But there are no people or animals here. And I can consider myself lucky that I was not thrown onto the coast of Africa, where there are so many ferocious predators.

I have no one to have a word with, no one to cheer and console me. - But I managed to stock up on everything necessary for life and provide myself with food for the rest of my days.

These reflections gave me great support. I saw that I should not be discouraged and despair, since in the most difficult sorrows one can and should find consolation.

I calmed down and became much more cheerful. Until then I was only thinking how I could leave this island; for hours I gazed into the distance to see if a ship would appear somewhere. Now, having put an end to empty hopes, I began to think about how I could better organize my life on the island.

I have already described my home. It was a tent set up on the side of a mountain and surrounded by a strong double palisade. But now my fence could be called a wall or a rampart, because close to it, on the outside of it, I brought out an earthen embankment two feet thick.

Some time later (a year and a half later) I put the poles on my embankment, leaning them against the slope of the mountain, and on top I made a flooring of branches and long wide leaves. Thus, my yard was under the roof, and I could not be afraid of the rains, which, as I said, at certain times of the year, mercilessly watered my island.

The reader already knows that I transferred all the property to my fortress - first only in the fence, and then in the cave that I dug in the hill behind the tent. But I must confess that at first my things were piled up in a heap, at random, and cluttered the whole yard. I constantly ran into them, and I literally had nowhere to turn. To arrange everything properly, the cave had to be widened.

After I had sealed off the entrance to the fence and, therefore, could consider myself safe from the attack of predatory animals, I began to expand and lengthen my cave. Fortunately, the mountain was composed of loose sandstone. Having dug the ground to the right, as much as was needed according to my calculation, I turned even more to the right and brought the passage outside, beyond the fence.

This through underground passage - the back door of my dwelling - not only gave me the opportunity to freely leave the yard and return home, but also significantly increased the area of my storeroom.

Having finished this work, I began to tinker myself with furniture. I needed a table and a chair most of all: without a table and a chair, I could not fully enjoy even those modest comforts that were available to me in my solitude - I could neither eat humanly, nor write, nor read.

And so I became a carpenter.

Until then, I had never taken a carpentry tool in my hands, and nevertheless, thanks to my natural intelligence and perseverance in work, I gradually gained such experience that, if I had all the necessary tools, I could put together any furniture.

But even without tools or almost without tools, with only one ax and a plane, I have done many things, although, probably, no one has ever done them in such a primitive way and did not expend so much work. Just to make a board, I had to chop down a tree, peel the trunk of branches and trim off both sides until it turns into some kind of board. The method was inconvenient and very unprofitable, since only one board came out of the whole tree. But nothing can be done, I had to endure. In addition, my time and my labor were very cheap, so does it really matter where and what they went to?

So first of all I made myself a table and a chair. For this I used short boards taken from the ship. Then I cut the long planks in my primitive fashion and fitted several shelves in my cellar, one on top of the other, about a foot and a half wide. I put tools, nails, pieces of iron and other small things on them - in a word, I put everything in its places so that when I needed it, I could easily find every thing.

In addition, I drove pegs into the wall of my cellar and hung guns, pistols and other things on them.

Anyone who would see my cave after that would probably take it for a warehouse of all kinds of household utensils. And it was a real pleasure for me to look into this warehouse - there was so much of all kinds of good, in this order all things were laid out and hung, and every little thing was at my fingertips.

From that time on, I began to keep my diary, writing down everything that I did during the day. At first I had no time for recordings: I was too overwhelmed with work; besides, I was then depressed by such gloomy thoughts that I was afraid that they would be reflected in my diary.

But now, when I finally managed to cope with my melancholy, when, having ceased to lull myself with fruitless dreams and hopes, I began to arrange my home, put my household in order, made myself a table and a chair, generally settled down as comfortable and cozy as possible, I set to work on the diary. I quote it here in full, although most of the events described in it are already known to the reader from previous chapters. I repeat, I kept my diary carefully as long as I had ink. When the ink came out, the diary inevitably had to be stopped. First of all, I made myself a table and a chair.

My third trip was especially successful. I took out all the gear and took all the ropes with me. This time I brought back a large piece of spare canvas, which we used to repair the sails, and a barrel of wet gunpowder, which I had left on the ship. Finally I got all the sails ashore; only had to cut them into pieces and transport them piece by piece. However, I did not regret it: I did not need the sails for sailing, and their whole value was for me in the sailcloth from which they were sewn.
Now from the ship was taken decisively everything that one person could lift. Only bulky things remained, for which I began the next flight. I started with the ropes. I cut each rope into pieces of such size that it would not be too difficult for me to handle them, and I transported three ropes piece by piece. In addition, I took from the ship all the iron parts that I could rip off with the ax. Then, having chopped off all the remaining yards, I built a larger raft out of them, loaded all these weights onto it and set off on the return journey.
But this time my happiness betrayed me: my raft was so heavily loaded that it was very difficult for me to manage it.
When, entering the cove, I approached the shore, where the rest of my property was piled, the raft capsized, and I fell into the water with all my load. I could not drown, as it happened not far from the coast, but almost all of my load ended up under water; most importantly, the iron, which I treasured so much, sank.
True, when the ebb tide began, I pulled almost all the pieces of rope and several pieces of iron ashore, but I had to dive for each piece, and this tired me very much.
My boat trips continued day after day, and each time I brought something new.
For thirteen days I have lived on the island and during this time I have been on the ship eleven times, dragging to the shore absolutely everything that a pair of human hands can lift. I have no doubt that if the calm weather had lasted longer, I would have transported the entire ship piece by piece.
As I was making preparations for the twelfth flight, I noticed that the wind was picking up. Nevertheless, after waiting for low tide, I went to the ship. On my previous visits, I had searched our cabin so thoroughly that it seemed to me as if nothing could be found there. But suddenly I was struck by a small cabinet with two drawers: in one I found three razors, scissors and about a dozen good forks and knives; in another box there was money, part of the European, part of the Brazilian silver and gold coin - up to thirty-six pounds sterling in total.
I chuckled at the sight of this money.
- Useless rubbish, - I said, - what are you to me now? I would gladly give up the whole pile of gold for any of these penny knives. I have nowhere to put you. So go to the bottom of the sea. If you were lying on the floor, really, it would not be worth the trouble to bend down to lift you.
But, after thinking a little, I nevertheless wrapped the money in a piece of canvas and took it with me.
The sea raged all night, and when I looked out of my tent in the morning, not a trace of the ship remained. Now I could fully deal with the question that had troubled me from the first day: what should I do so that neither predatory animals nor wild people attacked me? What kind of accommodation should I arrange? Dig a cave or pitch a tent?
In the end I decided to do both.
By this time it became clear to me that the place I had chosen on the shore was not suitable for building a dwelling: it was a swampy, low-lying place, right next to the sea. It is very harmful to live in such places. Moreover, there was no fresh water nearby. I decided to find another piece of land more livable. I needed my dwelling to be protected both from the heat of the sun and from predators; so that it stands in a place where there is no dampness; so that there is fresh water nearby. In addition, I absolutely wanted to see the sea from my house.
"It may happen that a ship appears not far from the island," I said to myself, "and if I do not see the seas, I may miss this opportunity."
As you can see, I still didn't want to give up hope.
After a long search, I finally found a suitable site for building a dwelling. It was a small, smooth clearing on the slope of a high hill. From the top to the very clearing, the hill descended like a sheer wall, so that I could not fear an attack from above. In this wall, near the clearing itself, there was a small depression, as if the entrance to a cave, but there was no cave. It was then, right opposite this depression, in a green meadow, that I decided to pitch a tent.
This place was located on the northwestern slope of the hill, so that almost until the evening it remained in the shade. And before evening it was lit up by the setting sun.
Before setting up the tent, I took a sharpened stick and made a semicircle about ten yards in diameter just before the depression. Then, along the entire semicircle, I drove into the ground two rows of strong high stakes, pointed at the upper ends. I left a small gap between the two rows of stakes and filled it all the way to the top with pieces of rope taken from the ship. I stacked them in rows, one on top of the other, and reinforced the fence with props from the inside. The fence came out to my glory: neither man nor beast could climb through it, nor climb over it. This work took a lot of time and labor. It was especially difficult to chop poles in the forest, transfer them to the construction site, hew them and drive them into the ground.
The fence was solid, there was no door. A staircase served me to enter my dwelling. I put her to the picket fence whenever I needed to get in or out.

Robinson for housewarming. - Goat and kid

It was difficult for me to drag all my riches to the fortress - provisions, weapons and other things. I barely coped with this work. And now I had to take up a new one: pitch a large, sturdy tent.
In tropical countries, it is known that rains are extremely abundant and at certain times of the year they pour without interruption for many days. To protect myself from dampness, I made a double tent, that is, first I put one tent, smaller, and above it - another, larger. I covered the outer tent with a tarp that I had captured on the ship along with the sails. Now I slept no longer on a mat thrown directly on the ground, but in a very comfortable hammock that belonged to our captain's mate.
I moved into the tent all the food and other things that could be spoiled by the rain. When all this was brought inside the fence, I tightly sealed up the hole that temporarily served as a door for me, and began to enter using the ladder, which was already mentioned above. Thus, I lived as in a fortified castle, protected from all dangers, and could sleep completely peacefully.
Having closed the fence, I began to dig a cave, deepening a natural depression in the mountain. The cave was just behind the tent and served as my cellar. I carried the excavated stones through the tent into the courtyard and stacked them near the fence from the inside. I also poured earth into it, so that the soil in the courtyard rose a foot and a half.
This work took a lot of my time. However, at that time I was occupied with many other things and there were several such incidents that I want to tell about.
Once, even at the time when I was just getting ready to set up a tent and dig a cave, a black cloud suddenly came and a pouring rain poured out. Then lightning flashed, there was a terrible thunderclap.
In this, of course, there was nothing extraordinary, and I was frightened not so much by the lightning itself as by one thought that flashed through my mind faster than lightning: "My gunpowder!"
My heart sank. I thought with horror: "One lightning strike can destroy all my gunpowder! And without it I will be deprived of the opportunity to defend myself from predatory animals and get my own food." It’s a strange thing: at that time I didn’t even think that in an explosion I myself could die first.
This incident made such a strong impression on me that, as soon as the thunderstorm had passed, I postponed for a while all my work on the arrangement and strengthening of the dwelling and set to work in carpentry and sewing: I sewed bags and made boxes for gunpowder. It was necessary to divide the gunpowder into several parts and store each part separately so that they could not break out all at once.
This job took me almost two weeks. I had up to two hundred and forty pounds of gunpowder in total. I put all this quantity into bags and boxes, dividing it into at least one hundred parts.
I hid the bags and boxes in the crevices of the mountain, in places where dampness could not penetrate, and carefully marked each place. I wasn’t afraid of the barrel of soaked powder — this gunpowder was already bad — and so I put it, as it was, in a cave, or in my "kitchen," as I mentally called it.
All this time, once a day, and sometimes more often, I went out of the house with a gun - for a walk, and also in order to get acquainted with the local nature and, if possible, shoot some game.
The first time I went on such an excursion, I discovered that there are goats on the island. I was very happy, but it soon turned out that the goats are unusually agile and sensitive, so that there is not the slightest possibility of sneaking up on them. However, this did not bother me: I had no doubt that sooner or later I would learn to hunt for them.
Soon I noticed one curious phenomenon: when the goats were on the top of the mountain, and I appeared in the valley, the whole herd immediately ran away from me; but if the goats were in the valley and I was on the mountain, then they did not seem to notice me. From this I concluded that their eyes are arranged in a special way: they do not see what is above. Since then, I began to hunt like this: climb a hill and shoot goats from the top. With the first shot I killed a young goat with a sucker. I felt sorry for the kid. When my mother fell, he continued to stand still beside her and looked at me trustingly. Moreover, when I approached the killed goat, put it on my shoulders and carried it home, the goat ran after me. So we got to the very house. I put the goat on the ground, took the goat and lowered it over the fence into the yard. I thought that I would be able to raise him and tame him, but he still did not know how to eat grass, and I was forced to kill him. The meat of these two animals was enough for me for a long time. In general, I ate a little, trying as much as possible to conserve my supplies, especially crackers.
After I finally settled down in my new home, I had to think about how I could quickly fold my stove or some kind of hearth. It was also necessary to stock up on firewood.
How I coped with this task, how I enlarged my cellar, how I gradually surrounded myself with some comforts of life, I will tell you in detail in the following pages.

Robinson's calendar. - Robinson arranges his accommodation

Soon after I settled on the island, it suddenly occurred to me that I would lose track of time and even stop distinguishing Sundays from weekdays if I did not keep a calendar.
I arranged the calendar as follows: I cut a large log with an ax and drove it into the sand on the shore, in the very place where the storm had thrown me, and nailed to this post a crossbar, on which I carved the following words in large letters:

Since then, I have made a short notch on my post every day. After six lines, I made one longer - that meant Sunday; the notches denoting the first day of each month, I made even longer. This is how I kept my calendar, noting the days, weeks, months and years.
In listing the things that I transported from the ship, as has already been said, in eleven receptions, I did not mention many little things, although not particularly valuable, but which nevertheless served me a great deal. For example, in the cabins of the captain and his mate, I found ink, pens and paper, three or four compasses, some astronomical instruments, telescopes, maps, and a ship's log. I put all this in one of the chests just in case, not even knowing if I would need any of these things. Then I came across several books in Portuguese. I picked them up too.
We had two cats and a dog on the ship. I carried the cats ashore on a raft; the dog, even during my first trip, jumped into the water and swam after me. For many years she was my reliable assistant, served me faithfully. She almost replaced human society for me, only she could not speak. Oh, how dearly I would have given her to speak! I tried to protect ink, pens and paper in every possible way. While I had ink, I wrote down in detail everything that happened to me; when they ran out, I had to stop recording, since I did not know how to make ink and could not think of how to replace it.
In general, although I had such an extensive warehouse of all kinds of things, I still lacked a lot besides ink: I had no shovel, no spade, no pick - not a single tool for earthwork. There were no needles or threads. My linen was completely unusable, but soon I learned to do without linen at all, without experiencing much deprivation.
Since I didn’t have the necessary tools, all my work went very slowly and was given with great difficulty. Above that picket fence, which I circled my home, I worked for almost a year. Chopping thick poles in the forest, carving stakes out of them, dragging these stakes to the tent - all this took a lot of time. The stakes were very heavy, so I could only lift one at a time, and sometimes it took me two days just to hew out the stake and bring it home, and the third day to drive it into the ground.
Driving stakes into the ground, I used a heavy club at first, but then I remembered that I have iron crowbars, which I brought from the ship. I began to work with a crowbar, although I will not say that this greatly facilitates my work. In general, driving stakes was one of the most tedious and unpleasant jobs for me. But was it embarrassing for me? After all, all the same, I did not know what to do with my time, and I had no other business but wandering around the island in search of food; I did this business carefully day in and day out.
At times I was attacked by despair, I felt a mortal melancholy, in order to overcome these bitter feelings, I took a pen and tried to prove to myself that there is still a lot of good in my plight.
I split the page in half and wrote "bad" on the left and "good" on the right, and this is what I got:

HUDO GOOD

I am abandoned on a dull, uninhabited island, and I have no hope of escape.
But I survived, although I could have drowned, like all my companions.

I am removed from all humanity; I am a hermit, banished forever from the human world.
But I did not die of hunger and did not die in this desert.

I have few clothes, and soon I will have nothing to cover my nakedness.
But the climate here is hot, and you can do without clothes.

I cannot defend myself if evil people or wild animals attack me.
But there are no people or animals here. And I can consider myself lucky that I was not thrown onto the coast of Africa, where there are so many ferocious predators.

I have no one to have a word with, no one to cheer and console me.
But I managed to stock up on everything necessary for life and provide myself with food for the rest of my days.

These reflections gave me great support. I saw that I should not lose heart and despair, since in the most
/> End of introductory snippet
The full version can be downloaded by

"Robinson Crusoe" chapter 1 summary
Robinson Crusoe from early childhood loved the sea. At the age of eighteen, on September 1, 1651, against the will of his parents, together with a friend, he went on the ship of the latter's father from Hull to London.

"Robinson Crusoe" chapter 2 summary

On the first day, the ship falls into a storm. While the hero suffers from seasickness, he makes a promise never to leave the solid ground, but as soon as the calm sets in, Robinson immediately gets drunk and forgets about his vows.

Anchored in Yarmouth, the ship sinks during a violent storm. Robinson Crusoe, together with the team, miraculously escapes death, but shame prevents him from returning home, so he sets out on a new journey.

"Robinson Crusoe" chapter 3 summary

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

During the second voyage, made after the death of the old captain, between the Canary Islands and Africa, the Turks from Saleh attack the ship. Robinson Crusoe becomes a slave to 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 into the open sea on the master's boat with the boy Ksuri.

Robinson Crusoe and Ksuri sail along the coast. At night they hear the roar of wild animals, during the day they land ashore to get fresh water. One day the heroes kill a lion. Robinson Crusoe makes his way to Cape Verde, where he hopes to meet a European ship.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 4th chapter

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

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of 5 chapter

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

Robinson Crusoe has been living in Brazil for four years, where he grows sugar cane. He makes friends, to whom he talks about two trips to Guinea. Once they come to him with an offer to make another trip in order to exchange trinkets for golden sand. On September 1, 1659, the ship leaves the coast of Brazil.

On the twelfth day of sailing, after crossing the equator, the ship gets caught in a storm and runs aground. The team is transferred to the boat, but she goes to the bottom. Robinson Crusoe is the only survivor from death. In the beginning he rejoices, then mourns the lost comrades. The hero spends the night on a spreading tree.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 6th chapter

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. From spare masts, he builds a raft, on which he transports ship boards, provisions (food and alcohol), clothes, carpenter's tools, weapons and gunpowder to the shore.

Climbing to the top of the hill, Robinson Crusoe realizes that he is on the island. Nine miles to the west, he sees two more small islets 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 early days, Robinson Crusoe transports things from the ship, builds a tent from sails and poles. He makes eleven voyages: taking first what he can lift, and then taking apart the ship. After the twelfth swim, during which Robinson takes away knives and money, a storm rises at sea, engulfing the remains of the ship.

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

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 7th chapter

Robinson Crusoe hides food and things in a tent, turns a depression in a hill into a cellar, for two weeks he is engaged in 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 beach. Human communication is replaced by the company of a ship dog and two cats. The hero desperately lacks tools for excavation and sewing work. Until he runs out of ink, he makes notes of his life. Robinson has been working on the palisade around the tent for a year, coming off every day just in search of food. From time to time, the hero is visited by despair.

After a year and a half, Robinson Crusoe ceases to hope that a ship will pass by the island, and sets a new goal for himself - to arrange his life as best as possible in the current conditions. Above the courtyard in front of the tent, the hero makes a canopy, from the side of the pantry he digs a back door leading outside the fence, makes 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 still managed to make a shovel out of "ironwood". With the help of the last and homemade trough, the hero dug his cellar. Once the cave collapsed. After that, Robinson Crusoe began to strengthen his kitchen-dining room with piles. From time to time, the hero hunts goats and tames a kid wounded in the leg. With the chicks of wild pigeons, such a number does not work - they fly away immediately as soon as they become adults, so in the future the hero takes them from the nests for food.

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

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

"Robinson Crusoe" chapter 10 summary

The earthquake gives Robinson access to the ship's hold. In the intervals between the dismantling of the ship into parts, the hero fishes and bakes a turtle on coals. At the end of June he is 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 makes a dacha in it. Robinson dries grapes in the first half of August. Heavy rains fall from the second half of the month to mid-October. One of the cats brings three kittens. In November, the hero discovers that the cottage fence 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 11 chapter

During the rains, Robinson weaves baskets from the branches of trees growing in the valley. One day he makes a trip 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 in turtles and birds.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 12th chapter

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

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 13th chapter

Robinson Crusoe teaches Ass to speak and tries to make pottery. In his third year on the island, he devotes himself to baking bread.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 14th chapter

Robinson is trying to put a ship's boat washed up on the water. When he fails, he decides to make a pie and chops down a huge cedar for this. The hero spends the fourth year of his life on the island at the pointless work of hollowing out the boat and launching it into the water.

When Robinson's clothes fall into disrepair, he sews himself a new one from the skins of wild animals. To protect from the sun and rain, he makes a lockable umbrella.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 15th chapter

For two years, Robinson has been building a small boat to travel around the island. Skirting the ridge of underwater rocks, he almost finds himself in the open sea. The hero returns back with joy - the island, which hitherto caused him longing, seems to him sweet and dear. Robinson spends the night at the "dacha". In the morning he is awakened by the screams of Ass.

The hero does not dare to go out 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 the 16th chapter

In the eleventh year of his life on the island, Robinson is running out of gunpowder. 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 an enormous size. Robinson ceases to lack meat and feels almost happy. He completely disguises himself in animal skins and realizes how exotic he begins to look.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 17th chapter

One day Robinson finds a human footprint on the shore. The trail found scares the hero. All night he tosses and turns from side to side, thinking about the savages who have arrived on the island. For three days the hero does not leave the house, fearing that he will be killed. On the fourth, he goes to milk the goats and begins to convince himself that the trail he has seen belongs to him. To make sure of this, the hero returns to the shore, compares the footprints and realizes that the size of his foot is less than the size of the imprint left. In a fit of fear, Robinson decides to break the pen and dissolve 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 engaged in strengthening his home: he plants twenty thousand willows around the house, which in five to six years turn into a dense forest.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 18th chapter

Two years after the discovery of the trail, Robinson Crusoe makes a trip to the western side of the island, where he sees a coast strewn with human bones. He spends the next three years on his side of the island. The hero stops doing home improvement, tries not to shoot, so as not to attract the attention of savages. He replaces firewood with charcoal, during the extraction of which he stumbles upon a spacious dry cave with a narrow hole, where he transfers most of the most valuable things.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of 19 chapter

One day in December, two miles from his home, Robinson notices the savages sitting around the 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 an island not far from the coast, a ship wrecks. The hero makes a fire. From the ship he is answered with a cannon shot, but in the morning Robinson sees only the remains of the lost ship.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of 20 chapter

Until the last year of his stay on the island, Robinson Crusoe did not find out if 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 many useful things.

The hero spends two years in dreams of freedom. Another one and a half he awaits the arrival of the savages in order to free their captive and sail off the island with him.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 21

One day, six pies with thirty savages and two captives dock on the island, one of whom manages to escape. Robinson strikes one of the pursuers with the butt and kills the other. The savage saved by him asks his master for a saber and blows 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 and arranges 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 complains.

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

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 22nd chapter

Robinson teaches Friday to eat animal meat. He introduces him to boiled food, but he 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 Caribbean tribes, and far to the west - white and fierce bearded people. According to Friday, they can be reached by boat, twice the size of the pies.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 23rd chapter

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 relatives, but then he becomes convinced of his loyalty and himself invites him to go home. The heroes are building a new boat. Robinson equips her with a rudder and sail.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 24th chapter

Preparing to leave, Friday bumps into twenty savages. Robinson, together with his ward, give them a fight and free the Spaniard from captivity, who joins the fighting. In one of the pie, Friday finds his father - he was also a prisoner of savages. Robinson and Friday bring the rescued home.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 25th chapter

When the Spaniard comes to his senses a little, Robinson agrees with him so that his comrades will help him with the construction of the ship. Throughout the next year, the heroes prepare provisions for the "white people", after which the Spaniard and Friday's father set off for the future ship's crew of Robinson. A few days later, an English boat with three prisoners moored to the island.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 26th chapter

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

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of the 27th chapter

Robinson with the captain punches a hole in the pirate launch. A boat with ten armed men arrives from the ship to the island. At the beginning, the robbers decide to leave the island, but then they return to find their missing comrades. Eight of them Friday, together with the mate, are taken inland; two are disarmed by Robinson and his team. At night, the captain kills the boatswain who raised the riot. Five pirates surrender.

"Robinson Crusoe" summary of chapter 28

The captain of the ship intimidates the prisoners by sending them to England. Robinson, as the governor of the island, offers them a pardon in exchange for help in taking possession of the ship. When the latter is in the hands of the captain, Robinson almost faints with joy. He changes into decent clothes and, leaving the island, leaves the most vicious pirates on it. At home, Robinson is greeted by sisters with children, to whom he tells his story.

1. Parental disobedience. Escape from parental home

2. Moorish captivity and liberation from it

3. Brazilian planter

4. The sea road for the slaves

5. Storm and happy rescue

6. First night on an unknown island

7. “I decided to visit the ship and save at least some of the things useful to me”: a) food supply; b) gunpowder and weapons; c) tools

8. Arrangement of housing

9. Daily routine

10. Calendar and chronology on the Island of Despair

11. "Now I have started making the things I need."

12. Illness and recovery. Medicine for the soul - turning to God, reading the Bible