Chapter Two. "The Island"
Where was I? What country was this? Where were the others? I looked up and down the long beach. I couldn't see anybody. I started to walk and call my friends. There was no answer. Then I saw a hat in the water, then two shoes, one black, one brown. I looked at the sea. Our ship was there. The sand below the water was its bed, but there was nobody on the ship now.
I was tired and hungry and I needed some water. I began to worry about the night. I remembered the noise of the animals at night in Africa. Were there any animals here? Did they want to eat me? Near the beach, there were some trees. Near the trees, I found some clean water to drink. Now I was very tired. I found a big tree and slept in it all night.
I woke up early next morning. It was a beautiful day. I could see the ship. There were no big waves now. I wanted to swim to the ship. There were things on the ship that I needed to live. It was hot now and it was nice to feel the cold water on my body.
I got to the ship and I went to the kitchen. Yippee! The kitchen wasn't under water. I found some biscuits. I needed a boat for all the things I wanted to take with me. I didn't have a boat, but I made a raft. I found some big boxes. I put lots of food in the first box and put it on the raft. There was rice, bread, cheese, meat and some grain. Then, I found some clothes; a coat, a jacket, some shirts, trousers, shoes and a hat. I put these in a box on the raft as well.
In my third box, there were some tools. I wanted these tools to make a house or a boat or small things; a table or a chair. I also took some guns. I went back with all these things on my raft. This time I didn't stop on the beach, but went up a small river. There I stopped. Yippee! Everything was safe on the raft! Now I had lots of things to help me live. In the afternoon, I went for a walk. I wanted to find a good place to put all my things. I wanted to know: was this an island or not? I hoped not. Were there any people or not in this place? I hoped so.
I walked up and up. Phew! It was hot! Then, I stopped and looked down. There was water everywhere! I was on an island! And it was a desert island because I couldn't see any other people! I felt very sad and sat down. A desert island all for me. I could see two other small islands. They weren't very near. There were lots of birds on the island but I didn't know what kind they were. Were they good to eat? I didn't know.
I went back down to my raft. That night, I made a kind of house with the boxes and slept there. I thought about other things I needed. I wanted to go back to the ship again. I had to go before a storm came again.
Next morning, I got up early and swam back to the ship. I took many things; other tools, clothes, a hammock and some of the ship's sails. I made a second raft and took these things back to the island.
When I got back to my boxes, there was a big cat sitting near them.
I gave it a biscuit. It ate it, then went away. I made a little house with the sails and put all my things inside. I was happy. My things were safe now. Safe from animals and from the sun or rain. The boxes were a wall outside my house. I slept well that night after all my hard work.
I went back to the ship eleven times. Each time I took something back to the island; more bread, sugar, some knives, and parts of the ship. I found some money too. I took it but didn't know why… I couldn't use money on a desert island!
Thirteen days after I came to the island, there was a storm again. I slept safe in my little house with all my things. When I woke up the next morning, the ship wasn't there.
It was at the bottom of the sea.
I now wanted to find a different place for my house. I needed a place where there was clean water.
I didn't want a house in the sun and I wanted to be safe from animals. I also wanted a place to watch for ships at sea. I found a great place on a hill. There was a cave on this hill and I made my house there. It was safe because nobody could come down from above, and I could see everything below. The sea was in front of my house and I could watch for ships all day. I was also happy because the sun came to this part of the island in the evening. I made a wall outside my house and a sail was the door of the cave. I felt safe inside with all my things from the ship.
I had the hammock for my bed and I slept well at night. After all this work, I started to go out with my gun to look for food. There were a lot of animals but I didn't know which were good to eat. I also wasn't very good with a gun and many times I came home with nothing.
I walked a lot and one day I saw some goats on the island. I was very excited. It was now possible for me to have meat. The only problem was that they were very fast and it was difficult to catch them.
I watched them for many days. They always went to the same places and I waited for them with my gun. I now had meat. I also caught a baby goat and took it home.
Sometimes I was happy because I had a house and food, but I was often very sad. I thought of my family and friends. Here, I had nobody to talk to. I never saw any ships near the island. My life was here now and I could do nothing to change it. Then I thought of my friends on the ship. They were at the bottom of the sea. I wasn't. I had tools, clothes, food and water. Life wasn't that bad after all!
After some days on the island, I made a cross with my knife on a tree for every day. I did this every morning. Oh, and I forgot to tell you about the animals. When I went to the ship to get all the things you know about, I found a dog and two cats. I took them home with me. The dog always stayed with me. He was a good friend. The cats were often outside but always came home for dinner.
It was now November. Every day, I looked for a ship at sea, but there were never any ships for me. Every day, I looked for food on the island. There were grapes and I ate a lot of them. I also made a table and a chair for my house. I used the tools from the ship. I started on Monday and finished after a week. I made the table four times before I liked it. It was the same for the chair. It wasn't easy for me, but I did it in the end. They weren't very beautiful but I thought they were great. I began to feel I had a home. Now, I could sit on my chair and eat at my table. Sometimes there was a storm with a lot of wind and rain, but I was safe in my little house.
My days were always the same. Every morning, I took my gun and went for a walk. The dog always came with me. Sometimes, with my gun, I got a bird or two. Some were good to eat, others weren't. I soon learned to remember the good birds. Then, I came home and worked until about eleven o'clock. Then I ate. After, from twelve to two, I slept because it was very hot. In the evening, I worked again. This was when I made things for the house. Then I went to bed. My hammock was my favourite thing.
The months came and went. Sometimes there was a lot of rain. Other times it was very hot. In January it was too hot to go out and I stayed at home all day. I only went out very early in the morning or late at night. I went to other parts of the island in the hills far from the beach.
There were a lot of trees on this part of the island. Then, in one place, I found some goats. When my dog saw them, he ran back home! My baby goat at home was now big and needed a friend. I have to tell you again that goats are very difficult to catch. They run very fast up and down those hills.
After a lot of hard work, I caught two young goats and took them home. I put all three goats together near my house. They couldn't run back to the other goats because I made a big wall. I gave them food and water and they soon liked their new home. With these goats, I now had milk too! Yippee!
One day, I looked in one of my boxes and found a little bag with some seeds inside. They were old and I didn't think they were good.
I put the bag outside and forgot about it. That night there was some wind. The next morning the bag wasn't there. Then, there was a lot of rain.
About a month after, I saw some long green plants coming out of the grass near my house. Then after two weeks I was excited to see that these new plants were grain. There were now also other plants. I knew these. They were rice plants. I remembered them from my time in Africa. Were these plants on other parts of the island? I looked and looked but I couldn't find any other grain or rice plants on the island. Then I remembered… the little bag with the seeds! Of course! That's where the plants came from! I was excited about having bread. But I needed a lot of grain And… how do you make bread?
It was now June. One day, I went to the beach and I found a big turtle. At that time, I didn't know that there were a lot of turtles on other parts of this island and I was very excited. I took the turtle home and cooked it. There were some eggs inside the turtle too… mmm…yummy!
That night I felt very cold. The next day I didn't feel very well. Why did I eat all that turtle? I stayed on my hammock all day. I slept a lot. I didn't eat or drink anything. I was very hot and I thought I saw my mother. Am I dying? Father! Mother! Where are you? Please, can you help me? I remembered my father's words: ‘Robinson, please don't go! You'll have a hard life, my boy. Your life here now, is easy. You've got all you need.' Why do I never listen to people? Now, look at me!
I slept again. Then, after a long time, I woke up. I wasn't hot. I felt well again but it wasn't easy to walk. I was very slow. I drank some water. I looked about and I was happy to see my animals, my cave and all my things. I sat outside my cave and looked at the blue sea with its white waves, the white sand of the beach, and the green of the hills and trees of the island. It was all beautiful and I felt happy to be there.
