4 Stuck forever

Chapter 4 Stuck forever? One morning, Crusoe walked to a different part of the island. Looking out to sea he saw land, far away. Suddenly, he felt very alone.

"I'll escape!" he decided. "I'll make myself a boat and escape." So he cut down a big tree and chopped off all the branches. Then he began to hollow out the trunk. After weeks of hard work, the boat was finished. Crusoe looked at it thoughtfully. It was huge.

When he tried to push the heavy boat down to the sea, it wouldn't budge. He shoved... and he heaved... It was no good. "I'll have to dig a canal from the boat," he realized. "Then I can float it to the water." But that didn't work either. It was too much for one man to do. "I'm stuck," thought Crusoe sadly.

He sighed. He'd been on the island for four long years and his clothes were in rags. "If I'm going to stay, I'd better make myself some new clothes," he said. Taking pieces of goatskin, he sewed himself a new pair of breeches, a jacket and a hat.

Proudly, he tried them on. His new clothes probably looked odd, but Crusoe was delighted. To complete his new outfit, he made an umbrella out of sticks and covered it with goatskin. Now, he stayed dry when it rained. The umbrella protected him from the fierce sun as well.

"I think I'll build another home," Crusoe decided. "A lovely summer house in the valley where the orange trees grow." So he built a tent in the valley and planted trees around it. It was a perfect place to relax in the hot summer months.