12 The Island of Despair

CHAPTER 12 The Island of Despair As soon as I was able to stand, I looked around. Where were all my shipmates? Were they all lost? Was I the only one to survive? Very soon, the real truth of my situation came to light. All I could find of them was one cap, three hats, and two shoes. "No!" I howled. "Say it isn't so! I can't be the only one to survive!"

第十二章绝望岛我刚能站起来，就向四周看了看。 我的船友们都到哪里去了？ 他们都迷路了吗？我是唯一活下来的吗？ 很快，我的情况真相大白了。 我只能找到一顶帽子，三顶帽子和两只鞋子。 “不!”我号啕大哭。“说不是这样吧！”总不能只有我一个人活下来吧！”

There was little hope for me now. I had no idea of my location. I had no dry clothes, no drinking water and nothing to use to hunt for food. I might not have drowned like the rest of my poor sailors, but my hope for survival was slim. The only thing I had in my pocket was a small knife. What good would one knife do me in a strange place with no shelter and no food? I screamed at the top of my lungs. My situation was hopeless. Night was falling. I needed to find shelter. There were a number of trees just beyond the beach area. It didn't take me long to find one that looked like it would be a good place to hide for the night. I climbed up and found a comfortable branch. The traumatic situation must have tired me right out because I actually got a little bit of sleep. The sun shone brightly the next morning. The sea was calm and the storm had stopped.

现在我已经没有什么希望了。 我不知道我的位置。 我没有干衣服，没有饮用水，也没有任何东西可以用来寻找食物。 我可能不会像其他可怜的水手一样淹死，但我的生存希望渺茫。 我口袋里唯一的东西是一把小刀。 在一个陌生的地方，没有住所，没有食物，一把刀对我有什么用呢？ 我声嘶力竭地尖叫。 我的处境毫无希望。 夜幕降临了。我需要找个藏身之处。 在海滩附近有许多树。 没过多久，我就找到了一个看起来可以过夜的好地方。 我爬了上去，找到了一根舒服的树枝。 创伤的情况一定让我很累，因为我实际上睡了一点。 第二天早晨，阳光灿烂。 海面风平浪静，暴风雨已经停了。

Despite the weather turning favorable, neither my spirits nor my situation was much improved. I climbed down from my perch and made my way back to the beach. "Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed. The ship was stuck on some rocks about a league away from where I washed up. It wasn't destroyed! If we had only stayed on board, we would have all been saved. But I couldn't think about that now. Now, I thought, that's hopeful. All I have to do is figure out how to get to the supplies. I may have a chance at survival yet. I waited for the tide to go out. The water was now almost shallow enough for me to walk out to the ship. I pulled off most of my clothes to keep them dry. The water scared me, but I needed to get to the ship. I swallowed my fears and started walking. When the water grew too deep, I swam the rest of the way. There was a rope hanging

尽管天气转好了，但我的情绪和处境都没有多大改善。 我从栖木上爬下来，朝海滩走去。 “哦，天哪！”我叫道。 船在离我上岸的地方大约一里远的地方搁浅了。 它没有被摧毁！如果我们当时留在船上，我们就都得救了。 但我现在没法想这个。 现在，我想，这是有希望的。 我要做的就是想办法找到补给。 我也许还有一线生机。 我等着退潮。 现在水差不多浅了，我可以走到船上去了。 为了保持干燥，我把大部分衣服都脱了。 水把我吓坏了，但我需要到船上去。 我强忍住恐惧，开始走路。 当水变得太深时，我游完了剩下的路。 有一根绳子吊着

down off the side of the boat that I used to climb on board. I took my time and looked around the ship, which had landed almost entirely on one side. The hold was full of water. Half of it was completely wet, while the other remained quite dry. Luckily, the dry half contained a lot of the supplies. I climbed down into the breadroom and quickly ate some biscuits. Once my stomach stopped growling, I started gathering things I knew I would need. I used whatever spare wood and rope I could find to build a small raft to get the supplies from the ship back to shore. After testing it out a couple of times, it was fit to use for even the heaviest of objects. First, I rescued the dog we had on board. It was a miracle he survived the storm at all! Many of the sailors' personal items were damaged by water, so I decided to use their

从我过去经常爬上去的船的侧面掉下来。 我不慌不忙地环视了一下船，它几乎完全靠在了一边。 船舱里装满了水。 一半是完全湿的，而另一半仍然很干。 幸运的是，干燥的那一半装了很多补给。 我爬到楼下的面包室，迅速地吃了些饼干。 一旦我的胃停止咆哮，我就开始收集我知道我需要的东西。 我用我能找到的所有多余的木头和绳子搭了一个小木筏，把船上的补给品运回岸上。 经过几次测试，它甚至适合用于最重的物体。 首先，我救了船上的狗。 他能在暴风雨中幸存下来真是个奇迹！许多水手的私人物品都被水损坏了，所以我决定用他们的

chests to store and gather my food. There was bread, rice, cheeses, goat meat, and a little bit of European corn. Rats had spoiled the wheat. I was disappointed by that, but there wasn't anything I could do about it now. I thought, I hope the sea stays calm long enough for me to get back. No more dilly-dallying. I found clothes, a carpenter's chest and some weapons. That's enough for today, I decided. It's time to go. With two broken oars I had found on board, I rowed myself toward the shore. The rocks in front of the beach where I landed yesterday were too dangerous. In order to land my raft safely, I needed to find a small stream or river. There must be one nearby, I reasoned. So, I rowed out and away from my beach. The sea was still calm, thankfully. The wind blew in my favor, but I knew these sorts of things

用来储存和收集食物的箱子。 有面包、米饭、奶酪、山羊肉，还有一点欧洲玉米。 老鼠把小麦弄坏了。 我对此很失望，但现在我也无能为力了。 我想，我希望大海能保持平静，等我回来。 不要再磨蹭了。我找到了衣服，一个木匠的箱子和一些武器。 今天就到这里吧，我决定。 该走了。我用在船上找到的两只坏了的桨，划向岸边。 我昨天登陆的海滩前面的岩石太危险了。 为了让我的木筏安全着陆，我需要找到一条小溪或小河。 附近一定有一个，我想。 于是，我划船离开了我的海滩。 谢天谢地，海面依然平静。 风向对我有利，但我知道这类事情

could change in an instant. The sea rocked the raft back and forth. I used my legs to hold on tightly to my cargo. The dog barked. I couldn't bear to lose a single thing, so I tried to be very, very careful. I rowed around until I found a river. And then it took a couple of hours to find a good place to land. Once I had pulled all my stuff ashore, I secured the raft so I could use it tomorrow. The next important step was finding somewhere safe to store everything. The dog jumped off the raft almost immediately. He started exploring and smelling everything in sight. I armed myself with a pistol and some powder. My aim was to find a bit of shelter, something more comfortable than a tree! I noticed a small hill in the distance, about a mile away. Maybe I could see better from up there. With the dog in tow, I started off in that direction.

可能瞬间就会改变。 海浪前后摇动着木筏。 我用腿紧紧地抓住我的货物。 狗叫了起来。我不能失去一件东西，所以我尽量非常非常小心。 我划了一圈，直到找到一条河。 然后花了几个小时才找到一个着陆的好地方。 把所有的东西都拉上岸后，我把木筏固定好，以便明天使用。 下一个重要的步骤是找到一个安全的地方来存放所有的东西。 狗几乎立刻跳下了木筏。 他开始探索并嗅闻眼前的一切。 我用手枪和火药武装了自己。 我的目标是找一个比树更舒服的地方遮风挡雨！我注意到远处有一座小山，大约一英里远。 也许我在上面能看得更清楚。 牵着狗，我朝那个方向出发了。