14 The First Month

CHAPTER 14 The First Month Now that I was finished with my daily trips to and from the ship, I needed to build a more permanent shelter. The most important part of my life now was making sure I could be safe from any wild animals or natives. Would it be better to make a more permanent tent? I wondered. Or would it be smarter to find a cave to live in? I sat down

第十四章第一个月既然我已经完成了每天往返于船上的任务，我需要建造一个更永久的住所。 现在我生命中最重要的部分是确保我能免受任何野生动物或当地人的伤害。 做一个更持久的帐篷会不会更好？ 我想知道。还是找个洞穴住更明智？ 我坐了下来

on the beach and contemplated both options. I think I need both a cave for storage and a better tent. The beach where I had set up camp was both too hot and not close enough to drinking water. It was important to be able to see the sea, too, to watch for passing ships. Shippy and I took a long walk around the island. After about three hours, we came upon a nice grassy plain on the side of a rising hill. It looked perfect! It took me several days to move all of my supplies to my new camp. I didn't want to stay there until I had moved absolutely everything. I left Shippy there most nights to guard my things until there was nothing left down at our first camp. First, I built a fort around the area where I planned to pitch my tent. I took young trees from the forest and planted them all around a small cave I had found. Then, I built up walls just inside the line of trees. Instead of

在海滩上思考着这两种选择。 我想我需要一个储物的洞穴和一个更好的帐篷。 我扎营的海滩既太热，又离饮用水不够近。 能够看到大海，观察过往船只也很重要。 希比和我绕着岛走了很长一段路。 大约过了三个小时，我们来到了一座上升的小山边上的一片美丽的草地上。 看起来很完美！我花了好几天的时间才把所有的物资搬到我的新营地。 我不想呆在那里，直到我把所有的东西都搬了。 大多数晚上，我都把船皮留在那里看守我的东西，直到我们第一个营地里什么都没有留下。 首先，我在打算搭帐篷的地方周围建了一个堡垒。 我从森林里摘了一些小树，把它们种在我找到的一个小洞穴周围。 然后，我在树里面筑起了墙。 而不是

building a door to get into my wall, I built a ladder—you couldn't be too safe, or at least that's how I felt. But Shippy needed to get in and out, too, so I created a space in the wall for him to come and go as he pleased. I hid it with palm leaves so no one could notice it. When I was done, my fort offered me great protection and peace of mind. Next, I made a more solid structure to hold up the canvas top. I built my new home so it backed into the cave, which I used for cold storage. The days were busy. As each one went by, I became more hopeful about survival. All of my supplies eventually became well organized; my gunpowder was separated into many different parcels (to keep it safe from lightning!); and my food was safely stored so it wouldn't spoil. In those first few weeks, I would head out with my dog and a gun to hunt for food each morning. There were lots of wild goats on

我造了一扇门来进入我的墙，我造了一个梯子——再安全也不为过，至少我是这么觉得的。 但希比也需要进进出出，所以我在墙上腾出了一个空间，让他可以随心所欲地进出。 我把它藏在棕榈叶里，这样就没人会注意到。 当我完成后，我的堡垒给了我很大的保护和内心的平静。 接下来，我做了一个更坚固的结构来支撑画布的顶部。 我建造了我的新家，所以它背靠洞穴，我用它来冷藏。 日子很忙。随着时间的流逝，我对生存的希望越来越大。 我所有的物资最终都井然有序；我的火药被分成许多不同的包裹（以防雷击！）我的食物被安全地储存起来，所以不会变质。 在最初的几个星期里，我每天早上都会带着我的狗和枪出去寻找食物。 有很多野山羊

this island. They became a central part of my diet. All in all, I had done well. Who knew that I could build a fort or hunt for food? Who knew that I had the strength and will to survive? I was lucky. I had food, water, and shelter—the basics were covered. With life's necessities taken care of, I had more time to think. The hardest part about being on the island was spending so much time alone. My thoughts roamed to my family. It was upsetting to think I would never see them again. I remembered my fellow sailors, the ones who weren't as lucky as I was; the ones who drowned. I spent time just sitting and crying. With the small bit of paper and ink I saved from the boat, I started to keep a diary. On the days where my heart ached with everything I had lost or given up, it helped to write. It was now somewhere around the end of October. I had been away from Brazil for

这个岛上。它们成了我饮食的核心部分。 总而言之，我做得很好。 谁能想到我还能建造堡垒或寻找食物呢？ 谁知道我有生存的力量和意志？ 我很幸运。我有食物、水和住所——基本的东西都有了。 生活必需品的照顾，我有更多的时间去思考。 在岛上最困难的部分是要花很多时间独自一人。 我想到了我的家人。 一想到再也见不到他们，我就很难过。 我想起了我的水手同伴，那些没有我幸运的人；那些被淹死的人。 我只是坐着哭。 用我从船上攒下的一小张纸和墨水，我开始记日记。 在那些因失去或放弃的一切而心痛的日子里，写作对我很有帮助。 现在大约是十月底。 我离开巴西已经有

two months. Right after I landed, I had made a sort of calendar on a big tree by the beach. I had marked each day with a straight line, and then crossed them out one week at a time. We left Brazil on September 1, and I knew we were at sea for thirty days before we hit that sandbar. The tree showed that I had been on the island for one month. So, I created a new calendar starting on September 30, the day I landed on my island. That would become my anniversary. Now I knew one day from the next, Friday from Sunday, Monday from Wednesday, and that also set my mind at rest.

两个月。刚一上岸，我就在海边的一棵大树上做了一种日历。 我每天都用一条直线标出，然后每周划掉一次。 我们于9月1日离开巴西，我知道我们要在海上航行30天才能到达那个沙洲。 这棵树表明我已经在岛上呆了一个月了。 所以，我创建了一个新的日历，从9月30日开始，也就是我登陆岛屿的那天。 那将成为我的周年纪念。 现在我知道这一天和下一天，周五和周日，周一和周三，这也让我放心了。