16 Island of Discovery

CHAPTER 16 Island of Discovery When I started feeling better, I made up my mind to explore the island properly. I wanted to get to know my surroundings. Maybe it would help me to think of the island as a home and not as a place where I was trapped. It was now the dry season. I set out toward the creek where I had first rafted in with the supplies from the ship. Once I

第十六章发现之岛当我感觉好些时，我决定好好探索一下这个岛。 我想了解我周围的环境。 也许它会帮助我把这个岛当成一个家，而不是一个我被困住的地方。 现在是旱季。 我带着船上的给养，向我第一次乘木筏进入的那条小溪走去。 有一次我

got there, I walked along the creek until I grew tired and made my way back. There were lots of plants I didn't know, so I took samples back to camp with me. I also found plants that I did know, like aloe. I was quite proud of my discoveries! I walked even farther the next day. The thriving green land turned into a thick wooded forest. There were large trees heavy with ripe fruit. There were melons and grapevines! I couldn't believe how bountiful the trees and vines were. I decided to camp out in the grove for the night, so up I went into a good, solid tree and fell asleep. The morning was bright and clear. I followed the same path and continued north. There I found an opening to a fresh, green, flourishing packet of land. It was magnificent. It looked just like a planted garden. The lime and lemon trees were in bloom, just like the melon trees and the

到了那里，我沿着小溪走，直到累了才往回走。 有很多植物我都不认识，所以我带了一些样本回营地。 我还发现了一些我知道的植物，比如芦荟。 我对自己的发现感到非常自豪！第二天我走得更远了。 茂盛的绿地变成了茂密的森林。 大树上结满了熟透的果实。 有瓜和葡萄藤！我简直不敢相信树木和藤蔓是如此茂盛。 我决定在小树林里露营过夜，于是我爬上一棵结实的大树，睡着了。 早晨晴朗而晴朗。 我沿着同样的路继续向北走。 在那里，我找到了一片新鲜、绿色、繁茂的土地。 真是太棒了。它看起来就像一个种植的花园。 酸橙树和柠檬树开花了，就像瓜树和

grape vines. There were cocoa and orange trees there, too, but they were bare. I picked as much of the ripe fruit as I could possibly carry. I walked back toward the first grove I found. I decided to take some grapes home, too. It took me a very long time to get back to camp. By the time I arrived, Shippy was barking—he was very happy to see me. After all, I had been gone for three days! Much to my dismay, I discovered that the grapes had gotten crushed on the walk home. The limes and lemons were fine, though. I poured a nice cool drink of water, and then added the fruit. It was truly wonderful. When I set out the next day, I carried two bags with me so I could gather more fruit. Instead of taking the grapes home, I picked them and hung them on the branches of other trees so they could dry into raisins. Then, I filled up my bags with more fruit and

葡萄藤蔓。那里也有可可树和橘子树，但都光秃秃的。 我尽可能多地摘熟了的水果。 我朝我找到的第一个小树林走去。 我也决定带一些葡萄回家。 我花了很长时间才回到营地。 当我到达时，Shippy正在吠叫——他看到我很高兴。 毕竟，我已经离开三天了！让我非常沮丧的是，我发现在回家的路上葡萄被压碎了。 不过酸橙和柠檬还不错。 我倒了一杯清凉的水，然后加入了水果。 那真是太棒了。当我第二天出发的时候，我带了两个袋子，这样我可以收集更多的水果。 我没有把葡萄带回家，而是把它们摘下来挂在别的树上，这样它们就可以晒干变成葡萄干了。 然后，我在袋子里装了更多的水果和

made my way back to camp. My raisins turned out extremely well and they were quite delicious. I had even built a small shelter in the valley—I called it my summer home! I had now been on the island for one whole year. The anniversary was an unhappy day for me. I spent most of it thinking about all that had passed. The last sentence I wrote in my journal that year was: "How much longer will I be here?"

回到了营地。我的葡萄干做得非常好，非常美味。 我甚至在山谷里建了一个小庇护所——我称它为我的避暑之家！我在岛上已经待了整整一年了。 周年纪念日对我来说是不愉快的一天。 我大部分时间都在思考过去的一切。 那一年我在日记里写的最后一句话是：“我还要在这里待多久？”