21 The First Decade

CHAPTER 21 The First Decade Ten years passed. The gunpowder was running out. I needed to find a way to eat that didn't involve hunting. If I could catch a few young goat kids, I could tame them. If I could tame them, I would always have food —they would soon grow into a whole flock of goats. It took me a few tries before I could

第二十一章第一个十年过去了。 火药快用完了。 我需要找到一种不需要打猎的吃饭方式。 如果我能抓到几只小山羊，我就能驯服它们。 如果我能驯服它们，我就有食物了——它们很快就会长成一大群山羊。 我试了几次才学会

capture the goats. The corn I set out would be eaten, but there would be no goat in the trap! The trap would be tripped, but there would be no animals in sight! After three days of trying, I came back to the pit one morning to find goats munching away happily on the food that I had left. I led the goats to the meadow close to my summer home. There was already a nice hedge around the plot. I had set that up so the goats wouldn't escape once I got them to the grass. The three kids didn't like being tied up very much, but there was no other way to make sure they stayed put. I fed them corn and rice, and they liked it very much. They often ate it right out of my hands. We carried on like this for a while. They ate what I gave them, and I kept them tied up. When I knew they wouldn't run wild anymore, I let them roam free over the meadow. The flock grew steadily over the

抓住山羊。我放出来的玉米会被吃掉，但陷阱里不会有山羊！陷阱会被触发，但看不到任何动物！经过三天的努力，一天早上，我回到坑里，发现山羊在开心地咀嚼着我留下的食物。 我把山羊牵到我家附近的草地上。 地块周围已经有了一道漂亮的树篱。 我这样做是为了防止山羊在我把它们弄到草地上后逃跑。 三个孩子不太喜欢被绑起来，但没有别的办法确保他们待在原地。 我喂它们玉米和大米，它们非常喜欢。 他们经常直接从我手里把它吃掉。 我们就这样继续了一段时间。 他们吃我给他们的东西，我把他们绑起来。 当我知道它们不会再乱跑时，我就让它们在草地上自由地游荡。 鸟群的数量在稳步增长

next few years. So now, I had my harvest, my fruit trees, and my goats. I was very proud of my growing farm. The corn grew well. The rice did, too. The flock gave me both meat and milk. All in all, things evolved as they should. I made more clothes from goatskin. Poll kept me in good company. Shippy grew old and died, though. And even though I thought about it all the time, I never did get back in that boat. Many, many years passed before I even went near where it was tied up! You can only imagine what I looked like after spending ten whole years as a castaway! I wore goatskin clothes and a big, floppy hat. I had long hair and a long beard. My skin was often red and burnt. I didn't know anything about what was fashionable back home, and I guess it didn't really matter. There was no one on the island to see me anyway!

接下来的几年。现在，我有了收获，有了果树，还有山羊。 我为我的农场感到骄傲。 玉米长得很好。大米也变了。 羊群给了我肉和奶。 总而言之，事情理应如此。 我用山羊皮做了更多的衣服。 波尔让我有个好伙伴。 然而，Shippy老了，死了。 尽管我一直在想这件事，但我再也没有回到那艘船上。 许多、许多年过去了，我才走近它被绑住的地方！你只能想象我在漂流了整整十年之后是什么样子！我穿着山羊皮衣服，戴着一顶宽大的软帽。 我留着长发和长胡子。 我的皮肤经常发红、焦黑。 我对家乡的时尚一无所知，我想那也不重要。 反正岛上也没人看见我！