22 The Footprint

CHAPTER 22 The Footprint One day, during my usual long morning walk, I decided to pick some grapes for raisins. But then, I had a flash of courage. Maybe I'll go make sure my boat is still there, I thought. I'm feeling brave today. So, instead of visiting my summer house, I walked around to the beach where the boat was tied up. When I got there, I found a

第二十二章脚印一天，在我平常早晨散步的时候，我决定摘些葡萄做葡萄干。 但后来，我突然有了勇气。 也许我该去看看我的船还在那儿，我想。 我今天感觉很勇敢。所以，我没有去我的避暑别墅，而是走到停着船的海滩上。 当我到那里时，我发现了一个

man's footprint in the sand. "Oh no!" I exclaimed, "Who could that be? It must be the natives! I don't want them to see me! I don't want them to discover me!" I ran as fast as I could all the way back to camp. I checked over my shoulder again and again as I ran. What if they found me? What would they do to me? After running for almost an hour, I made it back to my fence, jumped up onto my ladder, and pulled it in after me. I tossed and turned in my sleep all that night. There were so many things I just didn't know—was it just one man, or more than one? Would they come for me? If they discovered my boat, they would know I was here! My heart beat very fast. My hands were shaky. I was afraid that everything I had built was about to be destroyed.

沙滩上人类的脚印。 “哦,不!”我叫道：“那会是谁呢？” 一定是当地人！我不想让他们看到我！我不想让他们发现我！”我以最快的速度跑回营地。 我一边跑一边一次又一次地回头看。 如果他们找到我怎么办？他们会对我做什么？ 跑了将近一个小时后，我回到了篱笆旁，跳上梯子，把梯子也拉了进去。 那一夜我辗转反侧。 我不知道的事情太多了——是一个人，还是不止一个人？ 他们会来找我吗？如果他们发现了我的船，他们就会知道我在这里！我的心跳得很快。 我的手在颤抖。我害怕我所建立的一切即将被摧毁。

Three whole days passed before I even left my camp. And even then, I didn't want to go, but I needed water and my goats needed to be milked. I took a hidden path all the way to my summer house. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, so I spent a

整整三天过去了，我才离开营地。 即使那样，我也不想去，但我需要水，我的山羊也需要挤奶。 我走了一条隐蔽的小路去我的避暑别墅。 我看不出有什么异常，所以我花了

couple of days there trying to calm down. Robinson, I thought to myself, maybe you are over-reacting. Maybe that footprint in the sand belonged to me, and I just didn't notice that I made it. I mustered up all of my courage and walked back to the beach to take another look. The print was still there! When I put my foot next to it, the print was almost twice as big! "It can't be!" I said. I started to shake and sweat all at once. It took me a couple of minutes to gather my thoughts, and then I raced home as fast as I could. I spent another sleepless night thinking about that footprint. In a fit of craziness, I decided to rip all my crops and set my goats free—that way no one would know I was here. Morning dawned. The day was clear and bright. My farm was all still there. I knew then that I didn't need to destroy everything I had built. I just needed to be

在那待了几天，试着冷静下来。 罗宾逊，我心想，也许你反应过度了。 也许沙滩上的脚印是我的，只是我没注意到是我留下的。 我鼓起所有的勇气，走回海滩，再看一眼。 指纹还在！当我把脚放在它旁边时，脚印几乎是原来的两倍大！“不可能！”我说。 我突然开始发抖，浑身冒汗。 我花了几分钟来整理思绪，然后以最快的速度跑回家。 我又度过了一个不眠之夜，想着那个脚印。 在一阵疯狂中，我决定把我所有的庄稼都拔掉，把我的山羊放生——这样就没有人知道我在这里。 早上天亮了。天气晴朗，阳光明媚。 我的农场还在。 我知道我不需要摧毁我所建立的一切。 我只是需要

careful. Two years passed and I didn't see a soul. No more footprints showed up on the sand. No one came and surprised me in the night. Life carried on as usual.

小心。两年过去了，我一个人也没见到。 沙滩上再也没有脚印了。 没有人在夜里来给我惊喜。 生活照常进行。