26 Life with a Friend

CHAPTER 26 Life with a Friend Friday and I spent the next three years living and working together. We fell into a very comfortable routine. In the mornings we would check the island to make sure the natives hadn't returned. In the afternoons, we would work on the farm, tend to the crops, milk the goats, or pick fruit. In the evenings, we would make our dinner and I

第二十六章与朋友的生活接下来的三年，星期五和我一起生活和工作。 我们陷入了一种非常舒适的日常生活。 早晨，我们会检查这个岛，确保当地人没有回来。 下午，我们会在农场干活，照料庄稼，挤羊奶，或者摘水果。 在晚上，我们会做晚饭，我

would teach Friday my language. I trusted him completely. Fortune had answered my prayers. I was no longer alone. Just having Friday around made me less afraid of being discovered. I knew that the two of us together had a better chance of protecting ourselves against the natives. It also made me think more and more about escaping. I asked Friday many questions during this time. Where were we? Who were his people? What islands were nearby? Did he miss his family? Would his family be looking for him? For the most part, he smiled and nodded a reply, until he learned my language and could answer me. "Friday," I asked, "how come you don't want to go home to your island?" "A long time ago, I left home. I wanted to see the world. My father was very angry with me. He did not want me to go. I was on my

教星期五我的语言。 我完全信任他。命运应验了我的祈祷。 我不再孤单了。只要星期五在我身边，我就不那么害怕被发现了。 我知道我们俩在一起更有可能保护自己不受当地人的伤害。 这也让我越来越多地想到逃跑。 在这段时间里，我问了星期五很多问题。 我们说到哪儿了？谁是他的子民？ 附近有哪些岛屿？他想念家人吗？ 他的家人会找他吗？ 在大多数情况下，他微笑着点头回答，直到他学会了我的语言并能回答我。 “星期五，”我问，“你为什么不想回到你的岛上去呢？”“很久以前，我离开了家。 我想看看这个世界。 我父亲很生我的气。 他不想让我去。我在我的

way to have a great voyage when I was caught by the natives. Then, you saved my life." "Do you miss your father?" Friday thought for a minute. "I do miss him. I miss my island. But I like it here. I like living here, working on the farm. It's very different." I smiled. "So you want to stay?" Friday grinned from ear to ear. "Of course I do! It's a chance of a lifetime to have such an adventure!" "We're a lot alike, you and I," I said. "That's how I ended up on the island, too. I left home for a great adventure—and landed here over twenty years ago." I spent hours telling Friday about my life before the island, about growing up in England, about my plantation in Brazil. He told me about his life, about his family, and about what it was like living on the island

当我被当地人抓住的时候，我经历了一次伟大的航行。 然后，你救了我的命。”“你想念你的父亲吗？”星期五想了一会儿。 “我真的很想他。我想念我的岛。 但是我喜欢这里。我喜欢住在这里，在农场工作。 这是非常不同的。”我笑了笑。 “所以你想留下来？”星期五笑得合不拢嘴。 “我当然知道！”这样的冒险是一生难得的机会！”“我们有很多相似之处，你和我，”我说。 “我也是这样来到这个岛上的。 二十多年前，我离开家去冒险，来到这里。” 星期五，我花了好几个小时向他讲述我来到小岛之前的生活，在英国长大的经历，在巴西的种植园。 他告诉我他的生活，他的家庭，以及在岛上生活的感觉

where he came from. We had so much in common, despite being born in very different places. We became the best of friends. "We were meant to be great friends, Robinson! I'm not worried. I know everything will be okay." We sat quietly in our tent for a while after that, each of us thinking about how he ended up here, each of us lost in his own thoughts about the life of an adventurer. "Friday," I asked, "do any of your people ever get swept out to sea in their boats?" "No," he replied. "I don't think so. We row with the tide. It works well. The river runs through it all." At first, I didn't understand what he meant. What river? Of course! I realized he must mean the great Orinoco River. My island must be near Trinidad. "Have you seen many men like me before?" I pointed to my beard.

他从哪里来。尽管我们出生在不同的地方，但我们有很多共同点。 我们成了最好的朋友。 “我们注定是好朋友，罗宾逊！”我不担心。 我知道一切都会好起来的。” 之后，我们在帐篷里安静地坐了一会儿，每个人都在想他是如何来到这里的，每个人都沉浸在自己对冒险家生活的思考中。 “星期五，”我问，“你们的人有没有被小船卷到海里去的？”“不，”他回答。 “我不这么认为。我们随着潮水划船。 效果很好。河水从这里流过。” 起初，我不明白他的意思。 什么河?当然!我意识到他一定指的是奥里诺科河。 我的岛一定在特立尼达附近。 “你以前见过很多像我这样的人吗？”我指了指我的胡子。

Friday thought about this for a minute. Then he answered, "A great way beyond the moon. Far away from my people, far away from here, there are whiskered men. Men with long beards and pale faces, just like you, yes." Friday's words made me very excited. "Do you think we could we sail there from here in my small boat?" He shook his head. My spirits fell. "Not in the small boat, no. But we could sail in a bigger boat—big, like two canoes." I grinned from ear to ear. I slapped Friday on the back out of happiness. He looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. For the first time in over twenty years, I had an idea of where I had landed. I had an idea of where my island was in relation to the world. I wasn't alone, and I had a hope of going home. One lazy afternoon during the dry season,

星期五想了一会儿。 他回答说：“在月亮那边很远的地方。 离我的族人很远的地方，离这里很远的地方，有长胡子的人。 长胡子、脸色苍白的男人，就像你一样，是的。” 星期五的话让我很兴奋。 “你看我们可以从这儿乘我的小船到那儿去吗？”他摇了摇头。 我的情绪低落了。“在小船上不行，不行。 但我们可以乘更大的船航行——像两只独木舟那样大。” 我笑得合不拢嘴。 我高兴地拍了拍星期五的背。 他看着我，好像我疯了一样，但我不在乎。 二十多年来，我第一次知道自己的处境了。 我对我的岛屿与世界的关系有了一个概念。 我不是一个人，我有回家的希望。 旱季的一个慵懒的下午，

Friday and I took a long walk down to the beach where I had seen the footprint. I wanted to show him the pieces of the old ship that I had taken apart and hidden all those years ago. Friday studied the wreckage of the boat for a long time. He turned the pieces over to look underneath. He walked all the way around it more than once. Then, he put his hand on his chin and said, "I've seen a boat like this before, Robinson." I was very surprised to hear that. "What do you mean?" I asked. Friday looked at me and replied, "Four years ago. Yes, it was four years ago and seventeen men landed at my nation." He continued on to tell me that these men were still there, living on his island, near his people. "They must be men from the shipwreck I saw!" I told Friday all about how I had heard

星期五和我走了很长一段路，来到我看到脚印的海滩。 我想让他看看多年前我拆开并藏起来的那艘旧船的碎片。 星期五花了很长时间研究这艘船的残骸。 他把碎片翻过来看下面。 他绕着它走了不止一圈。 然后，他把手放在下巴上说：“罗宾逊，我以前见过这样的船。” 听到这个我很惊讶。 “你是什么意思？”我问。 星期五看着我，回答说：“四年前。 是的，那是四年前，十七个人在我的国家登陆。” 他继续告诉我，这些人还在那里，住在他的岛上，离他的族人很近。 “他们一定是我看到的沉船上的人！”我把我听到的一切都告诉了星期五