Robinson Crusoe — in Words of One Syllable

by Daniel Defoe

slaves, but each of them had a long staff with a spike at the end ofit, and by his side an axe. There were two of the wives who could not bekept back, but would go out and fight with bows and darts.

  The wild men came on with a bold and fierce mien, not in a line, butall in crowds here and there, to the point were our men lay in wait forthem. When they were so near as to be in range of the guns, our men shotat them right and left with five or six balls in each charge. As the foecame up in close crowds, they fell dead on all sides, and most of thosethat they did not kill were much hurt, so that great fear and dread cameon them all.

  Our men then fell on them from three points with the butt end of theirguns, swords, and staves, and did their work so well that the wild menset up a loud shriek, and flew for their lives to the woods and hills,with all the speed that fear and swift feet could help them to do. Asour men did not care to chase them, they got to the shore where they hadcome to land and where the boats lay.

  But their rout was not yet at an end, for it blew a great storm that dayfrom the sea, so that they could not put off. And as the storm went onall that night, when the tide came up, the surge of the sea drove mostof their boats so high on the shore, that they could not be got off savewith great toil, and the force of the waves on the beach broke some ofthem to bits.

  At break of day, our men went forth to find them, and when they saw thestate of things, they got some dry wood from a dead tree, and set theirboats on fire. When the foe saw this, they ran all through the isle withloud cries, as if they were mad, so that our men did not know at firstwhat to do with them, for they trod all the corn down with their feet,and tore up the vines just as the grapes were ripe, and did a great dealof harm.

  At last they brought old Jaf to them, to tell them how kind they wouldbe to them, that they would save their lives, and give them part of theisle to live in, if they would keep in their own bounds, and that theyshould have corn to plant, and should make it grow for their bread. Theywere but too glad to have such good terms of peace, and they soon learntto make all kinds of work with canes, wood, and sticks, such as chairs,stools, and beds, and this they did with great skill when they were oncetaught.

  From this time till I came back to the isle my friends saw no more wildmen. I now told the chief that I had not come to take off his men, butto bring more, and to give them all such things as they would want toguard their homes from foes, and cheer up their hearts.

  The next day I made a grand feast for them all, and the ship's cook andmate came on shore to dress it. We brought out our rounds of salt beefand pork, a bowl of punch, some beer, and French wines; and Carl gavethe cooks five whole kids to roast, three of which were sent to the crewon board ship, that they, on their part, might feast on fresh meat fromshore.

  I gave each of the men a shirt, a coat, a hat, and a pair of shoes, andI need not say how glad they were to meet with gifts so new to them.Then I brought out the tools, of which each man had a spade, a rake, anaxe, a crow, a saw, a knife and such like things as well as arms, andall that they could want for the use of them.

  As I saw there was a kind will on all sides, I now took on shore theyouth and the maid whom we had brought from the ship that we met on herway to France. The girl had been well brought up, and all the crew hada good word for her. As they both had a wish to be left on the isle,I gave them each a plot of ground, on which they had tents and barnsbuilt.

  I had brought out with me five men to live here, one of whom could turnhis hand to all sorts of things, so I gave him the name of "Jack of allTrades."

  One day the French priest came to ask if I would leave my man Fridayhere, for through him, he said, he could talk to the black men in theirown tongue, and teach them the things of God. "Need I add," said he,"that it was for this cause that I came here?" I felt that I could notpart with my man Friday for the whole world, so I told the priest thatif I could have made up my mind to leave him here, I was quite sure thatFriday would not part from me.

  When I had seen that all things were in a good state on the isle, I setto work to put my ship to rights, to go home once more. One day, as Iwas on my way to it, the youth whom I had brought from the ship thatwas burnt, came up to me, and said, "Sir, you have brought a priest withyou, and while you are here, we want him to wed two of us."

  I made a guess that one of these must be the maid that I had broughtto the isle, and that it was the wish of the young man to make her hiswife. I spoke to him with some warmth in my tone, and bade him turn itwell in his mind first, as the girl was not in the same rank of life ashe had been brought up in. But he said, with a smile, that I had made awrong guess, for it was "Jack of all Trades" that he had come to pleadfor. It gave me great joy to hear this, as the maid was as good a girlas could be, and I thought well of Jack; so on that day I gave her tohim. They were to have a large piece of ground to grow their crops on,with a house to live in, and sheds for their goats.

  The isle was now set out in this way: all the west end was left waste,so that if the wild men should land on it, they might come and go, andhurt no one. My old house I gave to the chief, with all its woods, whichnow spread out as far as the creek, and the south end was for the whitemen and their wives.

  It struck me that there was one gift which I had not thought of, andthat was the book of God's Word, which I knew would give to those whocould feel the words in it, fresh strength for their work, and grace tobear the ills of life.

  Now that I had been in the isle quite a month, I once more set sail onthe fifth day of May; and all my friends told me that they should staythere till I came to fetch them.

  When we had been out three days, though the sea was smooth and calm, wesaw that it was quite black on the land side; and as we knew not what tomake of it, I sent the chief mate up the main mast to find out with hisglass what it could be. He said it was a fleet of scores and scores ofsmall boats, full of wild men who came fast at us with fierce looks.

  As soon as we got near them, I gave word to furl all sails and stop theship, and as there was nought to fear from them but fire, to get theboats out and man them both well, and so wait for them to come up.

  In this way we lay by for them, and in a short time they came up withus; but as I thought they would try to row round and so close us in, Itold the men in the boats not to let them come too near. This, though wedid not mean it, brought us to a fight with them, and they shot a cloudof darts at our boats. We did not fire at them, yet in half an hour theywent back out to sea, and then came straight to us, till we were so nearthat they could hear us speak.

  I bade my men keep close, so as to be safe from their darts if theyshould shoot, and get out the guns. I then sent Friday on deck, to callout to them in their own tongue and ask what they meant. It may be thatthey did not know what he said, but as soon as he spoke to them I heardhim cry out that they would shoot. This was too true, for they let flya thick cloud of darts, and to my great grief poor Friday fell dead, forthere was no one else in their sight. He was shot with three darts, andthree more fell quite near him, so good was their aim.

  I was so mad with rage at the loss of my dear Friday, that I bade themen load five guns with small shot, and four with large, and we gavethem such a fierce fire that in all their lives they could not have seenone like it. Then a rare scene met our eyes: dread and fear came on themall, for their boats, which were small, were split and sunk--three orfour by one shot. The men who were not dead had to swim, and those whohad wounds were left to sink, for all the rest got off as fast as theycould. Our boat took up one poor man who had to swim for his life, whenthe rest had fled for the space of half an hour. In three hours' time,we could not see more than three or four of their boats, and as a breezesprang up we set sail.

  At first the man whom we took on board would not eat or speak, and weall had fears lest he should pine to death. But when we had taught himto say a few words, he told us that his friends--the wild men-had comeout with their kin to have a great fight, and that all they meant wasto make us look at the grand sight. So it was
for this that poor Fridayfell! He who had been as good and true to me as man could be! And now indeep grief I must take my leave of him.

  We went on with a fair wind to All Saints' Bay, and here I found a sloopthat I had brought with me from home, that I might send men and storesfor the use of my friends in the isle. I taught the mate how to find theplace, and when he came back, I found that he had done so with ease.

  One of our crew had a great wish to go with the sloop, and live on theisle, if the chief would give him land to plant. So I told him he shouldgo by all means, and gave him the wild man for his slave. I found, too,that a man who had come with his wife and child and three slaves, tohide from the king of Spain, would like to go, if he could have someland there, though he had but a small stock to take with him; so I putthem all on board the sloop, and saw them safe out of the bay, on theirway to the isle. With them I sent three milch cows, five calves, a horseand a colt, all of which, as I heard, went safe and