Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe - Chapter 14 – A Dream Realised

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Recorded by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California,
winter two thousand six. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel de Foe,

(00:32):
Chapter fourteen, A dream realized. Having brought all my things
on shore and secured them, I went back to my
boat and rowed or paddled her along the shore to
her old harbor, where I laid her up and made
the best of my way to my old habitation, where

(00:53):
I found everything safe and quiet. I began now to
repose myself, live after my old fashion, and take care
of my family affairs. And for a while I lived
easy enough, only that I was more vigilant than I
used to be, looked out oftener and did not go

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abroad so much. And if at any time I did
stir with any freedom, it was always to the east
part of the island, where I was pretty well satisfied
the savages never came, and where I could go without
so many precautions and such a load of arms and
ammunition as I always carried with me. If I went

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the other way. I lived in this condition near two
years more. But my unlucky head, that was always to
let me know it was born to make my body miserable,
was all these two years filled with projects and designs,
how if it were possible, I might get away from

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this island. For sometimes I was for making another voyage
to the wreck, though my reason told me there was
nothing left there worth the hazard of my voyage, sometimes
for a ramble one way, sometimes another. And I believe
verily if I had had the boat that I went

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from Celia, I should have ventured to see bound anywhere
I knew, not whither I have been in all my circumstances.
A memento to those who are touched with the general
plague of mankind, whence for aught I know one half

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of their miseries flow. I mean that of not being
satisfied with the station wherein God and Nature hath placed them.
For not to look back upon my primitive condition and
the excellent advice of my father, the opposition to which was,
as I may call it, my original sin. My subsequent

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mistakes of the same kind had been the means of
my coming into this miserable condition. For had that providence
which so happily seated me at the Brazil's as a planter,
blessed me with confined desires, and I could have been
contented to have gone on gradually. I might have been,

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by this time, I mean, in the time of my
being in this island, one of the most considerable planters
in the Brazils. Nay, I am persuaded that by the
improvements I had made in that little time I lived there,
and the increase I should probably have made if I
had remained, I might have been worth a hundred thousand moidores.

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And what business had I to leave a settled fortune,
a well stocked plantation, improving and increasing, to turn supercargo
to Guinea to fetch negroes, when patience and time would
have so increased our stock at home that we could
have bought them at our own door from those whose

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business it was to fetch them. And though it had
cost us something more, yet the difference of that price
was by no means worth saving that so great a hazard.
But as this is usually the fate of young heads,
so reflection upon the folly of it is as commonly
the exercise of more years or of the dear bought

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experience of time. So it was with me now, and
yet so deep had the mistake taken root in my temper,
that I could not satisfy myself in my station, but
was continually pouring upon the means and possibility of my
escape from this place, And that I may, with greater

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pleasure to the reader bring on the remaining part of
my story. It may not be improper to give him
some account of my first conceptions on the subject of
this foolish scheme of my escape, and how and upon
what foundation I acted. I am now to be supposed

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retired into my castle after my late voyage to the wreck.
My frigate laid up and secured under water as usual,
and my condition restored to what it was before. I
had more wealth, indeed than I had before, but was
not at all the richer, for I had no more

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use for it than the Indians of Peru had before
the Spaniards came there. It was one of the nights
in the rainy season in March, the four and twentieth
year of my first setting foot in this island of solitude.
I was lying in my bed or hammock, awake, very
well in health, had no pain, no distemper, no uneasiness

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of body, nor any uneasiness of mind more than ordinary,
but could by no means close my eyes, that is,
so as to sleep, No not a wink all night long.
Otherwise than as follows, it is impossible to set down

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the innumerable crowd of thoughts that whirled through that great
thoroughfare of the brain the memory. In this night's time
I ran over the whole history of my life in miniature,
or by abridgment, as I may call it, to my
coming to this island, and also of that part of
my life since I came to this island. In my

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reflections upon the state of my case since I came
on shore on this island, I was comparing the happy
posture of my affairs in the first years of my
habitation here with the life of anxiety, fear, and care,
which I had lived in ever since I had seen
the print of a foot in the sand. Not that

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I did not believe the savages had frequented the island
even all the while, and might have been several hundreds
of them at times on shore there. But I had
never known it, and was incapable of any apprehensions about it.
My satisfaction was perfect, though my danger was the same,

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and I was as happy in not knowing my danger
as if I had never really been exposed to it.
This furnished my thoughts with many very profitable reflections, and
particularly this one. How infinitely good that Providence is, which
has provided in its government of mankind such narrow bounds

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to his sight and knowledge of things. And though he
walks in the midst of so many thousand dangers, the
sight of which, if discovered to him, would distract his
mind and sink his spirits, he is kept serene and
calm by having the events of things hid from his eyes,

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and knowing nothing of the dangers which surround him. After
these thoughts had for some time entertained me, I came
to reflect seriously upon the real danger I had been
in for so many years in this very island, and
how I had walked about in the greatest security and
with all possible tranquility, even when perhaps nothing but the

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brow of a hill, a great tree, or the casual
approach of night had been between me and the worst
kind of destruction, that is that of falling into the
hands of cannibals and savages, who would have seized on
me with the same view as I would on a
goat or turtle, and have thought of it no more
a crime to kill and devour me than I did

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of a pigeon or a curlew. I would unjustly slander
myself if I should say I was not sincerely thankful
to my great preserver, to whose singular protection I acknowledged
with great humanity all these unknown deliverances were due, and

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without which I must inevitably have fallen into their merciless hands.
When these thoughts were over, my head was for some
time taken up to considering the nature of these wretched creatures,
I mean, the savages, and how it came to pass
in the world that the wise governor of all things
should give up any of his creatures to such inhumanity, nay,

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to something so much more below even brutality itself, as
to devour its own kind. But as this ended in
some at that time fruitless speculations, it occurred to me
to inquire what part of the world these wretches lived in,
how far off the coast was from, whence they came,

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what they ventured over so far from home? For what
kind of boats they had and why I might not
order myself and my business so that I might be
able to go over thither as they were come to me.
I never so much as troubled myself to consider what
I should do with myself when I went thither. What

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would become of me if I fell into the hands
of those savages, or how I should escape them if
they attacked me. No, nor so much as how it
was possible for me to reach the coast and not
to be attacked by some or other of them, without
any possibility of delivering myself. And if I should not

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fall into their hands, what I should do for provision,
or whither I should bend my course. None of these thoughts,
I say so much as came in my way. But
my mind was wholly bent upon the notion of my
passing over in my boat to the mainland. I looked

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upon my present condition as the most miserable that could
possibly be. That I was not able to throw myself
into anything but death that could be called worse. And
if I reached the shore of the main I might
perhaps meet with relief, or I might coast along as

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I did on the African shore, till I came to
some inhabited country, and where I might find some relief.
And after all, perhaps I might fall in with some
Christian ship that might take me in. And if the
worst came to the worst, I could but die, which
would put an end to all these miseries at once. Pray.

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Note all this was the fruit of a disturbed mind
and impatient temper, made desperate as it were, by the
long continuance of my troubles and the disappointments I had
met in the wreck I had been on board of,
and where I had been so near obtaining what I
so earnestly longed for somebody to speak to, and to

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learn some knowledge from them of the place where I was,
and of the probable means of my deliverance. I was
agitated wholly by these thoughts. All my calm of mind,
in my resignation to providence and waiting the issue of
the dispositions of heaven seemed to be suspended, and I had,

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as it were, no power to turn my thoughts to
anything but to the project of a voyage to the main,
which came upon me with such force and such an
impetuosity of desire, that it was not to be resum
when this had agitated my thoughts for two hours or more,
with such violence that it set my very blood into

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a ferment, and my pulse beat as if I had
been in a fever. Merely with the extraordinary fervor of
my mind about it, nature, as if I had been
fatigued and exhausted with the very thoughts of it, threw
me into a sound sleep. One would have thought I

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should have dreamed of it, but I did not, nor
of anything relating to it. But I dreamed that I
was going out in the morning as usual from my castle.
I saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven savages
coming to land, and that they brought with them another
savage whom they were going to kill in order to
eat him. When on a sudden the savage that they

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were going to kill jumped away and ran for his life.
And I thought in my sleep that he came running
into my little thick grove before my fortification to hide himself,
and that I, seeing him alone, and not perceiving that
the others sought him that way, showed myself to him, and,

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smiling upon him, encouraged him. That he kneeled down to me,
seeming to pray me to assist him, upon which I
showed him my ladder, made him go up, and carried
him into my cave, and he became my servant. And
that as soon as I had got this man, I

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said to myself, now I may certainly venture to the mainland,
for this fellow will serve me as a pilot, and
will tell me what to do, and whither to go
for provisions, and whither not to go for fear of
being devoured, what places to venture to, and what to shun.

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I waked with this thought, and was under such inexpressible
impressions of joy at the prospect of my escape and
my dream, that the disappointments which I felt upon coming
to myself and finding that it was no more than
a dream, were equally extravagant the other way, and threw

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me into a very great dejection of spirits. Upon this, however,
I made this conclusion that my only way to go
about to attempt an escape, was to endeavor to get
a savage into my possession, and if possible, it should

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be one of their prisoners, whom they had condemned to
be eaten, and should bring hither to kill. But these
thoughts still were attended with this difficulty, that it was
impossible to effect this without attacking a whole caravan of
them and killing them all. And this was not only
a very desperate attempt and might miscarry. But on the

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other hand I had greatly scrupled the lawfulness of it
to myself, and my heart trembled at the thoughts of
shedding so much blood, though it was for my deliverance.
I need not repeat the arguments which occurred to me
against this, they being the same mentioned before. But though

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I had other reasons to offer now, that is that
those men were enemies to my life and would devour
me if they could, that it was self preservation in
the highest degree to deliver myself from this death of
a life, and was acting in my own defense as
much as if they were actually assaulting me. And the like.

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I say, though these things argued for it, yet the
thoughts of shedding human blood for my deliverance were very
terrible to me, and such as I could by no
means reconcile myself too for a great while. However, at last,
after many secret disputes with myself, and after great perplexities

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about it, for all these arguments, one way and another
struggled in my head a long time. The eager, prevailing
desire of deliverance at length mastered all the rest, and
I resolved, if possible to get one of these savages
into my hands, cost what it would. My next thing

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was to contrive how to do it, and this indeed
was very difficult to resolve on. But as I could
pitch upon no probable means for it, so I resolved
to put myself upon the watch to see them when
they came on shore, and leave the rest to the event,
taking such measures as the opportunity should present. Let what

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would be with these resolutions in my thoughts. I set
myself upon the scout as often as possible, and indeed
so often that I was heartily tired of it. For
it was above a year and a half that I waited,
and for a great part of that time went out
to the west end and to the southwest corner of

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the island almost every day to look for canoes. But
none appeared. This was very discouraging and began to trouble
me much, though I cannot say that it did in
this case, as it had done some time before. Wear
off the edge of my desire to the thing. But
the longer it seemed to be delayed, the more eager

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I was for it. In a word, I was not
at first so careful to shun the sight of these
savages and avoid being seen by them, as I was
now eager to be upon them. Besides, I fancied myself
able to manage one, nay two, or three savages if

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I had them, so as to make them entirely slaves
to me, to do whatever I should direct them, and
to prevent their being able at any time to do
me any hurt. It was a great while that I
pleased myself with this affair, but nothing still presented itself.
All my fancies and schemes came to nothing, for no

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savages came near me for quite a while. After a
year and a half later I entertained these notions, and
by long musings had, as it were, resolved them into nothing.
For want of an occasion to put them into execution.
I was surprised one morning by seeing no less than

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five canoes all on shore together on my side of
the island, and the people who belonged to them all
landed and out of my sight. The number of them
broke all my measures. For seeing so many, and knowing
that they always came four or six, or sometimes more
in a bout, I could not tell what to think

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of it, or how to take my measures to attack
twenty or thirty men single handed. So lay still in
my castle, perplexed and discomforted. However, I put myself into
the same position for an attack that I had formerly provided,
and was just ready for action if anything had presented,

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having waited a good while listening to hear if they
made any noise. At length, being very impatient, I set
my guns at the foot of my ladder and clambered
up to the top of the hill by my two
stages as usual, standing so however, that my head did
not appear above the hill, so that they could not

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perceive me by any means. Here I observed, by the
help of my prospective glass that they were no less
than thirty in number, that they had a fire kindled,
and that they had meat dressed. How they cooked it,
I knew not nor what it was, but they were

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all dancing in I know not how many barbarous gestures
and figures their own way round the fire. While I
was thus looking on them, I perceived by my perspective.
Two miserable wretches dragged from the boats where it seems
they were laid by, and were now brought out for

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the slaughter. I perceived one of them immediately fall being
knocked down, I suppose with a club or wooden sword,
for that was their way, and two or three others
were at work immediately cutting him open for their cookery,
while the other victim was left standing by himself that

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they should be ready for him. In that very moment,
this poor wretch, seeing himself a little at liberty and
unbound nature, inspired him with hopes of life, and he
started away from them and ran with incredible swiftness along
the sands directly towards me, I mean towards that part

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of the coast where my habitation was. I was dreadfully frightened,
I must acknowledge when I perceived him run my way,
and especially when, as I thought, I saw him pursued
by the whole body. And now I expected that part
of my dream was coming to pass, and that he
would certainly take shelter in my grove. But I could

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not depend, by any means upon my dream that the
other savages would not pursue him thither and find him there. However,
I kept my station, and my spirits began to recover
when I found that there was not above three men
that followed him, and still more I was encouraged when

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I found out that he outstripped them exceedingly in running
and gaining ground on them, so that if he could
but hold out for half an hour, I saw easily
he would fairly get away from them. All there was
between them and my castle the creek which I mentioned

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often in the first part of my story, where I
landed my cargoes out of the ship, and this I
saw plainly he must necessarily swim over, or the poor
wretch would be taken there. But when the savage escaping
came thither, he made nothing of it, though the tide
was then up, but plunging in, swam through in about

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thirty strokes or thereabouts, landed and ran with exceeding swiftness
and strength. When the three persons came to the creek,
I found that two of them could swim, but the
third could not, and that standing on the other side,
he looked at the others, but went no farther, and

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soon after went softly back again, which as it happened
was very well for him. In the end, I observed
that the two who swam were yet more than twice
as strong swimming over the creek as the fellow was
that fled from them. It came very warmly upon my thoughts,
and indeed irresistibly, that now was the time to get

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me a servant, and perhaps a companion or assistant, and
that I was plainly called by providence to save this
poor creature's life. I immediately ran down the ladders with
all possible expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were
both at the foot of the ladders, as I observed before,

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and getting up again with the same haste, to the
top of the hill, I crossed towards the sea, and,
having a very short cut and all downhill, placed myself
in the way between the pursuers and the pursued, hallowing
aloud to him that fled, who, looking back, was at
first perhaps as much frightened at me as at them.

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But I beckoned with my hand for him to come back,
and in the meantime I slowly advanced towards the two
that followed, then, rushing at once upon the foremost, I
knocked him down with the stock of my piece. I
was loathed to fire, because I would not have the
rest here, though at that distance it would not have

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been easily heard, and being out of sight of the smoke, too,
they would not have known what to make of it.
Having knocked this fellow down, the other who pursued him
stopped as if he had been frightened, and I advanced
towards him. But as I came nearer, I perceived presently

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he had a bow and arrow and was fitting it
to shoot at me. So I was then obliged to
shoot at him first, which I did, and killed him
at the first shot. The poor savage who fled but
had stopped though he saw both his enemies fallen and
killed as he thought, yet was so frightened with the

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fire and noise of my piece that he stood stock still,
and neither came forward nor went backward, though he seemed
rather inclined still to fly than to come on. I
helloed him again and made signs to come forward, which
he easily understood, and came a little way, then stopped again,

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and then a little farther, and stopped again, And I
could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he
had been taken prisoner and had just been to be killed,
as his two enemies were. I reckoned to him again
to come to me, and gave him all the signs
of encouragement that I could think of, and he came

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nearer and nearer, kneeling down every ten or twelve steps
in token of acknowledgment for saving his life. I smiled
at him and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to
come still nearer. At length he came close to me,
and then he kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and

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laid his head upon the ground, and, taking me by
the foot, set my foot upon his head. This, it seems,
was in token of swearing to be my slave forever.
I took him up and made much of him and
encouraged him all I could. But there was no more
work to do yet, for I perceived the savage whom

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I had knocked down was not killed, but stunned with
the blow, and began to come to himself. So I
pointed to him and showed him the savage that he
was not dead. Upon this he spoke some words to me,
and though I could not understand them yet, I thought
they were pleasant to hear, for they were the first
sound of a man's voice that I had heard my own,

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accepted for above twenty five years. But there was no
time for such reflections. Now the savage who was knocked
down recovered himself so far as to sit up upon
the ground. And I perceived that the savage began to
be afraid. But when I saw that, I presented my
other piece at the man, as if I would shoot him.

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Upon this, my savage, for so I call him, now
made a motion to me to lend him my sword,
which hung naked in a belt by my side, which
I did. He no sooner had it. But he runs
to his enemy and at one blow cut off his
head so cleverly. No executioner in Germany could have done

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it sooner or better, which I thought very strange, for
one who I had reason to believe never saw a
sword in his life before, except their own wooden swords. However,
it seems as if I learned afterwards, they made their
wooden swords so sharp, so heavy, and the wood is

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so hard that they will even cut off heads with them, aye,
and arms, And that at one blow too, when he
had done this, he comes laughing to me and sign
of triumph, and brought me the sword again, and with
abundance of gestures which I did not understand, laid it
down with the head of the savage that he had

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killed just before me. But that which astonished him most
was to know how I killed the other Indians so
far off. So pointing to him, he made signs to
me to let him go to him, and I bade
him go as well as I could. When he came

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to him, he stood like one amazed looking at him,
turning him first on one side, then on the other,
looked at the wound the bullet had made, which it
seems was just in his breast where it had made
a hole, and no great quantity of blood had followed,
but he had bled inwardly, for he was quite dead.

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He took up his bow and arrows and came back.
So I turned to go away and beckoned him to
follow me, making signs to him that more might come
after them. Upon this, he made signs to me that
he should bury them with sand, that they might not
be seen by the rest if they followed, And so

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I made signs to him to do so. He fell
to work, and in an instant he had scraped a
hole in the sand with his hands big enough to
bury the first in, and then dragged him into it
and covered him, and did so by the other also.
I believe he had buried them both in a quarter

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of an hour. Then, calling away, I carried him not
to my castle, but quite away to my cave on
the farther part of the island. So I did not
let my dream come to pass in that part that
he came to my grove for shelter. Here I gave
him bread and a bunch of raisins to eat, and

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a draft of water, which I found he was indeed
in great distress for from his running, And having refreshed him,
I made signs for him to go and lie down
to sleep, showing him a place where I had laid
some rice straw and a blanket upon it, which I
used to sleep upon myself sometimes. So the poor creature

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lay down and went to sleep. He was a comely,
handsome fellow, perfectly well made, with straight, long limbs, not
too large, tall and well shaped, and as I reckon,
about twenty six years of age, he had a very
good countenance, not a fierce and surly aspect, but seemed

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to have something very manly in his face, and yet
he had all the sweetness and softness of a European
in his countenance, too, especially when he smiled. His hair
was long and black, not curled like wool, his forehead
very high and large, and a great vivacity and sparkling

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sharpness in his eyes. The color of his skin was
not quite black, but very tawny, and yet not an
ugly yellow, nasseous tawny as the Brazilians and Virginians and
other natives of America are, but of a bright kind
of a dun olive color that had in it something
very agreeable, though not very easy to describe. His face

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was round and plump, his nose small, not flat like
the Negroes, a very good mouth, thin lips, and fine teeth,
well set, and as white as ivory. After he had
slumbered rather than slept, about half an hour, he awoke
again and came out of the cave to me, for

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I had been milking my goats, which I had in
the enclosure just by. When he espied me, he came
running to me, laying himself down again upon the ground,
with all the signs of a humble, thankful disposition. Making
a great many antique gestures to show it. At last
he lay his head flat upon the ground close to

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my foot, and sets my other foot upon his head,
as he had done before. And after this made all
the signs to me of subjection, servitude, and submission imaginable
to let me know how he would serve me so
long as he lived. I understood him in many things,
and let him know I was very well pleased with him.

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In a little time, I began to speak to him
and teach him to speak to me. And first I
let him know his name should be Friday, which was
the day I saved his life. I called him so
for the memory of the time. I likewise taught him
to say master, and then let him know that was

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to be my name. I likewise taught him to say
yes and no, and to know the meaning of them.
I gave him some milk in an earthen pot and
let him see me drink it before him, and sought
my bread in it. Gave him a cake of bread
to do the like, which he quickly complied with, and
made signs that it was very good for him. I

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kept there with him all that night, but as soon
as it was day, I beckoned to him to come
with me and let him know I would give him
some clothes, at which he seen semed very glad, for
he was stark naked. As he went by the place
where he had buried the two men, he pointed exactly
to the place and showed me the marks that he

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had made to find them again, making signs to me
that we should dig them up and eat them. At
this I appeared very angry, expressed my abhorrence of it,
made as if I would vomit at the thoughts of it,
and beckoned him with my hands to come away, which
he did immediately with great submission. I then led him

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up to the top of the hill to see if
his enemies were gone, and pulling out my glass, I
looked and saw plainly the place where they had been,
but no appearance of them or their canoes, so that
it was plain they were gone, and had left their
two comrades behind them, without any search after them. But

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I was not content with this discovery, But having now
more cur urge and consequently more curiosity, I took my
man Friday with me, giving him the sword in his hand,
with the bow and arrows at his back. Which I
found he could use very dexterously, making him carry one
gun for me, and I two for myself, and away

(36:19):
we marched to the place where these creatures had been,
for I had a mind now to get some further
intelligence of them. When I came to the place, my
very blood ran chill in my veins, and my heart
sunk within me at the horror of the spectacle. Indeed,
it was a dreadful sight. At least it was so

(36:41):
to me, though Friday made nothing of it. The place
was covered with human bones, the ground dyed with their
blood in great pieces of flesh left there and here
half eaten, mangled and scorched, in short, all the tokens
of the triumphant feast they had been making there after

(37:04):
a victory over their enemies. I saw three skulls, five hands,
and the bones of three or four legs and feet,
and abundance of other parts of bodies. And Friday, by
his signs, made me understand that they had brought over
four prisoners to feast upon, that three of them were

(37:24):
eaten up, and that he pointing to himself, was the fourth.
That there had been a great battle between them and
their next king of whose subjects it seems he had
been one, and that they had taken a great number
of prisoners, all which were carried to several places by
those who had taken them in the fight, in order

(37:47):
to feast upon them, as was done here by these
wretches upon those they brought hither. I caused Friday to
gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever remained, and
lay them together in a heap, and make a great
fire upon it, and burn them all to ashes. I

(38:08):
found Friday had still a hankering stomach after some of
the flesh, and was still a cannibal in his nature.
But I showed so much abhorrence at the very thoughts
of it, and at the least appearance of it, that
he durst not discover it, for I had, by some
means let him know that I would kill him if
he offered it. When he had done this, we came

(38:32):
back to our castle, and there I fell to work
for my man Friday. And first I gave him a
pair of linen trousers which I had out of the
poor gunner's chest I mentioned, which I found in the wreck,
in which with a little alteration fitted him very well,
And then I made him a jerkin of goat's skin,

(38:53):
as well as my skill would allow, for I was
now grown a tolerably good tailor, and I gave him
a cap, which I made of hair skin, very convenient
and fashionable enough. And thus he was clothed for the
present tolerably well, and was mighty well pleased to see
himself clothed, almost as well as his master. It is

(39:17):
true he went awkwardly in these clothes at first. Wearing
the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves
of the westcot galled his shoulders and the inside of
his arms. But a little easing them where he had
complained they hurt, and using himself to them, he took

(39:38):
to them at length very well. The next day, after
I came home to my hutch with him, I began
to consider where I should lodge him, and that I
might do well for him and yet be perfectly easy myself.
I made a little tent for him in the vacant
place between my two fortifications, in the inn side of

(40:00):
the last and in the outside of the first. As
there was a door or entrance there into my cave,
I made a formal framed door case and a door
to it of boards, and set it up in the passage,
a little within the entrance, and causing the door to
open up in the inside. I barred it up in

(40:21):
the night, taking in my ladders too, so that Friday
could no way come at me in the inside of
my innermost wall without making so much noise in getting
over that it must needs awaken me. For my first
wall had now a complete roof over it of long poles,
covering all my tent, and leaning up to the side

(40:42):
of the hill, which was again laid across with smaller
sticks instead of laths, and being thatched over a great
thickness with the rice straw, which was strong like reeds.
And at the hole or place which was left to
go in or out by the ladder, I had placed
a kind of trap door, which if it had been

(41:03):
attempted on the outside, would not have opened at all,
but would have fallen down and made a great noise.
As to weapons, I took them all into my side
every night, But I needed none of all this precaution,
for never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant

(41:23):
than Friday was to me, without passions, sullenness, or designs,
perfectly obliged and engaged. His very affections were tied to
me like those of a child to a father, and
I dare say he would have sacrificed his life to
save mine upon any occasion whatsoever. The many testimonies he

(41:45):
gave of this put it out of doubt, and soon
convinced me that I needed use no precautions for my safety.
On his account. This frequently gave me occasion to observe,
and that with wonder that, however, it had pleased God,
in his providence and in the government of the works

(42:06):
of his hands, to take from so great a part
of the world of his creatures the best uses to
which their faculties and the powers of their souls are adapted.
Yet that He has bestowed upon them the same powers,
the same reason, the same affections, the same sentiments of
kindness and obligation, the same passions and resentments of wrongs,

(42:30):
the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the
capacities of doing good and receiving good that He has
given to us, And that when He pleases to offer
them occasions of exerting these, they are as ready, nay
more ready to apply them to the right uses for

(42:52):
which they were bestowed than we are. This made me
very melancholy sometimes in reflect as to the several occasions presented.
How mean a use we make of all these, even
though we have those powers enlightened by the great lamp
of instruction, the spirit of God and by the knowledge

(43:16):
of His word added to our understanding. And why it
has pleased God to hide the like saving knowledge from
so many millions of souls, who, if I might judge
by this poor savage, would make a much better use
of it than we did. From Hence, I sometimes was

(43:36):
led too far to invade the sovereignty of Providence, and
as it were, haragn the justice of so arbitrary a
disposition of things that should hide that sight from some
and reveal it to others, and yet expect a like
duty from both. But I shut it up and checked

(43:59):
my thoughts with this conclusion. First, that we did not
know by what light and law these should be condemned,
but that as God was necessarily and by the nature
of His being infinitely holy and just, so, it could
not be. But if these creatures were all sentenced to

(44:19):
absence from himself, it was on account of sending against
that light, which, as the scripture says, was a law
to themselves, and by such rules as their consciences would
acknowledge to be just, though the foundation was not discovered
to us. And secondly that still, as we are all

(44:40):
the clay in the hand of the potter, no vessel
could say to him, why hast thou formed me? Thus?
But to return to my new companion. I was greatly
delighted with him, and made it my business to teach
him everything that was proper, to make him useful, handy,

(45:03):
and helpful, but especially to make him speak and understand
me when I spoke. And he was the aptest scholar
that ever was, and particularly was so merry, so constantly diligent,
and so pleased when he could but understand me or

(45:24):
make me understand him, that it was very pleasant for
me to talk to him. Now my life began to
be so easy that I began to say to myself
that could I but have been safe from more savages?
I cared not if I was never to remove from
the place where I lived. End of Chapter fourteen.