Pre-reading

Question: Was it cold in winter on the island?

Intensive Reading

In December I continued to work in my small camp. The weather wasn’t very good for twenty days. It rained day and night. But it was still warm. So I worked inside.

12月，我继续在我的小营地工作。有二十天天气都不太好。日夜下雨。但仍然温暖。所以我在室内工作。

It was never cold on the island. It was good for me.

岛上从来不冷。这对我来说很好。

At the end of December I killed a goat. I also hurt another goat. Its leg was broken.

12月底我杀死了一只山羊。我还抓到了另一只山羊。它的腿断了。

The goat couldn’t walk. I took the goat home. I looked after it. After two weeks the goat wasn’t scared. It could eat from my hand. I started to think about keeping animals. I could have food when my gunpowder was finished. In January I traveled through the island. I found more goats in the centre of the island. The animals were very shy. It was difficult to get close to the goats.

这只山羊无法走路。我把它带回家。我照顾它。两周后这只山羊不害怕了。它可以从我手上吃东西。我开始思考养一些动物。当我的火药用完后我就可以有食物了。1月，我穿过岛屿。我在岛中间找到了更多山羊。这些动物很害羞。很难接近这些山羊。

I wanted to try to domesticate some goats. I only needed an opportunity to do it. I had a plan. I returned with my dog the next day. He was my hunting partner. I told my dog, “Sit down. Wait. Don’t move.” Then I went around the goats but in a big distance.

我想驯养更多山羊。我只需要一个机会来做这件事。我有一个计划。第二天我和我的狗一起返回。他是我的打猎伙伴。我告诉我的狗，“坐下，等待，别动。”然后我在那些山羊附近走动，但保持着较远的距离。

Notes:

1. day and night: 日日夜夜，夜以继日。

2. keep animals: 饲养动物，keep在这里是“饲养”的意思，“养宠物”即keep a pet。

3. shy: 害羞的，腼腆的。

4. domesticate: 驯养，驯化（动物）

Exercise:

Why did Robinson want to keep animals?