Pre-reading
Question: What did Robinson do with the bodies?
Intensive Reading
When we found the bodies, Friday wanted to eat the cannibals. I was angry. I showed to Friday that it wasn’t good to eat them. Here I understood that Friday was also a cannibal.
当我们找到尸体时,星期五想要吃那些食人族。我很生气。我向星期五展示吃他们不好。从此我理解了星期五也是一名食人族。
We buried the cannibals. Then we walked to the beach. What we saw was horrible. There were human bones all around. The sand was red with blood.
我们埋了那些食人族。然后我们走到了海滩。我们看到的场景很可怕。到处都是人的尸骨。沙子被血染成了红色。
I asked Friday to collect all the body parts. I prepared a big fire. I decided to burn the body parts in the fire.
我让星期五收集所有的尸体部分。我准备了一场大火。我决定在火里烧掉这些尸体部分。
We went to my house. I made a little tent for Friday between the two fences which were around my house.
我们回到我的房子。我在房子周围的两个栅栏间为星期五做了一个小帐篷。
I took all his weapons away. I wanted to feel safe. After a while, I realized that I didn’t have to do it. Friday was a very good and honest man. He was like a child to me. I was like a father to him. In many situations later he showed me that he was willing to give his life for me.
我拿走了他所有的武器。我想有安全感。过了不久,我意识到我不需要这么做。星期五人很好,很老实。他对我而言像一个孩子。我对他而言像一名父亲。后来,很多次他都向我展示了他愿意为我牺牲自己的生命。
I was very happy to have Friday on the island. I began teaching him everything what he needed to know about life like a European.
我很高兴在岛上有星期五的陪伴。我开始教他一名欧洲人对生活需要知道的所有事情。
First I taught him some new words. I started with hi, hello, bye, thank you. It wasn’t easy at the beginning. But I was patient because I was happy that I could speak to somebody.
首先我教了他一些新单词。我先教了“你好”“再见”“谢谢”。一开始并不容易。但是我有耐心,因为我很开心有人能跟我说话。
Notes:
1. weapon: 武器,如“核武器”可以说nuclear weapon。
2. situation:情况,形势,“在某种情况下”可以用in (a) particular situation。
3. willing:愿意,乐意,be willing to do sth.即“愿意做某事”。
Exercise:
Why did Robinson feel that he didn’t have to take Friday’s weapon away?