Pre-reading

What did Robinson propose?

Intensive Reading

I said, “I’m willing to help you but I have one condition. I want full control over the ship if we manage to get it back.”

我说:“我愿意帮助你，但我有一个条件。如果我们设法把船拿回来，我要完全控制它。”

The captain and the other two prisoners agreed and they gave me full control over the ship and over their lives.

船长和另外两名俘虏同意了，他们让我全权控制这艘船和他们的生命。

We freed the prisoners. Then we went back to the forest. I gave them guns and we started planning the attack. In the middle of our conversation, we noticed that the sailors who stood guard were woken up. They stood up. They shouted to three other men who were near to them. At that moment, we shot the guards. Then the captain spoke to the three other men. He told the men to be loyal to him and help him get back to the ship. They agreed and we tied them and left them on the beach.

我们释放了囚犯。然后我们回到了森林。我给了他们枪，我们开始策划袭击。谈话进行到一半时，我们注意到站岗的水手都醒了。他们站了起来。他们向靠近他们的另外三个人喊道。在那一刻，我们开枪打死了守卫。然后船长对另外三个人说了话。他告诉这些人要忠于他，帮助他回到船上。他们同意了，我们把他们绑起来，放在海滩上。

The other three men who heard the shots came back. They saw that the situation changed. We were five. We had a lot of guns. The situation was bad for them. They also agreed to be loyal to the captain. We tied these men too.

听到枪声的另外三个人回来了。他们看到情况发生了变化。我们是五个人。我们有很多枪。情况对他们不利。他们还同意忠于船长。我们把这些人也绑了起来。

Notes:

1. condition：条件，“在……的条件下”用under the condition。

2. control over sth.：对某物的控制，也可以用control of sth.。

3. situation：情况，形势，“在……情况下”可以用in the situation。

4. agree to：同意，可以说agree to sth.，也可以说agree to do sth.。

Exercise:

Why did the other three men agreed to be loyal to the captain at last?