At this surprising change of my circumstances, from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed;[qh]

我的境况发生了突变，从一个商人一下子变成了可怜的奴隶。这真使我悲痛欲绝。[qh]

and now I looked back upon my fathers prophetic discourse to me, that I should be miserable and have none to relieve me,[qh]

这时，我不禁回忆起我父亲的预言；他说过我一定会受苦受难，并会呼援无门。[qh]

which I thought was now so effectually brought to pass that I could not be worse;[qh]

现在我才感到，父亲的话完全应验了。我现在的境况已再糟不过了。[qh]

for now the hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone without redemption;[qh]

我受到了老天的惩罚，谁也救不了我。[qh]

but, alas![qh]

可是，唉，[qh]

this was but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will appear in the sequel of this story.[qh]

我的苦难才刚刚开始呢，下面我再接着细说吧。[qh]

As my new patron, or master, had taken me home to his house,[qh]

我的主人把我带回他家中。[qh]

so I was in hopes that he would take me with him when he went to sea again,[qh]

我满以为他出海时会带上我。[qh]

believing that it would some time or other be his fate to be taken by a Spanish or Portugal man-of-war; and that then I should be set at liberty.[qh]

如这样，我想，他迟早会被西班牙或葡萄牙的战舰俘获，那时我就可恢复自由了。[qh]

But this hope of mine was soon taken away;[qh]

但我的这个希望很快就破灭了。[qh]

for when he went to sea, he left me on shore to look after his little garden, and do the common drudgery of slaves about his house;[qh]

他每次出海时，总把我留在岸上照看他那座小花园，并在家里做各种奴隶干的苦活。[qh]

and when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in the cabin to look after the ship.[qh]

当他从海上航行回来时，又叫我睡到船舱里替他看船。[qh]

Here I meditated nothing but my escape, and what method I might take to effect it, but found no way that had the least probability in it;[qh]

在这里，我头脑里整天盘算着如何逃跑，但怎么也想不出稍有希望的办法。[qh]

nothing presented to make the supposition of it rational; for I had nobody to communicate it to that would embark with me[qh]

从当时的情况来看，我根本没有条件逃跑。我没有人可以商量，没有人与我一起逃跑。[qh]

- no fellow-slave, no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotchman there but myself;[qh]

我孤身一人形单影只，周围没有其他奴隶，也没有英格兰人、爱尔兰人或苏格兰人。[qh]

so that for two years, though I often pleased myself with the imagination,[qh]

这样过了整整两年。在这两年中，逃跑的计划只有在我想象中实现，并借此自慰，[qh]

yet I never had the least encouraging prospect of putting it in practice.[qh]

却怎么也无法付诸实施。[qh]

After about two years, an odd circumstance presented itself,[qh]

大约两年之后，出现了一个特殊的情况，[qh]

which put the old thought of making some attempt for my liberty again in my head.[qh]

这使我重新升起了争取自由的希望。[qh]

My patron lying at home longer than usual without fitting out his ship, which, as I heard, was for want of money,[qh]

这一次，我主人在家里呆的时间比以往长。据说是因为手头缺钱，他没有为自己的船配备出航所必需的设备。[qh]

he used constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes oftener if the weather was fair,[qh]

在这段时间里，他经常坐一只舢舨去港口外的开放锚地捕鱼；每星期至少一、两次，天气好的话，去的次数更多一些。[qh]

to take the ships pinnace and go out into the road a- fishing;[qh]

那只舢舨是他大船上的一只小艇。[qh]