Robinson Crusoe - (Junior High School Part) (Revised Edition)

Author: Daniel Defoe (English)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1959-09-01
Features: I was born in a respectable family in York① in 1632. I am not a local, because my father was a foreigner, a man from Bremen② in Germany. He came to England and at first lived in Hull③, making a fortune through business. Later, he gave up his business and settled in York, where he married my mother. My mother's maiden name was Robinson, and she came from a very respectable family. Because of her, I was named Robinson Crusoe④, but due to changes in British pronunciation, people now call us, or we call ourselves, write our names as "Crusoe"⑤. So some of my friends also call me that. I had two older brothers. One was a major in the British infantry regiment stationed in Flanders⑥, whose unit had previously been led by the famous Colonel Lockhart. Later, this brother died in battle near Dunkirk⑦ while fighting the Spanish. As for my second older brother, I still know nothing about his whereabouts to this day, just as my father and mother later did not know where I was. I was the third child in the family and did not learn any trade. From a young age, my mind was filled with the desire to travel the world. My aged father gave me a good education, in addition to family tutoring, and also sent me to the village compulsory primary school. My father's plan was for me to study law, but I was completely set on going overseas, and nothing else could satisfy me. My strong inclination for this matter made me stubbornly resist my father's wishes and commands, my mother's and friends' pleas and advice. My stubborn nature seemed to be destined for my later unhappy life. My father was a wise and dignified man, and he saw the danger of my plans, giving me many serious and insightful pieces of advice. One morning, he called me into his room (he could not move due to gout), and earnestly advised me. He asked me what reason I had to leave my family and homeland, other than just running around aimlessly. He believed that in his hometown, I had a good chance of being introduced by relatives and friends, establishing myself in society, and that with my own efforts and diligence, I could earn a fortune and live a comfortable and happy life. He told me that those who went overseas to take risks, start businesses, or achieve fame through great endeavors were usually people with no means or else those full of ambition and wealth. But neither of these situations applied to me. He said my social status was between the two, or could also be called the middle class. With his years of experience, he thought this was the best class in the world, the one that brought the most happiness, neither like the manual laborers who had to endure all kinds of hardships, nor like the upper class, who were troubled by luxury, ambition, and the constant strife among themselves. He told me that one thing showed that this way of life was happy: everyone envied this life, and many kings often lamented the unhappy consequences of their noble birth, wishing they had been born between the rich and the poor; many wise people of old had proven that this status was the standard of happiness, because they often prayed to God, hoping neither to be too poor nor too rich. He asked me to notice that both the upper and lower classes would encounter troubles and misfortunes in life; while those in the middle had very few of these disasters, and would not experience the ups and downs and changes in life like the upper or lower classes. Not only that, the middle class would not, like the rich, be exhausted both physically and mentally from living a luxurious and extravagant life, spending money recklessly; nor would they, like the poor, be worn out from living a life of daily toil, with little to eat and wear. He also said that only the middle class had the blessing of enjoying all virtues and comforts; stability and wealth could be said to be the attendants of the middle class. He said that moderation in all things, self-restraint, peace and health, pleasant social interactions, all kinds of enjoyable pastimes, and all kinds of satisfactory pleasures—all these blessings belonged to the middle class; in such an environment, everyone could live a leisurely and comfortable life, neither toiling with labor and worry for daily bread, struggling and finding no moment of peace, nor suffering from desires and the ambitions of getting rich and becoming famous, exhausting themselves day by day; but simply living comfortably, savoring the sweetness of life, and increasingly appreciating their happiness. Then he earnestly and kindly advised me not to be childish or to seek trouble for myself, because, both in terms of reason and my family background, these troubles were avoidable. He said that with my family background, I did not need to find a job myself. He said he would do his best to help me enter the way of life he recommended to me. He said that if I could not live a comfortable and happy life in the future, it could only be blamed on my fate or my own faults, not on him, because since he saw the harm of my plans, he had fulfilled his duty and had warned me against this harmful thing. In short, he said that if I listened to him and stayed at home, he would definitely help me; he would never encourage me to travel far, so as to avoid being responsible for my misfortune. Finally, he asked me to take my older brother as an example. He had once seriously advised his older brother not to go to Flanders to fight, but he did not listen. As a result, driven by youthful courage, he joined the army and lost his life. …P1-3