Butterfly Dream (Vocabulary of 2400 for Senior High School Students to Read)

Author: Liu Wenjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Robinson Crusoe was born into a respectable merchant family and longed for seafaring adventures, determined to see the world overseas. He secretly set sail without his father's knowledge. On his first voyage, he encountered a fierce storm, his ship sank, and he barely escaped with his life. On his second voyage to Africa for trade, he made a fortune. On his third voyage, misfortune struck again when he was captured by Moors and became a slave. Later, he escaped in the master's small boat but was rescued by a Portuguese merchant ship. Upon reaching Brazil, he bought an estate and became a landowner. Unsatisfied with his sudden wealth, he set sail again, this time to Africa to trade slaves. During the journey, the ship encountered a storm and ran aground, resulting in the deaths of all crew members and passengers except for Robinson Crusoe, who was stranded on a deserted island. Using the ship's mast, he built a raft and repeatedly transported food, clothing, weapons, tools, and other supplies from the ship to the shore, settling in a tent by a small hill. Next, he drove sharpened wooden stakes around the tent to build a fence and dug a hole behind the tent for shelter. With simple tools, he crafted tables, chairs, and other furniture, hunted wild game for food, and drank from a stream, overcoming the initial hardships. He began planting barley and rice on the island, making his own wooden mortar, pestle, and sieve to grind flour and bake coarse bread. He captured and domesticated wild goats, allowing them to breed, and also made pottery, ensuring his basic needs were met. Despite this, Robinson Crusoe never gave up on finding a way to leave the island. He felled a large tree and spent several months building a single-log boat, but it was too heavy to be dragged into the sea. Discouraged, he abandoned the project and started building a smaller one. After living alone on the island for 17 years, one day, he discovered human bones and signs of a fire along the coast, realizing that a group of wild men from a nearby island had held a cannibalistic feast there. Robinson Crusoe was horrified. From then on, he remained vigilant and paid closer attention to his surroundings. By the 24th year, another group of wild men arrived on the island, intending to kill and eat their captives. Robinson Crusoe rescued one of them and named the saved native "Friday." From then on, "Friday" became Robinson Crusoe's loyal servant and friend. Later, Robinson Crusoe and "Friday" rescued a Spanish man and "Friday's" father.， stopped near the island, and the crew mutinied, abandoning the captain and two others on the island. Robinson Crusoe and "Friday" helped the captain subdue the mutineers and reclaim the ship. They left the mutineers on the island while Robinson Crusoe, "Friday," and the captain returned to England. At this point, Robinson Crusoe had been away from home for 35 years. He married and had three children in England. After his wife's death, Robinson Crusoe set sail for trade again and passed by the island where he had once lived. The sailors and Spanish settlers who remained on the island had established homes and families. Robinson Crusoe brought new settlers to the island,， daily necessities, leaving the island with satisfaction.