“Life and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe” Defoe in brief summary
The life and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived twenty-eight years alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America near the mouths of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown out by shipwreck, during which the whole crew of the ship except him died; with an account of his unexpected release by pirates, written by himself
Robinson was the third son in the family, darling, he was not trained in any craft, and from childhood his head was stuffed with “all sorts of nonsense” – mostly dreams of sea voyages. His elder brother died in Flanders, fighting with the Spaniards, the average disappeared without a trace, and therefore they do not want to hear at home about letting the last son go to sea. The father, “a man of staid and clever”, tearfully begs him to strive for a modest existence, extolling in every way the “average state” that protects the sane person from the evil vicissitudes of fate. The admonition
Already the first day at sea was the foreshadow of the coming trials. The raging storm awakens a repentance in the soul of the disobedient, however, lying down with a bad weather and finally dispelled by drinking. A week later, in the yarmouth raid, a new, far more ferocious storm comes crashing down. The team’s experience, selflessly saving the ship, does not help: the ship is drowning, the sailors pick up the boat from a nearby boat. On the bank, Robinson again experiences a fleeting temptation to heed a harsh lesson and return to the parental home, but the “evil destiny” keeps him on the chosen path of destruction. In London, he gets acquainted with the captain of a ship preparing to go to Guinea, and decides to swim with them – good, it will not be worth anything, he will be the “companion
It was an unsuccessful expedition: their ship was captured by a Turkish corsair, and the young Robinson, as if fulfilling the gloomy prophecies of his father, passes a difficult period of testing, turning from a merchant into a “miserable slave” captain of a robber ship. He uses it at home, does not take it to the sea, and for two years Robinson has no hope of breaking free. The boss, meanwhile, weakens supervision, sends the prisoner with the moor and boy Xury to fish to the table, and one day, far away from shore, Robinson throws over the Moor and inclines Xuri to escape. He was well prepared: in the boat there is a supply of biscuits and fresh water, tools, guns and gunpowder. On the way, fugitives shoot on the shore animals, even kill a lion and a leopard, peace-loving natives supply them with water and food. Finally, they pick up the oncoming Portuguese ship. Convinced of the plight of the rescued, the captain undertakes to take Robinson free to Brazil; Moreover, he buys his longboat and “faithful Xura”, promising ten years to return the boy freedom. “It changed matters,” Robinson concluded in a complacent manner, ending his remorse.
In Brazil, he takes a good and long time: he gets Brazilian citizenship, buys land under the plantations of tobacco and sugar cane, sweats in her sweat, belatedly regretting that Xuri is not around. Paradoxically, he comes precisely to the “golden middle” that his father seduced him into. So why was it, he laments now, to leave his parents’ house and climb to the end of the world? Neighbors-planters are located to him, willingly help, he manages to get from England, where he left money from the widow of his first captain, the necessary goods, agricultural implements and household utensils. It would have calmed down and continued its profitable business, but the “passion for wandering” and, most importantly, “the desire to enrich more quickly than circumstances allowed” prompt Robinson to break the established way of life.
It all started with the fact that plantations required workers’ hands, and slave labor was expensive, since the delivery of Negroes from Africa was associated with the dangers of sea crossing and is still hampered by legal obstacles. After listening to Robinson’s stories about his trips to the coasts of Guinea, the plantation neighbors decide to equip the ship and secretly bring slaves to Brazil, sharing them here. Robinson is invited to participate as a shipping clerk responsible for buying Negroes in Guinea, and he himself will not invest in the expedition any money, and the slaves will get along with everyone, and even in his absence, the partners will supervise his plantations and watch his interests. Of course, he is tempted by advantageous conditions, habitually cursing “vagrancy tendencies”. What “inclinations”, if he is thorough and sensible, observing all the canadian formalities, disposes of the property left behind! Never before has fate warned him so clearly: he sails on September 1, 1659, that is, day after day eight years after his escape from the parental home. In the second week of the voyage, a fierce squall flew into the air, and for twelve days they were thrashed by the “fury of the elements.” The ship gave a leak, needed repair, the team lost three sailors, and it was no longer up to Africa – it would be more likely to reach the land. The second storm is played out, they are taken far from the trade routes, and here in view of the ground the ship is stranded, and on the only remaining boat the crew is “given over to the will of the raging waves.” Even if they are not overturned, rowing to the shore, at the land the surf will blow their boat to pieces, and the approaching land seems to them “
Alas, he alone was saved, as evidenced by three hats, a cap and two unpaired boots thrown ashore. To replace the frenzied joy come mourning for the lost comrades, the torments of hunger and cold and fear of wild animals. The first night he spends on a tree. By morning the tide had driven their ship close to the shore, and Robinson swam to it. From the spare masts he builds a raft and loads everything necessary for his life: food, clothes, carpentry tools, guns and pistols, shot and powder, sabers, saws, ax and hammer. With incredible labor, every minute at risk of overturning, he leads the raft into a calm cove and goes to find a place to live. From the top of the hill to Robinson, his “bitter fate” is clear: this is an island, and, by all accounts, uninhabited. Fenced on all sides by chests and boxes, he spends the second night on the island, and in the morning he swam again to the ship, hurrying to take what can be done, until the first storm does break it into chips. On this trip Robinson took a lot of useful things from the ship-again guns and gunpowder, clothes, sail, mattresses and pillows, iron crowbars, nails, screwdriver and grindstone. On the shore, he builds a tent, transfers food and powder from the sun and rain to it, arranges a bed for himself. In total, he visited the ship twelve times, always getting on with something valuable – canvas, tackles, breadcrumbs, rum, flour, “iron parts”. On his last visit he came across the chifonier with money and philosophically judged that in his position all this “pile of gold” was not worth any of the knives lying in the next box, however, after thinking, “I decided to take them with me.”
The first concern Robinson is the device of reliable, safe housing – and most importantly, in view of the sea, where only you can expect rescue. On the slope of the hill he finds a flat clearing and on it, against a small depression in the rock, decides to smash the tent, protecting it with a palisade of strong trunks driven into the ground. Enter the “fortress” could only be on the ladder. Deepening in the rock, he expanded – turned out a cave, he uses it as a cellar. It took many days for these works. He quickly gained experience. In the midst of the construction work, the rain gushed, lightning flashed, and Robinson’s first thought: gunpowder! Not the fear of death frightened him, but the opportunity to lose gunpowder at one time, and he poured it into pouches and boxes for two weeks and hid it in different places. At the same time he knows now how much he has gunpowder: two hundred and forty pounds.
It is very important that it is “at the same time”: when mastering in a new life, Robinson, doing something “one”, will always take note of the “other” and the “third” that is going to benefit. Before the famous heroes Defoe, Roxane and Moll Flanders, there was the same task: to survive! But for this they needed to master the difficult, but one “profession” – courtesans and, accordingly, thieves. They lived with people, skillfully used their sympathy, parasitized on their weaknesses, they were helped by sensible “mentors”. And Robinson is alone, he is opposed by a world deeply indifferent to him, simply not aware of its existence – the sea, winds, rains, this island with its wild flora and fauna. And in order to survive, he will have to master not even the “profession”, but the laws, “customs” of the surrounding world and interact, considering them. In his case, “to live” means to observe everything – and to learn. So, he does not immediately guess that goats do not know how to look up, but then it will be easy to get meat, shooting from a rock or a hill. He benefits from more than one natural wit: from the civilized world he brought ideas and skills that allowed him “in complete silence of the sadest life” to go through the basic stages of the formation of a social person – in other words, to remain in this capacity, not to be run wild, like many prototypes. He will learn how to domesticate the same goats, add milk to a meat table. And the saved gunpowder is still useful! In addition to pastoralism, Robinson will set up farming when the grain of barley and rice shaken out with a trash out of a bag grows. At first he will see in this “miracle”, created by the merciful Providence, but soon he will remember about the sack and,
Accumulated by historical memory, growing from the experience of generations and trusting in the future, Robinson, albeit lonely, but not lost in time, why the foremost concern of this builder is the construction of the calendar – this is a great pillar on which he every day makes a notch. The first date there is September 30, 1659. Henceforth every day is named and taken into account, and for the reader, first of all then, the glimpses of a great history are falling on the works and days of Robinson. During his absence in England, the monarchy was restored, and the return of Robinson “podgadat” to the “Glorious Revolution” in 1688, which led to the throne of William of Orange, the benevolent patron of Defoe; in these same years in London there will be a “Great Fire”, and the revived urban development will unrecognizably change the face of the capital; during this time, Milton and Spinoza will die; Charles II will publish the “habeas corpus act” – the law on the inviolability of the person. And in Russia, which, as it turns out, will also be of concern to Robinson’s fate, Avvakum is being burned, Razin is being executed, and Sophia becomes regent under Ivan V and Peter I. These long lightning glows over a man burning a clay pot.
Among the “not particularly valuable” things stolen from the ship were ink, feathers, paper, “three very good Bibles,” astronomical instruments, telescopes. Now that his life is improving, it’s time to comprehend what is happening, and until the ink and paper run out, Robinson keeps a diary to “at least somehow ease his soul.” This is a kind of ledger of “evil” and “good”: in the left column – it is thrown out on an uninhabited island without hope of deliverance; in the right-he is alive, and all his comrades have drowned. In his diary he describes his studies in detail, makes observations – both remarkable and everyday.
The earthquake that has happened causes Robinson to think about a new place for housing – under the mountain it is not safe. Meanwhile, a ship crashed to the island, and Robinson takes from him the building material, tools. At the same time, a fever is dumping him, and in a feverish dream he is a “flame-engulfed” person, threatening to die for not “repenting”. Lamenting their fatal mistakes, Robinson for the first time “for many years” creates a repentant prayer, reads the Bible – and as far as possible heals. On his feet he will raise rum, infused with tobacco, after which he slept for two nights. Accordingly, from his calendar fell one day. Having recovered, Robinson finally examines the island, where he lived for more than ten months. In his plain part among unknown plants he meets acquaintances – a melon and grapes; the latter especially pleases him, he will dry it in the sun, and in the off-season raisins will strengthen his strength. And the island is alive with animals – hares, foxes, turtles and even penguins that are puzzling in these latitudes. He looks at these paradise beauties with a master’s eye – he has no one to share them with. He decides to put a hut here, strengthen it well and live for several days at the “dacha”, spending most of his time “on the old ashes” near the sea, from where liberation can come.
Constantly working, Robinson for the second and third year does not give itself an indulgence. Here is his day: “In the forefront of religious duties and reading the Holy Scripture. The second of the daily affairs was hunting. The third was the sorting, drying and preparation of the killed or caught game.” Add to this the care of crops, and then harvesting; add care to the livestock; add work on the household, taking a lot of time and effort due to lack of tools and inexperience. Robinson has the right to make himself unhappy: “With patience and hard work, I brought to the end all the work to which I was forced by circumstances.” Joke to say, he will bake bread, dispensing with salt, yeast and a suitable oven!
His cherished dream is to build a boat and get to the mainland. He does not even think about who and what he will meet there, the main thing is to get out of bondage. Driven by impatience, without considering how to deliver the boat from the forest to the water, Robinson cuts a huge tree and for several months he has been crocheting a pie out of it. When she is finally ready, he will not be able to launch it. He stoically suffers failure: Robinson became wiser and more mature, he learned to balance “evil” and “good.” Formed leisure he wisely uses to update worn out wardrobe: “builds” a fur suit, sews a hat and even makes an umbrella. In everyday work passes another five years, marked by the fact that he did build a boat, launched it and equipped it with sail. It can not reach the far land, But you can go around the island. The current takes him to the open sea, he with great difficulty returns to the shore near the “dacha”. After suffering fear, he will for a long time lose his desire for sea walks. This year, Robinson improves in pottery and weaving baskets, and most importantly, makes himself a royal gift – a pipe! There is a lot of tobacco on the island.
His measured existence, filled with work and useful leisure, suddenly bursts like a soap bubble. In one of his walks Robinson sees on the sand a footprint of his bare foot. Frightened to death, he returns to the “fortress” and sits there for three days, puzzling over an incomprehensible mystery: whose trace? Most likely, these are savages from the mainland. A fear settles in his soul: will they suddenly find him? Savages can eat it, they can ruin crops and disperse the herd. Starting to step out a little, he takes security measures: strengthens the “fortress”, arranges a new corral for goats. Among these troubles he again comes across human traces, and then sees the remains of the cannibal feast. It seems that the island was visited again. Horror has owned it all two years, that he remains bezvylazno on his part of the island, living “always on guard.” But gradually life returns to the “former deceased bed”, although he continues to build bloodthirsty plans how to discourage savages from the island. His ardor is cooled by two considerations: 1) this is tribal feuds, the savages did not do anything to him personally; 2) than they are worse than the Spaniards who have poured blood to South America? These conciliatory thoughts do not allow a new visit to the savages who landed this time on “his” side of the island. After coping with their terrible triznu, the savages sail away, and Robinson is still afraid to look towards the sea for a long time. bloodshot South America? These conciliatory thoughts do not allow a new visit to the savages who landed this time on “his” side of the island. After coping with their terrible triznu, the savages sail away, and Robinson is still afraid to look towards the sea for a long time. bloodshot South America? These conciliatory thoughts do not allow a new visit to the savages who landed this time on “his” side of the island. After coping with their terrible triznu, the savages sail away, and Robinson is still afraid to look towards the sea for a long time.
And the same sea beckons him with the hope of liberation. On a stormy night he hears a cannon shot – some ship gives a distress signal. The whole night he burns a huge fire, and in the morning he sees a skeleton of a ship crashed about a reef. Deserted alone, Robinson prays the sky, so that “at least one” of the team is saved, but “evil rock”, as if in a mockery, throws the corpse of a jungle ashore. And on the ship he will not find a single living soul. It is noteworthy that the poor “booty” from the ship does not disappoint him very much: he is firmly on his feet, he provides himself well enough, and only gunpowder, shirts, linen – and, according to old memory, money – pleases him. They inevitably have the idea of fleeing to the mainland, and since this alone is unachievable, Robinson dreams of rescuing the “savage” intended for “slaughter,” arguing in the usual categories: “get a servant, and maybe a friend or assistant.” He has been building the most clever plans for a year and a half, but in life, as usual, everything goes straightforward: the cannibals come, the prisoner escapes, Robinson dumps one pursuer with a rifle butt and another shoots to death.
The life of Robinson is filled with new – and pleasant – cares. Friday, as he called the rescued, proved to be an apt pupil, a faithful and kind comrade. In the basis of his education Robinson lays three words: “gentleman,” “yes” and “no.” He eradicates bad savage habits, accustoming Friday to eat broth and to wear clothes, as well as “to know the true God.” Mastering the English language. Friday says that on the mainland, his tribesmen live seventeen survivors of the Spaniard’s ship. Robinson decides to build a new pie and, together with Friday, to rescue the captives. The new arrival of the savages violates their plans. This time the cannibals bring the Spaniard and the old man, who turned out to be the father of Friday. Robinson and Friday, no worse than his master handling a gun, free them. The idea to gather all on the island, build a reliable ship and try your luck in the sea is to the liking of the Spaniard. In the meantime, a new plot is sowed, goats are caught – a considerable increase is expected. Taking from the Spaniard an oath of promise not to surrender his inquisition, Robinson sends him with Father Friday to the mainland. And on the eighth day new guests are coming to the island. The rebellious command from the English ship brings the captain, assistant and passenger to the massacre. Robinson can not miss such a chance. Taking advantage of the fact that he knows every path here, he frees the captain and his companions in misfortune, and five of them get dressed with scoundrels. The only condition that puts Robinson – to deliver it with Friday in England. The rebellion is subdued, two inveterate scoundrels hang on the river, three more are left on the island, humanely providing all necessary;
Robinson’s twenty-eight-year-old odyssey ended: on June 11, 1686, he returned to England. His parents have long since died, but a good friend, the widow of his first captain, is still alive. In Lisbon, he learns that all these years his Brazilian plantation was ruled by an official from the treasury, and, since it now turns out that he is alive, all the returns for that period are returned to him. A wealthy man, he takes care of his two nephews, and the second prepares for sailors. Finally, Robinson marries “not without reason and quite successfully in all respects.” He has two sons and a daughter.
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