I Found a Delightful Valley fairyage

I FOUND A DELIGHTFUL VALLEY - ROBINSON CRUSOE

Robinson Crusoe is the name of a book by Daniel Defoe. Daniel Defoe was born in 1660. He worked at a number of trades before he started to write at the age of forty. When he was nearly sixty he wrote the story of Robinson Crusoe. It was a great success and has been p0opular with children ever since. In this short piece from the book, Robinson Crusoe tells us how he became shipwrecked.

We started off on our voyage in good weather. After about twelve days, however, a violent tornado came from the north. The waves rose high, and the wind howled through he sails. Two members of the crew were washed overboard, and after a day or two the ship began to leak.

We changed our course and drove out of the hurricane, but the next day a second terrible storm attacked us. We could see the shore of some unknown land but the sea was very rough, the rain dashed down and we were afraid to approach close to the land. Our only hope was to clamber into a small boat and try to row to the shore.

Four of us managed to get the boat into the sea and we jumped into it. We rowed with all our might but the waves were like mountains, and at last a gigantic wave, greater than all the others, hurled our little boat into the air and it sank beneath us.

I'm a good swimmer and for an hour and a half I battled in that stormy sea. At last I was hurled towards the shore and fell down exhausted on the sand. The night was dark without a star in the sky and I knew that lying on the sand would be dangerous. I crawled to some bushes and trees.

I didn't know what wild animals there would be in the forest so I climbed up one of the trees and made myself comfortable between two great branches. There I slept the night.

In the morning I found a stream where I drank some of the cool, fresh water. I lay down and slept again. The sun was high in the sky when I woke up. I resolved to go out to the ship and to try and bring back some things which would be useful to me on the island.

I plunged into the sea. After a hard swim I managed to reach the ship. The storm had damaged everything. There were broken masts and torn sails and pieces of rope all over the ship. In the cabins I found an axe. On deck again, I cut the masts and ropes and made myself a small raft. I managed to get this raft into the sea and tie it to the vessel with a rope. I found some of the seamen's boxes and filled them with stories-bread, rice and cheese. I also found some clothes, two guns, a pair of pistols, and some powder and shot. All these I piled on to the raft and having found a broken oar, I cast-off from the vessel and started for the shore. When I reached the sand, I carried the things up on to dry land.

The next morning I walked along the shore and up a little hill. From there I could see that I was on an island. I was a prisoner, without a friend in the world! There was no one living on the island but wild beasts.

The next day I went back across the sea and brought more stores from the ship. Every day I toiled. I brought tools, wood, rope, nails, sails and clothes; guns and ammunition; and sugar and flour and bread. In one of the wooden boxes I found gold and silver coins.

'What use are you to me?' I asked. 'Everyone in the world desires you but me.'

When I got back to my island, the sky was black. Great clouds rolled up from the west, the rain poured doen. I saw the ship sink beneath a huge wave.

During the next few months I busied myself in making a house. I used one of the sails for the roof. I cut down tree trunks and carried them to the house, and slowly built a strong stockade to keep out wild animals.

The months passed in hard work, and one day I set out to explore the whole island. The journey took me three days, and when I got to the other side of the island I found a delightful valley. There were wild grapes and limes, and I collected a quantity of these and took them back to my house. One day, in the forest, I found some wild goats. I was just about to shoot one when I saw at my feet a baby goat. I picked it up and carried it home with me. In a few days it became quite tame, and after that it never left my side.

After a year or two on the island I decided to make a small boat. I chose the wood carefully and cut and worked the timber for many months. I made a sail from some of the canvas I had brought from the ship.

I taught myself how to make pots out of mud, and how to make them hard and durable by burning them. I grew some corn, rice, and wheat, and also taught myself to make bread. My life on the island was a happy one: I had a good house, plenty to eat and work to do. One day I was walking along the seashore, when I suddenly looked down. There, on the sand in front of me, was a clear footprint: it was not mine, but the footprint of another man!

here...feelings...the original contents by www.sensualityface.com or www.fairyage.com / describe with the help of DANIEL DEFOE