One day I took one of the finest and made me a cap of it. I left all the hair on the
outside, so as to shoot off the rain.
It was not very pretty; but it was of great use, and what more did I want?
I did so well with the cap that I thought I would try something else. So, after a
great deal of trouble, I made me a whole suit.
I made me a waistcoat and a pair of knee breeches. I wanted them to keep me cool
rather than warm. So I made them quite loose.
You would have laughed to see them. They were funny things, I tell you. But
when I went out in the rain, they kept me dry.
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This, I think, put me in mind of an umbrella.
I had seen umbrellas in Brazil, although they were not yet common in England.
They were of much use in the summer when the sun shone hot.
I thought that if they were good in Brazil, they would be still better here, where
the sun was much hotter.
So I set about the making of one.
I took great pains with it, and it was a long time before it pleased me at all.
I could make it spread, but it did not let down. And what would be the use of an
umbrella that could not be folded?
I do not know how many weeks I spent at this work. It was play work rather than
anything else, and I picked it up only at odd times.
At last I had an umbrella that opened and shut just as an umbrella should.
I covered it with skins, with the hair on the outside. In the rain it was as good as a
shed. In the sun it made a pleasant shade.
I could now go out in all kinds of weather. I need not care whether the rain fell or
the sun shone.
For the next five years I lived very quietly. I kept always busy and did not allow
myself to feel lonely.
I divided each day into parts according to my several duties.
After reading in my Bible, it was my custom to spend about three hours every
morning in search of food. Through the heat of the day, I busied myself in the shade of
my castle or bower.
In the evening, when the sun was low, I worked in my fields. But sometimes I
went to work very early in the morning and left my hunting until the afternoon.
I HAVE A PERILOUS ADVENTURE (опасное приключение)
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I HAD never given up the idea of having a canoe (никогда не бросал идею
иметь каноэ).
My first trial (попытка), as you have seen, was a failure (была провалом). I had
made too big a boat (слишком большую лодку), and I had made it too far from the
water (сделал ее слишком далеко от воды). I could do better another time (я мог
сделать лучше в другой раз).
One day after I had harvested my grain (после того как я собрал зерно), I set to
work (принялся за работу).
There was no tree near the river that was fit for a canoe (около реки не было
дерева, которое подходило для каноэ). But I found a fine one nearly half a mile away
(но я нашел хорошее /дерево/ примерно в полумиле).
Before I began to chop the tree (прежде чем я начал рубить дерево), I made all
my plans for taking the canoe to the water (я разработал все планы /как/ доставить
каноэ к воде).
I worked now with a will (с желанием), for I felt sure that I would succeed (так
как я чувствовал себя уверенным, что преуспею).
In a few weeks the little vessel was finished (маленькое судно было готово). It
was a very pretty canoe (красивое), and large enough for only two or three persons
(достаточно большим только для двух или трех человек).
Small as it was (маленькое, каким оно было = хотя оно было таким
маленьким), it was quite heavy (довольно тяжелым). For you must remember that it
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was a part of the tree (так как вы должны помнить, что это была часть дерева),
hollowed out and shaped like a boat (выдолбленная внутри в форме лодки). It was as
much as I could do to lift one end of it (все, что я мог сделать, это поднять один конец
его).
How should I ever get it to the river (как я должен когда-либо доставить его к
реке = как же мне доставить его к реке)?
I have already told you that I had made plans for this (подготовил планы для
этого).
Through the soft ground between the river and the canoe I dug a big ditch (в
мягкой земле между рекой и каноэ я прокопал большую канаву). It was four feet
deep and six feet wide (четыре фута глубиной и шесть футов шириной) and nearly
half a mile long (почти полмили длиной).
I worked at this ditch for nearly two years (работал над этой канавой почти два
года). When it was done and filled with water from the river (наполнена водой из
реки), I slid my canoe into it (спустил мое каноэ в нее). It floated (поплыло), as I knew
it would (как я и думал, что он будет = сделает).
As I pushed it along to the end of the great ditch and out into the river, it looked
very small (когда я столкнул его к концу большой канавы и в реку, оно выглядело
очень маленьким). I could never hope to make a long voyage in it (вовсе не мог
надеяться совершить большое путешествие на нем)!
But I could sail round the island (мог ходить под парусом вокруг острова), and
make little journeys close to the shore (совершать маленькие путешествия близко к
берегу).
Before starting out (прежде чем отправиться), I put up a mast in the prow of the
canoe (я установил мачту на носу каноэ) and made a sail for it of a piece of the ship's
sail that I had kept with great care (сделал парус для нее из куска корабельного
паруса, который я хранил с большой заботой).
Then at each end of the little vessel I made lockers (на каждой стороне
маленького судна я сделал отсеки) or small boxes, in which I put a supply of food
(припасы еды) and other things that I would need on my voyage (которые могли
пригодиться мне во время путешествия).
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