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第6章 凤姨你好

　　This affectionate behaviour of my wife's brought me a little out ofthe vapours, and I began to consider what I was doing; I correctedmy wandering fancy, and began to argue with myself sedately whatbusiness I had after threescore years, and after such a life oftedious sufferings and disasters, and closed in so happy and easy amanner; I, say, what business had I to rush into new hazards, andput myself upon adventures fit only for youth and poverty to runinto?

　　They were all together when I talked thus to them; and before Idelivered to them the stores I had brought, I asked them, one byone, if they had entirely forgot and buried the first animositiesthat had been among them, and would shake hands with one another,and engage in a strict friendship and union of interest, that sothere might be no more misunderstandings and jealousies.

　　The company was very great, and, as near as I can remember, madebetween three and four hundred horses, and upwards of one hundredand twenty men, very well armed and provided for all events; for asthe Eastern caravans are subject to be attacked by the Arabs, soare these by the Tartars. The company consisted of people ofseveral nations, but there were above sixty of them merchants orinhabitants of Moscow, though of them some were Livonians; and toour particular satisfaction, five of them were Scots, who appearedalso to be men of great experience in business, and of very goodsubstance.

　　Wife. - But why God let you do so? Why He no makee you good live?

　　CHAPTER VIII - SAILS FROM THE ISLAND FOR THE BRAZILS

　　But the wonder of the story was, how five such refractory, ill-matched fellows should agree about these women, and that some twoof them should not choose the same woman, especially seeing two orthree of them were, without comparison, more agreeable than theothers; but they took a good way enough to prevent quarrellingamong themselves, for they set the five women by themselves in oneof their huts, and they went all into the other hut, and drew lotsamong them who should choose first.

　　The first testimony they had that this fellow had givenintelligence of them was, that about two mouths after this sixcanoes of savages, with about seven, eight, or ten men in a canoe,came rowing along the north side of the island, where they neverused to come before, and landed, about an hour after sunrise, at aconvenient place, about a mile from the habitation of the twoEnglishmen, where this escaped man had been kept. As the chiefSpaniard said, had they been all there the damage would not havebeen so much, for not a man of them would have escaped; but thecase differed now very much, for two men to fifty was too muchodds. The two men had the happiness to discover them about aleague off, so that it was above an hour before they landed; and asthey landed a mile from their huts, it was some time before theycould come at them. Now, having great reason to believe that theywere betrayed, the first thing they did was to bind the two slaveswhich were left, and cause two of the three men whom they broughtwith th

　　I was sensibly touched at his requesting Friday, because I couldnot think of parting with him, and that for many reasons: he hadbeen the companion of my travels; he was not only faithful to me,but sincerely affectionate to the last degree; and I had resolvedto do something considerable for him if he out-lived me, as it wasprobable he would. Then I knew that, as I had bred Friday up to bea Protestant, it would quite confound him to bring him to embraceanother religion; and he would never, while his eyes were open,believe that his old master was a heretic, and would be damned; andthis might in the end ruin the poor fellow's principles, and soturn him back again to his first idolatry. However, a suddenthought relieved me in this strait, and it was this: I told him Icould not say that I was willing to part with Friday on any accountwhatever, though a work that to him was of more value than his lifeought to be of much more value than the keeping or parting with aservant. On the other hand, I was persuaded t

　　I was a little surprised then, indeed, and so was my nephew thecaptain; for he had heard such terrible stories of them in theisland, and having never been in those seas before, that he couldnot tell what to think of it, but said, two or three times, weshould all be devoured. I must confess, considering we werebecalmed, and the current set strong towards the shore, I liked itthe worse; however, I bade them not be afraid, but bring the shipto an anchor as soon as we came so near as to know that we mustengage them. The weather continued calm, and they came on apacetowards us, so I gave orders to come to an anchor, and furl all oursails; as for the savages, I told them they had nothing to fear butfire, and therefore they should get their boats out, and fastenthem, one close by the head and the other by the stern, and manthem both well, and wait the issue in that posture: this I did,that the men in the boats might he ready with sheets and buckets toput out any fire these savages might endeavour to fix to theo