The

Life and Adventures
of
Robinson Crusoe

By

Daniel Defoe

Chapter 1: Start In Life

I was born in the year 1632.
I was born in the city of York.
My family was good.
But my father was not from England.
My father was from Bremen.
He first lived in a town called Hull.
He worked hard.
He made money selling goods.
Then he moved to York.
There he met my mother.
Her family name was Robinson.
So people called me Robinson Kreutznaer.
But English people said it wrong.
Soon everyone called me Crusoe.
My friends called me Crusoe too.

I had two older brothers.
One brother was a soldier.
He fought in a war in Flanders.
He was killed in a battle near Dunkirk.
I never found out what happened to my other brother.
My mother and father never found out what happened to me either.

I was the third son.
I did not learn a trade.
I had many wild ideas in my head.
My father taught me many things.
He wanted me to become a lawyer.
But I only wanted one thing.
I wanted to go to sea.
My father said no.
My mother said no too.
But I would not listen.
This wish would bring me great trouble later.

My father was wise.
He tried to stop me.
He called me to his room one day.
He was sick with gout in his leg.
He talked to me kindly but firmly.
He asked me why I wanted to leave home.
He said I had a good life at home.
He said I could work hard and do well.
He said only very poor men or very rich men go on adventures.
He said I was neither poor nor rich.
He said I had the best kind of life.
This life was called "the middle way."
He said middle people are the happiest.
They do not have too many hard times.
They do not have too much pride either.
He said even kings wish they had this middle life.

He told me to think about this.
People in the middle avoid many troubles.
They stay healthy in body and mind.
They enjoy peace.
They enjoy enough food and enough rest.
They are not slaves to hard work.
They are not troubled by big worries.
They live gently through life.
They feel happy every day.

He begged me not to be foolish.
He said I did not need to search for food or money.
He said he would help me do well at home.
He said if I left, bad things would be my own fault.
He reminded me about my older brother.
My father had begged him not to go to war.
But my brother went anyway.
He was killed.
My father said the same bad luck might happen to me.
He said God might not bless me if I left.
He said I would be sorry later.
But by then, no one could help me.

While he spoke, my father cried.
He cried hardest when he spoke of my brother.
He could not finish talking.
His heart was too full of sadness.

I was moved by his words.
I promised myself I would stay home.
I would listen to my father.
But after a few days, I forgot my promise.
Some weeks later, I decided to run away.

First, I talked to my mother.
I picked a time when she seemed happy.
I told her I only wanted to see the world.
I said I could never settle down otherwise.
I said I was eighteen years old now.
I said it was too late to learn a trade.
I asked her to convince my father.
I promised to try just one trip.
If I didn't like it, I would come home.
I promised to work twice as hard after that.

My mother grew angry.
She said it was no use asking my father.
She said my father knew what was best for me.
She said she would not help me do wrong.
She said I would never have her blessing for this.

My mother did tell my father everything, though.
My father was very upset.
He sighed and said, "That boy could be happy at home.
But if he leaves, he will be truly miserable.
I cannot allow this."

For almost a year, I stayed home.
But I still did not want to work.
I still argued with my parents.

One day, I went to Hull.
I did not plan to run away that day.
But a friend was sailing to London.
His father owned the ship.
My friend said the trip would be free.
So I did not ask my mother or father.
I did not tell them at all.
I just left.

On September 1st, 1651, I got on the ship.
It sailed toward London.
This was the start of my troubles.

The ship left the river.
Soon the wind grew strong.
The sea grew wild.
I had never been on the sea before.
I felt terribly sick.
I felt very scared too.

I began to think about what I had done.
I thought this storm was punishment.
I had left my father without his blessing.
I remembered his kind advice.
I remembered his tears.
I remembered my mother's pleading.
I felt truly sorry.

The storm grew worse.
The waves grew tall.
I was only a new sailor.
I had never seen anything like this before.
I thought every wave would sink the ship.
I thought we would surely drown.