Robison Crusoe 鲁宾逊漂流记 Chapter 1-START IN LIFE

I WAS born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull ¹. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by the usual corruption ² of words in England, we are now called- nay ³ we call ourselves and write our name-Crusoe; and so my companions always called me., ,I had two elder brothers, one of whom was lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment ⁴ of foot in Flanders, formerly ⁵ commanded by the famous Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, any more than my father or mother knew what became of me., ,Being the third son of the family and not bred to any trade, my head began to be filled very early with rambling ⁶ thoughts. My father, who was very ancient, had given me a competent share of learning, as far as house-education and a country free school generally go, and designed me for the law; but I would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea; and my inclination ⁷ to this led me so strongly against the will, nay, the commands of my father, and against all the entreaties ⁸ and persuasions ⁹ of my mother and other friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in that propensity ¹⁰ of nature, tending directly to the life of misery ¹¹ which was to befall me., , ,He bade me observe it, and I should always find that the calamities ²¹ of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind, but that the middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes ²² as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, they were not subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses, either of body or mind, as those were who, by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances on the one hand, or by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean or insufficient ²³ diet on the other hand, bring distemper upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living; that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of virtue ²⁴ and all kind of enjoyments ²⁵; that peace and plenty were the handmaids of a middle fortune; that temperance, moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were the blessings ²⁷ attending the middle station of life; that this way men went silently and smoothly ²⁸ through the world, and comfortably out of it, not embarrassed with the labours of the hands or of the head, not sold to a life of slavery for daily bread, nor harassed ²⁹ with perplexed ³⁰ circumstances, which rob the soul of peace and the body of rest, nor enraged ³¹ with the passion of envy, or the secret burning lust ³² of ambition for great things; but, in easy circumstances, sliding gently through the world, and sensibly tasting the sweets of living, without the bitter; feeling that they are happy, and learning by every day's experience to know it more sensibly,, ,After this he pressed me earnestly, and in the most affectionate manner, not to play the young man, nor to precipitate ³³ myself into miseries which nature, and the station of life I was born in, seemed to have provided against; that I was under no necessity of seeking my bread; that he would do well for me, and endeavour to enter me fairly into the station of life which he had just been recommending to me; and that if I was not very easy and happy in the world, it must be my mere fate or fault that must hinder it; and that he should have nothing to answer for, having thus discharged his duty in warning me against measures which he knew would be to my hurt; in a word, that as he would do very kind things for me if I would stay and settle at home as he directed, so he would not have so much hand in my misfortunes as to give me any encouragement to go away; and to close all, he told me I had my elder brother for an example, to whom he had used the same earnest persuasions to keep him from going into the Low Country wars, but could not prevail, his young desires prompting him to run into the army, where he was killed; and though he said he would not cease to pray for me, yet he would venture to say to me, that if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless me, and I should have leisure hereafter to reflect upon having neglected his counsel when there might be none to assist in my recovery.#p#分页标题#e#, ,The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。,The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃 。