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An American Robinson Crusoe

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AN AMERICAN
ROBINSON CRUSOE

FOR AMERICAN BOYS
AND GIRLS

THE ADAPTATION, WITH ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS

BY

SAMUEL B. ALLISON, Ph.D.




CONTENTS

I Robinson with His Parents
II Robinson as an Apprentice
III Robinson's Departure
IV Robinson Far from Home
V The Shipwreck
VI Robinson Saved
VII The First Night on Land
VIII Robinson on an Island
IX Robinson's Shelter
X Robinson Makes a Hat
XI Robinson's Calendar
XII Robinson Makes a Hunting Bag
XIII Robinson Explores the Island
XIV Robinson as a Hunter
XV Robinson's Shoes and Parasol
XVI Getting Fire
XVII Robinson Makes Some Furniture
XVIII Robinson Becomes a Shepherd
XIX Robinson Builds a Home for His Goats
XX Robinson Gets Ready for Winter
XXI How Robinson Lays up a Store of Food
XXII Robinson's Diary
XXIII Robinson is Sick
XXIV Robinson's Bower
XXV Robinson Again Explores His Island
XXVI Robinson and His Birds
XXVII Robinson Gets Fire
XXVIII Robinson Makes Baskets
XXIX Robinson Becomes a Farmer
XXX Robinson as Potter
XXXI Robinson as Baker
XXXII Robinson as Fisherman
XXXIII Robinson Builds a Boat
XXXIV Robinson as a Sailor
XXXV A Discovery
XXXVI The Landing of the Savages
XXXVII Robinson as Teacher
XXXVIII Another Shipwreck
XXXIX Saving Things from the Ship
XL The Return of the Savages
XLI Deliverance at Last
XLII Robinson at Home




PREFATORY NOTE

"An American Robinson Crusoe" is the outcome of many years of
experience with the story in the early grades of elementary schools.
It was written to be used as a content in giving a knowledge of the
beginning and development of human progress. The aim is not just to
furnish an interesting narrative, but one that is true to the course
of human development and the scientific and geographical facts of the
island on which Robinson is supposed to have lived.

The excuse for departing so widely from the original story is to be
found in the use which was desired to be made of it. The story here
presented is simply the free adaptation of the original narrative to
the demand for a specific kind of content in a form which would be
interesting to the children.

The teacher is and should be justified in using with entire freedom
any material accessible for the ends of instruction.

The text as here given has been published with an introduction and
suggestive treatments as a Teacher's Manual for Primary Grades--"The
Teacher's Robinson Crusoe." Explicit directions and ample suggestions
are made for the use of the story as material for instruction in all
the language arts, drawing, social history, and the manual arts.

Published by the Educational Publishing Company.




AN AMERICAN
ROBINSON CRUSOE




I

ROBINSON WITH HIS PARENTS


There once lived in the city of New York, a boy by the name of
Robinson Crusoe. He had a pleasant home. His father and mother were
kind to him and sent him to school. They hoped that he would study
hard and grow up to be a wise and useful man, but he loved rather to
run idle about the street than to go to school. He was fond of playing
along the River Hudson, for he there saw the great ships come and go.
They were as big as houses. He watched them load and unload their
cargoes and hundreds of people get off and on. His father had told
him that the ships came from far distant lands, where lived many large
animals and black men. His father told him too, that in these faraway
countries the nuts on the trees grew to be as large as one's head and
that the trees were as high as church steeples.

When Robinson saw the ships put out to sea, he would watch them till
they would disappear below the horizon far out in the ocean, and
think, "Oh, if I could only go with them far away to see those strange
countries!" Thus he would linger along the great river and wish he
might find an opportunity of making a voyage. Often it would be dark
before he would get home. When he came into the house his mother would
meet him and say in a gentle voice, "Why, Robinson, how late you are
in getting home! You have been to the river again."

[Illustration: ROBINSON WATCHING THE SHIPS]

Then Robinson would hang his head and feel deeply ashamed, and when
his father, who was a merchant, came home from the store, his mother
would tell him that Robinson had again been truant.

This would grieve his father deeply and he would go to the boy's
bedside and talk earnestly with him. "Why do you do so?" he would say.
"How often have I told you to go to school every day?" This would for
a time win Robinson back to school, but by the next week it had been
forgotten and he would again be loitering along the river in spite
of his father's remonstrances.




II

ROBINSON AS AN APPRENTICE


In this way one year after another slipped by. Robinson was not more
diligent. He was now almost sixteen years old and had not learned
anything. Then came his birthday. In the afternoon his father called
him into his room. Robinson opened the door softly. There sat his
father with a sad face. He looked up and said, "Well, Robinson, all
your schoolmates have long been busy trying to learn something, so
that they may be able to earn their own living. Paul will be a baker,
Robert a butcher, Martin is learning to be a carpenter, Herman a
tailor, Otto a blacksmith, Fritz is going to high school, because he
is going to be a teacher. Now, you are still doing nothing. This will
not do. From this time on I wish you to think of becoming a merchant.
In the morning you will go with me to the store and begin work. If
you are attentive and skillful, when the time comes you can take up
my business and carry it on. But if you remain careless and continue
to idle about, no one will ever want you and you must starve because
you will never be able to earn a living."

So the next morning Robinson went to the store and began work. He
wrapped up sugar and coffee, he weighed out rice and beans. He sold
meal and salt, and when the dray wagon pulled up at the store, loaded
with new goods, he sprang out quickly and helped to unload it. He
carried in sacks of flour and chests of tea, and rolled in barrels
of coffee and molasses. He also worked some at the desk. He looked
into the account books and saw in neat writing, "Goods received" and
"Goods sold." He noticed how his father wrote letters and reckoned
up his accounts. He even took his pen in hand and put the addresses
on the letters and packages as well as he could.

But soon he was back in his careless habits. He was no longer
attentive to business. He wrapped up salt instead of sugar. He put
false weights on the scales. He gave some too much and others too
little. His hands, only, were in the business, his mind was far away
on the ocean with the ships. When he helped unload the wagons, he
would often let the chests and casks drop, so that they were broken
and their contents would run out on the ground. For he was always
thinking, "Where have these casks come from and how beautiful it must
be there!" And many times packages came back because Robinson had
written the name of the place or the country wrong. For when he was
writing the address, he was always thinking, "You will be laid upon
a wagon and will then go into the ship." One day he had to write a
letter to a man far over the sea. He could stand it no longer. His
father had gone out. He threw down the pen, picked up his hat and ran
out to the Hudson to see the ships, and from that time on he spent
more time loitering along the river than he did in the store.




III

ROBINSON'S DEPARTURE


Robinson's father soon noticed that his son was no longer attending
to his work, and one morning sent for him to come to his office. When
Robinson came in his father arose from his chair and looked him long
and earnestly in the face. Then he said, "I am very sorry, Robinson,
that you seem determined to continue your evil ways. If you do not
do better you will grow up to be a beggar or worse." Robinson cast
his eyes down and said, "I do not want to be a merchant, I would rather
sail in a ship around the world." His father answered, "If you do not
know anything you cannot be of use on a ship, and no one will want
you. In a strange land you cannot live without working. If you run
away from your parents you will come to be sorry for it." Robinson
wept, for he saw that his father was right, and he promised to obey.

After two or three weeks, Robinson went to his mother and said,
"Mother, won't you go to father and tell him that if he will only let
me take one voyage and it proves to be unpleasant, I will come back
to the store and work hard?" But the mother cried. With tears in her
eyes, she said: "Robinson, your brothers are both dead. You are the
only child left to us and if you go away, we shall be entirely alone.
How easy it would be to be drowned in the sea, or torn to pieces by
wild animals away there in a foreign country. Both your father and
myself are getting along in years and who will take care of us when
we are sick? Do not cause us the grief we must suffer if you go away
so far amid so many dangers. I cannot bear to have you speak of it
again."

Robinson did not speak of it again, but he did not forget it. He was
nineteen years old. It was one day in August that Robinson stood at
the wharf looking longingly after the departing ships. As he stood
there, someone touched him on the shoulder. It was a ship captain's
son. He pointed to a long ship and said, "My father sails to-day in
that ship for Africa and takes me with him."

"Oh, if I could only go with you!" cried Robinson.

"Do come along," cried his comrade.

"But I have no money," said Robinson.

"That doesn't make any difference," returned the captain's son. "We
will take you anyway."

Robinson, without thinking for a moment, gave his friend his hand and
promised to go with him.

So without saying "Good-bye" to his parents, Robinson went immediately
on board the ship with his friend. This happened on the 10th of
August.

[Illustration: ROBINSON AND THE CAPTAIN'S SON]

[Illustration]




IV

ROBINSON FAR FROM HOME

ROBINSON'S VOYAGE


Once on board, Robinson watched the preparations for departure. At
command the sailors clambered up into the rigging and loosened the
sails. Then the captain from his bridge called out, "Hoist the
anchor!" Then the great iron hooks that held the ship fast were lifted
up, a cannon sounded a final farewell. Robinson stood on the deck.
He saw the great city shimmer in the sunshine before him. Very fast
now the land was being left behind. It was not long until all that
could be seen of his native city was the tops of the highest towers.
Then all faded from sight. Behind, in front, right and left, he saw
nothing but waters.

He became a little afraid. At noon there arose a strong wind and the
ship rocked to and fro. He became dizzy and had to hold fast to
something. The masts and rigging began to dance. It seemed to him as
if all was turning around. Suddenly he fell full length on the deck
and it was impossible for him to get up. He was seasick. He wailed
and cried, but no one heard him, no one helped him. Then he thought
of his home, his parents whom he had so ungratefully left.

He had been on the water about two weeks when one day as he lay in
his room, Robinson heard people over his head running about and crying,
"A storm is coming!" The ship's sides trembled and creaked. The ship
was tossed like a nutshell. Now it rolled to the right, now to the
left. And Robinson was thrown from one side to the other. Every moment
he expected the ship to sink. He turned pale and trembled with fear.
"Ah, if I were only at home with my parents, safe on the land," he
said. "If I ever get safe out of this, I will go home as quickly as
I can and stay with my dear parents!" The storm raged the whole day
and the whole night. But on the next morning the wind went down and
the sea was calm. By evening the sky was clear and Robinson was again
cheerful. He ran about the ship. He looked at the glittering stars
and was contented and happy.




V

THE SHIPWRECK


Several weeks went by. Robinson had long ago forgotten his resolutions
to return home. It was very hot. The glowing sun beat down upon the
ship. The wide surface of the sea glistened. No breeze stirred. The
sails hung loose on the top of the mast. But far away on the shore
could be seen a black bank of clouds.

All at once the ship was thrown violently to one side by a fierce gust
of wind. Robinson threw himself on the deck. The sea began to rise
and fall. The waves were as high as mountains. Now the ship was borne
aloft to the skies, and now it would seem that it must be overwhelmed
in the sea. When it sank down between the great waves of water,
Robinson thought it would never again rise. The waves beat violently
on the ship's side. Robinson went down the steps into his little room,
but he came back full of anxiety. He believed every minute he would
meet death in the waves. The night at last came on. The lightning
flashed. The storm howled. The ship trembled. The water roared. So
the night wore on. The storm raged for six days. Then on the seventh
day it was somewhat abated. But the hope was soon dashed. The storm
had abated but to get new strength. Suddenly it bore down with frightful
power on the doomed vessel, struck it, and shot it like an arrow
through the water. Then Robinson felt a fearful crash. The ship
groaned as if it would fall into a thousand pieces. It had struck a
rock and there held fast. At the same moment the sailors raised the
cry, "The ship has sprung a leak!" The water surged into the ship.
All called for help. Each one thought only of himself. There was only
one boat. The others had all been torn away. It was soon let down into
the sea. All sprang in. For a moment the sailors forgot the waves,
but all at once a wave, mountains high, struck the boat and swallowed
it up. Robinson shut his eyes. The water roared in his ears. He sank
into the sea.




VI

ROBINSON SAVED


Robinson was borne down far, far into the ocean. He attempted to work
himself up, so that he could see light and breathe the air. But again
and again the waves carried him down. Finally a wave threw him up and
he saw, for a moment, the light of day and got a breath of air, but
the next instant he was deep under the water. Then another wave bore
him on its crest. He breathed a deep breath and at the same time saw
land not far away. He bent all his strength toward reaching the land.
He got almost to it, when a wave caught him and hurled him on a
jutting rock. With all his strength he seized the rock with both hands
and held on.

Presently he worked himself up a little and at last got a foothold.
But, scarcely had he done so, when his strength left him and he fell
on the ground as one dead. But he soon revived. He opened his eyes
and looked around. He saw above him the blue sky, and under him the
solid brown earth, and before him the gray angry sea. He felt to see
if he still breathed. The storm had destroyed the ship. The waves had
overwhelmed the boat. The water wished to draw him into the deep. The
rocks seemed to want to hurl him back, but storm and wave and rock
had accomplished nothing. There was One who was stronger than they.

Then Robinson sank on his knees and folded his hands. Tears came to
his eyes. He breathed hard. At last he said, "Dear Father in Heaven,
I live. Thou hast saved me. I thank Thee."




VII

THE FIRST NIGHT ON LAND


"Where are my companions?" That was his first thought. He began to
call and halloo: "Where are you?" "Come here!" But no one answered.
Then he wished to see if anyone lived on the land, and he cried, "Is
there no one here? Hello!" but all remained still.

All at once he drew himself together and shrank back. He heard a bush
rustle and the thought came like a flash, "That is a wild animal that
will pounce upon me and tear my flesh with his teeth and claws. How
shall I save myself? Where shall I fly for safety? Where shall I turn?
I have nothing but my clothes and my life saved from the water. All
that I had the waves have swallowed up."

And then hunger and thirst began to trouble him. He had eaten nothing
the whole day and the salt water had made him sick.

In the meantime the night had come on. Robinson was very tired.
Everything was new and strange. He did not know which way to move.
He was in the greatest terror.

He expected to hear the roar of wild beasts from every secluded spot.
Lions and tigers and dreadful serpents filled his thoughts. He must
find shelter from them. But where should he pass the night? Not a
house, a hut or a cave was to be seen. He stood a long time hesitating
and did not know what to do. Finally he thought, "I will do as the
birds do and get into a tree." He very soon found a tree which had
such thick branches that it would hold him up.

Robinson climbed up into the tree, made himself as comfortable as
possible, said his prayers, and as he was thoroughly exhausted, he
soon fell asleep. When he awoke the sun was high in the sky. At first
he could not remember where he was. Then the truth burst upon him.
He tried to move. He was stiff and sore. His flesh was bruised from
being thrown against the rocks and beaten by the waves.

He was dreadfully thirsty. His mouth and throat were dry and parched
from the salt water. His tongue was thick and swollen. He said, "I
must find some water to drink or I shall die!"

It was hard work to get down from the tree. His limbs and back ached
from sitting in the tree all night At last he slipped down and fell
on the ground. He clasped his hands in prayer and thanked God for keeping
him through the night.

[Illustration]

Then he got up and tried to walk. He was so weak he could not stand.

He threw himself down on the ground and began to sob and cry, "O Lord,
do not let me die! Do not let me die!" As he lay there he heard a
queer sound. He listened. It sounded like water running over rocks.
He tried to get to the place from which the sound came. He tried to
walk. When he fell he crawled on his hands and knees. At last the sound
was close by. He dragged himself up on the rocks. Yes, there was a
spring of clear, cool, sparkling water bubbling up and trickling over
the stones. Robinson was so thirsty he put his face into the water
and drank and drank.

Then he sat down, and after a while he drank again and again.

After Robinson had satisfied his thirst and rested awhile, he felt
much better. He said, "I must try to walk and see whether I can find
something to eat." He found many kinds of fruits and berries all
around him, but he was afraid to eat them, as they were strange to
him and he feared they might be poisonous.

As he was walking along, all at once he spied a tall plant in the
distance which had a familiar look. It looked like corn. He said to
himself, "I wonder if it can be corn." At last he came near enough
to recognize it. Yes, it was corn. It did not look exactly like the
corn that he saw at home, but still he knew it would be safe to eat
it. He broke off an ear and eagerly ate the kernels raw. Oh, how good
it was! Robinson could not remember anything that tasted half so good.

He ate as much as he wanted and then filled his pockets with ears of
corn for his supper. Then he went back to the spring to get another
drink.

[Illustration]




VIII

ROBINSON ON AN ISLAND


After his hunger and thirst were satisfied, Robinson thought he would
try to find another dwelling place. "My legs are stiff and sore from
sitting so uncomfortably last night, and there is so much danger of
falling," he said. "I will climb yonder hill and look around and see
on which side the houses are. I will find me a stick to help me on
my way."

He broke a stick from a dry bush and climbed up the steep sides of
the hill. After a half hour's climb he was on top. What a sight met
his eyes! There were no houses, no huts to be seen, no smoke arose
from the forest, no field could be seen. Nothing but trees and bush,
sand and rock.

"I am then upon an island alone, without food, without shelter,
without weapons! What will become of me?" he cried. "I am a prisoner.
The island is my prison, the waves are the guards which will not allow
me to get away. Will no ship ever come to set me free?"

He stretched his gaze out to the sea till his eyes ached, but he saw
no ship.

Robinson came down and seated himself on a stone and considered what
he should do. It was not yet noon, yet he feared greatly the next
night. "I must find me a better bed," was his first clear thought.

[Illustration]




IX

ROBINSON'S SHELTER


Robinson saw at a little distance what seemed to be a cleft or an
opening in a huge rock. "If I could only get inside and find room to
stay over night. The rock would protect me from rain, from the wind
and wild animals better than a tree."

He long sought in vain for a place wide enough to allow him to get
into the opening in the rock. He was about to give up, when he seized
hold of a branch of a thorn tree growing on the side of the rock. He
looked closer and saw that it grew out of the cleft in the rock. He
saw, too, that at this point the opening was wider and that he had
only to remove the tree in order to get in. "The hole shall be my
dwelling," he said. "I must get the thorn tree out so that I can have
room."

That was easily said. He had neither axe nor saw, nor knife nor spade.
How could he do it? He had nothing but his hands. He tried to pull
it out by the roots, but in vain. He wasn't strong enough.

"I must dig it out," said Robinson.

He scratched with his nails, but the earth was too hard. What should
he do? He sought a stick with a fork in it and dug in the earth, but
it was slow work. Then he found a clamshell. He did better with it,
but it was hard work, and Robinson was not used to hard work. The
sweat ran down his face and he had often to stop and rest in the
shade. The sun burned so hot and the rock so reflected the heat that
he was all but overcome. But he worked on. When evening came, he would
sleep in the tree and next morning he would go at it again. On the
third day the roots were all laid bare.

But the roots were fast in the clefts of the rock and he could not
loosen it, try ever so hard. What would he not have given for an axe,
or at least a knife. And yet he had never thought of their value when
at home. He attempted to cut one root through with his clam-shell,
but the shell crumbled and would not cut the hard wood.

He stood for a long time thinking, not knowing what next to do. He
made up his mind that he must have something harder than the shell
to cut with. Then he tried a stone with a sharp edge, but soon found
he needed another one, however. He found one. Then he set the sharp
one on the wood and struck it with the heavy one. In this way he slowly
cut the roots in two.

On the fifth day there was yet left one big root, bigger than any of
the others. Robinson got up early in the morning. He worked the whole
day. Finally it gave a crack and it, too, was broken.

Robinson had only now to remove the loose earth inside the cleft. He
found the opening could be made large and roomy. It was choked up with
dirt. He dug out enough to allow him room enough to make a place to
lie down. "In the future," he thought, "I will take out all the dirt
and then I shall be comfortable."

It was then dark and the moon shone bright in the heavens. Robinson
gathered a heap of dry grass and made himself a safe bed. But as he
lay there he saw the moonbeams shining into his cave. He sprang up.
"How easy," he thought, "for wild animals to creep in here upon me."

He crawled out and looked around. Not far from the cave he saw a large
flat stone. With great trouble he rolled it to the opening of his
cave, but before this the morning began to dawn. He went inside the
shelter, seized the stone with both hands and rolled it into the
opening till it almost closed it. "I have now a closed home. I can
again stretch my legs. Wind and rain cannot get at me, nor wild
animals."




X

ROBINSON MAKES A HAT


Refreshed and with renewed strength, Robinson awoke late the next
morning, but he had a bad headache. The day before the hot tropic sun
had beat down on his bare head, as he worked at his cave. He was so
busy that he forgot to go into the shade from time to time in order
to shield himself from the scorching sunshine. He felt a new need.

"I must make me a hat," said Robinson to himself. "But how?" He had
no straw, no thread and no needle. He looked around for a long time,
but found nothing. The sun mounted even higher in the heavens, and
shone hotter and hotter. He went to seek shelter at last in the deep
shade of a nearby tall plant.

As he stood there he examined the plant more carefully. "Out of these
leaves," he said, "I might make a hat." He climbed up the short stem
of the plant and saw that it had not only leaves as long as himself,
but between the leaves were big bunches of long, thin fruit, as thick
as three fingers and similar in shape to a cucumber.

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