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XXXVII
ROBINSON AS A TEACHER
(From Robinson's Diary)
"I began to consider that having now two mouths to feed instead of
one, I must provide more ground for my harvest and plant a larger
quantity of corn than I used to plant. So I marked out a larger piece
of land and began to fence it in. Friday worked not only very
willingly but very hard. I told him that it was for corn to make more
bread because he was now with me. He let me know that he was grateful
for my kindness and would work much harder if I would tell him what
to do.
"This was the pleasantest year of all the life I led in this place.
Friday began to talk pretty well and understood the names of almost
all the things that I called for and of all the places which I wished
to send him. I was careful to teach him all the things I knew. I
showed him how to plant and harvest corn, how to gather fibre, spin
yarn and to weave it into cloth. He learned these things quickly and
became very skillful in making pots. He knew something about this
because at home he had seen the women make them. He ornamented them
with figures of birds and flowers. I taught him about the true God.
But as for writing he could never do much with this. I had no books
and could not make him understand the importance of writing. He began
to talk a great deal to me. This delighted me very much. I began to
love him exceedingly. He was so very honest and faithful.
"After I had taught him English I tried one day to find out whether
he had any wish to return to his own country and as I talked to him
about it I saw his face light up with joy and his eye sparkle. From
this I had no doubt but that Friday would like to be in his own country
again. This for a time made me sad, to think how eagerly he would
leave me to be among his savage friends. 'Do you not wish you were
back in your own country, Friday?' I said to him one day. 'Yes,' he
said, 'I be much O glad to be back in my country.' 'What would you
do there,' said I? 'Would you turn wild again and do as the savages
do?' He shook his head and said very gravely, 'No, no, Friday tell
them to live good. He tell them to plant corn and live like white mans.'
"One day when we were on the top of a hill on the west side of the
island, Friday suddenly began to jump and dance about in great glee.
I asked him what the matter was. 'O, joy, O glad,' he said; 'there
my country!' The air was so clear that from this place, as I had before
discovered, land could be distinctly seen looking westward.
"I asked him how far it was from our island to his country and whether
their canoes were ever lost in coming and going. He said that there
was no danger. No canoes were ever wrecked and that it was easy to
get back and forth. I asked him many things about his people and country.
He told me that away to the west of his country there lived 'white
mans like you.' I thought these must be the people of Central America,
and asked him how I might come from this island and get among these
white men. He made me understand that I must have a large boat as big
as two canoes.
"I resolved at once to begin to make a boat large enough for us to
pass over to the land we could see lying to the west and if possible
to go on to the white man's country Friday told me about. It took us
nearly two months to make our boat and rig her out with sails, masts,
rudder, and anchor. We had to weave our sails and twist our rope. We
burned out the canoe from a large fallen log. We used a great stone
tied securely to the end of a strong rope for an anchor.
"When we had the boat in the water, Friday showed great skill in
rowing or paddling it.
[Illustration: ROBINSON AND FRIDAY SAILING THE BOAT]
"He had managed boats ever since he was old enough, but he did not
know how to handle a sail or rudder. He learned very quickly, however,
to sail and steer the boat and soon was perfectly at home in it.
"We made our boat safe by keeping it in the little cove at the mouth
of the creek. I had Friday to fetch rocks and build a dock or place
for landing. But the rainy season was now coming on and we must wait
for fair weather. In the meantime I planned to lay by such quantities
of food as we would need to take along."
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Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
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