The family Robinson Crusoe

by Johann David Wyss

When these preparations were finished, my wife presented me with the day’s work she had performed; it was some traces and a breast-leather each for the cow and the ass. I promised her, as a reward for her zeal and exertion, that we should all be completely settled in the tree the following day. And now we began to think of our supper, in which she and Ernest and little Francis had been busily and officiously engaged. Ernest had made two wooden forks, and driven them into the ground to support a spit, upon which was a large piece of the porcupine, which he kept turning at the fire. Another piece of the animal was boiling in the pot for soup; and both together exhaled an odour which gave us an excellent appetite.

All our animals had now come round us, one after the other. My wife threw some grain to the fowls, to accustom them to assemble in a particular spot; and when they had eaten it, we had the pleasure of seeing our pigeons take their flight to the top of the giant tree, and the cocks and hens perching and settling themselves, and cackling all the time, upon the rounds of the ladder. The quadrupeds we tied to the arched roots of the tree, quite near to our hammocks, where they quietly lay down on the grass to ruminate in tranquillity. Our beautiful flamingo was not forgotten, Fritz having fed him with some crumbs of biscuit soaked in milk, which he ate very heartily; and afterwards putting his head under his right wing, and raising his left foot, he abandoned himself with confidence to sleep.

At last we had notice that our supper was served. We had laid together in different heaps, a quantity of dried branches and pieces of wood, in readiness to light, when my wife summoned us to our meal, which we had waited for with impatience, and now greedily devoured. My wife, still keeping her resolution of not tasting the porcupine, contented herself with the more sober fare of bread and cheese. The children brought us some figs for the dessert, which they had picked up under the trees, and of which we all partook with pleasure. And now the gaping of one of the boys, and the out-stretched arms of another, gave us notice, that it was time for our young labourers to retire to rest. We performed our evening devotions. I set fire to several of the heaps, and then threw myself contentedly upon my hammock. My young ones were already cased in theirs, and we were soon greeted with their murmurs at being obliged to lie so close to each other, that they could not move their limbs. Ah, gentlemen, cried I, you must try to be contented; no sailor is ever better accommodated than you are now, and you must not expect beds to drop from the clouds on your behalf! I then directed them how to put themselves in a more convenient posture, and to swing their hammock gently to and fro. And see, added I, if sleep will not visit you as soon in a hammock, as on a bed of down. They profited by my advice, and all, except myself, were soon asleep.

CHAPTER XI.
The settling in the giant tree.

I had thought it necessary to keep watch during this first night, for the protection of my family. Every leaf that stirred, gave me the apprehension that it was the approach of a jackall or a tiger, who might attack some member of my family. As soon as one of the heaps was consumed, I lighted another; and at length, finding that no animal appeared, I by degrees became assured, and at last fell into so sound a sleep, that I did not awake early enough for the execution of my project for that day. The boys were all up and about me. We took our breakfast, and fell to our work. My wife, having finished her daily occupation of milking the cow, and preparing the breakfast for the family, and for all the animals, set off with Ernest, Jack, and Francis, attended by the ass, to the sea-shore; they had no doubt of finding some more pieces of wood, and they thought it would be prudent to replenish our exhausted store. In her absence, I ascended the tree with Fritz, and made the necessary preparations for my undertaking, for which I found it in every respect convenient; for the branches grew extremely close to each other, and in an exactly horizontal direction. Such as grew in a manner to obstruct my design, I cut off either with the saw or hatchet, leaving none but what presented me with a sort of foundation for my work. I left those which spread themselves evenly upon the trunk, and had the largest circuit, as a support for my floor. Above these, at the height of forty-six feet, I found others, upon which to suspend our hammocks; and higher still, there was a further series of branches, destined to receive the roof of my tent, which for the present was to be formed of nothing more than a large surface of sail-cloth.

The progress of these preparations was considerably slow. It was necessary to raise certain beams to this height of forty feet, that were too heavy for my wife and her little assistants to lift from the ground without great effort. I had, however, the resource of my pulley, which served to excellent purpose. My wife and her little boys fastened the beams to pieces of cord above, while Fritz and I contrived to draw them up to the elevation of the tent one by one. When I had already placed two beams upon the branches, I hastened to fix my planks upon them; and I made my floor double, that it might have sufficient solidity if the beams should be in any way warped from their places. I then formed a wall something like a park-paling, all round, to prevent accidents to ourselves or children. This operation, and a third journey to the sea-shore to collect the timber necessary, filled our morning so completely, that not one of us had thought about dinner. For this once it was requisite to be content with a simple provision of ham and milk. Dinner ended, we returned to work to finish our aërial palace, which now began to make an imposing appearance. We unhooked our hammocks, &c. from the projecting roots from which they had at first been suspended; and, by means of my pulley, contrived to hoist them up to our new habitation. The sail-cloth roof was supported by the thick branches above; and as it was of great compass, and hung down on every side, the idea occurred to me of nailing it to the paling on two sides, and thus getting not only a roof, but two walls also; the immense trunk of the tree forming a third; while a fourth side contained the entrance of our apartment; and this I left entirely open, both as a means of seeing what passed without, and for admitting a current of air to cool us in this burning temperature. We also on this side enjoyed an extensive and uninterrupted view of the vast ocean, and its lengthening shore. The hammocks were soon suspended from the branches above, and now every thing was ready for our reception that very evening. Well satisfied with the execution of my plan, I descended with Fritz, who had assisted me throughout the whole; and as the day was not far advanced, and I observed we had still some planks remaining, we set about contriving a large table to be placed between the roots of the tree, and surrounded with benches; and this place, we said, should be called our dining-parlour. For this time, we performed our task but slightly, for I confess I was much fatigued. The table, on the whole, however, was such as might be well endured, and the view of it gave my wife considerable satisfaction as she looked on, busied with preparations for our supper. In the mean time, the three youngest boys collected all the pieces of wood we had thrown down from the tree, and put them together to dry in a heap, at a small distance from our fire-place. I also tied together a quantity of small wood which we had collected, and which served to augment our store for making fires.

Entirely exhausted by the fatigues of the day, I threw myself at full length on a bank, saying to my wife, that as I had worked like a galley-slave to-day, I should allow myself some rest to-morrow. My wife answered, that not only I was entitled to a day of rest, but that it was a duty incumbent on me to take it on the following day; for, said she, I have calculated that to-morrow is Sunday. Unfortunately we had already passed one sabbath-day without recollecting that it was so.

Father.—I thank you, my dear, for making this discovery, and I promise you that the day shall be celebrated by us, as it ought to be. It was not unknown to me that we had passed over one Sunday without a due observance of the duties it imposes; but I confess it appeared to me, that being caused by the extraordinary exertions we had to make for the preservation of our lives in a desert place, to which it had pleased God to conduct us, it was a pardonable omission; but now that we seem to have surmounted many difficulties, and to have secured ourselves an habitation, we should indeed be culpable not to celebrate in a solemn and particular manner, the day he has consecrated to himself.

My Wife.—Be assured, my dear, that I shall heartily join you in rendering thanks to God, who in so imminent a danger preserved all that was dear to me, and affords us here, in a strange and desert land, not only the necessaries of life, but many of its comforts also. I could no where have met with an habitation more to my fancy, than that you have effected for us in the tree. I will mount the ladder this evening with you, for I feel almost a child’s joy at the idea of passing the night up in the air, as we may call it. Let us quickly eat our supper and go to bed, without dropping a word about its being Sunday to-morrow. It will be a great pleasure to me to surprise the boys with the news of a day of rest from labour, which they did not expect.

And I, for my part, said I, am rejoiced to find you thus contented and resigned to your fate, and entertaining no contempt for our imperfect contrivances. But now let us see what you have prepared for our reward; and let us call the children round us; I feel in want of such a restorative after my fatigue.