Английский язык с Робинзоном Крузо

Just before the first rainy season began I was one day rummaging among the

shelves in my cave.

There I found the little bag that I had brought from the ship with some barley in it,

as I have already told you.

I lifted it; it was almost empty.

I looked inside. I saw nothing there but some dust and chaff. The rats had been

there, and had eaten the grains of barley.

The bag would be useful for something else. I took it outside and shook the dust

and chaff upon he ground. It was a sunny place, close by the great rock.

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About a month after this, I saw that something green was starting to grow at that

place. I wondered what it was. It could not be grass, for the stalks were larger and

stronger.

I had forgotten about the barley. But I took care that nothing should break the

stalks down.

They grew fast, and were soon as high as my waist. Then I was surprised to see

ten or twelve heads of green barley come out.

You cannot think how glad I was. I remembered, then, how I had shaken the bag

of dust and chaff over that very spot.

But there was another surprise for me. I noticed in the wet ground a little nearer

the rock some other green plants. These were not so tall as the barley stalks, and they did

not seem to be the same.

I watched them for several days. Then I saw that they were stalks of rice. No

doubt some grains of rice had been in the bag with the barley, and had fallen out with the

dust and chaff.

You may be sure that I took good care of the grain. As soon as the barley was ripe

I harvested it. There was only a handful or two; but I put it away where no rats could get

to it. I wished to keep it safe and plant it again the next season.

I did the same way with the rice.

There was so little to begin with that it took a long time to grow a big crop. It was

not until the fourth harvest that I could keep some of the barley for bread.

I found that the best place to plant the grain was not on the hillside, but in a moist

spot not far from my summer home.

One day, as soon as the wet season was at an end, I made a visit to the country to

see how my crops were growing.

There I saw something that surprised me.

You will remember the fence that I built around my summer house, or bower as I

called it. It was made of two rows of tall stakes, with brush between.

Well, I now found that the stakes were still green, and that long shoots or twigs

were growing from them. Some of these branches were already two or three feet long.

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This pleased me very much. I cut and trained the growing branches into just such

shapes as I wished.

They grew very fast, and soon the whole fence was covered with green leaves.

Then I trained the long branches toward the top of a pole which I set up in the center of

my bower.

In a few months the whole inclosure was covered with a green roof.

You cannot think how beautiful it was. The place was shady and cool, the

pleasantest spot one could wish to have.

I did not know what kind of tree it was that grew in this wonderful way. But I cut

some more stakes of the same sort and carried them home to my castle.

I set these stakes in a double row, about twenty inches outside of my first wall. In

a few weeks they began to grow. They grew so fast that in two years they covered the

whole space in front of my castle.

They were not only handsome to look at, but they helped to protect my castle.

I MAKE A LONG JOURNEY (предпринимаю длинное путешествие)

I HAD long wished to see the whole of my island (я долго желал увидеть весь

мой остров). So, one fine morning (итак, одним прекрасным утром), I set out to travel

across to the other side of it (я пустился путешествовать через /него/ до другого

берега).

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Of course I carried my gun with me (конечно, я нес мое ружье с собой). In my

belt (на ремне) was my best hatchet (топорик). In my pouch (в /патронной/ сумке) I

had plenty of powder and shot (много пороха и дроби). In my pocket were two biscuits

and a big bunch of raisins (в кармане было два печенья и большая горсть изюма). My

dog followed behind me (моя собака следовала за мной).

I went past my summer house (шел мимо летнего дома), or bower (или

беседки), and toward evening came to a fine open place close by the sea (к вечеру

пришел на красивое открытое место близко к морю).

It was a beautiful sight (красивый вид). The sky was clear, the air was still (небо

было ясным, воздух спокойным). The smooth waters (тихие воды) stretched away and

away toward the setting sun (тянулись вдаль и вдаль к к заходящему солнцу).

Far in the distance (далеко на расстоянии) I could see land (я мог видеть

землю). I could not tell whether it was an island or some part of the mainland of America

(я не мог сказать был ли это остров или часть континента Америки). It was at least

fifty miles away (по меньшей мере в 50 милях).

If it were the mainland (если бы это был материк), I felt quite sure that I would