Közzététel dátuma: Jan 30, 2018 11:2:0 AM
(18) Két-három nappal azután, hogy megérkeztünk az otthonomba, arra a gondolatra jutottam, hogy végleg meg kellene változtatnom Péntek szörnyű étkezési szokását és új étrenddel ismertetni meg. Reggel magammal vittem hát az erdőbe. Eredetileg a saját nyájam egyik kecskéjét akartam leölni és hazahozni, de egyszer csak megláttam egy termetes kecskét a távolban, amint két gidájával az árnyékban hevert. Jeleztem Pénteknek, hogy álljon meg és ne mozduljon, majd levettem a vállamról a puskámat, és egy lövéssel megöltem az egyik gidát. Szegény társam, aki korábban már látta, amint megöltem a távolból az egyik ellenségét, de fogalma sem volt, hogyan, most a meglepetéstől döbbenten és remegve állt mellettem, mint aki mindjárt elájul. Nem látta a kiskecskét és így azt sem, ahogy megöltem. Rémülten levetette magáról a zekét és a testét vizsgálgatta, hogy nem látszik-e rajta a halálos seb. Azt hitte, hogy meg akarom ölni. Térdre borult, átölelte a lábamat, és vég nélkül ontotta magából a számomra érthetetlen szavakat. Nyilvánvalóan azért könyörgött, hogy hagyjam meg az életét.
Hosszasan kellett győzködnöm a jámbort, hogy tőlem semmi oka sincsen félni, mert nem bántanám őt. Felsegítettem, és megmutattam a lelőtt gidát. Intettem neki, hogy fusson oda s hozza el az elejtett gödölyét. Rögtön teljesítette kívánságomat, és nem állhatta meg, hogy alaposan meg ne vizsgálja a meglőtt vadat. Bámulta a vérző sebet. Eközben én újratöltöttem a puskámat. Egy nagy sólyom formájú ragadozó madár keringett a fejünk felett. Felhasználtam az alkalmat, hogy Péntekkel megértessem a puska használatát. Rámutattam a madárra, aztán a puskára, végül a földre. Azt hittem, hogy ebből kellőképpen megérti szándékomat. Egyet azonban elfeledtem megmutatni, hogy miképpen töltöm meg a puskámat. Így aztán a puskadurranás újra félelmes hatást tett rá. Azt hihette, hogy halál lakik abban a fegyverben, ami közel s távol minden élőlénnyel képes végezni. A rémület, ami ettől keletkezett benne, sokáig nem múlt el. Ha hagyom, ezentúl talán Istenként imádott volna engem és a fegyveremet. A fegyverhez eztán hosszú ideig nyúlni sem mert, de gyakran beszélt hozzá úgy, mintha az válaszolt volna neki. Ilyenkor arra kérte a puskát, hogy ne bántsa őt.
Miután döbbenete kissé alábbhagyott, megkértem, hogy hozza el nekem a madarat. Ő el is indult, de nem tért vissza mindjárt, mert a madár nem döglött meg és jó messzire elvergődött attól a helytől, ahová lezuhant. Végül azonban rátalált, és elhozta nekem. Amíg távol volt, újra megtöltöttem a fegyvert, hogy szükség esetén használhassam, de több zsákmány nem kínálkozott. Hazavittük tehát a zsákmányt, lenyúztam a gida bőrét, kibeleztem, majd egy erre a célra készített edényben finom húslevest, illetve főtt húst készítettem. Péntek minden mozdulatomat leste, ott kuporgott a fazék körül, s mikor elkészült az étel, hozzám hasonlóan ő is enni kezdett. Ízlett is neki minden nagyon, kivéve a sót. Mihelyt az a nyelvéhez ért, rögtön kiköpte és gyorsan friss vízzel öblögette ki a száját. Én is a számba vettem némi sótlan húst, és úgy tettem, mintha ettől meg én lennék rosszul. Így akartam jelezni, hogy szerintem só nélkül rossz az étel. Nem sikerült meggyőznöm. Sokáig egyáltalán nem evett sót, és később is csak keveset.
Másnap ugyanannak a gödölyének a húsából rostonsültet készítettem. Egy rudat emeltem a tűz fölé és erről lógott le a hús, amely így szabadon foroghatott a tűzön. Péntek ezt nagy álmélkodva szemlélte, és a sült kecskehús még az előző napi falatoknál is jobban ízlett neki. Erősen fogadkozott, hogy ezentúl esze ágában sem lesz emberhúsra vetemedni. Aminek felettébb örültem.
Másnap gabonát csépeltem a korábban már említett módon. Hamarosan Péntek is elsajátította a mozdulatokat, különösen akkor lett lelkes, amikor látta, hogy a gabonából készül a kenyér. Hamarosan már ő készítette számunkra a kenyeret, és ő is sütötte ki. További idő elteltével pedig minden munka elvégzését megtanulta, amit eddig magam csináltam, és legalább olyan ügyesnek bizonyult bennük, mint én.
Minthogy most már két ember élelméről kellett gondoskodnom, nagyobb föld megműveléséhez kezdtem, és több magot vetettem. Péntek örömmel vett részt ebben a munkában is, és keményen dolgozott. Elmondtam neki, hogy minderre azért van szükség, mert ez által lesz több gabonánk, amiből a kenyér készül, és így mindkettőnknek elegendő élelme lesz. Nagyon hálásnak tűnt emiatt. Tudtomra adta, hogy szerinte most sokkal több munkám akad majd miatta, mint annak előtte, ezért ő ezentúl még keményebben dolgozik, csak mindig mondjam meg, mit kell tennie.
Ez volt eddig a szigeten töltött éveim közül a legkellemesebb. Péntek egyre szebben beszélte az anyanyelvemet, és minden lényeges dolgot megértett, amit megneveztem előtte. Most, hosszú idő után végre újra hasznát vehettem a beszédnek. A beszéden kívül nagy örömömet leltem társam egyszerű, becsületes természetében, mely egyre inkább kifejezésre jutott, én pedig napról napra jobban kedveltem őt. Ő viszont, azt hiszem, jobban szeretett engem, mint korábban bármit.
Egyszer kíváncsi lettem, nem vágyódik-e vissza a saját hazájába, és mivel most már szinte minden szavamat értette, meg tudta válaszolni a kérdéseimet. Először azt kérdeztem meg tőle, hogy a népe mindig győztesen került-e ki a harcokból.
- Igen mindig jobban harcolunk - mondta, úgy értve, hogy mindig ők bizonyultak jobbnak. Ezzel kezdetét vette a következő beszélgetésünk:
- Mindig jobban harcoltok? Akkor hogyan eshettél fogságba, Péntek?
- A népem sokat győzött ezért.
- Győzött? Ha a te néped győzött, akkor téged hogyan fogtak el?
- Ahol én volt ott belőlük sok több mint a népemből. Népem győzött másik helyen, ahol én nem volt. Népem elejt egy, két nagy ezret.
- De a tieid miért nem szabadítottak ki az ellenség kezei közül?
- Mi futott. Egy, kettő, három és én és kenuba menekült. Népemnek ott nem volt kenu.
- És mit csinál a néped azokkal, akiket foglyul ejt? Hazaviszi és megeszi őket, ahogy ezek?
- Igen. Népem megesz foglyokat. Mindet megesz.
- Hová viszik őket ilyenkor?
- Más helyekre, ahová akar.
- Ide is el szoktak jönni?
- Igen, igen, ide is. Meg más helyekre.
- Te is voltál már itt velük?
- Igen, voltam már itt - mondta, és a sziget északnyugati vége felé bökött, ahol ezek szerint táborozni szoktak.
Megértettem tehát, hogy ő is azoknak a vadembereknek volt egyike, akik hasonló lakomákra gyűltek össze a sziget távolabbi részén, mint amilyenre később őt is idehozták foglyul ejtői. Amikor később elmentünk a szigetnek arra az oldalára, felismerte a helyszínt és őszintén bevallotta, hogy iszonyú lakomát csaptak, amikor itt járt, húsz férfit, két nőt és egy gyermeket faltak fel vérengző állatok módjára. A húszas számot nem ismerte, ezért úgy adta tudtomra, hogy kavicsokat rakott sorban egymás mellé.
Beszélgetésünk imént idézett részét követően megkérdeztem, hogy milyen messze van innen a kontinens partvidéke és nem veszélyes-e kenuval nekivágni ezeknek az utaknak. Azt válaszolta, hogy egyáltalán nem veszélyes, soha egyetlen kenu sem veszett még oda, a tenger és a szél magától elviszi a csónakot reggelente az egyik, délután pedig az ellenkező irányba. Nyilván az áramlatok hálózatáról beszélt, amelyeknek a szigetemet körülvevő tenger nem volt szűkében. Az elbeszéléséből ezután rájöttem, hogy a szigetünk a hatalmas Orinoco folyó torkolatához közel fekszik, és a nagy sziget, amit nyugati-északnyugati irányban láttam, nem más, mint Trinidad szigete.
Ezernyi kérdést tettem fel Pénteknek a környező vidékről és lakóiról, a tengerről, a partvidékről, az ott honos népekről, ő pedig a lehető legkészségesebben válaszolgatott nekem. Az itteni népek nevei közül csak a karibok voltak ismerősek. Róluk tudtam, hogy a Karib-tenger vidékén élnek, amely pedig az Orinoco torkolatától Guyanáig, sőt azon túl, St. Marthaig terjed. Azt is elmondta, hogy túl a holdon (nyilván azt a helyet értette rajta, hol a hold szokott letűnni) számos fehér bőrű ember tanyázik, akiknek állán olyan hosszú a szőrzet, vagyis a szakáll, mint az enyémen, csakhogy azok a fehér emberek iszonyúan kegyetlenek. Ki mások lehettek ezek, mint a spanyolok, akiknek embertelen vadságáról Amerika-szerte mindenütt beszélnek.
Megkérdeztem Péntektől, mit gondol, oda juthatnék-e én a fehér emberekhez.
- Igen - felelte -, igen, ha két kenuban mégy.
Ezt érthetőbben nem tudta megmagyarázni, én pedig sokáig törtem rajta a fejem, mire rájöttem, hogy úgy értette, kétszer akkora csónakkal, mint amekkora egy kenu. Péntek elbeszélése nagyon a kedvemre volt. Megint reménykedni kezdtem, hátha valamiképpen módját ejthetném annak, hogy elhagyjam ezt az én puszta szigetemet. Bennszülött társam nagy segítségemre lehet ebben.
Mivel Péntek már értette és beszélte azt a nyelvet, amit én, elérkezettnek láttam az időt, hogy Istennel kapcsolatos tudnivalókat oltsak bele. Felmutattam az égre és közöltem vele, hogy ott él minden dolgok teremtője, aki mindenható, bármit megtehet értünk, bármit megadhat nekünk és bármit elvehet tőlünk. Lassanként felnyitottam a szemét a hit előtt. Nagy odaadással hallgatta, hogyan jött el Jézus megváltani bennünket bűnösöket, és hogyan kell imádkoznunk Istenhez, aki még olyan távolról, a mennyekből is képes meghallani a szavunkat. Egy nap azt mondta nekem, ha Isten a napon túlról is képes meghallani bennünket, akkor nagyobb hatalma van, mint Benamukinak, aki a nagy hegyek között él, nekik mégis fel kellett kapaszkodniuk oda, hogy a beszédüket meghallja.
A gyakori Istenről szóló beszélgetések és a Szentírás tanulmányozása olyan hű keresztényt faragott Péntekből, amilyenhez hasonlót keveset ismertem.
(19) Miután Péntek és én bensőséges viszonyba kerültünk és a társalgásunk sem ütközött már komolyan akadályokba, beavattam őt saját történetembe vagy legalábbis abba a részébe, amely a szigetre kerülésemhez kapcsolódik. Elmondtam neki, hogyan éltem itt annyi éven át, megtanítottam neki, miben rejlik a lőpor és a golyó titka, és hogyan kell a lőfegyvert használni. Egy kést ajándékoztam neki, aminek ő roppantul megörült. Készítettem neki egy övet, amúgy angol módra és hogy legyen még mit beletűznie, egy fejszét is kapott, amely fegyvernek és szerszámnak egyaránt kiváló volt.
Beszéltem neki Európa országairól, különös tekintettel a hazámra, Angliára; arról, hogyan élünk, imádjuk Istent, hogyan viszonyulunk egymáshoz, és miként kereskedünk hajóink segítségével a világ minden táján. Beszéltem neki a hajóroncsról, amelynek a fedélzetén néhány éve tettem látogatást, és amelynek már csak a helyét mutathattam meg neki. Megmutattam az én hajómról származó csónak roncsait, amelyet, mikor még ép volt, nem bírtam megmozdítani. Emellett Péntek megállt és elmélázott egy darabig. Megkérdeztem, hogy min gondolkodik, mire kibökte, hogy:
- Én látta ilyen csónak jött enyém haza!
Nem értettem meg rögtön, mire gondol, vallatóra fogtam hát, és így tudtam meg, hogy egy ehhez hasonló csónak sodródott partra azon a vidéken, ahol Péntek népe élt. Úgy képzeltem, hogy miután egy európai hajó zátonyra futhatott a környékükön, egy arról elszabadult csónak sodródhatott a partra. Az, botor módon, eszembe sem jutott, hogy a csónaknak menekülő utasai is lehettek, így aztán csak a csónak leírása felől érdeklődtem.
Péntek eléggé alaposan írta le a csónak külsejét, és némi melegség érződött a hangjában, amikor hozzátette:
- Mi fulladástól mentett meg azok fehér emberek.
Ekkor már kíváncsian rákérdeztem, valóban jól értettem-e, hogy a csónakban fehér emberek voltak.
- Igen. A csónak tele volt fehér emberek - felelte.
Megkérdeztem, hányan voltak. Tizenhetet mutatott az ujjaival. Erre megkérdeztem, mi lett velük.
- Élnek - mondta. - Népem között élnek.
Erre új elmélet fogalmazódott meg bennem, mely szerint a szigetemnél szerencsétlenül járt hajó utasai, miután látták, hogy nincs más választásuk, csónakon elhagyták a roncsot, és végül a kontinens vademberek lakta vidékén értek partot. Még élénkebben, némi kételkedéssel faggattam arról, mi lett a fehérek sorsa. Péntek újra biztosított, hogy még most is ott élnek, immár négy éve, a bennszülöttek pedig nem háborgatják, sőt még élelemmel is segítették őket. Megkérdeztem tőle, hogyan lehetséges, hogy nem ölték le és ették meg őket, mire azt mondta:
- Barátságot csinált velük - úgy érthette, szövetséget kötöttek. Majd így folytatta: - Nem eszünk más embert, csak, aki harcokban fogoly. - Vagyis csak azokat eszik meg, akiket csatában fognak el vagy ölnek meg.
Egy másik későbbi alkalommal történt: a sziget keleti részén jártunk éppen, azon a hegytetőn, amelyről egykor tiszta időben megpillantottam az amerikai földrészt, amikor Péntek, az idő most is nagyon derült lévén, meredten bámulni kezdett a kontinens irányába, majd meglepetésében ugrálni, táncolni kezdett, és hívott, hogy menjek oda hozzá. Megkérdeztem, mi történt.
- Milyen öröm! Milyen boldog! - kiáltozta - látom az enyém haza, látom a nép.
Leírhatatlan boldogság érzése ült ki az arcára, a szemei ragyogtak, és egész megjelenése olyan izgatottságot sugárzott, mintha semmire sem vágyna jobban, mint újra otthon lenni. Ez a megfigyelésem különböző gondolatokat és érzéseket ébresztett bennem is, és ideig-óráig kétkedéssel töltött el hű szolgám iránt. Biztos voltam benne, hogy ha Péntek visszajuthatna a népéhez, nem csak az itteni életéről feledkezne meg, hanem a velem szemben vállalt kötelezettségeiről is. Alighanem még be is számolna rólam a törzse tagjainak, és utána együtt térnének vissza, néhány százan, hogy jóízűen lakmározzanak belőlem, ahogy a háborús foglyaikból szoktak.
Nagyon félreismertem a szegény párát, amit később bántam is szerfelett. Most azonban a féltékenységem egyelőre heteken át csak növekedett. Gyanakvóbb lettem irányába és kevésbé szívélyes, mint addig. Nyíltszívű és hálás társam mit sem sejtett az egészből, sőt magatartása a legjobb keresztényi példája lehetett annak, milyen egy hű barát.
Amíg tartott a féltékenységem, naponta újra meg újra próbára tettem őt, beigazolja-e a gyanúmat, de be kellett látnom, hogy becsületes volt és vétlen mindabban, amivel vádoltam. Kétségeim ellenére végül újra a maga oldalára állított engem, és még csak azzal sem gyanúsíthattam, hogy becsapni próbál, hiszen nyilvánvalóan nem is sejtette, hogy gyanú ébredt bennem iránta.
Az egyik napon ugyanazon a hegyen jártunk megint, de a tenger békétlenkedett és nem voltak elég jók az időjárási viszonyok ahhoz, hogy látszódjon a kontinens.
- Szeretnél hazamenni a népedhez, Péntek? - kérdeztem.
- Igen - felelte - ó, én nagyon boldog lenne a népemnél.
- Aztán mihez kezdenél ott? Ismét olyan lennél, mint azelőtt voltál? Megennéd az emberhúst és kannibál módjára élnél tovább?
Aggodalmas arckifejezést öltött, és a fejét rázta:
- Nem, nem esz több emberhús, esz gabonakenyér, tej, kecskehús. Beszél a többinek, hogy mindenki imádkoz Isten és jó úton él.
- Az ám, csakhogy akkor téged otthon a többiek megölnének.
- Nem... nem... - mondta komoran - nem ölnek meg. Ők akar szeret új dolgok.
Ezt úgy érthette, hogy fogékonyak az új dolgokra. Hozzátette, hogy sokat tanultak a szakállas fehér emberektől, akik a csónakon érkeztek. Megkérdeztem, hát, hogy visszatér-e hozzájuk. Elmosolyodott, és azt mondta, nem tud olyan messzire úszni. Amikor pedig felajánlottam, hogy készítek neki egy kenut, azt felelte, elmegy, ha én is vele megyek.
- Mármint, hogy én is veled menjek? De hiszen akkor megesznek.
- Nem, nem. Én csinálom, hogy ne egyenek, én csinálom, hogy szeressenek.
Arra gondolt, hogy elmeséli majd nekik, hogyan végeztem az ellenségeikkel és miként mentettem meg az életét. Aztán elmondta nekem, milyen barátságosak voltak a tizenhét szakállas férfival, akik szorult helyzetükben hozzájuk menekültek.
Most már komolyan érlelődött lelkemben a terv, hogy Péntekkel elindulok, s valamilyen módon találkozom a hajótöröttekkel, akik biztosan spanyolok vagy portugálok lehetnek. Közös erővel könnyebben ejthetnénk módját annak, hogy hazatérjünk, mint én egymagam egy a parttól több mint félszáz kilométerre fekvő szigeten. Újra munkához láttunk, de közben közöltem Péntekkel, hogy kap tőlem egy vízi járművet, amivel hazajuthat. Később el is vezettem őt a csónakomhoz (amelyet mindig víz alá rejtve tartottam), kimertem belőle a vizet, beleültem vele s kezébe adtam az evezőlapátot. Mint később kiderült, kitűnő evezős volt, sokkal gyorsabban tudta a csónakot hajtani, mint én.
- Nos, Péntek, indulhatunk a népedhez? - kérdeztem.
Meglepődöttnek tűnt. Elmondta, hogy túl kicsinek tartja a csónakomat erre a hosszú útra. Elmondtam neki, hogy van egy nagyobb csónakom is. Másnap elmentünk arra helyre, ahol az első általam készített bárka feküdt, amit képtelen voltam vízre tenni. Sajnos, a huszonkét-huszonhárom évnyi idő kikezdte a fát, és az részben már elrohadt. Péntek azon a véleményen volt, hogy ez a méret megfelelő lenne az útra, és elegendő felszerelést meg élelmet tudnánk benne magunkkal vinni.
Friday's Education
After I had been two or three days returned to my castle, I thought that, in order to bring Friday off from his horrid way of feeding, and from the relish of a cannibal’s stomach, I ought to let him taste other flesh; so I took him out with me one morning to the woods. I went, indeed, intending to kill a kid out of my own flock; and bring it home and dress it; but as I was going I saw a she-goat lying down in the shade, and two young kids sitting by her. I catched hold of Friday. “Hold,” said I, “stand still;” and made signs to him not to stir: immediately I presented my piece, shot, and killed one of the kids. The poor creature, who had at a distance, indeed, seen me kill the savage, his enemy, but did not know, nor could imagine how it was done, was sensibly surprised, trembled, and shook, and looked so amazed that I thought he would have sunk down. He did not see the kid I shot at, or perceive I had killed it, but ripped up his waistcoat to feel whether he was not wounded; and, as I found presently, thought I was resolved to kill him: for he came and kneeled down to me, and embracing my knees, said a great many things I did not understand; but I could easily see the meaning was to pray me not to kill him.
I soon found a way to convince him that I would do him no harm; and taking him up by the hand, laughed at him, and pointing to the kid which I had killed, beckoned to him to run and fetch it, which he did: and while he was wondering, and looking to see how the creature was killed, I loaded my gun again. By-and-by I saw a great fowl, like a hawk, sitting upon a tree within shot; so, to let Friday understand a little what I would do, I called him to me again, pointed at the fowl, which was indeed a parrot, though I thought it had been a hawk; I say, pointing to the parrot, and to my gun, and to the ground under the parrot, to let him see I would make it fall, I made him understand that I would shoot and kill that bird; accordingly, I fired, and bade him look, and immediately he saw the parrot fall. He stood like one frightened again, notwithstanding all I had said to him; and I found he was the more amazed, because he did not see me put anything into the gun, but thought that there must be some wonderful fund of death and destruction in that thing, able to kill man, beast, bird, or anything near or far off; and the astonishment this created in him was such as could not wear off for a long time; and I believe, if I would have let him, he would have worshipped me and my gun. As for the gun itself, he would not so much as touch it for several days after; but he would speak to it and talk to it, as if it had answered him, when he was by himself; which, as I afterwards learned of him, was to desire it not to kill him. Well, after his astonishment was a little over at this, I pointed to him to run and fetch the bird I had shot, which he did, but stayed some time; for the parrot, not being quite dead, had fluttered away a good distance from the place where she fell: however, he found her, took her up, and brought her to me; and as I had perceived his ignorance about the gun before, I took this advantage to charge the gun again, and not to let him see me do it, that I might be ready for any other mark that might present; but nothing more offered at that time: so I brought home the kid, and the same evening I took the skin off, and cut it out as well as I could; and having a pot fit for that purpose, I boiled or stewed some of the flesh, and made some very good broth. After I had begun to eat some I gave some to my man, who seemed very glad of it, and liked it very well; but that which was strangest to him was to see me eat salt with it. He made a sign to me that the salt was not good to eat; and putting a little into his own mouth, he seemed to nauseate it, and would spit and sputter at it, washing his mouth with fresh water after it: on the other hand, I took some meat into my mouth without salt, and I pretended to spit and sputter for want of salt, as much as he had done at the salt; but it would not do; he would never care for salt with meat or in his broth; at least, not for a great while, and then but a very little.
Having thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, I was resolved to feast him the next day by roasting a piece of the kid: this I did by hanging it before the fire on a string, as I had seen many people do in England, setting two poles up, one on each side of the fire, and one across the top, and tying the string to the cross stick, letting the meat turn continually. This Friday admired very much; but when he came to taste the flesh, he took so many ways to tell me how well he liked it, that I could not but understand him: and at last he told me, as well as he could, he would never eat man’s flesh any more, which I was very glad to hear.
The next day I set him to work beating some corn out, and sifting it in the manner I used to do, as I observed before; and he soon understood how to do it as well as I, especially after he had seen what the meaning of it was, and that it was to make bread of; for after that I let him see me make my bread, and bake it too; and in a little time Friday was able to do all the work for me as well as I could do it myself.
I began now to consider, that having 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 do; so I marked out a larger piece of land, and began the fence in the same manner as before, in which Friday worked not only very willingly and very hard, but did it very cheerfully: and I told him what it was for; that it was for corn to make more bread, because he was now with me, and that I might have enough for him and myself too. He appeared very sensible of that part, and let me know that he thought I had much more labour upon me on his account than I had for myself; and that he would work the harder for me 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 understand the names of almost everything I had occasion to call for, and of every place I had to send him to, and talked a great deal to me; so that, in short, I began now to have some use for my tongue again, which, indeed, I had very little occasion for before. Besides the pleasure of talking to him, I had a singular satisfaction in the fellow himself: his simple, unfeigned honesty appeared to me more and more every day, and I began really to love the creature; and on his side I believe he loved me more than it was possible for him ever to love anything before.
I had a mind once to try if he had any inclination for his own country again; and having taught him English so well that he could answer me almost any question, I asked him whether the nation that he belonged to never conquered in battle? At which he smiled, and said—“Yes, yes, we always fight the better;” that is, he meant always get the better in fight; and so we began the following discourse:—
Master.—You always fight the better; how came you to be taken prisoner, then, Friday?
Friday.—My nation beat much for all that.
Master.—How beat? If your nation beat them, how came you to be taken?
Friday.—They more many than my nation, in the place where me was; they take one, two, three, and me: my nation over-beat them in the yonder place, where me no was; there my nation take one, two, great thousand.
Master.—But why did not your side recover you from the hands of your enemies, then?
Friday.—They run, one, two, three, and me, and make go in the canoe; my nation have no canoe that time.
Master.—Well, Friday, and what does your nation do with the men they take? Do they carry them away and eat them, as these did?
Friday.—Yes, my nation eat mans too; eat all up.
Master.—Where do they carry them?
Friday.—Go to other place, where they think.
Master.—Do they come hither?
Friday.—Yes, yes, they come hither; come other else place.
Master.—Have you been here with them?
Friday.—Yes, I have been here (points to the NW. side of the island, which, it seems, was their side).
By this I understood that my man Friday had formerly been among the savages who used to come on shore on the farther part of the island, on the same man-eating occasions he was now brought for; and some time after, when I took the courage to carry him to that side, being the same I formerly mentioned, he presently knew the place, and told me he was there once, when they ate up twenty men, two women, and one child; he could not tell twenty in English, but he numbered them by laying so many stones in a row, and pointing to me to tell them over.
I have told this passage, because it introduces what follows: that after this discourse I had with him, I asked him how far it was from our island to the shore, and whether the canoes were not often lost. He told me there was no danger, no canoes ever lost: but that after a little way out to sea, there was a current and wind, always one way in the morning, the other in the afternoon. This I understood to be no more than the sets of the tide, as going out or coming in; but I afterwards understood it was occasioned by the great draft and reflux of the mighty river Orinoco, in the mouth or gulf of which river, as I found afterwards, our island lay; and that this land, which I perceived to be W. and NW., was the great island Trinidad, on the north point of the mouth of the river. I asked Friday a thousand questions about the country, the inhabitants, the sea, the coast, and what nations were near; he told me all he knew with the greatest openness imaginable. I asked him the names of the several nations of his sort of people, but could get no other name than Caribs; from whence I easily understood that these were the Caribbees, which our maps place on the part of America which reaches from the mouth of the river Orinoco to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha. He told me that up a great way beyond the moon, that was beyond the setting of the moon, which must be west from their country, there dwelt white bearded men, like me, and pointed to my great whiskers, which I mentioned before; and that they had killed much mans, that was his word: by all which I understood he meant the Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had been spread over the whole country, and were remembered by all the nations from father to son.
I inquired if he could tell me how I might go from this island, and get among those white men. He told me, “Yes, yes, you may go in two canoe.” I could not understand what he meant, or make him describe to me what he meant by two canoe, till at last, with great difficulty, I found he meant it must be in a large boat, as big as two canoes. This part of Friday’s discourse I began to relish very well; and from this time I entertained some hopes that, one time or other, I might find an opportunity to make my escape from this place, and that this poor savage might be a means to help me.
During the long time that Friday had now been with me, and that he began to speak to me, and understand me, I was not wanting to lay a foundation of religious knowledge in his mind; particularly I asked him one time, who made him. The creature did not understand me at all, but thought I had asked who was his father—but I took it up by another handle, and asked him who made the sea, the ground we walked on, and the hills and woods. He told me, “It was one Benamuckee, that lived beyond all;” he could describe nothing of this great person, but that he was very old, “much older,” he said, “than the sea or land, than the moon or the stars.” I asked him then, if this old person had made all things, why did not all things worship him? He looked very grave, and, with a perfect look of innocence, said, “All things say O to him.” I asked him if the people who die in his country went away anywhere? He said, “Yes; they all went to Benamuckee.” Then I asked him whether those they eat up went thither too. He said, “Yes.”
From these things, I began to instruct him in the knowledge of the true God; I told him that the great Maker of all things lived up there, pointing up towards heaven; that He governed the world by the same power and providence by which He made it; that He was omnipotent, and could do everything for us, give everything to us, take everything from us; and thus, by degrees, I opened his eyes. He listened with great attention, and received with pleasure the notion of Jesus Christ being sent to redeem us; and of the manner of making our prayers to God, and His being able to hear us, even in heaven. He told me one day, that if our God could hear us, up beyond the sun, he must needs be a greater God than their Benamuckee, who lived but a little way off, and yet could not hear till they went up to the great mountains where he dwelt to speak to them. I asked him if ever he went thither to speak to him. He said, “No; they never went that were young men; none went thither but the old men,” whom he called their Oowokakee; that is, as I made him explain to me, their religious, or clergy; and that they went to say O (so he called saying prayers), and then came back and told them what Benamuckee said. By this I observed, that there is priestcraft even among the most blinded, ignorant pagans in the world; and the policy of making a secret of religion, in order to preserve the veneration of the people to the clergy, not only to be found in the Roman, but, perhaps, among all religions in the world, even among the most brutish and barbarous savages.
I endeavoured to clear up this fraud to my man Friday; and told him that the pretence of their old men going up to the mountains to say O to their god Benamuckee was a cheat; and their bringing word from thence what he said was much more so; that if they met with any answer, or spake with any one there, it must be with an evil spirit; and then I entered into a long discourse with him about the devil, the origin of him, his rebellion against God, his enmity to man, the reason of it, his setting himself up in the dark parts of the world to be worshipped instead of God, and as God, and the many stratagems he made use of to delude mankind to their ruin; how he had a secret access to our passions and to our affections, and to adapt his snares to our inclinations, so as to cause us even to be our own tempters, and run upon our destruction by our own choice.
I found it was not so easy to imprint right notions in his mind about the devil as it was about the being of a God. Nature assisted all my arguments to evidence to him even the necessity of a great First Cause, an overruling, governing Power, a secret directing Providence, and of the equity and justice of paying homage to Him that made us, and the like; but there appeared nothing of this kind in the notion of an evil spirit, of his origin, his being, his nature, and above all, of his inclination to do evil, and to draw us in to do so too; and the poor creature puzzled me once in such a manner, by a question merely natural and innocent, that I scarce knew what to say to him. I had been talking a great deal to him of the power of God, His omnipotence, His aversion to sin, His being a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity; how, as He had made us all, He could destroy us and all the world in a moment; and he listened with great seriousness to me all the while. After this I had been telling him how the devil was God’s enemy in the hearts of men, and used all his malice and skill to defeat the good designs of Providence, and to ruin the kingdom of Christ in the world, and the like. “Well,” says Friday, “but you say God is so strong, so great; is He not much strong, much might as the devil?” “Yes, yes,” says I, “Friday; God is stronger than the devil—God is above the devil, and therefore we pray to God to tread him down under our feet, and enable us to resist his temptations and quench his fiery darts.” “But,” says he again, “if God much stronger, much might as the wicked devil, why God no kill the devil, so make him no more do wicked?” I was strangely surprised at this question; and, after all, though I was now an old man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill qualified for a casuist or a solver of difficulties; and at first I could not tell what to say; so I pretended not to hear him, and asked him what he said; but he was too earnest for an answer to forget his question, so that he repeated it in the very same broken words as above. By this time I had recovered myself a little, and I said, “God will at last punish him severely; he is reserved for the judgment, and is to be cast into the bottomless pit, to dwell with everlasting fire.” This did not satisfy Friday; but he returns upon me, repeating my words, “‘Reserve at last!’ me no understand—but why not kill the devil now; not kill great ago?” “You may as well ask me,” said I, “why God does not kill you or me, when we do wicked things here that offend Him—we are preserved to repent and be pardoned.” He mused some time on this. “Well, well,” says he, mighty affectionately, “that well—so you, I, devil, all wicked, all preserve, repent, God pardon all.” Here I was run down again by him to the last degree; and it was a testimony to me, how the mere notions of nature, though they will guide reasonable creatures to the knowledge of a God, and of a worship or homage due to the supreme being of God, as the consequence of our nature, yet nothing but divine revelation can form the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and of redemption purchased for us; of a Mediator of the new covenant, and of an Intercessor at the footstool of God’s throne; I say, nothing but a revelation from Heaven can form these in the soul; and that, therefore, the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, promised for the guide and sanctifier of His people, are the absolutely necessary instructors of the souls of men in the saving knowledge of God and the means of salvation.
I therefore diverted the present discourse between me and my man, rising up hastily, as upon some sudden occasion of going out; then sending him for something a good way off, I seriously prayed to God that He would enable me to instruct savingly this poor savage; assisting, by His Spirit, the heart of the poor ignorant creature to receive the light of the knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling him to Himself, and would guide me so to speak to him from the Word of God that his conscience might be convinced, his eyes opened, and his soul saved. When he came again to me, I entered into a long discourse with him upon the subject of the redemption of man by the Saviour of the world, and of the doctrine of the gospel preached from Heaven, viz. of repentance towards God, and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus. I then explained to him as well as I could why our blessed Redeemer took not on Him the nature of angels but the seed of Abraham; and how, for that reason, the fallen angels had no share in the redemption; that He came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and the like.
I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge in all the methods I took for this poor creature’s instruction, and must acknowledge, what I believe all that act upon the same principle will find, that in laying things open to him, I really informed and instructed myself in many things that either I did not know or had not fully considered before, but which occurred naturally to my mind upon searching into them, for the information of this poor savage; and I had more affection in my inquiry after things upon this occasion than ever I felt before: so that, whether this poor wild wretch was better for me or no, I had great reason to be thankful that ever he came to me; my grief sat lighter, upon me; my habitation grew comfortable to me beyond measure: and when I reflected that in this solitary life which I have been confined to, I had not only been moved to look up to heaven myself, and to seek the Hand that had brought me here, but was now to be made an instrument, under Providence, to save the life, and, for aught I knew, the soul of a poor savage, and bring him to the true knowledge of religion and of the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, in whom is life eternal; I say, when I reflected upon all these things, a secret joy ran through every part of My soul, and I frequently rejoiced that ever I was brought to this place, which I had so often thought the most dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have befallen me.
I continued in this thankful frame all the remainder of my time; and the conversation which employed the hours between Friday and me was such as made the three years which we lived there together perfectly and completely happy, if any such thing as complete happiness can be formed in a sublunary state. This savage was now a good Christian, a much better than I; though I have reason to hope, and bless God for it, that we were equally penitent, and comforted, restored penitents. We had here the Word of God to read, and no farther off from His Spirit to instruct than if we had been in England. I always applied myself, in reading the Scripture, to let him know, as well as I could, the meaning of what I read; and he again, by his serious inquiries and questionings, made me, as I said before, a much better scholar in the Scripture knowledge than I should ever have been by my own mere private reading. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing here also, from experience in this retired part of my life, viz. how infinite and inexpressible a blessing it is that the knowledge of God, and of the doctrine of salvation by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in the Word of God, so easy to be received and understood, that, as the bare reading the Scripture made me capable of understanding enough of my duty to carry me directly on to the great work of sincere repentance for my sins, and laying hold of a Saviour for life and salvation, to a stated reformation in practice, and obedience to all God’s commands, and this without any teacher or instructor, I mean human; so the same plain instruction sufficiently served to the enlightening this savage creature, and bringing him to be such a Christian as I have known few equal to him in my life.
[19] As to all the disputes, wrangling, strife, and contention which have happened in the world about religion, whether niceties in doctrines or schemes of church government, they were all perfectly useless to us, and, for aught I can yet see, they have been so to the rest of the world. We had the sure guide to heaven, viz. the Word of God; and we had, blessed be God, comfortable views of the Spirit of God teaching and instructing by His word, leading us into all truth, and making us both willing and obedient to the instruction of His word. And I cannot see the least use that the greatest knowledge of the disputed points of religion, which have made such confusion in the world, would have been to us, if we could have obtained it. But I must go on with the historical part of things, and take every part in its order.
After Friday and I became more intimately acquainted, and that he could understand almost all I said to him, and speak pretty fluently, though in broken English, to me, I acquainted him with my own history, or at least so much of it as related to my coming to this place: how I had lived there, and how long; I let him into the mystery, for such it was to him, of gunpowder and bullet, and taught him how to shoot. I gave him a knife, which he was wonderfully delighted with; and I made him a belt, with a frog hanging to it, such as in England we wear hangers in; and in the frog, instead of a hanger, I gave him a hatchet, which was not only as good a weapon in some cases, but much more useful upon other occasions.
I described to him the country of Europe, particularly England, which I came from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, how we behaved to one another, and how we traded in ships to all parts of the world. I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on board of, and showed him, as near as I could, the place where she lay; but she was all beaten in pieces before, and gone. I showed him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we escaped, and which I could not stir with my whole strength then; but was now fallen almost all to pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood, musing a great while, and said nothing. I asked him what it was he studied upon. At last says he, “Me see such boat like come to place at my nation.” I did not understand him a good while; but at last, when I had examined further into it, I understood by him that a boat, such as that had been, came on shore upon the country where he lived: that is, as he explained it, was driven thither by stress of weather. I presently imagined that some European ship must have been cast away upon their coast, and the boat might get loose and drive ashore; but was so dull that I never once thought of men making their escape from a wreck thither, much less whence they might come: so I only inquired after a description of the boat.
Friday described the boat to me well enough; but brought me better to understand him when he added with some warmth, “We save the white mans from drown.” Then I presently asked if there were any white mans, as he called them, in the boat. “Yes,” he said; “the boat full of white mans.” I asked him how many. He told upon his fingers seventeen. I asked him then what became of them. He told me, “They live, they dwell at my nation.”
This put new thoughts into my head; for I presently imagined that these might be the men belonging to the ship that was cast away in the sight of my island, as I now called it; and who, after the ship was struck on the rock, and they saw her inevitably lost, had saved themselves in their boat, and were landed upon that wild shore among the savages. Upon this I inquired of him more critically what was become of them. He assured me they lived still there; that they had been there about four years; that the savages left them alone, and gave them victuals to live on. I asked him how it came to pass they did not kill them and eat them. He said, “No, they make brother with them;” that is, as I understood him, a truce; and then he added, “They no eat mans but when make the war fight;” that is to say, they never eat any men but such as come to fight with them and are taken in battle.
It was after this some considerable time, that being upon the top of the hill at the east side of the island, from whence, as I have said, I had, in a clear day, discovered the main or continent of America, Friday, the weather being very serene, looks very earnestly towards the mainland, and, in a kind of surprise, falls a jumping and dancing, and calls out to me, for I was at some distance from him. I asked him what was the matter. “Oh, joy!” says he; “Oh, glad! there see my country, there my nation!” I observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure appeared in his face, and his eyes sparkled, and his countenance discovered a strange eagerness, as if he had a mind to be in his own country again. This observation of mine put a great many thoughts into me, which made me at first not so easy about my new man Friday as I was before; and I made no doubt but that, if Friday could get back to his own nation again, he would not only forget all his religion but all his obligation to me, and would be forward enough to give his countrymen an account of me, and come back, perhaps with a hundred or two of them, and make a feast upon me, at which he might be as merry as he used to be with those of his enemies when they were taken in war. But I wronged the poor honest creature very much, for which I was very sorry afterwards. However, as my jealousy increased, and held some weeks, I was a little more circumspect, and not so familiar and kind to him as before: in which I was certainly wrong too; the honest, grateful creature having no thought about it but what consisted with the best principles, both as a religious Christian and as a grateful friend, as appeared afterwards to my full satisfaction.
While my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure I was every day pumping him to see if he would discover any of the new thoughts which I suspected were in him; but I found everything he said was so honest and so innocent, that I could find nothing to nourish my suspicion; and in spite of all my uneasiness, he made me at last entirely his own again; nor did he in the least perceive that I was uneasy, and therefore I could not suspect him of deceit.
One day, walking up the same hill, but the weather being hazy at sea, so that we could not see the continent, I called to him, and said, “Friday, do not you wish yourself in your own country, your own nation?” “Yes,” he said, “I be much O glad to be at my own nation.” “What would you do there?” said I. “Would you turn wild again, eat men’s flesh again, and be a savage as you were before?” He looked full of concern, and shaking his head, said, “No, no, Friday tell them to live good; tell them to pray God; tell them to eat corn-bread, cattle flesh, milk; no eat man again.” “Why, then,” said I to him, “they will kill you.” He looked grave at that, and then said, “No, no, they no kill me, they willing love learn.” He meant by this, they would be willing to learn. He added, they learned much of the bearded mans that came in the boat. Then I asked him if he would go back to them. He smiled at that, and told me that he could not swim so far. I told him I would make a canoe for him. He told me he would go if I would go with him. “I go!” says I; “why, they will eat me if I come there.” “No, no,” says he, “me make they no eat you; me make they much love you.” He meant, he would tell them how I had killed his enemies, and saved his life, and so he would make them love me. Then he told me, as well as he could, how kind they were to seventeen white men, or bearded men, as he called them who came on shore there in distress.
From this time, I confess, I had a mind to venture over, and see if I could possibly join with those bearded men, who I made no doubt were Spaniards and Portuguese; not doubting but, if I could, we might find some method to escape from thence, being upon the continent, and a good company together, better than I could from an island forty miles off the shore, alone and without help. So, after some days, I took Friday to work again by way of discourse, and told him I would give him a boat to go back to his own nation; and, accordingly, I carried him to my frigate, which lay on the other side of the island, and having cleared it of water (for I always kept it sunk in water), I brought it out, showed it him, and we both went into it. I found he was a most dexterous fellow at managing it, and would make it go almost as swift again as I could. So when he was in, I said to him, “Well, now, Friday, shall we go to your nation?” He looked very dull at my saying so; which it seems was because he thought the boat was too small to go so far. I then told him I had a bigger; so the next day I went to the place where the first boat lay which I had made, but which I could not get into the water. He said that was big enough; but then, as I had taken no care of it, and it had lain two or three and twenty years there, the sun had so split and dried it, that it was rotten. Friday told me such a boat would do very well, and would carry “much enough vittle, drink, bread;” this was his way of talking.