Under Construction

“’My word! don’t they look nice?’ cried Tommy in delight. ‘Old Jane – poor old thing –
never got them white at home, did she? We must have a weekly wash, girls; it’s great fun.’ (from The Girl Crusoes p. 128–9)

‘Well,’ he said, as he slowly retraced his steps, after a long look at the sea, where not a sail was to be seen, ‘I must make up my mind to living here!’ A thought flashed through the negro’s mind and brought a smile to his lips. ‘Why, I am just like Robinson Crusoe, whose marvellous history I was reading in the library of the [ship] Beau Nicolas.’ (p. 63)

“I got on board the ship as before […], in the carpenters stores I found two or three bags full of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets, and, above all, that most useful thing called a grindstone. All these I secured, together with several things belonging to the gunner, particularly two or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket bullets, seven muskets, another fowling-piece, with some small quantity of powder more; a large bagful of small shot, and a great roll of sheet-lead.” (Robinson Crusoe, 97)

“I have now done with my Island, and all Manner of Discourse about it; and who ever reads the rest of my Memorandum’s, would do well to turn his Thoughts entirely from it, and […] almost forty Years of Misery and Disappointments“. (Farther Adventures, 125)

“’Let’s try to figure out her name,’ suggested Mary. ‘Let me try,’ said Tommy. Pointing to Elizabeth, she said ‘Bess,’ repeating the name several times. Then she touched Mary, pronouncing her name, and lastly herself. ‘Me Tommee,’ said the girl, laughing delightedly. […] ‘Now you,’ said Tommy, pointing to the girl herself. She at once recognized what was required and said, ‘Fangati.’ ‘What a pretty name!’ said Elizabeth.” (from The Girl Crusoes p. 237)

“I was now, as near as I can compute, in the heart of China, about the Latitude of thirty Degrees North of the Line, for we was return’d from Nanquin; I had indeed a mind to see the City of Peking which I had heard so much of, and Father Simon importun’d me daily to do it; at length his Time of going away being set, and the other Missionary, was to go with him, being arriv’d from Macao [.]” (p. 175).

“The island of the Bong tree was very like Cursoe’s only without its drawbacks. I have never been there myself, so I rely upon the report of the Owl and the Pussy Cat, who visited it eighteen months later, and spent a delightful honeymoon there.” (p. 111-12)

“Aunt Porcas was a large smiling black pig who took in washing. We shall not hear very much about [the two aunts] in this story. They led prosperous uneventful lives, and their end was bacon. But their nephew Robinson had the most peculiar adventures that ever happened to a pig.” (20-21)

“The attitude of the cat was perplexing to Robinson. […] it spoke mysteriously about the impropriety of greediness, and about the disastrous results of over-indulgence. But it did not explain what those results might be” (87f.)

“[The ship’s cat] never told him plainly why he ought not to eat so much; but it referred frequently to a mysterious date (which Robinson could never remember)—the date of Captain Butcher’s birthday, which he celebrated annually by an extra good dinner. […] Robinson paid no attention.” (90)

„Happiness is not dependent on life’s comforts, on electric lighting or on running water. Our age has made the discovery that it is the escape from the amenities of civilization that can give us true happiness […]. One yearned to turn away from a dripping tap to a running brook, from the electric range to the wooden fire, from city life to the Robinsonade. The most important thing about living like Robinson is to get in touch with nature.“ (4)

“YOU remember the song about the Owl and the Pussy Cat and their beautiful pea-green boat? How they took some honey and plenty of money, wrapped up in a five pound note?
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong tree grows—
And, there in a wood, a piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose—his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
Now I am going to tell you the story of that pig, and why he went to live in the land of the Bong tree.” (19)

“I’ve camped in all parts of the country. Waking up at sunrise was always the most beautiful. The wood cracks softly here and there, the night wind blows through the treetops and the day still sleeps in the forest before the night gives way to it. Nature holds its breath before the great awakening. Then the pale dawn breaks. The first birdsong sounds sleepily and the morning breeze rises, bringing the scent of hay. I never feel the scent of hay without thinking longingly of the tent, of dew on the grass and leaves and of the sun playing on the tent roof.” (19)

“A simple tent will suffice us, which still today means home and hearth to some peoples as it did centuries ago. […]  Even today the prestige of nomadic Bedouin families is measured by the value of their tents, in particular by the length of the very costly ‘flidjis’ and the number of ironwood tent supports, but not least by their ‘khaimas’, tents for assembly. The lonely, vast expanses of Africa correspond to the almost sacred meaning of hospitality to their nomads, and this meaning has naturally been transferred to the ‘khaima’, the guest tent.”

The illustration includes various elements of Crusoe’s island narrative: the palm trees, animals, the fruits he harvests and his hammer as an important tool. By contrast, elements relating to colonialism are absent, such as the cannibals and his servant Man Friday. Robinson Crusoe’s continued influence in China is closely related to adaptations highlighting its spirit of adventure and obscuring the colonialist aspect.

This item has a clear educational function: it offers text in English and Chinese for readers to compare. In addition, the book also provides vocabulary notes and reading comprehension exercises. The exercises are similar to the format of those in a school exam.