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0Episode: Alexander Selkirk: The Real Robinson Crusoe
Subtitle: 亚历山大·塞尔柯克：真实版鲁滨逊
Duration: approximately 9 minutes
Level: B1
PubDate: 2026-10-22
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[Sarah]: Welcome back to Learn English with Podcasts. Today I have a choice for you. You can stay on a ship that you believe will sink, or you can stay alone on an empty island. Which one do you choose?
zh:欢迎回到 Learn English with Podcasts。今天我给你一个选择。你可以留在一艘你相信会沉掉的船上，或者独自留在一座空岛上。你选哪个？
[Mike]: Most of us would stay on the ship. But in 1704, one sailor chose the island. His name was Alexander Selkirk, and he lived there alone for four years and four months.
zh:我们大多数人会留在船上。但在 1704 年，有一名水手选择了那座岛。他叫亚历山大·塞尔柯克，独自在那里生活了四年零四个月。
[Sarah]: Four years alone? Wait, is this the real story behind Robinson Crusoe?
zh:独自四年？等等，这就是《鲁滨逊漂流记》背后的真实故事吗？
[Mike]: Many people believe so. Daniel Defoe published his famous novel in 1719, and the two stories are very close. But the true story has a twist that no novelist would dare to invent.
zh:很多人这么认为。丹尼尔·笛福在 1719 年出版了他那部著名小说，两个故事非常接近。但真实故事里有一个小说家都不敢编的反转。
[Sarah]: Now I am interested. Start with the man. Who was Alexander Selkirk?
zh:这下我感兴趣了。从这个人讲起吧。亚历山大·塞尔柯克是谁？
[Mike]: He was born in 1676 in a small fishing village in Scotland. His father made shoes. Alexander was not a quiet boy. He was loud, stubborn, and quick to argue.
zh:他 1676 年出生在苏格兰一个小渔村。他父亲做鞋。亚历山大不是个安静的孩子。他嗓门大、固执，还很容易跟人吵起来。
[Sarah]: A difficult young man. So he went to sea to find adventure?
zh:一个难搞的年轻人。所以他去海上寻找冒险了？
[Mike]: More or less. But he did not join the navy. He became a privateer. A privateer is a sailor on a private ship with permission from the government to attack and rob enemy ships.
zh:差不多吧。但他没有加入海军。他成了一名私掠船员。私掠船员就是在私人船只上工作，得到政府许可去攻击和抢劫敌船的人。
[Sarah]: So, a legal pirate.
zh:所以，就是合法的海盗。
[Mike]: That is a good way to say it. His enemies were Spanish ships. In 1704, he joined an expedition with two ships, and he sailed on one called the Cinque Ports. It sounds like "sink ports."
zh:这个说法很好。他们的敌人是西班牙船只。1704 年，他加入了一支由两艘船组成的远征队，他在一艘叫"五港号"的船上。发音听起来像"sink ports"。
[Sarah]: That name is a bad sign already.
zh:这名字听着就不吉利。
[Mike]: Very bad. After months at sea, the ship was in terrible shape. Worms had eaten the wood below the water. The captain, Thomas Stradling, wanted to keep going.
zh:非常不吉利。在海上漂了几个月后，这艘船的状况很糟。虫子已经把水线以下的木头蛀坏了。船长托马斯·斯特拉德林还想继续航行。
[Sarah]: And Selkirk said no?
zh:塞尔柯克说不行？
[Mike]: He said the ship would sink. He told the captain in front of the whole crew. They argued. Then Selkirk said something like: I would rather stay on this island than sail in this ship.
zh:他说这艘船会沉。他当着全体船员的面跟船长说了。他们吵了起来。然后塞尔柯克说了类似这样的话：我宁愿留在这座岛上，也不坐这艘船。
[Sarah]: He said that to the captain? That is a very dangerous thing to say.
zh:他跟船长这么说？这话可太危险了。
[Mike]: It was. But here is the thing. He did not really want to stay. He wanted the captain to change his mind. He was using the island as a threat.
zh:是很危险。但关键在于，他其实并不想留下。他是想让船长改变主意。他是拿这座岛来威胁船长。
[Sarah]: And the captain called his bluff.
zh:结果船长不吃他这套。
[Mike]: Exactly. In October 1704, they put him on a small island in the Juan Fernández group, about 600 kilometres off the coast of Chile. He was 28 years old.
zh:没错。1704 年 10 月，他们把他放到胡安·费尔南德斯群岛中的一座小岛上，那里离智利海岸大约 600 公里。他当时 28 岁。
[Sarah]: Did they leave him with anything?
zh:他们给他留了东西吗？
[Mike]: Some clothes, a blanket, a gun, gunpowder, a knife, an axe, a cooking pot, a Bible, and some tobacco. He also had a few tools for navigation.
zh:一些衣服、一条毯子、一把枪、火药、一把刀、一把斧头、一口锅、一本《圣经》和一些烟草。他还有几件导航工具。
[Sarah]: That sounds like a camping list, not a plan for years.
zh:听起来像露营清单，不像能撑几年的计划。
[Mike]: Exactly. He thought a ship would pick him up in weeks. But weeks became months. The island was not empty, though. Earlier sailors had left goats there.
zh:没错。他以为几周内就会有船来接他。但几周变成了几个月。不过岛上并不是空的。更早的水手在那里留下过山羊。
[Sarah]: So he had food. Meat and milk?
zh:所以他有吃的。肉和奶？
[Mike]: Yes, and fish, seals, and some wild plants. But the first months were still terrible. Not because of hunger. Because of fear.
zh:对，还有鱼、海豹和一些野生植物。但最初几个月仍然很糟。不是因为饿，而是因为害怕。
[Sarah]: Fear of what?
zh:怕什么？
[Mike]: Spanish ships. Some ships passed the island, but they were enemy ships. If they found him, they would take him prisoner. So he hid in the trees.
zh:怕西班牙船。有些船经过这座岛，但都是敌船。如果他们发现他，就会把他抓走。所以他躲在树林里。
[Sarah]: Wait. He hid from the ships that could rescue him?
zh:等等。他躲着那些本来能救他的船？
[Mike]: Some of them, yes. Once he lit a fire to signal a ship, and it sailed away without seeing him. He did not know if it was friend or enemy. That uncertainty was worse than hunger.
zh:有些船是的。有一次他点火向一艘船发信号，可那艘船没看见他，开走了。他不知道那是敌是友。那种不确定比饥饿更难熬。
[Sarah]: I can imagine. Alone, afraid, and not knowing who is coming.
zh:我能想象。一个人，害怕，还不知道来的是谁。
[Mike]: Slowly, he learned to live. He built two small huts with wood and grass. He made clothes from goatskin. He used goats for meat and milk, and he tamed cats to sleep near him and keep the rats away.
zh:慢慢地，他学会了生活。他用木头和草搭了两个小棚屋。他用山羊皮做衣服。他靠山羊获取肉和奶，还驯服了猫睡在他旁边，帮他赶走老鼠。
[Sarah]: Cat friends. I like that part.
zh:猫朋友。我喜欢这个细节。
[Mike]: He also lost track of time. He had no calendar. He carved marks on a tree, but he lost count. After a while, he did not know the day or the month.
zh:他还失去了时间感。他没有日历。他在树上刻记号，但后来数不清了。过了一阵子，他不知道今天是几号、几月。
[Sarah]: Four years without knowing the date. That is hard to imagine.
zh:四年不知道日期。这很难想象。
[Mike]: He read his Bible and sang. He said later that the island taught him to be calm. The loud, angry sailor became a quiet man.
zh:他读《圣经》、唱歌。他后来说，那座岛教会了他平静。那个大嗓门、爱生气的水手变成了一个安静的人。
[Sarah]: Okay, but I need to know. What happened to the ship? The one he refused to board?
zh:好，但我得知道。那艘船后来怎么了？就是他拒绝上的那艘。
[Mike]: It sank. The Cinque Ports hit rocks near another island, and most of the men died. Selkirk had been right.
zh:沉了。"五港号"在另一座岛附近触礁，大多数人死了。塞尔柯克说对了。
[Sarah]: So the decision that looked crazy actually saved his life?
zh:所以那个看起来疯狂的决定，其实救了他的命？
[Mike]: Yes. But he did not know that for years. He only knew he was alone.
zh:对。但他很多年都不知道这一点。他只知道自己是孤身一人。
[Sarah]: So how did it end? Did someone finally find him?
zh:那最后怎么结束的？终于有人找到他了吗？
[Mike]: In February 1709, two English ships arrived. This time they were friendly. The sailors came ashore and found a man dressed in goatskins, with long hair and a beard.
zh:1709 年 2 月，两艘英国船到了。这次是友方的船。水手上岸后，发现一个穿着山羊皮、头发和胡子都很长的人。
[Sarah]: Did he run to them?
zh:他跑向他们了吗？
[Mike]: He did. But when he tried to speak, the words felt strange. He had been alone so long that he could hardly speak English clearly. The sailors called him the governor of the island.
zh:跑了。但当他开口时，那些词感觉很陌生。他独自待得太久，英语几乎说不清楚了。水手们叫他"这座岛的总督"。
[Sarah]: That is funny and sad at the same time.
zh:这既好笑又让人难过。
[Mike]: The captain, Woodes Rogers, wrote about him in his journal. Selkirk joined the ship and sailed with them for a while.
zh:船长伍兹·罗杰斯在日记里写到了他。塞尔柯克加入了这艘船，跟他们一起航行了一段时间。
[Sarah]: And then he went home to Scotland?
zh:然后他回苏格兰老家了？
[Mike]: Yes, in 1711. He came back with about 800 pounds, which was a lot of money then. People in his village came to see him and hear his story.
zh:对，1711 年。他带着大约 800 英镑回来，在那时这是一大笔钱。村里的人都来看他、听他的故事。
[Sarah]: So he was a hero at home. That should be a happy ending.
zh:所以他在家乡成了英雄。那应该是个圆满结局。
[Mike]: It should be. But he could not fit into normal life. The village felt too loud and too crowded. He argued with people. He drank too much. He built a small shelter behind his father's house and spent time there alone.
zh:本该如此。但他无法适应正常生活。村子让他觉得太吵、太拥挤。他跟人吵架。他喝得太多。他在父亲房子后面搭了个小棚子，独自待在那里。
[Sarah]: After four years on an island, he chose a small shelter. That is strange.
zh:在岛上待了四年后，他选了一个小棚子。这很奇怪。
[Mike]: It is. A writer named Richard Steele met him and wrote down something he said. Selkirk said: I am now worth 800 pounds, but I shall never be so happy as when I was not worth a farthing.
zh:是很奇怪。一位叫理查德·斯蒂尔的作家见过他，记下了他说的话。塞尔柯克说：我现在有 800 英镑，但我再也不会像身无分文时那样快乐了。
[Sarah]: A farthing? What is that?
zh:farthing 是什么？
[Mike]: A farthing was a very small coin, worth almost nothing. So he was saying: I have money now, but I was happier when I had nothing.
zh:farthing 是一种很小的硬币，几乎不值钱。所以他的意思是：我现在有钱了，但我一无所有时更快乐。
[Sarah]: So the island was not a prison for him. In some way, it was home.
zh:所以那座岛对他不是监狱。某种意义上，那是家。
[Mike]: That is the strange part. He spent years wanting to leave. Then he spent the rest of his life missing it.
zh:奇怪的地方就在这里。他花了好几年想离开。然后用余生怀念它。
[Sarah]: And Defoe? Did he ever say he used Selkirk's story?
zh:那笛福呢？他说过自己用了塞尔柯克的故事吗？
[Mike]: He never said it openly. But the dates, the island, the goatskin clothes, the cats, the years alone—it is too close to be a coincidence.
zh:他从没公开说过。但时间、那座岛、山羊皮衣服、猫、独自度过的那些年——太接近了，不可能是巧合。
[Sarah]: So the most famous castaway in literature was almost a copy of a real man.
zh:所以文学史上最著名的荒岛漂流者，几乎是一个真人的翻版。
[Mike]: A real man who was left behind for being right. And who came home to find that home no longer fit.
zh:一个因为说对了而被留下的人。他回到家，却发现家已经不适合自己了。
[Sarah]: Maybe the island did not trap him. Maybe the world did.
zh:也许困住他的不是那座岛，而是这个世界。
[Mike]: Hmm. That might be why the story still feels modern. Anyway, if you were on that ship, what would you choose? Tell us, and see you next time on Learn English with Podcasts.
zh:嗯。也许这就是这个故事至今仍让人觉得现代的原因。总之，如果你在那艘船上，你会怎么选？告诉我们，我们下期 Learn English with Podcasts 见。
