Swiss Family Robinson

For many days our ship had been tossed at sea. The storm raged and raged. Above us, the seamen yelled frantically to each other.

My heart sank as I looked around the cabin at my family. My brave wife was trying to calm the children. Our four sons were filled with terror.

Suddenly I heard a cry. At the same time, the ship struck something! Water poured in on all sides.

Lower the boats! the captain shouted.

I rushed on deck. The last lifeboat was already pushing off! I begged the sailors to wait for us. But it was too late.

After a moment, however, I saw that our position wasn’t as bad as I had thought. The stern, or back of the ship, was jammed between two rocks. The rocks kept the ship from sinking. And through the rain, I could see land!

I returned to my family. Courage, dear ones! I said. Our ship is secure and there is land nearby. We should be able to go ashore tomorrow!

By morning, the storm had passed. I woke the boys. My wife and our youngest son, Franz, fed the animals on board. The rest of us gathered supplies we would need onshore.

We found guns, bullets, tools, and fishhooks. My wife told us there were also some chickens, ducks, geese, and pigeons, and a cow, a donkey, two goats, six sheep, a ram, and a pig on board. And Jack had discovered two friendly dogs!

Excellent, I said. But how will we get everything to shore?

Why can’t we each get into a tub and float there? asked Jack. That’s what I do on our pond at home.

Capital idea! I cried.

We sawed four large barrels in half. I nailed them together into a makeshift boat and added poles to give it balance. The boys brought oars.

We stowed everything that we would need in the tubs. Then we set the ship’s ducks, geese, and pigeons free. We would come back for the rest of the animals later.

My wife sat in the first tub. Franz, who was almost eight years old, sat next to her. Fifteen-year-old Fritz rode behind them. The cargo was in the middle. Then came Jack, eleven, and our second son, Ernest, age thirteen. I stood in the stern.

We cast off and glided into the open sea. We had left the two dogs, Turk and Juno, on board. But when they saw us leave, they jumped overboard and swam behind us.

Soon we could see rocky cliffs and palm trees. The geese and ducks swam toward a small bay. I steered after them.

When we landed, we fell to our knees and gave thanks for our escape. We had no idea what we would find on this island. But we were all alive and on dry land, and for now that was enough.

I selected a large rock to set up camp on. We made a tent from a sailcloth. That night, we drank soup we’d brought from the wreck, using oyster shells as