9.8 我是予規連紲 ê 奇蹟飼活 ê

9.8  Góa sī hō͘ kui liân-sòa ê kî-chek chhī oa̍h ê

Kō͘ chiah-ê hoán-séng, hō͘ góa kian-tēng sìn-liām, m̄-nā chiap-siū Sîn an-pâi hō͘ góa ê hiān-chōng, sīm-chì sêng-sim kám-siā chit-ê chōng-hóng. Kàu-taⁿ góa iáu oa̍h tio̍h, bô in-ūi góa ê chōe-kò siū tio̍h têng-hoa̍t, góa bô eng-kai bâi-oàn. Góa tit-tio̍h chē-chē bô lí-iû kî-bōng tit-tio̍h ê liân-bín, góa bô eng-kai put-boán ka-tī ê chōng-hóng, eng-kai kám-kak hoaⁿ-hí, tio̍h kám-un ta̍k-kang ū pháng chia̍h, he sī thàu-kòe chē-chē kî-chek chiah ū ê. Góa tio̍h án-ne siūⁿ, tō ná chhiūⁿ Elijah hō͘ o͘-a chhī oa̍h kāng-khoán, góa mā sī kî-chek chhī oa̍h ê, m̄-tio̍h, góa sī hō͘ kui liân-sòa ê kî-chek chhī oa̍h ê. Tī sè-kài bô tòa lâng ê só͘-chāi, bô chi̍t-ūi pí taⁿ chit-ūi tùi góa koh-khah iú-lī. Tī chit só͘-chāi, sui-bóng bô lâng-phōaⁿ, hō͘ góa khùn-khó͘, tān-sī chia bô chia̍h-lâng ê iá-siù, bô hiong-béng ê chhâi-lông a̍h lāu-hó͘ ui-hia̍p góa ê sèⁿ-miā, bô tài to̍k ê oa̍h-bu̍t a̍h si̍t-bu̍t, hō͘ góa chia̍h-liáu tiòng-to̍k, bô chheⁿ-hoan ē thâi góa, chia̍h góa. 

Chóng-kóng, góa ê seng-oa̍h chi̍t hong-bīn sī pi-chhám, lēng hong-bīn khiok sī tit-thiàⁿ ê seng-oa̍h; góa bô kî-kiû jīm-hô hō͘ seng-oa̍h phok-sóng ê mi̍h, kan-ta hi-bāng ka-tī ē-hiáu kám-un Sîn tùi góa ê un-hūi, tùi góa ê chiàu-kò͘, hō͘ góa sî-sî tit-tio̍h an-ùi. Chū-chiông góa tùi tāi-chì chò sek-tòng ê kái-chìn, góa tō khòaⁿ-khui, bô koh pi-siong. Góa í-keng lâi chia chin kú, chin chē chah chiūⁿ-hōaⁿ ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ, m̄-sī iōng oân, tō sī thó-chè khì, a̍h tit-boeh pháiⁿ-khì ah. 

Thâu-chêng kóng-kòe, góa ê ba̍k-chúi chá tō iōng liáu ah, kan-ta chhun chi̍t-sut-á, góa chi̍t-tiám-á chi̍t-tiám ke chúi bóng iōng, it-ti̍t kàu pe̍h chhi-chhi, kiông boeh tī chóa téng khòaⁿ-bô jī-jiah. Chí-iàu i iáu ū, góa tō iōng he lâi kì-chài ta̍k-kò goe̍h tiong, tùi góa hoat-seng te̍k-sû sū-kiāⁿ hit kúi-kang. Hian tha̍k kòe-khì ê ji̍t-kì, góa hoat-hiān, góa tú-tio̍h ê kok-chióng sū-kò͘, tī ji̍t-kî siōng ū bó͘-chióng khá-ha̍p; ká-sú góa bê-sìn, siong-sìn ji̍t-chí ū hiong-kiat, góa tiāⁿ-tio̍h ū lí-iû kō͘ tōa-tōa ê hòⁿ-kî lâi khòaⁿ-thāi che.

Siú-sian, góa chù-ì tio̍h, góa lī-khui lāu-pē hām pêng-iú, cháu khì Hull chhut-hái hit-kang [9 goe̍h 30], āu-lâi mā tú-hó sī kāng hit-kang, góa hō͘ Sallee hái-chha̍t chûn lia̍h-khì, chiâⁿ-chò lô͘-lē. Góa tô-chhut tī Yarmouth Roads ê chûn-lān hit-kang, mā tú-hó hām góa chē sam-pán-á tô-lī Sallee hit-kang kāng ji̍t-chí. Góa ê seⁿ-ji̍t -- its 9 goe̍h 30, chiàⁿ-chiàⁿ sī 26 nî āu kāng hit-ji̍t, góa ê sèⁿ-miā tit-kiù, chiūⁿ-hōaⁿ lâi-kàu chit-ê hong-tó. Ē-sái kóng, góa chōe-kò ê seng-oa̍h hām góa ko͘-to̍k ê seng-oa̍h lóng khai-sí tī kāng chi̍t-kang.

Tî-liáu ba̍k-chúi iōng-liáu, koh-lâi, góa ê pháng -- its ùi chûn-téng chah-lo̍h ê piáⁿ, mā chia̍h liáu ah. Che góa chia̍h kah chin khiām, chi̍t-kang chi̍t-tè, thâu-bóe chia̍h chi̍t-nî gōa, koh-lâi chiong-kīn chi̍t-nî góa bô pháng thang chia̍h, it-ti̍t kàu góa ū ka-tī chèng ê chhek-á. Chin hó ê lí-iû góa tio̍h kám-un chiah-ê, thâu-chêng kóng-kòe, che sī kî-chek tiong ê kî-chek.

Góa ê saⁿ-khò͘ mā khai-sí àu, lāi saⁿ-khò͘ sī í-keng chin kú bô chhēng ah, kan-ta ū chi̍t-kóa ùi kî-thaⁿ chúi-chhiú siuⁿ-á chhōe tio̍h ê keh-á siatchuh, chiah-ê góa chin khioh-sioh kā pó-chûn, in-ūi tī chia, tî-liáu siatchuh, pa̍t-khoán saⁿ góa chhēng bē ha̍h. Chin hó ka-chài, tī chûn-téng ê cha-po͘-lâng saⁿ tiong-kan, ū tāi-iok saⁿ-táⁿ siatchuh. Khak-si̍t, kî-tiong mā ū kúi-niá chúi-chhiú ti̍t-pan chhēng ê kāu gōa-thò, m̄-koh he chhēng khí-lâi siuⁿ joa̍h. Sui-bóng chia ê thiⁿ-khì sio-joa̍h, ē-sái-tit bián chhēng saⁿ, m̄-koh góa bē-sái chhiah-sin lō͘-thé -- bē-sái, sui-bóng góa bat án-ne siūⁿ, m̄-koh góa bē án-ne chò -- góa mā bē chiap-siū chhiah-sin ê siūⁿ-hoat, sui-jiân tī chia kan-ta góa chi̍t-lâng.

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9.8 我是予規連紲 ê 奇蹟飼活 ê

Kō͘ chiah-ê 反省, 予我堅定信念, 毋但接受神安排予我 ê 現狀, 甚至誠心感謝這个狀況. 到今我猶活著, 無因為我 ê 罪過受著懲罰, 我無應該埋怨. 我得著濟濟無理由期望得著 ê 憐憫, 我無應該不滿家己 ê 狀況, 應該感覺歡喜, 著感恩逐工有 pháng 食, 彼是透過濟濟奇蹟才有 ê. 我著 án-ne 想, tō ná 像 Elijah 予烏鴉飼活仝款, 我 mā 是奇蹟飼活 ê, 毋著, 我是予規連紲 ê 奇蹟飼活 ê. Tī 世界無蹛人 ê 所在, 無一位比今這位對我閣較有利. Tī 這所在, 雖罔無人伴, 予我困苦, 但是 chia 無食人 ê 野獸, 無兇猛 ê 豺狼 a̍h 老虎威脅我 ê 性命, 無帶毒 ê 活物 a̍h 植物, 予我食了中毒, 無生番會刣我, 食我. 

總講, 我 ê 生活一方面是悲慘, 另方面卻是得疼 ê 生活; 我無祈求任何予生活博爽 ê mi̍h, 干焦希望家己會曉感恩神對我 ê 恩惠, 對我 ê 照顧, 予我時時得著安慰. 自從我對代誌做適當 ê 改進, 我 tō 看開, 無 koh 悲傷. 我已經來 chia 真久, 真濟扎上岸 ê 物件, 毋是用完, tō 是討債去, a̍h 得欲歹去 ah. 

頭前講過, 我 ê 墨水早 tō 用了 ah, 干焦賰一屑仔, 我一點仔一點加水罔用, 一直到白 chhi-chhi, 強欲 tī 紙頂看無字跡. 只要伊猶有, 我 tō 用 he 來記載逐個月中, 對我發生特殊事件彼幾工. 掀讀過去 ê 日記, 我發現, 我拄著 ê 各種事故, tī 日期上有某種巧合; 假使我迷信, 相信日子有凶吉, 我定著有理由 kō͘ 大大 ê 好奇來看待這.

首先, 我注意著, 我離開老爸和朋友, 走去 Hull 出海彼工 [9 月 30], 後來 mā 拄好是仝彼工, 我予 Sallee 海賊船掠去, 成做奴隸. 我逃出 tī Yarmouth Roads ê 船難彼工, mā 拄好和我坐舢舨仔逃離 Sallee 彼工仝日子. 我 ê 生日 -- its 9 月 30, 正正是 26 年後仝彼日, 我 ê 性命得救, 上岸來到這个荒島. 會使講, 我罪過 ê 生活和我孤獨 ê 生活 lóng 開始 tī 仝一工.

除了墨水用了, 閣來, 我 ê pháng -- its ùi 船頂扎落 ê 餅, mā 食了 ah. 這我食 kah 真儉, 一工一塊, 頭尾食一年外, 閣來將近一年我無 pháng thang 食, 一直到我有家己種 ê 粟仔. 真好 ê 理由我著感恩 chiah-ê, 頭前講過, 這是奇蹟中 ê 奇蹟.

我 ê 衫褲 mā 開始漚, 內衫褲是已經真久無穿 ah, 干焦有一寡 ùi 其他水手箱仔揣著 ê 格仔 siatchuh, chiah-ê 我真抾惜 kā 保存, 因為 tī chia, 除了 siatchuh, 別款衫我穿袂合. 真好佳哉, tī 船頂 ê 查埔人衫中間, 有大約三打 siatchuh. 確實, 其中 mā 有幾領水手值班穿 ê 厚外套, m̄-koh he 穿起來 siuⁿ 熱. 雖罔 chia ê 天氣燒熱, 會使得免穿衫, m̄-koh 我袂使赤身露體 -- 袂使, 雖罔我 bat án-ne 想, m̄-koh 我袂 án-ne 做 -- 我 mā 袂接受赤身 ê 想法, 雖然 tī chia 干焦我一人.

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9.8

With these reflections I worked my mind up, not only to a resignation to the will of God in the present disposition of my circumstances, but even to a sincere thankfulness for my condition; and that I, who was yet a living man, ought not to complain, seeing I had not the due punishment of my sins; that I enjoyed so many mercies which I had no reason to have expected in that place; that I ought never more to repine at my condition, but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks for that daily bread, which nothing but a crowd of wonders could have brought; that I ought to consider I had been fed even by a miracle, even as great as that of feeding Elijah by ravens, nay, by a long series of miracles; and that I could hardly have named a place in the uninhabitable part of the world where I could have been cast more to my advantage; a place where, as I had no society, which was my affliction on one hand, so I found no ravenous beasts, no furious wolves or tigers, to threaten my life; no venomous creatures, or poisons, which I might feed on to my hurt; no savages to murder and devour me. /

In a word, as my life was a life of sorrow one way, so it was a life of mercy another; and I wanted nothing to make it a life of comfort but to be able to make my sense of God’s goodness to me, and care over me in this condition, be my daily consolation; and after I did make a just improvement on these things, I went away, and was no more sad. I had now been here so long that many things which I had brought on shore for my help were either quite gone, or very much wasted and near spent.

My ink, as I observed, had been gone some time, all but a very little, which I eked out with water, a little and a little, till it was so pale, it scarce left any appearance of black upon the paper. As long as it lasted I made use of it to minute down the days of the month on which any remarkable thing happened to me; and first, by casting up times past, I remembered that there was a strange concurrence of days in the various providences which befell me, and which, if I had been superstitiously inclined to observe days as fatal or fortunate, I might have had reason to have looked upon with a great deal of curiosity.

First, I had observed that the same day that I broke away from my father and friends and ran away to Hull, in order to go to sea, the same day afterwards I was taken by the Sallee man-of-war, and made a slave; the same day of the year that I escaped out of the wreck of that ship in Yarmouth Roads, that same day-year afterwards I made my escape from Sallee in a boat; the same day of the year I was born on—viz. the 30th of September, that same day I had my life so miraculously saved twenty-six years after, when I was cast on shore in this island; so that my wicked life and my solitary life began both on a day.

The next thing to my ink being wasted was that of my bread—I mean the biscuit which I brought out of the ship; this I had husbanded to the last degree, allowing myself but one cake of bread a-day for above a year; and yet I was quite without bread for near a year before I got any corn of my own, and great reason I had to be thankful that I had any at all, the getting it being, as has been already observed, next to miraculous.

My clothes, too, began to decay; as to linen, I had had none a good while, except some chequered shirts which I found in the chests of the other seamen, and which I carefully preserved; because many times I could bear no other clothes on but a shirt; and it was a very great help to me that I had, among all the men’s clothes of the ship, almost three dozen of shirts. There were also, indeed, several thick watch-coats of the seamen’s which were left, but they were too hot to wear; and though it is true that the weather was so violently hot that there was no need of clothes, yet I could not go quite naked—no, though I had been inclined to it, which I was not—nor could I abide the thought of it, though I was alone. /

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