Chapter 1

In 1632, I was born into an upper-class family in York. We are not locals. His father is from Bremen, Germany. After he immigrated to England, he first lived in Hull, made a fortune in business, and then closed the business. Finally, he moved to York and married my mother there. My mother’s maiden name was Robinson, and she was from a prominent local family, so she named me Robinson Kreuzner. Because when the British read the German surname "Kreuzner", their pronunciation changed. As a result, everyone called us "Kreuzner", and even we called ourselves that.

That’s it. So, my friends call me Crosso.

I have two brothers. The eldest brother is a lieutenant colonel in the British infantry regiment in Flanders. The famous Colonel Lockhart once

led this force. The eldest brother was killed fighting the Spanish near Dunkirk. As for the whereabouts of my second brother, I still know nothing about it, just like my parents have no idea about my subsequent situation.

I am the youngest son in my family. My parents did not let me learn the craft of making a living, so I just liked to think wildly from an early age and wanted to travel overseas. At that time, my father was already old, but he still gave me a pretty good education. He once sent me to boarding school and also let me go to a free school to receive compulsory rural education. He wholeheartedly wanted me to study law in the future. But I wasn't interested in anything, I just wanted to sail.

I completely ignored my father's wishes, even disobeyed my father's orders, and completely ignored my mother's pleas and my friends' dissuasion.

This nature of mine seems to have destined me to an unfortunate fate in the future.

My father is smart and cautious. He foresaw that my intentions would inevitably bring me misfortune, so he often enlightened me seriously and gave me a lot of useful advice. One morning, he called me into his bedroom;

Because, at that time, he had a gout attack and had difficulty moving. He advised me very earnestly. He asked me, apart from satisfying my wanderlust, what reason did I have to abandon my parents and my hometown? In my hometown, I can be recommended by others and establish myself in society. If I work hard, I will be able to make a fortune and live a comfortable and happy life in the future. He told me that people who generally go abroad for adventure are either penniless or want to get rich suddenly; they are ambitious and want to become famous in the world with extraordinary undertakings. But for me

it is neither worth it nor necessary. As far as my social status is concerned, it is right in between the two, which is generally called the middle position. Judging from his long-term experience, this is the best class in the world, and this middle status also makes people the happiest. They neither have to engage in hard physical labor like the lower class people and live a life of poverty; nor do they have to be exhausted mentally and physically like those in the upper class due to arrogance, ambition and mutual strife.

He said, I myself can realize from the following facts that life in the middle position is indeed extremely happy; this is that

Everyone envies this position, and many emperors Lamenting the unfortunate consequences that their noble birth brought to them,

I wish I was born in the middle class between the poor and the noble. Wise people also prove that people in the middle class can achieve real happiness. The wise men in the Bible also prayed: "Make me neither poor nor rich."

He reminded me that as long as we observe carefully, we will find that people in both upper and lower classes are prone to disasters. There are many difficulties, but the middle class has the least disasters. The life of the middle class will not be as rapid as the ups and downs of the upper and lower classes.

Moreover, those in the middle position will not become physically and mentally ill as a result of extravagant spending and corruption like the rich; nor will they become haggard like the poor due to toiling all day long and lack of food and clothing. Only people in the middle position can enjoy all the happiness and comfort in the world. The average person leads a stable and prosperous life all year round. Moderation is enough,

Moderate self-denial, health and peace, friends and entertainment, and all kinds of fun in life are the blessings of the average person.

This kind of lifestyle makes people calm and happy, and they can live their whole life contentedly without the pain of hard work. They

neither have to work hard for their daily livelihood, or be forced by difficult circumstances, which may cause harm to their bodies and minds; nor will they be irritated by jealousy,

or be irritated by the desire for gain. disturbed. People in the middle class can spend their lives peacefully and fully appreciate the sweetness of life without any hardships or hardships; they feel happy, and as time goes by, they appreciate it more and more deeply

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You will find this kind of happiness.

Then, he advised me in a sincere and loving manner not to be childish and not to rush to ask for trouble; In terms of family background, I will not suffer hardships. He said,

I don’t have to worry about my daily livelihood. He will make all arrangements for me and will try his best to let me live the middle-class life mentioned above

. If I cannot live an easy and happy life on earth, it is entirely due to my fate

or my own fault, and he has done his part. Because he saw that the action I was about to take would definitely bring suffering to myself, so he gave me advice. All in all, he promised that if I listened to him

and stayed at home with peace of mind, he would try his best to make arrangements for me. He never allowed me to travel far away from home. If

I encounter any misfortune in the future, then don't blame him. At the end of the conversation, he added that I should learn from my elder brother. He once also earnestly advised his eldest brother not to go to Flanders to fight, but the eldest brother did not listen to his advice.

At that time, he was young and energetic, and determined to serve in the army, but he died on the battlefield. He

also told me that of course he would always pray for me, but if I insisted on taking such stupid actions, then,

He dared to say that God would not bless me. I. I will regret not heeding his advice in the future when I am unable to call for help.

Thinking about it afterwards, these last few words of my father became a prophecy for my subsequent encounters; of course I believe that my father himself may not have been aware of this foresight at the time. I noticed that when my father said these words, he burst into tears

especially when he talked about my elder brother’s corpse on the battlefield, and when he talked about how I would regret having no way to call for help in the future

He was so sad that he had to interrupt his conversation. Finally, he told me that he was so worried that he couldn't speak.

He went away.

I was deeply moved by this conversation. Really, who would remain indifferent after hearing such words? I decided not to think about going abroad any more, but to obey my father's wishes and stay at home with peace of mind. But, my God! After only a few days,

I threw my determination out of the window. Simply put, I stayed away from my father for weeks after that conversation in order to prevent him from getting back to me. However, I didn't act in a hurry, like I did when I was hot-headed like I did before. Instead, I waited for my mother to find her when she was in a better mood. I told her that all I wanted to do was go out and see the world, and I didn't want to do anything else. Father had better promise me, so as not to force me to run away privately. I said, I am already eighteen years old, and it is too late to become an apprentice or a lawyer's assistant. Moreover, I absolutely believe that even if I become an apprentice or an assistant, I will definitely escape from my master and go sailing before I can become a master.

If she can go to my father to intercede for me and get him to allow me to take a boat trip overseas, if I feel that I don't like sailing when I get home, I will work harder to make up for what I have done

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Waste of time.

My mother lost her temper after hearing what I said. She told me that she knew there was no point in telling her father such things. My father is very aware of the stakes in this matter for me and will never allow me to do anything that would harm myself.

She also said that my father's conversation with me was so thoughtful and seductive, yet I actually wanted to travel far away from home, which

was really difficult for her to understand. She said, all in all, if I insist on finding a way out, no one will help me.

She wanted me to believe that neither my mother nor my father would agree to my overseas voyage, so if I destroyed myself, it would have nothing to do with her, lest I say later that my father did not agree at that time. Yes, but my mother agreed.

Although my mother refused my request in person and expressed her unwillingness to convey my words to my father, I heard afterwards that she still told my father exactly what we had said. . My father was deeply worried after hearing this. He sighed to his mother and said that if the child could stay at home, he might be very happy; but if he went overseas, he would become the most unfortunate person in the world. Therefore, no matter what he says, he cannot allow me to go out.

After a year, I finally ran away from home. During this year, although my family suggested many times

that I go do something serious, I just He is stubborn and refuses to listen. Instead, he always pesters his parents, asking them not to oppose his children's wishes like that. One day I came to Hull by chance. At that time, I had no idea of ??running away privately. But there I met a friend. He said he would go to London on his father's ship,

and encouraged me to go with them. He told me, in the usual seaman's way of enticing sailors, that I would not have to pay the ship's dues. At this time, I neither consulted my parents nor sent them a message. I thought they would hear the news sooner or later after I left. At the same time, without praying to God or asking my father to bless me, without even considering the circumstances and future consequences, I boarded a ship bound for London. The time is September 1, 1651.

Who knew this was an evil hour! I believe that no young person who goes out to take risks will be unlucky as soon as I go out, and it will be difficult to get rid of it for such a long time. As soon as our boat sailed out of the Gangbier River, a strong wind blew. The wind helped the waves, which was really scary. Because it was my first time to go to sea, I felt terribly sad and

fearful to death. At this point, I began to regret what I had done. I am an unfilial son who abandoned my parents and failed to fulfill my vocation. God punished me so quickly. It is really just and fair.

At this time, my parents’ advice, my father’s tears and my mother’s prayers all came to my mind. After all, my conscience was not exhausted, and I couldn't help but condemn myself: I should not have ignored other people's advice and abandoned my vocation to God and my father.

At this time, the storm was getting stronger and stronger, the sea was turbulent, and the waves were huge. I've never seen this before.

But compared to the roaring sea that I saw many times later, it really pales into insignificance; even the scene I saw after a few days

cannot be compared to the roaring sea that I saw many times later. compared to. However, at that time, for me, a young man who was sailing for the first time, it was enough to scare me because I knew nothing about sailing. I feel that the River Humber, also known as

The Humber, originates in central England and flows into the North Sea.

The waves will swallow us up at any time. Every time our boat falls into a vortex, I think we will capsize and sink to the bottom of the sea at any time and never float again.

In this panic-stricken mood, I swore again and again and made countless determinations: If God spares my life during this voyage, he only needs to let me set foot on it. On land, I

will immediately return to my father and never go to sea by boat again in this life. I will follow my father's advice and never look for trouble again. At the same time, I also realized that my father’s views on middle-class life were indeed true. Take my father for example. He lived a peaceful and comfortable life. He never encountered strong winds and waves at sea, nor hardships on land. I determined that I would return home like a truly prodigal son, and return to my father's side.

These wise and sober thoughts have been swirling in my mind during the storm and even for a short time after it stopped. On the second day, the storm passed and the sea became much calmer. I began to get used to life at sea. But I was still looking gloomy all day long; plus I was a little seasick, which made me even less energetic.

In the evening, the weather cleared up completely and the wind stopped completely, followed by a beautiful and lovely golden dusk.

The weather was clear that night and the next morning, and the sunset and sunrise looked exceptionally beautiful. At this time, the sun shines on the calm sea, which is refreshing and refreshing. It was a beauty I had never seen before.

I slept soundly that night, so I no longer felt seasick the next day and felt refreshed. Looking at the sea that was still roaring the day before, it is really incredible that it is so calm and soft all of a sudden. The friend who had lured me on board came to see me lest I should really make up my mind to never sail again. "Hey, Bob," he patted me on the shoulder and said, "How do you feel now? I said, if there was a little breeze that night, it would definitely scare you.

"You said it was a little breeze?" I said, "That was a terrible storm!" "You idiot," he replied. Is that called a storm? That doesn't matter! As long as the boat is stable and the sea is wide, we don't care about a little wind like this. Of course, it's your first time to go to sea, Bob. Come on,

let's have a bowl of sweet wine and forget all about it! Look, the weather is so nice! "I don't want to describe this sad incident in detail.

To put it simply, we followed the lifestyle of ordinary sailors and made liqueur, and I was very drunk.

That night, I drank as much as I could and threw all my regrets and introspections about my past actions, as well as my determination for the future, out of my mind. In short, after the storm passed, the sea was as calm as a mirror. The chaotic thoughts in my mind were also swept away. The fear of being swallowed by the sea also disappeared. I am passionate about sailing.

Hai’s desire came to mind again. I forgot all about the determination I made in times of crisis and the vows I made.

Sometimes, I also find that those confessions and determinations come back to my mind from time to time. But I tried my best to get rid of it