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XII . My Man Friday One night I had a strange dream . I saw two canoes come to the beach with eleven men and a prisoner . The prisoner broke away and ran into the little wood in front of my castle . I helped him to hide , and he became my friend and servant . Then I woke up . After this dream I wanted to save a prisoner more than anything . Such a man could show me the way to the mainland . About a year and a half later I saw five canoes on the beach on my side of the island . I went up my hill with my telescope and watched . About thirty men were dancing round a fire . Then they pulled two prisoners out of a canoe . They struck one of them at once with a heavy wooden club , and he fell . The other prisoner suddenly broke free and ran along the sand . He was running straight towards my castle . Three men ran after him . Between them and my castle there was a creek , a narrow arm of the sea . The tide was high , so it was deep . The prisoner swam across it very quickly . Two of the men swam after him , but the third could not swim and went back . “ Now is the time , ” I said to myself . “ I must save this poor man’s life . ” I ran down the hill with my two guns . I came between the prisoner and the two men . I knocked the first man down with the end of my gun . The second lifted his bow to shoot me , so I fired , and he fell to the ground . The poor prisoner was more frightened of my gun than of the other men . He stood still and shook with fear . I smiled at him and made signs to him to come near . He came slowly , stopping every few steps . At last he knelt down and put his head on the ground . Then he took my foot and set it on his head . I understood that he wanted to be my servant for the rest of his life . The first man got up again . The prisoner pointed to my sword and made signs . I gave it to him , and with one blow he ended the fight . Then he came back to me , laughing , and gave me my sword . He buried the two bodies in the sand so that the others would not find them . I took him to my cave and gave him bread , raisins and water . He was so tired that he fell asleep at once . He was a tall , handsome young man of about twenty - six . He had a kind , open face , long black hair and bright , dark eyes . It was a Friday when I saved his life , so I called him Friday . I taught him to say “ Master ” , and I told him that this was my name . In those days , like every man of my country , I thought that this was right and natural . I also thought that my ways were always better than his ways .
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