The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I apprehended; nor was I carried up the country to the emperor’s court, as the rest of our men were, but was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize, and made his slave, being young and nimble, and fit for his business. At this surprising change of my circumstances, from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed; and now I looked back upon my father’s prophetic discourse to me, that I should be miserable and have none to relieve me, which I thought was now so effectually brought to pass that I could not be worse; for now the hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone without redemption; but, alas! this was but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will appear in the sequel of this story.
ROBINSON CAPTIF À ce changement subit decondition, qui, de marchand, me faisait misérable esclave, je fus profondément accablé; je me ressouvins alors du discours prophétique de mon père: que je deviendrais misérable et n'aurais personne pour me secourir; je le crus ainsi tout-à-fait accompli, pensant que je ne pourrais jamais être plus mal, que le bras de Dieu s'était appesanti sur moi, et que j'étais perdu sans ressource. Mais hélas! ce n'était qu'un avant-goût des misères qui devaient me traverser, comme on le verra dans la suite de cette histoire.