I was now in the twenty-third year of my residence in this island, and was so naturalised to the place and the manner of living, that, could I but have enjoyed the certainty that no savages would come to the place to disturb me, I could have been content to have capitulated for spending the rest of my time there, even to the last moment, till I had laid me down and died, like the old goat in the cave.
Correva ora il ventesimo terzo anno da che dimorava in quest’isola, tanto assuefattomi ad essa e alla maniera di vivervi, che, se avessi avuta la certezza che i selvaggi non sarebbero mai venuti a sturbarmi, ben volentieri avrei tolto di passarvi il rimanente de’ miei giorni sino all’ultimo momento in cui mi fossi trascinato da me medesimo a morire, come il vecchio caprone, entro la mia caverna.