Robinson Crusoe - Friday's Education

AFTER I had been two or three days returned to my castle, I thought
that, in order to bring Friday off from his horrid way of feeding,
and from the relish of a cannibal's stomach, I ought to let him
taste other flesh; so I took him out with me one morning to the
woods.

I went, indeed, intending to kill a kid out of my own
flock; and bring it home and dress it; but as I was going I saw a
she-goat lying down in the shade, and two young kids sitting by
her. I catched hold of Friday. "Hold," said I, "stand still;" and
made signs to him not to stir: immediately I presented my piece,
shot, and killed one of the kids. The poor creature, who had at a
distance, indeed, seen me kill the savage, his enemy, but did not
know, nor could imagine how it was done, was sensibly surprised,
trembled, and shook, and looked so amazed that I thought he would
have sunk down.

He did not see the kid I shot at, or perceive I
had killed it, but ripped up his waistcoat to feel whether he was
not wounded; and, as I found presently, thought I was resolved to
kill him: for he came and kneeled down to me, and embracing my
knees, said a great many things I did not understand; but I could
easily see the meaning was to pray me not to kill him.

I soon found a way to convince him that I would do him no harm; and
taking him up by the hand, laughed at him, and pointing to the kid
which I had killed, beckoned to him to run and fetch it, which he
did: and while he was wondering, and looking to see how the
creature was killed, I loaded my gun again. By-and-by I saw a
great fowl, like a hawk, sitting upon a tree within shot; so, to
let Friday understand a little what I would do, I called him to me
again, pointed at the fowl, which was indeed a parrot, though I
thought it had been a hawk; I say, pointing to the parrot, and to
my gun, and to the ground under the parrot, to let him see I would
make it fall, I made him understand that I would shoot and kill
that bird; accordingly, I fired, and bade him look, and immediately
he saw the parrot fall.

He stood like one frightened again,
notwithstanding all I had said to him; and I found he was the more
amazed, because he did not see me put anything into the gun, but
thought that there must be some wonderful fund of death and
destruction in that thing, able to kill man, beast, bird, or
anything near or far off; and the astonishment this created in him
was such as could not wear off for a long time; and I believe, if I
would have let him, he would have worshipped me and my gun