Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe leaves home against the advice and blessings of his father and mother, who advise the boy to follow the middle road in life, one filled with neither riches nor poverty. The author quotes Solomon, the biblical prophet, about the wisdom of this lifestyle. One day after setting out, Crusoe experiences his first storm at sea, which shakes his confidence, making Crusoe want to return home:

I saw plainly the goodness of his observations about the middle station of life, how easy, how comfortably he had liv’d all his days, and never been expos’d to tempests at sea, or troubles on shore; and I resolved that I would, like a true repenting Prodigal, go home to my father (5).

When calm seas return the following day, Crusoe’s will to travel returns. Six days later, near Yarmouth, a storm forces the sailors to cut both the foremast and main-mast and causes the ship to founder and sink. Local officials provide enough money to return home or continue to London. Crusoe continues to London, where he meets a captain who offers Crusoe free board to Guinea. Crusoe acquires gold powder in Guinea, which he turns into money upon return in London.