鲁滨逊的故事发生在1659年，彼时中国正是满清入关，清朝顺治统治时期。
这个水手被大海抛到了一个荒岛上，船上的人都死光了，只剩下他自己。
刚到荒岛上时，为了吃住，他不停地忙活着，先找到暂时栖身的地方，把船上的物资分批想办法搬到岛上。
然后就是出于安全考虑，改善自己的住宅。安排好自己每日的食物。
吃住问题暂时解决后，暂时在荒岛上定居下来了，松了一口气，至少目前生命是可以保障了。此时，就开始了胡思乱想，想到自己未来可能终老一生在这荒岛上，远离人群，觉得愁苦无比，觉得上帝既然造了自己来这世上走一遭，为什么还要让自己遭这样的罪。
全是负面的情绪，造成水手泪流满面。
不过他思维很活跃，想到同船的那些伙伴全都葬身海底，自己还活着，觉得老天对自己还是仁慈的，至少给了自己活下去的机会。
所以互相乱想之后，情绪开始稳定下来。
住所建好了，我就想到必须要有一个生火的地方，还得准备些柴来烧。至于我怎样做这件事，怎么扩大石洞，又怎样创造其他一些生活条件，我想以后在适当的时候再详谈。
现在想先略谈谈自己，谈谈自己对生活的看法。在这些方面，你们可以想象，确实有不少感触可以谈的。
我感到自己前景黯淡。由于我被凶猛的风暴刮到这荒岛上，远离原定的航线，远离人类正常的贸易航线有数百海里之遥。我想，这完全是出于天意，让我孤苦伶仃，在凄凉中了却余生了。想到这些，我眼泪不禁夺眶而出。有时我不禁犯疑，苍天为什么要这样作践自己所创造的生灵，害得他如此不幸，如此孤立无援，又如此沮丧寂寞呢！在这样的环境中，有什么理由要我们认为生活于我们是一种恩赐呢？
可是，每天我这样想的时候，立刻又有另一种思想出现在我的脑海里，并责怪我不应有上述这些念头。特别有一天，当我正带枪在海边漫步时，我思考着自己目前的处境。这时，理智从另一方面劝慰我：“的确，你目前形单影只，孑然一身，这是事实。可是，你不想想，你的那些同伴呢？他们到哪里去了？你们一同上船时，不是有十一个人吗？那么，其他十个人到哪儿去了呢？为什么他们死了，唯独留下你一个人还活着呢？是在这孤岛上强呢，还是到他们那儿去好呢？”
说道去他们那儿时，我用手指了指大海，“他们都已葬身大海了！真是，我怎么不想想祸福相倚和祸不单行的道理呢？”这时，我又想到，我目前所拥有的一切，殷实充裕，足以维持温饱。要是那只大船不从触礁的地方浮起来飘近海岸，并让我有时间从船上把一切有用的东西取下来，那我现在的处境又会怎样呢？要知道，像我现在仍像我初上岸时那样一无所有；既没有任何生活必需品，也没有任何可以制造生活必需品的工具，那我现在的情况又会怎样呢？“尤其是，”我大声对自己说，“如果我没有枪，没有*药弹**，没有制造东西的工具，没有衣服穿，没有床睡觉，没有帐篷住，甚至没有任何东西可以遮身，我又该怎么办呢？”可是现在，这些东西我都有，而且相当充足，即使以后*药弹**用尽了，不枪枪我也能活下去。我相信，我这一生决不会受冻挨饿，由于我早就考虑到各种意外，考虑到将来的日子；不但考虑到*药弹**用尽之后的情况，甚至想到我将来体衰力竭之后的日子。
我得承认，在考虑这些问题时，并未想到*药火**会被雷电一下子炸毁的危险；因此雷电交加之际，忽然想到这个危险，着实使我惊恐万状。这件事我前面已经叙述过了。
现在，我要开始过一种寂寞而又忧郁的生活了；这种生活也许在这世界上是前所未闻的。因此，我决定把我生活的情况从头到尾，按时间顺序一一记录下来。我估计，我是九月三十日踏上这可怕的海岛的；当时刚入秋分，太阳差不多正在我头顶上。因此，据我观察，我在北纬九度二十二分的地方。
上岛后约十一二天，我忽然想到，我没有书、笔和墨水，一定会忘记计算日期，甚至连安息日和工作日都会忘记。为了防止发生这种情况，我便用刀子在一根大柱子上用大写字母刻上以下一句句子：“我于一六五九年九月三十日在此上岸。”我把柱子做成一个大十字架，立在我第一次上岸的地方。
另外，我还应该提一下，我从船上搬下来的东西很多，有些东西价值不大，但用处不小可是前面我忘记交代了。我这里特别要提一下那些纸、笔、墨水；船长、大副、炮手和木匠的一些东西，三四个罗盘拉，一些观察和计算仪器拉，日规仪器啦，望远镜啦，地图啦，以及航海书籍之类的东西。当时我不管有没有用，通通收拾起来带上岸。同时，我又找到了三本很好的《圣经》，是随我的英国货物一起运来的。我上船时，把这几本葡萄牙文的书籍，其中有两三本天主教祈祷书和几本别的书籍。因此这些书本我都小心地保存起来。我也不应忘记告诉读者，船上还有一条狗和两只猫。关于它们奇异的经历，我以后在适当的时候还要谈到。我把两只猫都带上岸；至于那条狗，我第一次上船搬东西时，它就泅水跟我上岸了，后来许多年中，它一直是我忠实的仆人。我什么东西也不缺，不必让它帮我猎取什么动物，也不能做我的同伴帮我干什么事，但求能与它说说话，可就连这一点它都办不到。我前面已经提到，我找到了笔、墨水和纸，但我用得非常节约。你们将会看到，只要我有墨水，我可以把一切都如实记载下来，但一旦墨水用完，我就记不成了，由于我想不出有什么方法可以制造墨水。
狗狗
Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely necessary to provide a place to make a fire in, and fuel to burn: and what I did for that, and also how I enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I made, I shall give a full account of in its place; but I must now give some little account of myself, and of my thoughts about living, which, it may well be supposed, were not a few.
I had a dismal prospect of my condition; for as I was not cast away upon that island without being driven, as is said, by a violent storm, quite out of the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, namely, some hundreds of leagues, out of the ordinary course of the trade of mankind, I had great reason to consider it as a determination of Heaven, that in this desolate place, and in this desolate manner, I should end my life. The tears would run plentifully down my face when I made these reflections; and sometimes I would expostulate劝告，告诫with myself why Providence上帝should shus completely ruin His creatures, and render致使 them so absolutely miserable; so without help, abandoned, so entirely depressed, that it could hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life.
But something always returned swift upon me to check these thoughts, and to reprove me; and particularly one day, walking with my gun in my hand by the seaside, I was very pensive沉思的，哀愁的 upon the subject of my present condition, when reason, as it were, expostulated with me the other way, thus: “Well, you are in a desolate condition, it is true; but, pray remember, where are the rest of you这种表达方式值得学习，其余的人呢? Did not you come, eleven of you in the boat? Where are the ten? Why were they not saved, and you lost? Why were you singled out? Is it better to be here or there?’ And then I pointed to the sea. All evils are to be considered with the good that is in them, and with what worse attends them.
Then it occurred to me again, how well I was furnished for my subsistence, and what would have been my case if it had not happened (which was a hundred thousand to one ) that the ship floated from the place where she first struck, and was driven so near to the shore that I had tiem to get all these things out of her; what would have been my case, if I had been forced to have lived in the condition in which I at first came on shore, whitout necessaries of life, or necessaries to supply and procure获取 them? ‘Particularly,’ said I, aloud (though to myself), ‘what should I have done without a gun, without ammunition, without any tools to make anything, or to work with, without clothes, bedding, a tent, or any manner of covering?’ And that now I had all these to sufficient quantity, and was in a fair way to provide myself in such a manner as to live without my gun, when my ammunition was spent: so that I had a tolerable view of subsisting, without any want, as long as I lived; for I considered from the beginning how I would provide for the accident that might happen, and for the time that was to come, even not only after my ammunition should be spent, but even after my health and strength should decay.
I confess I had not entertained any notion of my ammunition being destroyed at one blast – I mean my powder being blown up by lighting; and this made the thoughts of it so surprising to me, when it lightened and thundered, as I observed just now.
And now being about to enter into a melancholy忧郁，多思 relation of a scene of silent life, such, perhaps, as was never heard of in the world before, I shall take it from its beginning, and continue it in its order. It was by my account the 30th of September, when, in the manner as above said, I first set foot upon this horrid island; when the sun, being to us in its autumnal equinox, was almost over my hear; for I reckoned myself, by observation, to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two minutes north of the line.
After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came into my thoughts that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of books, and pen and ink, and should even forget the Sabbath days; but to prevent this, I cut with my knife upon a large post, in capital letters – and making it into a great cross, I set it up on the shore where I first landed – ‘I came on shore here on the 30th September 1659.’ Upon the sides of this square post 1 cut every day a notch with my knife, and every seventh notch was as long again as the rest, and every first day of the month as long again as that long one; and thus I kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning of time.
In the next place, we are to observe that among the many things which I brought out of the ship, in the several voyages which, as above mentioned, I made to it, I got several things of less value, but not at all less useful to me, which I omitted setting down before; as, in particular, pens, ink, and paper, several parcels in the captain’s, mate’s, gunner’s and carpenter’s keeping; three or four compasses, some mathematical instruments, dials, perspectives, charts, and books of navigation, all which I huddled together, whether I might want them or no; also, I found three very good Bibbles, which came to me in my cargo from England, and which I had packed up among my things; some Portuguese books also; and among them two or three Popish prayer-books, and several other books, all which I carefully secured. And I must not forget that we had in the ship a dog and two cats, of whose eminent history I may have occasion to say something in its place; for I carried both the cats with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship of himself, and swam on shore to me the day after I went on shore with my first cargo, and was a trusty servant to me many years; I wanted nothing that he could fetch me, nor any company that he could make up to me; I only wanted to have him talk to me, but that would not do. As I observed before, I found pens, ink, and paper, and I husbanded节约使用them to the utmost; and I shall show that while my ink lasted, I kept things very exact, but after that was gone, I could not, for I could not make any ink by any means that I could devise.
And this put me in mind that I wanted many things notwithstanding all that I had amassed together, and of these, ink was one; as also a spade, pickaxe, and shovel, to dig or remove the earth, needles, pins, and thread; as for linen, I soon learned to want that without much difficulty.