Chapter 41 - 15: Shipbuilding (Part 2)
The dog usually followed behind him, pushing its head into his drooping palm, lazily wagging its tail while enjoying the petting, as if it had found its backbone.
From morning till night, the big dog was always wandering under Chen Zhou’s watchful eye, and he had pretty much figured out its activity pattern.
Most of the time, the dog slept in the shade, occasionally lying on the deck to sunbathe, and rarely got up.
Its occasional activity was mostly to drive off annoying insects or attack seagulls that attempted to steal the salted meat strips on the ship’s sides.
When it needed to relieve itself, it would run to the bow toilet, squat on the toilet bowl, and defecate into the sea - unclear which bored sailor taught it that.
In any case, Chen Zhou was quite satisfied with this guy.
He hadn’t raised a dog before, but imagined the least worrisome dog would be like this; he couldn’t find any faults with it.
It was affectionate, had a stable temperament, could eat and drink without needing care, was quiet, and even took responsibility for the ship’s "security work."
This dog must have earned the captain and first mate’s favor, or it wouldn’t have been taken out to sea.
Looking at its appearance, it resembled a golden retriever to some extent, but its fur wasn’t as long as a retriever’s, and its coat varied in color intensity over its body. There was a dark brown stripe along its spine, deep yellow at the front shoulders and hindquarters, a lighter color on its chest and sides, and the belly was almost white in color.
Observing its build, its limbs were robust, its back straight, and it had a mane of lush fur around its neck, resembling a lion’s mane.
Observing its actions, it carried itself with pride while patrolling the deck, often raising its tail high, reacting swiftly and decisively when attacking seagulls, with a deep, resonant bark.
It was clear that even if it wasn’t a pedigreed dog, it was an excellent young and strong hunting dog, and combined with its smart head, with a bit of training it could definitely become a good hunting companion.
Chen Zhou long dreamed of "holding a flintlock gun in one hand, lead bullets booming," with a dog at his side.
To bring that dream closer, he even tried communicating with the dog during dinner, attempting to teach it the two basic commands—sit and shake hands.
For convenience, dinner was still cheesy stew paste, with white bread, preserves, and cold boiled water, considered a lavish meal of two dishes and a soup.
Following his idea, Chen Zhou broke bread into pieces while eating and used the commands to lure the big dog to "sit" or "shake hands."
However, the big dog’s eyes were solely fixed on the bread, not in the least bit interested in what Chen Zhou was saying, indifferent to the commands, which left him quite disappointed.
No way around it, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
As a novice in dog raising and training, he didn’t have high hopes, just anticipated that with day-to-day interaction, maybe one day the dog would suddenly get it and understand human language.
Setting aside the dog training, focusing on his meal, Chen Zhou began worrying about the work progress.
According to his schedule, the first day’s task was to cut four framework pieces and use ink to draw lines on the wood surface indicating carving spots; on the second day, he would begin making mortise and tenon joints.
But the current progress was far too slow; after a whole day’s work, he had completed less than half of the goal. Optimistically estimated, building the raft would take at least another five days; if new problems delayed the process, it might take seven or eight days.
Seven or eight days, a third of the safe period.
According to the book, before his raft had even touched the water, Robinson had already made seven or eight trips between the ship and the island, and built a simple house.
Chen Zhou couldn’t help but wonder if what he was doing was right.
The age-old question reappeared in his mind—should he choose the quick way and abandon building the raft?
"What if I tied a safety rope around my waist, practiced swimming hard for five days, and then threw the wood into the sea to be tied together for transporting supplies, would that be better?"
"If so, yesterday’s work results would be wasted, and I would need an extra five days for swimming practice.
Calculating this, I’d have six or seven days less than Robinson, six or seven days less to transport supplies..."
With his elbow resting on the table, palm holding his chin, Chen Zhou seriously considered the pros and cons of the new plan.
While thinking, he almost broke down in tears, realizing not only was his swimming skill poor, but also he couldn’t tie wood with ropes.
Firmly binding round wet wood together was not as simple as tying shoelaces; it required special knot-tying skills.
If the knots weren’t secure and the raft fell apart while rowing, making a new raft would be a minor problem; he wouldn’t be able to retrieve submerged cargo.
Currently, it seemed there was only one way forward, with no other options.
Clearing the dishes, Chen Zhou comforted himself: "Rather than getting confused here, it’s better to boil some water for a relaxing foot soak, and while at it, use the measuring rope and stick to check the water level."
With this in mind, he methodically completed hanging the rope and measuring the water level, then went to the kitchen, lit a firewood flame, and boiled a pot of hot water.
Returning to the first mate’s cabin, lying on the bed waiting for the water to boil, he suddenly thought of giving the big dog a name.
There was a saying in Chen Zhou’s hometown.
Although dogs were spiritual creatures, their fate was thin. If raised without being named, they couldn’t tap into their owner’s luck.
If so, even if the owner’s family was prosperous and blessed, the dog’s weak destiny couldn’t handle it, and it might die untimely.
Only with a name could it be considered a member of the family, sharing in the owner’s fortune and adversity.
Names like Big Yellow, Fat Dog, Tiger, Wangwang, or Huahua, no matter how simple or casual, represented the owner’s acknowledgment of it.