I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family. My father was a foreigner from Bremen, who got a good fortune as a merchant and, leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York. There he married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson. For them I was called Robinson Kreutznaer, but our neighbors pronounced our name Crusoe, and so my companions have always called me. I had two elder brothers. One was killed in battle against the Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never knew, just as my father and mother never knew what became of me. Being the third son, my head was filled early with rambling thoughts. My father, who was very ancient, intended me to be a lawyer, but I was satisfied with nothing but going to sea. My inclination to this led me strongly against the commands of my father and against all the pleas of my mother and friends. There seemed to be something in my nature that led me directly into a life of misery. My father, a wise man, gave me excellent advice. He called me one morning into his room and asked me what reasons I had for leaving my home and country, where I had the prospect of raising my fortune and living a life of ease and pleasure. He told me that mine was the middle station in life, which he had found by long experience was the best suited to happiness. This was the state that other people envied, between the low and the high, and that a wise man had said as much when he prayed to have neither poverty nor riches.