8 Something Worse than the Night

CHAPTER 8 Something Worse than the Night The next morning, the Darling children were

第八章比夜晚更糟糕的事情第二天早上，达林的孩子们都很害怕

measured for their trees. Hook, if you recall, thought it silly to have one tree for each lost boy, but it actually made a great deal of sense. Each different-size boy had a door that fit him as perfectly as a tailored suit. This way, they could all enter the cave at once, without having to wait in line. More important, no other body except each lost boy's exact body could fit in that particular tree. This was especially helpful in case of sneak pirate attacks! After a few days' practice, the Darling children became very quick and graceful about using their trees. To enter the cave, they sucked their breath in, and down they went at exactly the right speed. To rise, they sucked in and blew out and so wiggled up. They also grew to love their new underground home. It was simple and sweet, a bit like camping. Even Wendy stayed there now. It was lonely in her own house, and this felt so much more like a real family. The cave was one large,

测量他们的树木。如果你还记得的话，胡克觉得每个失踪的孩子都有一棵树很傻，但实际上这很有意义。 每一个不同体型的男孩都有一扇门适合他，就像一套量身定做的西装一样完美。 这样，他们就可以同时进入洞穴，而不必排队等候。 更重要的是，除了每个失踪男孩的尸体，没有其他人的尸体可以放在那棵特别的树上。 这在海盗偷袭的情况下特别有用！经过几天的练习，达林家的孩子们在使用他们的树方面变得非常敏捷和优雅。 为了进入洞穴，他们吸了一口气，然后以恰到好处的速度往下走。 为了上升，它们被吸进去，又被吹出来，然后摆动起来。 他们也逐渐爱上了他们的地下新家。 它简单而甜蜜，有点像露营。 现在连温迪也呆在那儿。 她在自己的房子里很孤独，而这里感觉更像一个真正的家。 洞穴很大，

cozy room with a floor made of dirt. The boys used mushrooms as chairs and a sawed-off tree trunk as a table. There was one big bed, on which all the boys (except Michael) slept, packed in like sardines in a tin. Because space was so tight, there was a strict rule against turning around until one boy gave the signal, and then everyone had to turn at once. Michael could have slept in the bed, too— there was always room in Neverland for one more—but he was the littlest and Wendy liked to pretend that he was her baby, so she hung him in a basket next to her bed. Her pet wolf, who followed her everywhere, slept on the floor, guarding them both. Tinker Bell also lived in the cave, in a tiny space carved into the wall, no larger than a bird cage. Over the entrance to her room hung a curtain that she could pull shut when she wanted privacy. Small as it was, Tink's room was the

舒适的房间，地板是泥土做的。 男孩们用蘑菇当椅子，用锯下来的树干当桌子。 有一张大床，所有的男孩（除了迈克尔）都睡在上面，像罐头里的沙丁鱼一样挤在一起。 因为空间太紧了，所以有一条严格的规定，除非有一个男孩发出信号，否则不能转身，然后每个人都必须立即转身。 迈克尔本来也可以睡在床上的——永无乡总是有地方容得下一个人的——但是他最小，温迪喜欢把他当作她的孩子，所以她把他挂在床边的篮子里。 她的宠物狼，无论到哪里都跟着她，睡在地板上，守护着他们俩。 小叮当也住在山洞里，住在墙上雕成的一个比鸟笼还小的空间里。 在她房间的入口处挂着一幅窗帘，当她想要独处的时候，她可以拉上窗帘。 叮叮铃的房间虽小，却是最美丽的

fanciest part of the whole cave, filled with the finest fabrics, soft tiny bedspreads, and delicately carved antique furniture. "Your house may be bigger," Tinker Bell informed Wendy, "but mine is better." Still, Wendy had bigger concerns than whether Tink's house was better. The boys kept her so busy, cooking and cleaning and sewing, that weeks would sometimes go by before she left the cave and saw daylight. It makes one long for the old single life, she thought wistfully, as a real grown-up might. As for her parents, she missed them and worried about them, but there was something about Neverland that made time and those worries blur. Somehow, she was confident that the bedroom window—and her parents' arms— would always remain open for her to fly back into. What did disturb Wendy, however, was the fact that John was starting to forget their parents

整个洞穴最华丽的部分，充满了最好的织物，柔软的小床罩，和雕刻精美的古董家具。 “你的房子可能更大，”叮叮铃告诉温迪，“但我的更好。” 不过，比起叮叮铃的房子是否更好，温迪更关心的是。 男孩们让她忙得不可开交，做饭、打扫卫生、缝衣服，有时几个星期过去了，她才离开洞穴，看到阳光。 她像一个真正的成年人一样，若有所思地想，这使人渴望过去的单身生活。 至于她的父母，她很想念他们，也很担心他们，但梦幻庄园的某种东西让时间和担忧变得模糊起来。 不知何故，她相信卧室的窗户——她父母的怀抱——会永远敞开着，让她飞回去。 然而，让温迪感到不安的是，约翰开始忘记他们的父母了

—and Michael had already forgotten them entirely. He actually thought she was his real mother! To fix this, Wendy set up a little school, with their old life as the subject instead of spelling or math. The other boys wanted to go to school, too, so she let them sit in. Of course, they always failed the quizzes, especially the ones with hard questions like "What color are Mother's eyes?" "How did we spend last Christmas?" and "Describe Father's laugh." Peter never came to school or took a quiz. He said it was because he despised mothers and holidays and even, sometimes, laughs—but really it was that he couldn't read or write. While the other boys were in school, Peter would go off alone. Whether he went on real or imaginary adventures, Wendy could never tell unless she or one of the other boys had also gone —and, with Peter, sometimes not even then. But

迈克尔已经把他们完全忘掉了。 他竟然以为她是他的亲生母亲！为了解决这个问题，温迪开办了一所小学校，用他们过去的生活作为课程，而不是拼写或数学。 其他男孩也想去上学，所以她让他们坐进去。 当然，他们总是考不及格，尤其是那些像“妈妈的眼睛是什么颜色的”这样的难题。“我们去年圣诞节是怎么过的？”以及“描述一下爸爸的笑声。” 彼得从不来学校，也不参加测验。 他说这是因为他鄙视母亲和假期，有时甚至是嘲笑——但实际上是因为他不会读书或写字。 当其他男孩都在学校的时候，彼得总是一个人出去。 他去的是真实的冒险，还是想象中的冒险，温迪永远也说不清，除非她或别的孩子也去了——有时甚至那时也没有和彼得一起去。 但

Wendy had many of her own adventures. Which such tale would you now like to hear? The night attack by the Indians on the underground cave, when a few of them got stuck in the hollow trees like fat Santas in chimneys? Or perhaps the time Peter saved Tiger Lily's life in the mermaid lagoon, and so made her a lifelong friend? Maybe I should tell you, instead, about the cake the pirates baked and kept leaving around to make the boys sick, but which Wendy kept finding and snatching from the hands of her children until it got stale and they didn't want it anymore and Hook eventually tripped over the hard stale lump in the dark, stubbing his toe. I could tell you about the birds that were Peter's friends, especially the Never bird who lived in the tree above the lagoon, and how her nest fell in the water once, but she kept sitting on it anyway, to protect her eggs, and Peter gave orders that no one was to disturb her.

温迪自己也有许多冒险经历。 你现在想听哪个故事？ 印第安人对地下洞穴的夜间袭击，当时有几个人被困在树洞里就像烟囱里的胖圣诞老人一样？ 或者是彼得在美人鱼泻湖救了虎莉莉的命，让她成为了一生的朋友？ 也许我应该告诉你，海盗们烤了蛋糕，总是把蛋糕丢在孩子们的周围，弄得孩子们恶心。温迪不停地从孩子们手里捡蛋糕，直到蛋糕变坏了，孩子们再也不要它了，胡克最后在黑暗中被这块又硬又坏的蛋糕绊倒了，把脚趾给绊了一下。 我可以给你讲彼得的朋友们的故事，尤其是那只住在环礁湖上面那棵树上的永无鸟，还有她的巢有一次掉进了水里，但她一直坐在上面，保护她的蛋，彼得下令不许任何人去打扰她。