9 The Mermaid Lagoon

CHAPTER 9 The Mermaid Lagoon Wendy probably should have woken the children at once, but she was a young mother and

第九章人鱼礁湖温迪也许应该马上叫醒孩子们，可是她是个年轻的母亲

it had not yet been half an hour since they had eaten. Even when she heard the sound of muffled oars she did not wake them, although she was so scared that her heart seemed to leap into her throat. Instead, she stood guard over them while they digested. Peter, however—who was snoozing on the rock as well—could smell danger even in his sleep. At the sound of the oars, he jumped to his feet, as alert as a dog, and quickly woke the boys. "Pirates," he whispered. Just that one, awful word. The others huddled close around him. "Dive!" he cried. "Now!" There was a flash of legs, and all of the boys were in the water. They hid as best they could while the pirate dinghy pulled up to the rock they had just been sitting on. In the boat were Smee and Starkey, and their captive, the Indian princess Tiger Lily.

他们吃东西还不到半小时。 甚至当她听到低沉的桨声时，她也没有唤醒他们，尽管她害怕得心都要跳到喉咙里去了。 相反，她在他们消化的时候守在旁边。 然而，彼得——他也在岩石上打盹——即使在睡梦中也能闻到危险的味道。 听到船桨的声音，他像狗一样警觉地跳了起来，很快把孩子们吵醒了。 “海盗。”他低声说。就那一个，可怕的词。 其他人围着他挤成一团。 “跳水！”他喊道。“现在!”腿一闪，所有的男孩都跳进了水里。 当海盗的小艇停在他们刚才坐着的岩石旁时，他们尽可能地躲了起来。 船上有斯密和斯塔奇，还有他们的俘虏——印度公主虎百合。

The pirates had caught her trying to sneak aboard their ship with a knife, and had tied her hands and ankles. They were going to leave Tiger Lily on the rock to drown when the tide came up and covered it. She did not beg. A true princess, she sat up straight and stared proudly ahead. In her dark, watery hiding spot, Wendy cried. She had never witnessed such cruelty—or bravery. Peter had seen plenty of both, and was not

海盗们发现她带着刀偷偷溜上船，并绑住了她的手和脚踝。 他们打算把虎百合留在岩石上，等潮水涨上来把它淹没时淹死。 她没有乞求。她是一位真正的公主，她坐得笔直，骄傲地注视着前方。 温迪躲在黑暗潮湿的地方，哭了起来。 她从未见过这样的残忍和勇敢。 这两种情形彼得都见过很多次了，但他并不害怕

particularly moved. What he did hate, however, was unfairness, and this was two against one. It would have been easy for him to wait until the pirates were gone to rescue Tiger Lily, but Peter never chose the easy way out. "Ahoy there, you rascals," he cried out in his best imitation of Captain Hook's voice. "Captain?" the two pirates called back, squinting into the darkness. "He must be swimming out to us," Starkey said. "We are putting Tiger Lily onto the rock," Smee called. "Set her free immediately," was the surprising answer, "or I'll plunge my hook into you both." The command made no sense to the pirates, but they were afraid to disobey their captain. They cut Tiger Lily's cords, and with one last look she slid into the water like a graceful eel. "Boat ahoy!" Hook yelled suddenly. Only this time it was the real Hook, who was apparently

特别感动。然而，他讨厌的是不公平，这是二对一。 对他来说，等到海盗们走了再去救虎百合是很容易的，但彼得从来没有选择简单的出路。 “喂，你们这些坏蛋！”他竭力模仿胡克船长的声音，大声喊道。 “船长？”两个海盗眯着眼睛望着黑暗，喊道。 “他一定是向我们游来了，”斯塔奇说。 “我们要把虎百合放到岩石上。”斯密喊道。 “马上把她放了，”对方出人意料地回答，“不然我就用钩子钩住你们俩。” 这个命令对海盗来说毫无意义，但他们不敢违抗船长的命令。 他们割断了虎百合的绳索，最后看了一眼，她像一条优雅的鳗鱼一样滑入水中。 “船喂!”胡克突然喊道。 只不过这次是真正的胡克，他显然是

also in the water and swimming toward the boat. Wendy and Peter watched from the dark water as Hook used his metal claw to grip the side of the boat and pull himself aboard. From the light of the pirates' lantern, Wendy could see his roughly handsome face. She wanted desperately to swim away, but Peter signaled for her to stay put. Once on board, Hook sat with his head in his hands, groaning in extreme frustration. "Captain, what's wrong?" Smee asked. "It's over," Hook said, sighing. "The lost boys have found a mother." Wendy puffed up with pride, floating now a little higher. "O evil day!" Starkey said. "What's a mother?" asked Smee. Just then, the nest belonging to the Never bird floated by, with the mother bird still sitting on it. "That is a mother, and a good example of one at that," Hook told Smee. "Her nest fell into the

也在水里向船游去。 温迪和彼得在黑暗的水中看着胡克用他的金属爪抓住船舷，把自己拉上了船。 从海盗灯笼的灯光下，温迪可以看到他那张粗犷英俊的脸。 她拼命想游开，但彼得示意她呆在原地。 一上船，胡克双手抱头坐在那里，极度沮丧地呻吟着。 “船长，怎么了？”志诚问道。 “结束了。”胡克叹了口气说。 “走失的孩子们找到了母亲。” 温迪骄傲地鼓了起来，飘得更高了一点。 “啊，倒霉的日子！”斯达克说。 “什么是母亲？”斯密问。 就在这时，永无鸟的巢漂过来了，鸟妈妈还坐在上面。 “这是一位母亲，而且是一个很好的例子，”胡克对斯密说。 她的巢掉进了河里

water, but has she deserted her eggs? No." There was a break in Hook's voice, as if—for one moment—he was recalling his childhood and his own mother. But he brushed away this weakness and what might have been a small tear with his hook. "Captain, I propose we kidnap the boys' mother and make her our own," Smee suggested. "Yes," Hook said. "We will capture the boys and make them walk the plank! Then we will keep their mother." Smee and Starkey cheered. "Wait," Hook said suddenly, remembering Tiger Lily. "Where's the princess?" "We let her go," Smee replied. "Why?" Hook demanded. "Why, you told us to," Smee stammered. "I heard you, too, Captain," Starkey said. "What kind of trickery is going on here?" thundered Hook. "I gave no such order." He looked around and shivered. "Dark spirit that

有水，但她弃卵了吗？ 没有。”胡克的声音停顿了一下，仿佛——有那么一瞬间——他在回忆他的童年和他的母亲。 但是他用钩子擦掉了这个弱点，擦掉了可能是一滴小眼泪的地方。 “船长，我建议我们绑架孩子们的母亲，让她成为我们自己的母亲。”斯密建议道。 “是的，”胡克说。“我们要抓住孩子们，让他们走跳板！”这样我们就可以留下他们的母亲。” 斯密和斯塔奇欢呼起来。“等等。”胡克突然说，想起了老虎莉莉。 “公主在哪儿？”“我们放她走了，”斯密回答。 “为什么?”钩问道。“怎么，你叫我们这么做的。”斯密结结巴巴地说。 “我也听到了，船长。”斯塔奇说。 “这是什么把戏？”胡克怒吼道。 “我没有下过这样的命令。”他环顾四周，打了个寒颤。 “黑暗的灵魂