3 PLENTY OF IDEAS

CHAPTER THREE PLENTY OF IDEAS AT SIX o'clock that evening there was a continual noise of footsteps up the path to the little summer-house. Janet, Peter, and Scamper were inside, waiting. 'Easter-egg,' said Jack, walking inside. There was no door, for the summer-house was three-sided, with its fourth side open to the garden. 'Easter-egg,' said Barbara, walking in, too. 'Where's your badge?' asked Peter sharply. 'Oh – I've got it, it's all right,' said Barbara, feeling in her pocket. 'I don't know why I forgot to pin it on.' She pinned it on carefully and sat down.

第三章丰富的想法那天晚上六点钟，在通往小凉亭的小路上，不断传来脚步声。 珍妮特、彼得和斯坎普在里面等着。 “复活节彩蛋。”杰克说着走了进去。 凉亭没有门，因为凉亭是三面的，第四面对着花园。 “复活节彩蛋，”芭芭拉也走进来说。 “你的徽章呢？”彼得厉声问道。 “哦——我拿到了，没事的。”芭芭拉说着，在口袋里摸了摸。 “我不知道我为什么忘了别上它。”她小心地把它别上，然后坐了下来。

The other three came along, each solemnly giving the password. 'For once nobody yelled it out,' said Peter. He took a notebook out of his pocket, and licked his pencil. 'Now then. I want your reports on any likely places to meet secretly. Colin, you begin.' 'Well, there's a fine big tree at the bottom of our garden,' began Colin hopefully. 'It's a great chestnut, and…' 'No good, I'm afraid,' said Peter, 'but I'll put it down. It would hardly be a secret meeting- place! Everyone would see us going down the garden to it, and people passing the wall nearby would hear us up there. Barbara, what's your idea?' 'Oh, it's a silly one,' said Barbara. 'There's an old hut in a field nearby our house, and…' 'I know it,' said Peter, scribbling in his notebook. 'Not a bad idea, Barbara. You, Pam?'

另外三个人也来了，每个人都一本正经地说出了密码。 “这一次没人喊出来。”彼得说。 他从口袋里掏出一个笔记本，舔了舔铅笔。 “现在。我要你报告所有可能秘密会面的地点。 科林，你开始。“嗯，我们花园尽头有一棵很好的大树。”柯林满怀希望地说。 “恐怕不行，”彼得说，“不过我会把它放下的。” 这不可能是秘密聚会的地方！每个人都会看到我们从花园走下去，经过附近围墙的人也会听到我们在那里。 芭芭拉，你有什么想法？“哦，这是个愚蠢的主意，”芭芭拉说。 “我知道，”彼得说着，在他的笔记本上草草地写着。 “这主意不错，芭芭拉。你,帕姆?”

'I simply haven't any idea at all,' said Pam. 'I've thought and thought, but it's no use.' 'Not very helpful,' said Peter, putting a cross against Pam's name in his notebook. 'You, George?' 'Well, there's an empty caravan in a field not far from here,' said George. 'I know who owns it – it's a friend of my father's. I think I could get permission for us to use it.' This sounded exciting. Everyone looked admiringly at George, who seemed quite pleased with himself. 'You, Jack?' said Peter. 'And don't suggest anywhere near your house, because of Susie.' 'I'm not going to,' said Jack. 'I'm not quite so silly as that. I've chosen somewhere a long way away, down by the river. It's an old boathouse that nobody ever uses.' This sounded exciting too. Peter wrote it down solemnly. 'Now we've heard everyone's idea except mine and Janet's. We went out

“我完全不知道，”潘说。 “我想了又想，但没有用。“不太有帮助，”彼得说着，在笔记本上的帕姆的名字上打了个叉。 “你,乔治?“嗯，离这儿不远的田野里有一辆空的大篷车。”乔治说。 “我知道它的主人是谁——是我父亲的一个朋友。 我想我可以得到使用它的许可。”这听起来令人兴奋。 每个人都羡慕地看着乔治，他似乎对自己很满意。 “你,杰克?彼得说。“别建议去你家附近的地方，因为苏西。“我不会的，”杰克说。 “我还不至于傻到那种地步。 我选择了一个很远的地方，在河边。 那是一个没人用过的旧船屋。”这听起来也很令人兴奋。 彼得严肃地记了下来。 “现在除了我和珍妮特的想法，我们都听到了。 我们出去了

hunting together, and Scamper came too – and we've all got the same idea.' 'What?' asked everyone. 'Well, it's a cave in the quarry near the field where we grow potatoes,' said Peter. 'So it's on my father's farm, and not very far. It's absolutely lonely and secret, and goes back into the hill behind the quarry. Scamper found it, actually.' 'That sounds good – a secret cave,' said Pam. 'Well, we'll now put all our ideas to the vote,' said Peter, and handed round slips of paper. 'Please write down on these papers what ideas you like best – but nobody must vote for their own idea, of course. I'll just go shortly over them again: 'Colin suggests a tree, but it's not a very secret place. Barbara suggested that old hut in the field near her house – but the roof's almost off and the rain would come in. Pam has no ideas. George suggests the caravan owned by

我们一起打猎，斯坎普也来了——我们都有同样的想法。“什么?大家都问。 “嗯，那是我们种土豆的地方附近采石场里的一个山洞。”彼得说。 “所以它在我父亲的农场里，而且不远。 它是绝对孤独和秘密的，它回到采石场后面的山上。 其实是斯坎普发现的。“听起来不错——一个秘密洞穴，”潘说。 “好吧，现在我们把所有的想法都付诸表决吧。”彼得说着，递了几张纸条给大家。 “请在这些纸上写下你最喜欢的想法——当然，没有人必须为自己的想法投票。” 我简单地再过一遍：科林建议找棵树，但那不是一个非常秘密的地方。 芭芭拉建议去她家附近田野里的那间旧茅屋——但是屋顶快塌了，雨水会进来的。 帕姆毫无头绪。乔治建议用他的大篷车

his father's friend, a very good idea, but I don't honestly think we'd be allowed to use it because it's still furnished. I'd be afraid of breaking something.' Peter paused for breath. 'Jack suggested the old boathouse by the river. Fine – but isn't it rather far away for a meeting-place? It's at least a mile away. And you know what Janet and I suggest – the cave. But that isn't a really comfortable place. There you are – please vote on your papers, fold them in half, and give them to me.' Everyone solemnly wrote something on their papers, then handed them to Peter. He opened them and read them. When he looked up, his eyes were shining with pleasure. 'Er– well– it's very funny, but everyone except me and Janet have voted for the cave. We couldn't vote for our own idea, of course. So it's five votes for the cave – and the cave it will be. I'm glad – it's a great place really!'

他父亲的朋友，这是个好主意，但老实说，我不认为我们会被允许使用它，因为它仍然是家具。 我怕打碎什么东西。”彼得停下来喘口气。 杰克建议去河边的旧船屋。 很好——但是作为见面的地方是不是太远了？ 至少有一英里远。 你知道珍妮特和我的建议吗，去山洞。 但那不是一个很舒服的地方。 给你——请对你们的报纸投票，把它们对折，然后给我。”每个人都一本正经地在试卷上写了些什么，然后把试卷递给彼得。 他打开信，读了起来。 他抬起头来，眼睛里闪烁着喜悦的光芒。 “嗯——嗯——这很有趣，但除了我和珍妮特之外，每个人都投票赞成山洞。 当然，我们不能为自己的想法投票。 所以，五票赞成这个洞穴——它将成为这个洞穴。 我很高兴——这真是个好地方！”

'Is it? Let's go and see it straight away!' said Jack. 'It's not very far.' 'All right, come on then,' said Peter. 'We'll have a quick look, and then plan what to bring to it tomorrow. We'll settle into it at once.' This was exciting. They all got up and went out into the bright sunshine. It was almost half-past six, and as warm as could be. 'This way,' said Peter, and led the way down his garden and through a gate into a field. His father owned the farmland at the back of the house, and it stretched away over the hills, the fields green with growing corn and root-crops. Peter took them down a grassy path, past a pond with ducks on it, and then turned to the right towards the old quarry. Sand had been dug from it years ago, and it had then been abandoned. They all filed into the quarry and looked round. Scamper ran in front. 'He'll show you,' said Peter. 'Just as he showed me and Janet this

“是吗?我们马上去看看吧！杰克说。 “离这儿不远。“好吧，那就走吧。”彼得说。 “我们很快地看一下，然后再计划明天带什么来。 我们马上就解决这件事。”这是令人兴奋的。 他们都站起来，走到明亮的阳光下。 已经快六点半了，非常暖和。 “这边走。”彼得说着，领着大家走过花园，穿过一扇门，来到一块田地里。 他父亲拥有房子后面的农田，一直延伸到山上，田野上长满了绿色的玉米和根茎作物。 彼得带着他们沿着一条长满草的小路走下去，经过一个池塘，池塘里有鸭子，然后向右拐，朝着老采石场走去。 多年前就有人从里面挖出沙子，后来就被遗弃了。 他们排成纵队进入采石场，四处张望。 斯坎普跑在前面。“他会告诉你的。”彼得说。 “就像他给我和珍妮特看这个一样