Chapter7 The Home Under the Ground地下的家-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《彼得潘Peter Pan》

Chapter 7 The Home Under The Ground One of the first things Peter did next day was to measure Wendy and John and Michael for hollow trees.Hook,you remember,had sneered at the boys for thinking they needed a tree apiece,but this was ignorance,for unless your tree fitted you it was difficult to go up and down,and no two of the boys were quite the same size.Once you fitted,you drew in your breath at the top,and down you went at exactly the right speed,while to ascend you drew in and let out alternately,and so wriggled up.Of course,when you have mastered the action you are able to do these things without thinking of them,and then nothing can be more graceful. But you simply must fit,and Peter measures you for your tree as carefully as for a suit of clothes:the only difference being that the clothes are made to fit you,while you have to be made to fit the tree.Usually it is done quite easily, as by your wearing too many garments or too few;but if you are bumpy in awkward places or the only available tree is an odd shape,Peter does some things to you,and after that you fit.Once you fit,great care must be taken to go on fitting,and this,as Wendy was to discover to her delight,keeps a whole family in perfect condition. Wendy and Michael fitted their trees at the first try,but John had to be altered a little. After a few days"practice they could go up and down as gaily as buckets in a well.And how ardently they grew to love their home under the ground; especially Wendy.It consisted of one large room,as all houses should do,with ·118: 第七章地下的家 第二天，彼得做的第一件事就是给温迪、约翰和 迈克尔量尺寸，以便给他们找个合适的树洞。你还记得 吧，胡克曾经嘲笑每人都有树洞这件事：其实，无知的 人是他。因为树洞要是跟身材不符，进进出出是很困难 的；而且没有哪两个孩子的身材是一样的。如果树洞的 尺寸合适，你想下去的时候，只需深吸一口气，就能以 适当的速度滑下去：而当你想上来的时候，只要交替着 alternately [:I'to:notli]ad. 交替地 呼吸，就能蠕动着爬上来。当你掌握了这一系列动作 之后，就可以不假思索地随意进出了，而且姿势优美极 了。 不过，尺寸必须合适才行。彼得认真地为你量尺 寸，为你定做树洞，就像定做衣服一样。不同之处在 于，衣服是按照你的尺寸做出来的，而彼得需要按着树 ②garment['ga:m3nt.衣 洞的尺寸来加工你。一般来说，这事儿非常容易，多穿 服 或少穿点儿衣服就行了：但是，如果你身上哪个部位过 3 bumpy[bampi]a.臃肿的 于臃肿，或者找到的那棵树长得奇形怪状，彼得要对你 做些处理，之后就合适了。找到合适的树洞之后，还要 多加小心，注意保持体形。后来，温迪高兴地发现，因 为这个原因，全家人的身体一直都很好。 温迪和迈克尔都只试了一次，就找到了合适的树 ④alter[:lio]k改变 洞，但是约翰换了好几棵树才找到合适的洞。 ⑤bucket[bakit].水桶 经过几天练习之后，他们已经能像水井中的水桶 ⑥ardently[a:dntli]ad.热烈 般快乐地上下自如了。他们逐渐深深地爱上了地下的 地 家，尤其是温迪。地下的家像所有的房子一样，有一个 ·119· Chapter 7 The Home Under The Ground a floor in which you could dig if you wanted to go fishing,and in this floor grew stout mushrooms of a charming colour,which were used as stools. A Never tree tried hard to grow in the centre of the room,but every morning they sawed the trunk through,level with the floor.By tea time it was always about two feet high,and then they put a door on top of it,the whole thus becoming a table;as soon as they cleared away,they sawed off the trunk again,and thus there was more room to play.There was an enormous fireplace which was in almost any part of the room where you cared to light it,and across this Wendy stretched strings,made of fibre,from which she suspended her washing.The bed was tilted against the wall by day,and let down at 6.30,when it filled nearly half the room;and all the boys except Michael slept in it,lying like sardines in a tin.There was a strict rule against turning round until one gave the signal,when all turned at once.Michael should have used it also;but Wendy would have a baby,and he was the littlest,and you know what women are,and the short and the long of it is that he was hung up in a basket. It was rough and simple,and not unlike what baby bears would have made of an underground house in the same circumstances.But there was one recess in the wall,no larger than a bird-cage,which was the private apartment of Tinker Bell.It could be shut off from the rest of the home by a tiny curtain,which Tink, who was most fastidious,always kept drawn when dressing or undressing. No woman,however large,could have had a more exquisite boudoir and bedchamber combined.The couch,as she always called it,was a genuine Queen Mab,with clublegs;and she varied the bed-spreads according to what fruit-blossom was in season.Her mirror was a Puss-in-boots,of which there are now only three,unchipped,known to the fairy dealers;the washstand was Pie- crust and reversible,the chest of drawers an authentic"Charming the Sixth,and the carpet and rugss of the best(the early)period of Margery and Robin.There was a chandelier from Tiddlywinks for the look of the thing,but of course she lit the residence herself.Tink was very contemptuous of the rest of the house,as indeed was perhaps inevitable;and her chamber,though beautiful,looked rather ·120· 第七章 地下的家 很大的房间：如果你想钓鱼的话，在房间的地板上挖个 ①stout [staut]a.壮实的 洞就可以了；房间的地板上长着五彩斑斓的蘑菇，可以 ②stool[stu:n.凳子 当凳子坐。房间的正中央有一颗生命力非常顽强的永无 树。每天早晨，他们都要用锯把它的树干整个锯掉，让 ③saw[so:]锯 ④trunk[trgk]n.树干 它与地板水平。到了喝下午茶的时间，它又长到了两英 尺高了。这时他们会在树桩上摆一块门板当桌子。喝完 茶收拾完毕，他们又会把树桩锯掉，这样房间中就有更 多的空间来玩要了。房间里有一个很大的壁炉，几乎占 据了整个房间，所以你喜欢在房间的哪个位置生火都可 ⑤fbre[faibo]n.纤维 以。温迪在中间拴了很多用植物纤维做的绳子，用来晾 ⑤suspend[sa'spend]v.挂 衣服。白天，孩子们的大床竖立在房间的一侧，到了晚 上六点半会放下来，这张床摆开之后，几乎占了半个房 ⑦sardine[sa:'di:nn.沙丁 间。除了迈克尔之外，所有孩子都睡在这张床上，他们 鱼 并排躺着，就像是罐头里的沙丁鱼。睡觉时想翻身的 话，也有严格的规定，必须先有人发令，然后大家一齐 翻身。迈克尔本来也可以睡大床的，但是温迪想要有一 个小宝宝，你知道的，女人总是希望有一个小宝宝，所 有人之中他的年龄是最小的，于是，他被放在篮子里挂 8 recess[ri'ses]n.凹处 了起来 这个家很简陋，和一只小熊在地下的家没什么差 别。不过，墙上有个凹进去的洞，和鸟笼差不多大小， fastidious[fe'stidias】a.讲 那里是叮叮铃的私人寓所。上面拉着小小的帘子，可以 究的 boudoir ['bu:dwa]n.闺房 将她的住处与房间的其他地方隔开。叮叮铃是个非常讲 u bedchamber [bedtfeimbal 究的人，不论是穿衣服还是脱衣服，都要把帘子拉上。 n.卧室 没有哪个女人，不论她的身份有多么高贵，都不曾拥有 club[klb]n.梅花 这样一间如此精致且兼有起居室和卧室功能的房间。那 s unchipped [An'tfipt]a. 张被她叫作“沙发”的床是麦布女王的真品，床脚是 有缺口的 三叶草形状的。床单的图案是水果鲜花的，随着季节的 authentic [2:'Bentik]a. 变换来更换。她的镜子也很名贵，样式是一只穿靴子的 的 猫，在仙子商贩那里现在只剩下三面这样没有缺口的镜 sug{rAgn.小块地毯 chandelier [.faendo'lio]n. 子。她的洗脸盆是馅饼皮形状的，而且可以翻转。抽屉 枝形吊灯 柜是罗宾六世时期的真品，地毯是马杰里和罗宾极盛时 inevitable [in'evitabl]a. 期（早期）的物件。她的房间里还有一盏提第里温牌子 不可避免的 的枝形吊灯，只是用来做装饰的，因为叮叮铃自己就可 以把房间照亮。因此，叮叮铃对家里的其他地方看不上 眼。或许这也是在所难免的。她的住处虽然漂亮，却显 ·121· Chapter 7 The Home Under The Ground conceited,having the appearance of a nose permanently turned up. I suppose it was all especially entrancing to Wendy,because those rampagious boys of hers gave her so much to do.Really there were whole weeks when,except perhaps with a stocking in the evening,she was never above ground.The cooking,I can tell you,kept her nose to the pot.Their chief food was roasted bread-fruit,yams,coconuts,baked pig,mammeeapples,tappa rolls and bananas,washed down with calabashes of poe-poe;but you never exactly knew whether there would be a real meal or just a make-believe,it all depended upon Peters whim.He could eat,really eat,if it was part of a game,but he could not stodge just to feel stodgy,which is what most children like better than anything else;the next best thing being to talk about it.Make-believe was so real to him that during a meal of it you could see him getting rounder.Of course it was trying,but you simply had to follow his lead,and if you could prove to him that you were getting loose for your tree he let you stodge. Wendy's favourite time for sewing and darning was after they had all gone to bed.Then,as she expressed it,she had a breathing time for herself;and she occupied it in making new things for them,and putting double pieces on the knees,for they were all most frightfully hard on their knees. When she sat down to a basketful of their stockings,every heel with a hole in it,she would fling up her arms and exclaim,"Oh dear,I am sure I sometimes think spinsters"are to be envied." Her face beamedwhen she exclaimed this. You remember about her pet wolf.Well,it very soon discovered that she had come to the island and it found her out,and they just ran into each other's arms.After that it followed her about everywhere. As time wore on did she think much about the beloved parents she had left behind her?This is a difficult question,because it is quite impossible to say how time does wear on in the Neverland,where it is calculated by moons and suns,and there are ever so many more of them than on the mainland.But I am afraid that Wendy did not really worry about her father and mother;she was absolutely confident that they would always keep the window open for her to fly back by,and this gave her complete ease of mind.What did disturb her at times was that John remembered his parents vaguely only,as people he had ·122· 第七章 地下的家 permanently [pa:monontli] 得有些不合群，就像是一只总是朝上翘起的鼻子。 ad永久不变地 我猜温迪一定觉得这儿的一切都特别有意思，因为 2rampageous [raem'peid3as] 她的这些闹哄哄的孩子们把她忙得不可开交。她已经整 a.乱闹的 整一周没有到地面上来了，她除了晚上带只袜子到地面 上的小房子里补一补之外，其余的时间一直待在地下。 我敢打包票，单单做饭这一项，就让她离不开灶台。他 ③yam[jem]n.甜薯 mammeeapple [mae'mi:aepl] 们的主食是烤面包果、甜薯、椰子、烤小猪肉、曼密树 n.曼密苹果 的果实、塔帕卷儿还有香蕉，喝的是盛在葫芦里的木瓜 ⑤tappa roll塔帕卷 汁。只不过，你永远搞不明白他们是真的吃了饭，还是 ⑥calabash[kaelabac]n.葫 冷 在假装吃饭，这要取决于彼得的兴致。如果吃饭也是游 ⑦poe-poe[poupou]m.木瓜 戏的一部分，他会吃东西，而且是真吃，但是他绝不像 汁 其他孩子一样只对两件事感兴趣，一件事是填饱肚子， 国stodge[stbd3]k暴饮暴食 回stodgy[stbd3i)a.使人饱 另一件事就是谈论吃的东西。彼得即使在假装吃饭，你 胀的 也能看到他在慢慢地长胖。当然，对其他男孩来说，假 装吃饭是很痛苦的，不过，你还是得听从彼得的命令。 如果你能向他证明自己变瘦了，树洞太宽松了，他会让 你吃得饱饱的。 温迪喜欢在孩子们睡觉之后缝缝补补。如她自己所 说，这时候她才能松口气，她忙着给他们做新衣服，裤 子的膝盖处要缝两层，那里是磨损得最厉害的地方。 0heel[hi:ln.脚后跟 她在一只装满袜子的篮子旁边坐下来，看着那些脚 后跟都磨出洞的袜子，她会展开双臂感叹道：“哦，天 @spinster[spinst]n.老处 啊，我有时候觉得做个老处女也是挺让人羡慕的。” 女 她这样抱怨着，脸上却流露出喜悦的神情。 beam [bi:m,面露喜色 你还记得她的那条宠物狗吧。这只小狗很快发现温 迪来到了永无岛，它找到了温迪，和她拥抱在一起。之 后，它就跟和温迪形影不离了。 时光一天天地流逝，温迪难道不想念远在家乡的亲 爱的父母吗？这不好说，因为没有人知道永无岛的时间 是怎样过去的。时间是按照太阳和月亮来计算的，但永 无岛上的太阳和月亮要比陆地上多许多。不过，我想温 迪并不很担心她的父母，因为她坚信他们会给她留着 窗户，等她飞回去。但是，让她时不时地感到不安的 是，约翰对父母的印象很模糊，父母对他来说只是曾经 见过的人：而迈克尔则心甘情愿地把温迪当母亲了。这 些事情让温迪感到有些害怕，于是她勇敢地担起责任， ·123· Chapter 7 The Home Under The Ground once known,while Michael was quite willing to believe that she was really his mother.These things scared her a little,and nobly anxious to do her duty, she tried to fix the old life in their minds by setting them examination papers on it,as like as possible to the ones she used to do at school.The other boys thought this awfully interesting,and insisted on joining,and they made slates for themselves,and sat round the table,writing and thinking hard about the questions she had written on another slate and passed round.They were the most ordinary questions-"What was the colour of Mother's eyes?Which was taller,Father or Mother?Was Mother blonde2 or brunette?Answer all three questions if possible.""(A)Write an essay of not less than 40 words on How I spent my last Holidays,or The Characters of Father and Mother compared. Only one of these to be attempted"Or"(1)Describe Mother's laugh;(2) Describe Father's laugh;(3)Describe Mother's Party Dress;(4)Describe the Kennel and its Inmate." They were just everyday questions like these,and when you could not answer them you were told to make a cross;and it was really dreadful what a number of crosses even John made.Of course the only boy who replied to every question was Slightly,and no one could have been more hopeful of coming out first,but his answers were perfectly ridiculous,and he really came out last:a melancholy thing. Peter did not compete.For one thing he despised all mothers except Wendy, and for another he was the only boy on the island who could neither write nor spell;not the smallest word.He was above all that sort of thing. By the way the questions were all written in the past tense.What was the colour of Mother's eyes,and so on.Wendy,you see,had been forgetting too. Adventures,of course,as we shall see,were of daily occurrence;but about this time Peter invented,with Wendy's help,a new game that fascinated him enormously,until he suddenly had no more interest in it,which,as you have been told,was what always happened with his games.It consisted in pretending not to have adventures,in doing the sort of thing John and Michael had been doing all their lives:sitting on stools flinging balls in the air,pushing each other,going out for walks and coming back without having killed so much as a grizzly.To see Peter doing nothing on a stool was a great sight;he could ·124· 第七章 地下的家 用过去她在学校参加考试的方法，将过去的记忆做成试 卷。其他孩子觉得这非常有意思，坚持跟着一起考试。 他们带着自制的石板围在桌边，互相传阅着看温迪用石 板写下的问题。他们记下问题后，很认真地思考着。温 迪的问题都是些最普通的问题：“母亲的眼睛是什么颜 ①slate[slei间n.石板 色的？母亲和父亲谁高？母亲的发色是金色的还是深 褐色的？三个问题尽量都要回答。”“(A)请以‘我 最近一次的假期是如何度过的'或者‘比较父亲和母 亲的性格’写一篇不少于四十个字的文章。任选一题即 ②blonde[blond]a.金色的 可。”或“(1)描述一下母亲的笑声；(2)描述一下 ③brunette[bru:'net]a.深褐 色的 父亲的笑声：(3)描述一下母亲的晚礼服：(4)描述 一下狗窝和里面的狗。” 每天出的题都类似，如果你回答不上来，就画一个 叉：让人感到非常沮丧的是，竟然连约喻的试卷上也满 是叉叉。当然，每一道题都回答的只有斯莱特利，他也 是最有可能得第一名的，但是他的答案总是非常可笑， 结果出来总是得最后一名，真是悲哀啊。 彼得没有参加考试。一个原因在于，除了温迪，他 瞧不起别的母亲：另外一个原因是，他是岛上唯一不会 写字和拼读的孩子，连最简单的词也不会。因为他根本 ridiculous [ri'dikjalos]a. 可笑的 不愿意学这些东西 顺便提一下，温迪的问题都是用过去式写成的。母 亲的眼睛曾经是什么颜色，等等。看来，温迪自己也要 忘记了。 接下来，我们会看到岛上每天都会发生惊险的事 情：在温迪的帮助下，彼得最近发明了一种新游戏，他 玩得非常上瘾，一直玩儿到他突然一点儿兴趣都没有才 罢手。彼得玩游戏一向如此。新游戏是这样的：假装不 5 occurrence [a'kArans]n. 发生的事情 去冒险，只玩些约翰和迈克尔常常玩的，比如坐在凳子 上向空中抛球玩儿，或互相推推搡搡：外出散步连只灰 6 enormously [i'no:masli]a. 非常 熊都不杀就回家。最有看头的是彼得坐在凳子上无所事 ⑦grizz小y「grizli]m.灰熊 ·125· Chapter 7 The Home Under The Ground not help looking solemn at such times,to sit still seemed to him such a comic thing to do.He boasted that he had gone a walk for the good of his health.For several suns these were the most novel of all adventures to him;and John and Michael had to pretend to be delighted also;otherwise he would have treated them severely. He often went out alone,and when he came back you were never absolutely certain whether he hadhad an adventure or not.He might have forgotten it so completely that he said nothing about it;and then when you went out you found the body;and,on the other hand,he might say a great deal about it,and yet you could not find the body.Sometimes he came home with his head bandaged,and then Wendy cooed over him and bathed it in lukewarm water,while he told a dazzling tale.But she was never quite sure,you know.There were,however, many adventures which she knew to be true because she was in them herself, and there were still more that were at least partly true,for the other boys were in them and said they were wholly true.To describe them all would require a book as large as an English-Latin,Latin-English Dictionary,and the most we can do is to give one as a specimen of an average hour on the island.The difficulty is which one to choose.Should we take the brush with the redskins at Slightly Gulch?It was a sanguinary affair,and especially interesting as showing one of Peter's peculiarities,which was that in the middle of a fight he would suddenly change sides.At the Gulch,when victory was still in the balance,sometimes leaning this way and sometimes that,he called out,"I'm redskin today;what are you,Tootles?"And Tootles answered,"Redskin;what are you,Nibs?"and Nibs said,"Redskin;what are you,Twin?"and so on;and they were all redskin;and of course this would have ended the fight had not the real redskins,fascinated by Peter's methods,agreed to be lost boys for that once,and so at it they all went again,more fiercely than ever. The extraordinary upshot of this adventure was-but we have not decided yet that this is the adventure we are to narrate.Perhaps a better one would be the night attack by the redskins on the house under the ground,when several of them stuck in the hollow trees and had to be pulled out like corks. Or we might tell how Peter saved Tiger Lily's life in the Mermaids"Lagoon, and so made her his ally. ·126· 第七章 地下的家 事的样子。每到这个时候，他都要强忍着做出严肃的表 情，坐着一动不动对他来说实在是太滑稽了。他夸口说 为了身体健康，要出去散会儿步，一连几天，这已经算 是他干的最有趣的事情了。约翰和迈克尔也要装作很开 心，不然的话，彼得会收拾他们的。 彼得经常独自外出，他回来的时候，你永远都搞不 清楚他究竟是不是去历险了。他什么都不说，有可能是 因为他已经把历险的事儿忘得一干二净，但等你出门一 瞧，猎物的尸体就扔在地上；相反地，有时候他可能说 了一大堆关于历险的事情，但你根本没见到战利品。偶 尔，见他头上打着绷带就回来了，当温迪安慰他并用温 ①coo[ku:g温柔细语 水给他擦拭伤口时，他会讲个引人入胜的故事。不过， lukewarm [,lu:k'wo:m]a. 温迪一直对彼得讲的故事半信半疑。温迪自己亲身参与 微热的 ③dazzling['daezlin]a.动人 了很多次冒险，她相信这些冒险是真的：还有很多冒 的 险，只有男孩儿们参与了，他们说是真的，所以温迪觉 得半真半假。要把这些故事都写出来的话，能相当于一 本英拉/拉英双语词典那么厚一本书。所以，我们最多 以永无岛上的一个小时内发生的故事为例子吧。不过难 specimen [spesiman]n. 点在于，选哪个小时合适呢？我们暂且来讲一讲在斯菜 样本 特利谷和印第安人的那场战斗吧。从这场血腥的战斗中 6 sanguinary ['saengwinari] 我们能看到彼得的一个怪癖：战斗中，他经常会突然改 a.血腥的 peculiarity [pi,kju:liarati] 变立场，跑到敌人那一方去。在山谷里，胜负未分的时 .怪癖 候，彼得时而倾向这一方，时而又转向另一方。只听彼 得突然喊道：“今天我是印第安人，图图，你呢？”图 图会回答：“我也是印第安人，你呢，尼布斯！”尼布 斯接着说：“我也是印第安人，你们呢，双胞胎！”然 后就一个个接下去。结果，他们都成了印第安人。而真 正的印第安人觉得彼得的做法非常有趣，于是他们同意 就交换这一次，于是他们变成了走失的孩子。战争再一 ⑦upshot[poln.结局 次开始，打得比之前更激烈了。 这历险的奇妙结局一暂且不说，因为我们还没有 决定是不是就拿这场冒险做例子。也许更应该举印第安 人夜晚偷袭地下之家的例子。当时有几个印第安人卡在 ⑧cork[k3k]n.软木塞 树洞里，后来像软木塞子一样被拔了出来。或者讲讲彼 得怎样从美人鱼潟湖救回了印第安人的莉莉公主，并和 ⑨ally[alai]n.盟友 她结成盟友的。 ·127·