One green light squinting over Kidd’s Creek, which is near the mouth of the pirate river, marked where the brig, the Jolly Roger, lay, low in the water; —
在基德克溪上方的一个绿色灯光眯缝着眼睛，基德克溪靠近海盗河口，标志着“快乐罗杰”号大帆船靠泊在离水面较低的地方； —

a rakish-looking craft foul to the hull, every beam in her detestable, like ground strewn with mangled feathers. —
一个貌似放荡不羁的船舶污秽至极的船体依偎其上，就好像地面上满是被撕碎的羽毛一样令人厌恶。 —

She was the cannibal of the seas, and scarce needed that watchful eye, for she floated immune in the horror of her name.
她是海洋上的食人魔，几乎不需要警惕的眼睛，因为她漂浮在自己恐怖名字的恐怖之中。

She was wrapped in the blanket of night, through which no sound from her could have reached the shore. —
她被夜色的毯子包裹着，无法传达一点声音到岸边。 —

There was little sound, and none agreeable save the whir of the ship’s sewing machine at which Smee sat, ever industrious and obliging, the essence of the commonplace, pathetic Smee. I know not why he was so infinitely pathetic, unless it were because he was so pathetically unaware of it; —
除了船上的缝纫机嗡嗡的声音，没有其他愉悦的声音，Sme坐在缝纫机前，刻苦工作，乐于助人，是那种卑微而平凡的Sme。我不知道他为什么会如此无比可怜，除非他对此毫无察觉； —

but even strong men had to turn hastily from looking at him, and more than once on summer evenings he had touched the fount of Hook’s tears and made it flow. —
但是即使是强壮的人也必须迅速把目光移开，有好几次在夏日傍晚，他触动了胡克眼中的泪水之源，让泪水流淌。 —

Of this, as of almost everything else, Smee was quite unconscious.
对于这一切事物，Sme完全没有意识到。

A few of the pirates leant over the bulwarks, drinking in the miasma of the night; —
几个海盗倚在舷墙上，吸入夜晚的瘴气。 —

others sprawled by barrels over games of dice and cards; —
其他人则在酒桶旁打骰子和纸牌游戏中四散躺倒； —

and the exhausted four who had carried the little house lay prone on the deck, where even in their sleep they rolled skillfully to this side or that out of Hook’s reach, lest he should claw them mechanically in passing.
四个累瘫了的人将那座小屋抬到船上后，也躺倒在甲板上，即使在睡觉时，他们仍然熟练地向这边或那边滚动，以避开胡克的爪子，免得他在走过时不经意地抓上他们。

Hook trod the deck in thought. O man unfathomable. It was his hour of triumph. —
胡克苦思冥想地踱着船上的甲板，他是一个深不可测的人。这是他的胜利时刻。 —

Peter had been removed for ever from his path, and all the other boys were on the brig, about to walk the plank. —
彼得永远地从他的道路上消失了，所有其他男孩都在船上，即将临阵退缺。 —

It was his grimmest deed since the days when he had brought Barbecue to heel; —
这是自从他制服巴比克以来他做的最凶恶的事情。 —

and knowing as we do how vain a tabernacle is man, could we be surprised had he now paced the deck unsteadily, bellied out by the winds of his success?
我们知道人是多么脆弱的一门肉体，如果现在看到他摇摇晃晃地在甲板上走动，被他的成功带动着，我们会感到惊讶吗？

But there was no elation in his gait, which kept pace with the action of his sombre mind. —
但是他的步态中没有任何高兴之情，他的步伐与他阴郁的心境同步。 —

Hook was profoundly dejected.
胡克深感沮丧。

He was often thus when communing with himself on board ship in the quietude of the night. —
当他在夜晚的船上独自静思时，他经常陷入这种情绪。 —

It was because he was so terribly alone. —
这是因为他感到极度的孤独。 —

This inscrutable man never felt more alone than when surrounded by his dogs. —
当他被他的狗包围时，这个难以捉摸的人从未感到如此孤独。 —

They were socially inferior to him.
他们在社交上低于他。

Hook was not his true name. To reveal who he really was would even at this date set the country in a blaze; —
胡克不是他真正的名字。揭露他真正的身份甚至到现在都会引起国家的骚动； —

but as those who read between the lines must already have guessed, he had been at a famous public school; —
但是阅读他们之间的字里行间的人肯定已经猜到了，他曾经在一所著名的公立学校就读； —

and its traditions still clung to him like garments, with which indeed they are largely concerned. —
它的传统仍然像衣服一样紧紧地附着在他身上，它们确实与他们以及他相关。 —

Thus it was offensive to him even now to board a ship in the same dress in which he grappled her, and he still adhered in his walk to the school’s distinguished slouch. —
因此，以他现在的衣着登上一艘船仍然令他不快，他在行走时仍然保持着学校的显著颓废样子。 —

But above all he retained the passion for good form.
但最重要的是，他保持了对优良形式的激情。

Good form! However much he may have degenerated, he still knew that this is all that really matters.
优良形式！无论他堕落到何种程度，他仍然知道这才是真正重要的。

From far within him he heard a creaking as of rusty portals, and through them came a stern tap-tap-tap, like hammering in the night when one cannot sleep. —
远在他内心深处，他听到了像生锈的门一样的吱吱声，而通过它们传来的是一声严厉的咚咚咚，就像夜晚的敲打声，那时人们无法入睡。 —

“Have you been good form to-day?” was their eternal question.
“你今天表现得好规矩吗？”是他们永恒的问题。

“Fame, fame, that glittering bauble, it is mine,” he cried.
“名声，名声，那闪闪发光的小玩意儿，是我的，”他喊道。

“Is it quite good form to be distinguished at anything?” the tap-tap from his school replied.
“在任何事情上都获得荣耀是不是很好的形式？”他学校里的敲击声回答道。

“I am the only man whom Barbecue feared,” he urged, “and Flint feared Barbecue.”
“我是唯一一个巴比克害怕的人，”他坚持说，“而弗林特害怕巴比克。”

“Barbecue, Flint–what house?” came the cutting retort.
“巴比克，弗林特－哪个大宅子？”冷嘲热讽接着发问。

Most disquieting reflection of all, was it not bad form to think about good form?
最令人不安的反思是，想到优雅举止是不是不好的形式？

His vitals were tortured by this problem. It was a claw within him sharper than the iron one; —
他的内心被这个问题折磨着。这是一个比铁锚还尖锐的爪子， —

and as it tore him, the perspiration dripped down his tallow countenance and streaked his doublet. —
当它撕裂他时，汗水顺着他蜡黄的面容滴下，弄脏了他的外套。 —

Ofttimes he drew his sleeve across his face, but there was no damming that trickle.
他常常用袖子擦拭脸，但是那个涓涓细流却止不住。

Ah, envy not Hook.
啊，别嫉妒胡克。

There came to him a presentiment of his early dissolution. —
他预感到自己会早早地死去。 —

It was as if Peter’s terrible oath had boarded the ship. —
这就好像彼得可怕的誓言登上了船。 —

Hook felt a gloomy desire to make his dying speech, lest presently there should be no time for it.
胡克感到阴郁的愿望，希望他能说出临死前的演讲，免得没有时间。

“Better for Hook,” he cried, “if he had had less ambition! —
“如果胡克能有更少的野心，那该多好！”他喊道。 —

” It was in his darkest hours only that he referred to himself in the third person.
“只有在他最黑暗的时刻，他才以第三人称称呼自己。”

“No little children to love me!”
“没有小孩子来爱我！”

Strange that he should think of this, which had never troubled him before; —
这让他感到很奇怪，以前从未困扰过他； —

perhaps the sewing machine brought it to his mind. —
也许是缝纫机让他想起了这个。 —

For long he muttered to himself, staring at Smee, who was hemming placidly, under the conviction that all children feared him.
他默默自语着，盯着平静地缝边的思米，那个以为所有的孩子都怕他的思米。

Feared him! Feared Smee! There was not a child on board the brig that night who did not already love him. —
怕他！害怕思米！在那个晚上的船上，不管是哪个孩子，都已经深深地爱上了他。 —

He had said horrid things to them and hit them with the palm of his hand, because he could not hit with his fist, but they had only clung to him the more. —
他曾对他们说过令人恐怖的事情，用手掌打他们，因为他不能用拳头打，但他们只是更加紧紧地依偎着他。 —

Michael had tried on his spectacles.
迈克尔试戴上了他的眼镜。

To tell poor Smee that they thought him lovable! Hook itched to do it, but it seemed too brutal. —
告诉可怜的思米他们认为他可爱！虎钳想这么做，但觉得太野蛮了。 —

Instead, he revolved this mystery in his mind: why do they find Smee lovable? —
相反，他思考着这个谜题：为什么他们觉得思米可爱？ —

He pursued the problem like the sleuth-hound that he was. —
他像一个猎犬一样追寻着这个问题。 —

If Smee was lovable, what was it that made him so? —
如果思米可爱，那是什么使他如此可爱呢？ —

A terrible answer suddenly presented itself–”Good form?”
一个可怕的回答突然出现了——“好的形式？”

Had the bo’sun good form without knowing it, which is the best form of all?
如果没有意识到博塞恩有良好的形式，这便是最好的形式。

He remembered that you have to prove you don’t know you have it before you are eligible for Pop.
他记得在获得Pop资格之前，必须证明自己不知道自己有良好的形式。

With a cry of rage he raised his iron hand over Smee’s head; —
他怒吼着，举起铁手掌在斯密的头上; —

but he did not tear. What arrested him was this reflection:
但他没有撕裂。阻止他的是这种反思：

“To claw a man because he is good form, what would that be?”
“因为一个人具备好的形式而抓住他，那会是什么？”

“Bad form!”
“不好的形式！”

The unhappy Hook was as impotent as he was damp, and he fell forward like a cut flower.
不幸的胡克既无能也潮湿，他像一朵被割下的花一样前倾。

His dogs thinking him out of the way for a time, discipline instantly relaxed; —
他的狗们以为他暂时不在，纪律立即松弛; —

and they broke into a bacchanalian dance, which brought him to his feet at once, all traces of human weakness gone, as if a bucket of water had passed over him.
他们开始了狂欢舞蹈，像一桶水洒过他身上一样，他立刻站起来，所有人的弱点都消失了。

“Quiet, you scugs,” he cried, “or I’ll cast anchor in you”; —
“安静，你们这帮流氓，”他喊道，”否则我会在你们身上停泊锚”; —

and at once the din was hushed. “Are all the children chained, so that they cannot fly away?”
顿时寂静下来。”所有的孩子都被锁住了，不能飞走吗？”

“Ay, ay.”
“是的，是的。”

“Then hoist them up.”
“那就把他们吊起来。”

The wretched prisoners were dragged from the hold, all except Wendy, and ranged in line in front of him. —
可怜的囚犯们被从舱口拖出来，除了温蒂以外，排成一列站在他面前。 —

For a time he seemed unconscious of their presence. —
有一段时间他似乎没有意识到他们的存在。 —

He lolled at his ease, humming, not unmelodiously, snatches of a rude song, and fingering a pack of cards. —
他懒洋洋地靠在那里，哼着一段粗野的歌曲，不算难听，手指着一副纸牌。 —

Ever and anon the light from his cigar gave a touch of colour to his face.
他的雪茄时不时地把脸上染上一丝颜色。

“Now then, bullies,” he said briskly, “six of you walk the plank to-night, but I have room for two cabin boys. —
“好了，流氓们。”他精神焕发地说道，“今晚有六个人要走走那条木板，但我还需要两个船舱男孩。 —

Which of you is it to be?”
你们谁愿意？”

“Don’t irritate him unnecessarily,” had been Wendy’s instructions in the hold; —
“不要无谓地激怒他。”温蒂在舱内给他们的指示是这样的。 —

so Tootles stepped forward politely. Tootles hated the idea of signing under such a man, but an instinct told him that it would be prudent to lay the responsibility on an absent person; —
于是图特尔斯礼貌地走上前。图特尔斯讨厌在这样一个人手下任职，但一种本能告诉他，把责任推给一个不在场的人可能是明智的选择； —

and though a somewhat silly boy, he knew that mothers alone are always willing to be the buffer. —
虽然他是个有点儿傻的男孩，但他知道只有妈妈才总是愿意担当缓冲的角色。 —

All children know this about mothers, and despise them for it, but make constant use of it.
所有的孩子都知道这一点，他们讨厌妈妈因此而蔑视她们，但也会不断地利用这一点。

So Tootles explained prudently, “You see, sir, I don’t think my mother would like me to be a pirate. —
托特尔斯聪明地解释道：“您看，先生，我想我妈妈不会希望我成为海盗的。” —

Would your mother like you to be a pirate, Slightly?”
“如果你成为海盗，你的妈妈会喜欢吗，斯莱特利？”

He winked at Slightly, who said mournfully, “I don’t think so,” as if he wished things had been otherwise. —
斯莱特利忧伤地说道：“我想不会，好像他希望事情能有所改变。” —

“Would your mother like you to be a pirate, Twin?”
“如果你成为海盗，你的妈妈会喜欢吗，孪生兄弟？”

“I don’t think so,” said the first twin, as clever as the others. “Nibs, would–”
“我想不会，”第一个孪生说道，和其他人一样聪明。“尼布斯，你的妈妈会—”

“Stow this gab,” roared Hook, and the spokesmen were dragged back. —
“住口，别吵闹，”胡克怒吼道，发言人们被拖了回去。 —

“You, boy,” he said, addressing John, “you look as if you had a little pluck in you. —
“你，小子，”他对约翰说，“你看起来似乎有点胆量。 —

Didst never want to be a pirate, my hearty?”
你从来没想过当海盗，我的好儿子？”

Now John had sometimes experienced this hankering at maths. prep.; —
约翰有时在数学预习中也会有这种渴望； —

and he was struck by Hook’s picking him out.
而胡克选中了他，这让他感到惊讶。

“I once thought of calling myself Red-handed Jack,” he said diffidently.
“我曾经想过自称为红手杰克，”他羞怯地说。

“And a good name too. We’ll call you that here, bully, if you join.”
“这也是个好名字。如果你加入，我们就叫你那个，好汉。”

“What do you think, Michael?” asked John.
“你认为呢，迈克尔？”约翰问道。

“What would you call me if I join?” Michael demanded.
“如果我加入，你会叫我什么？”迈克尔要求道。

“Blackbeard Joe.”
“黑胡子乔。”

Michael was naturally impressed. “What do you think, John? —
迈克尔自然而然地感到印象深刻。“约翰，你觉得怎么样？ —

” He wanted John to decide, and John wanted him to decide.
“他希望约翰来决定，而约翰希望他自己来决定。

“Shall we still be respectful subjects of the King?” John inquired.
“我们还会继续尊重国王吗？”约翰问道。

Through Hook’s teeth came the answer: “You would have to swear, ‘Down with the King.’”
胡克咬牙切齿地答道：“你必须发誓‘反对国王’。”

Perhaps John had not behaved very well so far, but he shone out now.
也许约翰到现在为止表现得不够好，但此刻他闪亮起来。

“Then I refuse,” he cried, banging the barrel in front of Hook.
“那我拒绝，”他大声说着，敲打着桶子。

“And I refuse,” cried Michael.
“我也拒绝，”迈克尔喊道。

“Rule Britannia!” squeaked Curly.
“英伦霸主！”弯月高声尖叫。

The infuriated pirates buffeted them in the mouth; —
愤怒的海盗们朝他们的嘴脸上来回拍打着； —

and Hook roared out, “That seals your doom. —
胡克大声吼道：“这宣告了你们的死刑。 —

Bring up their mother. Get the plank ready.”
把他们的母亲也带上来。准备好木板。”

They were only boys, and they went white as they saw Jukes and Cecco preparing the fatal plank. —
他们只是孩子，当他们看到裘克斯和塞科准备致命的木板时，他们脸色苍白。 —

But they tried to look brave when Wendy was brought up.
但当温迪被带上来时，他们试图显得勇敢。

No words of mine can tell you how Wendy despised those pirates. —
我无法找到合适的词来表达温蒂是多么鄙视那些海盗。 —

To the boys there was at least some glamour in the pirate calling; —
对于男孩们来说，海盗的行业至少有一些迷人之处； —

but all that she saw was that the ship had not been tidied for years. —
但她所看到的一切是这艘船已经多年没有整理过。 —

There was not a porthole on the grimy glass of which you might not have written with your finger “Dirty pig”; —
舷窗上都是肮脏的玻璃，用手指都可以写下“脏猪”； —

and she had already written it on several. —
她已经在几个舷窗上写下了这个词。 —

But as the boys gathered round her she had no thought, of course, save for them.
但是当男孩们聚集在她身边时，她当然只关心他们。

“So, my beauty,” said Hook, as if he spoke in syrup, “you are to see your children walk the plank.”
“所以，我的美人儿，”虎克像他用糖浆说话一样说道，“你将亲眼看到你的孩子们走向死亡。”

Fine gentleman though he was, the intensity of his communings had soiled his ruff, and suddenly he knew that she was gazing at it. —
尽管他是个绅士，但他沉思的强度已经弄脏了他的领襟，突然他意识到她正在盯着它看。 —

With a hasty gesture he tried to hide it, but he was too late.
他匆忙地试图遮掩，但是为时已晚。

“Are they to die?” asked Wendy, with a look of such frightful contempt that he nearly fainted.
“他们要死吗？”温蒂问道，带着一种可怕的蔑视之情，以至于他差点晕倒。

“They are,” he snarled. “Silence all,” he called gloatingly, “for a mother’s last words to her children.”
“是的，”他咆哮道。“安静，”他得意洋洋地喊道，“母亲对孩子们的最后一句话。”

At this moment Wendy was grand. “These are my last words, dear boys,” she said firmly. —
此刻温迪感到非常庄重。她坚定地说：“这是我最后的话，亲爱的男孩们。” —

“I feel that I have a message to you from your real mothers, and it is this: —
”我感觉自己有来自你们真正的母亲的一条信息，就是： —

‘We hope our sons will die like English gentlemen.’”
‘我们希望我们的儿子能像英国绅士一样去死。’

Even the pirates were awed, and Tootles cried out hysterically, “I am going to do what my mother hopes. —
甚至海盗们也感到敬畏，图特尔斯情绪失控地喊道：“我要做我妈妈希望的事。 —

What are you to do, Nibs?”
“你打算做什么，尼布斯？”

“What my mother hopes. What are you to do, Twin?”
“我要做我妈妈希望的事。你打算做什么，双胞胎？”

“What my mother hopes. John, what are–”
“我要做我妈妈希望的事。约翰，你要做什么……”

But Hook had found his voice again.
但是胡克又找回了声音。

“Tie her up!” he shouted.
“把她捆起来！”他大喊。

It was Smee who tied her to the mast. “See here, honey,” he whispered, “I’ll save you if you promise to be my mother.”
把她绑到船柱上的是史密。他轻声说：“听着，亲爱的，如果你答应成为我的母亲，我会救你。”

But not even for Smee would she make such a promise. —
但即使是为了史密，她也不会做出这样的承诺。 —

“I would almost rather have no children at all,” she said disdainfully.
“我宁愿一点孩子都没有。”她傲慢地说。

It is sad to know that not a boy was looking at her as Smee tied her to the mast; —
令人悲伤的是，没有一个男孩注意到她被史密捆在了船柱上； —

the eyes of all were on the plank: that last little walk they were about to take. —
所有人的目光都在木板上: 他们即将踏上的最后一段小路。 —

They were no longer able to hope that they would walk it manfully, for the capacity to think had gone from them; —
他们再也没有希望用勇敢的步伐继续前行，因为思考能力已经离去； —

they could stare and shiver only.
他们只能目不转睛地发抖。

Hook smiled on them with his teeth closed, and took a step toward Wendy. His intention was to turn her face so that she should see the boys walking the plank one by one. —
胡克闭上牙齿对着他们微笑，并朝温迪走了一步。他的意图是让温迪看到一个接一个的男孩走上跳板。 —

But he never reached her, he never heard the cry of anguish he hoped to wring from her. —
但他从未接近她，也从未听到他希望能从她那里挤出的痛苦哭声。 —

He heard something else instead.
他却听到了其他声音。

It was the terrible tick-tick of the crocodile.
那是鳄鱼可怕的滴答声。

They all heard it–pirates, boys, Wendy–and immediately every head was blown in one direction; —
他们都听到了——海盗们、男孩们、温迪——立刻所有的头都转向同一方向； —

not to the water whence the sound proceeded, but toward Hook. All knew that what was about to happen concerned him alone, and that from being actors they were suddenly become spectators.
不是朝声音传来的水域，而是朝胡克。每个人都知道即将发生的事情只关系到他一个人，他们从演员变成了观众。

Very frightful was it to see the change that came over him. —
他的变化令人非常恐怖。 —

It was as if he had been clipped at every joint. —
就好像他的每个关节都被剪掉了一样。 —

He fell in a little heap.
他瘫倒在地。

The sound came steadily nearer; and in advance of it came this ghastly thought, “The crocodile is about to board the ship!”
随着声音逐渐逼近，这个可怕的想法浮现在前面：“鳄鱼即将登上船！”

Even the iron claw hung inactive; as if knowing that it was no intrinsic part of what the attacking force wanted. —
即使是铁爪也无所作为，仿佛知道它不是攻击力量中的一部分。 —

Left so fearfully alone, any other man would have lain with his eyes shut where he fell: —
孤独地留在这里，任何其他人都会闭上眼睛躺在他倒下的地方。 —

but the gigantic brain of Hook was still working, and under its guidance he crawled on he knees along the deck as far from the sound as he could go. —
但是胡克巨大的大脑还在工作，在它的引导下，他跪在甲板上，尽可能远离声音。 —

The pirates respectfully cleared a passage for him, and it was only when he brought up against the bulwarks that he spoke.
海盗们恭敬地为他清开一条路，只有当他撞到船舷时才开口说话。

“Hide me!” he cried hoarsely.
“把我藏起来！”他嘶哑地大喊。

They gathered round him, all eyes averted from the thing that was coming aboard. —
他们聚集在他周围，所有人的目光都避开了即将登船的事物。 —

They had no thought of fighting it. It was Fate.
他们无意与之战斗。这是命运。

Only when Hook was hidden from them did curiosity loosen the limbs of the boys so that they could rush to the ship’s side to see the crocodile climbing it. —
只有在胡克对他们隐藏之后，孩子们的好奇心才能使他们的四肢能够冲到船边看鳄鱼爬上来。 —

Then they got the strangest surprise of the Night of Nights; —
然后他们在这个夜晚最奇怪的惊喜中得知真相。 —

for it was no crocodile that was coming to their aid. It was Peter.
因为不是鳄鱼来帮助他们，而是彼得。

He signed to them not to give vent to any cry of admiration that might rouse suspicion. —
他示意他们不要发出令人怀疑的赞叹声。 —

Then he went on ticking.
然后他继续计时。