The last sound Peter heard before he was quite alone were the mermaids retiring one by one to their bedchambers under the sea. —
彼得独自一人时所听到的最后声音是美人鱼一个个退回到海底的卧室。 —

He was too far away to hear their doors shut; —
他离得太远听不到他们的门关闭的声音； —

but every door in the coral caves where they live rings a tiny bell when it opens or closes (as in all the nicest houses on the mainland), and he heard the bells.
但是在它们居住的珊瑚洞穴中的每扇门都有一个小铃铛，当它们打开或关闭时会响（就像大陆上最好的房子一样），彼得听到了铃声。

Steadily the waters rose till they were nibbling at his feet; —
水不断上涨，直到它们开始蚕食他的脚； —

and to pass the time until they made their final gulp, he watched the only thing on the lagoon. —
为了打发时间，直到它们最终把他吞下，他看着湖上唯一的东西。 —

He thought it was a piece of floating paper, perhaps part of the kite, and wondered idly how long it would take to drift ashore.
他以为那是一张漂浮的纸，可能是风筝的一部分，他好奇它漂到岸边需要多长时间。

Presently he noticed as an odd thing that it was undoubtedly out upon the lagoon with some definite purpose, for it was fighting the tide, and sometimes winning; —
他注意到一个奇怪的事情，那无疑是在湖上有着明确目的的，因为它在与潮水作斗争，有时还取得了胜利； —

and when it won, Peter, always sympathetic to the weaker side, could not help clapping; —
当它取得胜利时，彼得总是同情弱者，忍不住鼓掌； —

it was such a gallant piece of paper.
它是如此勇敢的一张纸。

It was not really a piece of paper; it was the Never bird, making desperate efforts to reach Peter on the nest. —
这不是纸片，而是飞鸟悬在巢上，拼命地试图接近彼得。 —

By working her wings, in a way she had learned since the nest fell into the water, she was able to some extent to guide her strange craft, but by the time Peter recognised her she was very exhausted. —
通过扑动翅膀，她以一种自从巢掉进水中后学会的方式，勉强能够操控她奇特的船只，但到彼得认出她时，她已经非常疲惫。 —

She had come to save him, to give him her nest, though there were eggs in it. —
她来是为了救他，给他她的巢，尽管里面还有鸟蛋。 —

I rather wonder at the bird, for though he had been nice to her, he had also sometimes tormented her. —
我对这只鸟感到很奇怪，因为虽然他对她很友善，但有时也折磨她。 —

I can suppose only that, like Mrs. Darling and the rest of them, she was melted because he had all his first teeth.
我只能想像，她像达林夫人和其他人一样，因为他长齐了乳牙，所以被融化了。

She called out to him what she had come for, and he called out to her what she was doing there; —
她告诉他她来干什么，他告诉她她在那里做什么； —

but of course neither of them understood the other’s language. —
但是当然，他们两个都听不懂对方的语言。 —

In fanciful stories people can talk to the birds freely, and I wish for the moment I could pretend that this were such a story, and say that Peter replied intelligently to the Never bird; —
在幻想故事中，人们可以自由地与鸟语交流，我希望暂时能够假装这是这样一个故事，并且说彼得聪明地回答了那只飞鸟。 —

but truth is best, and I want to tell you only what really happened. —
但事实是最好的，我只想告诉你发生的真实情况。 —

Well, not only could they not understand each other, but they forgot their manners.
嗯, 他们不仅彼此听不懂，而且还忘了礼貌。

“I–want–you–to–get–into–the–nest,” the bird called, speaking as slowly and distinctly as possible, “and –then–you–can–drift–ashore, but–I–am–too–tired–to–bring–it–any–nearer–so–you–must–try–to–swim–to–it.”
“我 –想 –让 –你 –进 –巢 –里，”鸟儿尽可能地慢慢地说，“然后 –你 –可以 –漂 –到岸边，但 –我 –太 –累 –了 –无法 –再 –靠近 –所以 –你 –必 –须 –试 –着 –游 –过去。”

“What are you quacking about?” Peter answered. —
“你在嘎嘎叫什么？”彼得回答说。 —

“Why don’t you let the nest drift as usual?”
“你为什么不像往常一样让巢漂流呢？”

“I–want–you–” the bird said, and repeated it all over.
“我 –想 –让 –你 –”鸟儿说了一遍，又重复了一遍。

Then Peter tried slow and distinct.
然后彼得尽量慢慢地说。

“What–are–you–quacking–about?” and so on.
“你 –在 –嘎嘎 –叫 –什么？”依此类推。

The Never bird became irritated; they have very short tempers.
慢语速的鸟儿变得恼火起来，它们脾气很短。

“You dunderheaded little jay,” she screamed, “Why don’t you do as I tell you?”
“你这个蠢材似的小喜鹊，”她尖叫道，“为什么你不按我的话做？”

Peter felt that she was calling him names, and at a venture he retorted hotly:
彼得觉得她在骂他，于是他冲动地反驳道：

“So are you!”
“你也是！”

Then rather curiously they both snapped out the same remark:
然后奇怪的是，他们两个都突然说出了同样的话：

“Shut up!”
“闭嘴！”

“Shut up!”
“闭嘴！”

Nevertheless the bird was determined to save him if she could, and by one last mighty effort she propelled the nest against the rock. —
然而，鸟决心尽力去救他，她用最后一次有力的努力将巢推到了岩石上。 —

Then up she flew; deserting her eggs, so as to make her meaning clear.
然后它飞起来了，放弃了她的蛋，以清晰地表达她的意思。

Then at last he understood, and clutched the nest and waved his thanks to the bird as she fluttered overhead. —
然后，他终于明白了，拿起了巢，向在头顶飞舞的鸟挥手道谢。 —

It was not to receive his thanks, however, that she hung there in the sky; —
然而，她悬在天空中并不是为了接受他的感谢； —

it was not even to watch him get into the nest; —
甚至不是为了看他爬进巢里； —

it was to see what he did with her eggs.
而是为了看他对待她的蛋的方式。

There were two large white eggs, and Peter lifted them up and reflected. —
有两颗大白蛋，彼得把它们拿起来思考着。 —

The bird covered her face with her wings, so as not to see the last of them; —
鸟用翅膀遮住了她的脸，不想看到最后一眼； —

but she could not help peeping between the feathers.
但她禁不住从羽毛间偷窥。

I forget whether I have told you that there was a stave on the rock, driven into it by some buccaneers of long ago to mark the site of buried treasure. —
我忘了告诉你，岩石上有一根木桩，很久以前有些海盗用它来标记埋藏财宝的地点。 —

The children had discovered the glittering hoard, and when in a mischievous mood used to fling showers of moidores, diamonds, pearls and pieces of eight to the gulls, who pounced upon them for food, and then flew away, raging at the scurvy trick that had been played upon them. —
孩子们发现了闪闪发光的财宝，当他们调皮捣蛋的时候，会扔出一些金币、钻石、珍珠和古币给海鸥，海鸥们为了食物扑向这些财宝，然后愤怒地飞走，对这个狗屎似的把戏感到愤怒。 —

The stave was still there, and on it Starkey had hung his hat, a deep tarpaulin, watertight, with a broad brim. —
桅杆还在那里，上面挂着史塔基的帽子，这是一顶防水的大帆布帽子，帽檐很宽。 —

Peter put the eggs into this hat and set it on the lagoon. —
彼得把鸟蛋放进帽子里，把帽子放在泻湖上。 —

It floated beautifully.
它漂浮得很美。

The Never bird saw at once what he was up to, and screamed her admiration of him; —
噢鸟当然立刻明白他在做什么，她对他的行为表示了赞美，尖叫着。 —

and, alas, Peter crowed his agreement with her. —
不幸的是，彼得与她相互呼应，一起欢呼雀跃。 —

Then he got into the nest, reared the stave in it as a mast, and hung up his shirt for a sail. —
然后他爬进了巢里，把桅杆塞进去，当作一个桅杆，然后挂起他的衬衫当作帆。 —

At the same moment the bird fluttered down upon the hat and once more sat snugly on her eggs. —
就在同一时刻，那只鸟煽动翅膀飞落在帽子上，再次舒适地坐在她的鸟蛋上。 —

She drifted in one direction, and he was borne off in another, both cheering.
她漂向一个方向，而他则顺着另一个方向漂去，两人都欢呼雀跃。

Of course when Peter landed he beached his barque in a place where the bird would easily find it; —
当然，彼得登陆时，他把他的小船停在一个鸟很容易发现的地方。 —

but the hat was such a great success that she abandoned the nest. —
但帽子取得了巨大的成功，以至于她抛弃了巢穴。 —

It drifted about till it went to pieces, and often Starkey came to the shore of the lagoon, and with many bitter feelings watched the bird sitting on his hat. —
它飘荡着，直到支离破碎，经常有斯塔基来到泻湖岸边，怀着许多痛苦的情感看着鸟儿坐在他的帽子上。 —

As we shall not see her again, it may be worth mentioning here that all Never birds now build in that shape of nest, with a broad brim on which the youngsters take an airing.
既然我们再也见不到她了，在这里提一下可能值得一提的是，现在所有的汪汪鸟都建造这种带宽檐的巢穴，年幼的鸟儿可以在上面晒太阳。

Great were the rejoicings when Peter reached the home under the ground almost as soon as Wendy, who had been carried hither and thither by the kite. —
当彼得几乎与被骗到处飞的温迪一起到达地下的住所时，大家欢庆之情溢于言表。 —

Every boy had adventures to tell; but perhaps the biggest adventure of all was that they were several hours late for bed. —
每个男孩都有自己的冒险故事；但也许最大的冒险是他们晚睡了几个小时。 —

This so inflated them that they did various dodgy things to get staying up still longer, such as demanding bandages; —
这使他们感到很得意，他们做了各种奇怪的事情来让自己能更晚熬夜，比如要求绷带； —

but Wendy, though glorying in having them all home again safe and sound, was scandalised by the lateness of the hour, and cried, “To bed, to bed,” in a voice that had to be obeyed. —
但温迪虽然为他们安全地回家感到骄傲，却对这个时辰太晚非常愤怒，她大声喊着“上床睡觉”，这个声音是不得不听从的。 —

Next day, however, she was awfully tender, and gave out bandages to every one, and they played till bed-time at limping about and carrying their arms in slings.
然而第二天，她异常温柔，给每个人送上绷带，他们一直玩到睡觉时间，一边跛行一边挂着胳膊。