Chapter 1 Peter Pan Barges In All children grow up, with one exception.All children know very quickly that they are going to grow up.This is how Wendy knew: when she was two years old, she was playing in the garden one day, and she picked a flower, held it in her hand, and ran to her mother.I thought she must be very flattering in her small form, for Mrs. Darling, putting her hand on her heart, exclaimed, "I wish you were always this big!" That's how it happened.However, after that, Wendy understood that she was going to grow up after all.A man always knows this when he is two years old.Two years old is both an end and a beginning.

Of course, they lived in the house at No. 14, and before Wendy came into the world, mother was naturally the main person in the family.She was a charming lady, full of fantasies; and a sweet, teasing mouth.Her dreamy mind was like those little boxes from the magical East, one inside the other, no matter how many you opened, there was always another hidden inside.Her sweet teasing mouth was always hung with a kiss that Wendy couldn't get, but it was there, on the right corner of her mouth. This is how Mr. Darling won his wife: when she was a girl, there were boys around, and when they were grown up, they all found together that they were in love with her, and they all ran and flocked into her house to propose to her; Only Mr. Darling did it differently. He hired a cab, beat them all to her house, and so won her.Mr. Darling got everything from her except the innermost one of her little boxes and the kiss.He never knew about that little box, and gradually he no longer wanted to get that kiss.Maybe Napoleon would get the kiss, Wendy thought, but I reckon Napoleon must have tried to ask for it and then slammed the door and left in a huff.

Mr. Darling often boasted to Wendy that her mother not only loved him, but respected him.He's a learned man, knows about stocks and dividends.Of course, no one can figure out these things. Mr. Dalin seems to be very knowledgeable. He always says that stocks have gone up and dividends have gone down.He spoke so eloquently that any woman would have to admire him. When Mrs. Darling got married, she wore a white wedding dress.At first, she memorized the household accounts meticulously, and was even very happy, like playing a game, not forgetting even a small vegetable sprout.But gradually, the entire big cauliflower was missing, and some images of little dolls without faces appeared on the ledger.Where she was supposed to check out, she drew these little dolls.She figured they were coming.

Wendy came first, then John, then Michael. For a week or two after Wendy's birth, her parents wondered if they would be able to support her, because she had another mouth to eat.Mr. Darling is naturally very proud of having Wendy, but he is a real person. He sits on the edge of Mrs. Darling's bed, holds her hand and accounts for her one by one.Mrs. Darling looked at him imploringly.She thought, no matter what she did, she had to take a risk. Mr. Dalin's approach was not like this.His method is to take a pencil and a piece of paper to calculate the detailed accounts.If Mrs. Darling's comments disturbed him, he would have to start all over again.

"Now, don't interrupt," he begged. "I have a pound seventeen here, and I have two and six at the office; I can cancel the coffee at the office, and if I save ten shillings, I have Two pounds nine shillings and sixpence. Add your eighteen shillings and three pence, the total is three pounds, nine shillings and sevenpence, and I still have five pounds in my passbook, and the total is eight pounds, nine shillings and sevenpence—who is it? Where does it move?--eight-nine-seven, decimals to seven--don't talk, my dear--and the pound you lent to the man who came to the door--quiet, boy--decimals Carry, baby--look, you've been messed up--did I say nine-nine-seven? Yes, I said nine-nine-seven; Nine-nine-seven, can you try to deal with it for a year?"

"Of course we can, George," cried Mrs. Darling.Of course she was on Wendy's side, and Mr. Darling was the more capable of the two. "Don't forget mumps," Mr. Darling warned her, almost menacingly, and went on to count, "mumps for a pound, though I dare say a bigger one might cost thirty shillings— Don't talk--measles one pound five shillings, German measles half-guinea, add up to two pounds fifteen sixpence-don't shake your hand-whooping cough, fifteen shillings."--he went on counting. , the result is different every time.But at last Wendy got over it, the mumps was reduced to twelve sixpence, and the two kinds of measles were treated at once.

When John was born, he also encountered the same turmoil, and Michael encountered even greater danger.But the two of them stayed to support after all, and before long you'd see the three of them in a file, accompanied by a nurse, going to Miss Folsam's nursery school. Mrs. Darling was content with the status quo, but Mr. Darling liked to do everything like his neighbours; so of course they had to have a nurse.The children were poor because they drank too much milk, so the family's nanny was just a serious Newfoundland named Nana.Before the Darlings hired her, the dog had no regular owner, but she had always attached great importance to children.The Darlings met her in Kensington Park.She wandered there at her leisure, peeping her head in the pram, and the careless nurses always hated her; for she was always following them home, and complaining to their masters.She really became a rare good nanny.How conscientious and meticulous she is when bathing the child.No matter what time of the night, as long as one of the children in her care cried softly, she would jump up.The kennel was, of course, in the nursery.She had an innate intelligence about which coughs were not to be neglected, and when to wear a sock around her neck.She has always believed in old-fashioned remedies, such as rhubarb leaves; she always snorts with her nose when she hears new terms such as bacteria.It would be very informative to see the decency of her escorting the children to school.When the children were well behaved, she walked peacefully beside them; if they ran about, she pushed them into the ranks.She never forgot his sweater on John's football days, and she always had her umbrella in her mouth when it was going to rain.In Folsom's kindergarten, there is a basement where the nannies wait.They were sitting on the bench, Nana was lying on the floor, but that was the only difference.They thought she was inferior to them in society, and pretended not to think of her; in fact, Nana despised their idle chatter.She was very displeased when Mrs. Darling's friends came to the nursery, but if they did she would first tear off Michael's apron and put him in the one with the blue tassels, and smooth Wendy's. Ping, brush John's hair hastily.

No nursery was better kept than this one, Mr. Darling was not unaware of, though he could not help murmuring sometimes that his neighbors would laugh at him behind his back. He couldn't help thinking about his position in the city. Nana disturbed Mr. Darling in another way too. He sometimes felt that Nana did not admire him very much. "I know, she admires you, George," assured him, and then she signaled to the children that their father should be especially respected.Then, there was a cheerful dance.Their only other maid, Lisa, was also sometimes allowed to join in the dancing.Lisa looked so small in her long skirt and maid's cloth cap, though when she first hired her she insisted that she was over ten years old.How happy the little ones are!The happiest was Mrs. Darling, who was twirling wildly on her tiptoes and all you could see was her kiss.If you pounced on me at this moment, you would definitely get that kiss.There was never a simpler, happier family, until Peter Pan came.

Mrs. Darling first got to know Peter when she was clearing her children's minds.It is the evening habit of every good mother, after the children are asleep, to search their minds, and put into place all the things which have been disturbed during the day, and put everything in order for the next morning.If you were awake (which of course you can't), you could watch your mother do these things; you'll find it interesting to watch her attentively.That would be similar to organizing drawers.I reckon you'll see her on her knees, examining the contents with interest, wondering where you got them; finding some lovely and some not so lovely.Stick one thing to her face, like holding a cute kitten; quickly hide the other thing, so that no one can see it.When you wake up in the morning, all those naughty thoughts and tantrums you had when you went to sleep are piled up in the bottom layer of your mind.And on it, your beautiful thoughts are neatly laid out, waiting for you to dress up.

I don't know if you've ever seen a map of the human mind.Doctors sometimes draw maps of other parts of your body, and your own map can be especially interesting.But if you happen to see them draw a map of a child's mind, you'll see that it's not just messy, it's always in circles.Those are zigzag lines, like your temperature chart, which is probably the road on the island.Because Neverland is more or less like an island.Stunning patches of color sprinkled here and there.There are coral reefs on the sea, and there are light boats floating.There are savages inhabited on the island; there are deserted caves of beasts; there are little earth gods, who are probably tailors; there are caves in the rocks through which the river flows; there are princes and his six brothers; A little old lady with a hooked nose.If there were only these, this map would not be difficult to draw.But there's also, first day of school, religion, fathers, round pool, needlework, murders, hangings, dative verbs, chocolate pudding day, wearing overalls, counting to ninety-nine, self-extracting teeth Threepence, and so on.If these are not part of the island, they are painted on another picture; in short, it is all disordered.Especially since, nothing stands still.

Of course, everyone's Neverland is quite different. For example, there is a lake in John's Neverland. There are many flamingos flying on the lake, and John shoots them with arrows.And Michael, very young, had a flamingo with many lakes flying over it.John lived in a boat turned upside down on the sand, Michael in a leather shed by an Indian, and Wendy in a house artfully sewn from leaves.John has no relatives, Michael has relatives at night, and Wendy has a baby wolf who was abandoned by her parents.Overall, though, their Neverlands resemble each other like a family.If you put them in a row, you will see that their features are similar.On these magical beaches, children of play always land in tarpaulin boats.We have actually been to that place, and we can still hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, although we no longer go ashore. Of all the delightful islands, Neverland is the most peaceful and compact.That is to say, not too big, not too scattered, from one adventure to another, the distance is just right, dense and very appropriate.It doesn't look amazing at all during the day when you play the island game with chairs and tablecloths; however, it almost becomes real two minutes before you fall asleep, so keep the lights on at night. When Mrs. Darling occasionally wandered into the children's minds, she found that there was something in it that she could not understand, and the one that baffled her most was the name Peter.She didn't know Peter as a person, but the name was everywhere in John's and Michael's minds; Wendy's was even more painted over.The strokes of this name are thicker than other characters, and Mrs. Darling looked at it carefully, and thought it was a little strangely arrogant. "Yes, he was a little bit arrogant," she admitted regretfully.Her mother asked her. "But who is he, baby?" "He's Peter Pan, you know, mother." Mrs. Darling didn't know him at first, but when she recalled her childhood, she thought of Peter Pan.It is said that he lived with fairies.There are many stories about him; for example, when the children died, he walked with them for a while on Huangquan Road, lest they be afraid.Mrs. Darling believed it at the time, but now that she is married and sensible, she is a little skeptical that such a person really exists. "And," she told Wendy, "he's grown up by now." "Oh no, he didn't grow up," Wendy told her mother confidently. "He's my age." Wendy meant that Peter was as big in heart and body as she was.She didn't know how she knew, she knew anyway. Mrs. Darling discussed it with Mr. Darling, and Mr. Darling only smiled, and said: "Listen, Nana must have been talking nonsense to them, and that's what a dog would think. Leave it alone, the wind will It's over." But the wind didn't pass, and before long, Mrs. Darling was startled by this naughty boy. Children often encounter the most strange things, but they are not frightened or disturbed.For example, a week after it happened, they would recall that they met their dead father in the woods and played with him.That was the case with Wendy, when, one morning, she casually made a disturbing statement.A few leaves were found on the nursery floor, which hadn't been there when the children went to bed the night before; Mrs. Darling thought it strange, but Wendy said, smiling indifferently: "I believe it was that Peter again!" "What do you mean, Wendy?" "He's so naughty, he doesn't sweep the floor when he's done playing," said Wendy, with a sigh.She is a tidy child. She explained, as if it were real, that she thought Peter came into the nursery sometimes at night, and sat at the foot of her bed, playing the flute for her.It's a pity that she never woke up, so she doesn't know how she knew it, but she knew it anyway. "What nonsense are you talking about, baby! No one can get in the house without knocking." "I think he came in through the window," said Wendy. "Honey, this is a three-story building!" "Aren't the leaves just under the window, mother?" This is true; the leaves were found very close to the window. Mrs. Darling didn't know what to think, because it all seemed so natural to Wendy that you couldn't just dismiss it by saying she was dreaming. "My child," her mother called, "why didn't you tell me?" "I forgot," said Wendy nonchalantly, as she was in a hurry to get to breakfast. Ah, she must be dreaming. But then again, the leaves are obvious.Mrs. Darling examined the leaves carefully. They were dead leaves, but she was sure they were not leaves from English trees.She crawled about on the floor, shining a candle on the ground, to see if there were any footprints of strangers.She poked the chimney with the poker and knocked on the walls.She lowered a strap to the ground through the window, which was a full thirty feet high, and there wasn't even a water spout in the wall to climb on. Wendy must be dreaming. But Wendy was not dreaming, and she saw it on the second night, which may be said to be the beginning of the most extraordinary experience for the children. On the night we speak, the kids are all in bed again.That night happened to be Nana's day off.Mrs. Darling bathed them and sang to them until one by one they let go of her hand and slipped off to sleep. Everything seemed so peaceful and comfortable that Mrs. Darling could not help amusing her own apprehension, and sat quietly by the fire, and began to sew. It was for Michael, who was due to wear a shirt on his birthday.The fire was warm and warm, and three night-lamps were burning in the nursery in the semi-darkness.In a short while the sewing fell on Mrs. Darling's lap, and her head, falling so gracefully, fell asleep.Look at these four, Wendy and Michael sleeping there, John here, and Mrs Darling by the fire.There should have been a fourth night light. Mrs. Darling had a dream after she fell asleep. She dreamed that Neverland was very close, and a strange boy came out of it.The boy didn't surprise her because she thought she'd seen him in the faces of some childless women.Maybe in the faces of some mothers, he can be seen too.But in her dream, the child ripped back the thin curtain that covered Neverland, and she saw Wendy, John, and Michael peering through the slit. It was a trivial dream, but while she was dreaming, the nursery window was thrown open, and a boy fell to the floor.Accompanying him was a strange light, no bigger than your fist, flying around the room like a living thing.I thought it must have been the light that woke Mrs. Darling. With a cry she jumped up and saw the boy.Somehow she knew right away that he was Peter Pan.If you or I or Wendy were there, we'd think she was like Mrs. Darling's kiss.He was a very lovely boy, dressed in clothes made of dried leaves and sap.But the most charming thing about him is that he still has a set of baby teeth.When he saw Mrs. Darling was a grown-up, he showed his pearly teeth at her.