Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen Going Home

Chapter Sixteen Going Home When the clock struck two the next morning, they all got busy running around, because there was a big storm at sea.Among them, Tutu, the boatswain, holding the end of the cable in his hand and chewing tobacco, was also running about.They all put on pirate uniforms cut from below the knees, and their faces were clean-shaven. Like real sailors, they pulled up their trousers and climbed up the deck in two steps at a time. It goes without saying who is the captain.Nibs and John were the first and second mates, there was one woman on board, and the rest were ordinary sailors who lived in the forward cabin.With Peter firmly at the helm, he summoned the crew again on deck, and gave them a short lecture, in which he hoped they would all do their duty as gallant sailors.But he knew they were rough men from Leo and the Gold Coast; and if anyone dared to be rude to him he would tear him to pieces.His few words (According to the ship's rules, strike the clock every half hour. At four o'clock, strike eight times, and then start from the beginning. Two strikes is five o'clock in the morning.-Annotation) exaggerated foul language, The sailors understood, and there was a heavy cheer from them.Then Peter gave a few stern orders, and they turned the ship and sailed for the English mainland.

After checking the nautical chart, Captain Pan calculated that if the weather continued, they would reach the Azores on June 21.Once there, save time by flying. Some of them would have liked it to be a proper ship, others would have liked it to have remained a pirate ship.However, the captain regarded them as minions, so they dared not express their opinions, even to submit a petition.Absolute obedience is the only sure way.Slightly received a dozen blows for a bewildered look on his face when he was ordered to test the water.It was generally felt that Peter was now acting honestly in order to reassure Wendy's suspicions; though perhaps there would be a change when the new clothes were finished.This dress, made from one of Hooker's most wicked pirate costumes, Wendy didn't want to do.Afterwards, it was whispered that on the first night Peter put on this dress, he sat for a long time in the cabin, with Hooker's pipe in his mouth, clenched in one hand, and only held out his index finger; Like a hook, held high, in a menacing gesture.

Leaving aside the incident on the boat, let's now look back at that lonely family.It's been a long time since our three characters have run away from home relentlessly.I'm ashamed to say that we haven't mentioned the residence No. 14 for such a long time.But we dare say Mrs. Darling will not be offended.If we had come back here sooner, and visited her with mournful sympathy, she might have cried, "Don't be silly, what does it matter to me? Go back and take care of the children." Since mothers always take this attitude , then it is no wonder that the children take advantage of their weaknesses and stay home late with excuses.

If we now venture into that familiar nursery, it is only because its rightful owner is on his way home; Mrs. Lin should not go out that night.We are but servants.But since they left in such a hurry without even saying a word of thanks, why should we hang their bedding for them?Wouldn't they deserve their comeuppance if they came home to find their parents had gone to the country for the weekend?This is the lesson they deserve from the time we have known them.But Mrs. Darling would never forgive us if we imagined it so. There's one thing I really want to do, like a normal story writer.That is, tell Mrs. Darling that the children are coming home and that they will be home next Thursday.As a result, Wendy, John and Michael's plan to give the family a surprise surprise completely fell through.They had already planned on the boat: the mother's ecstasy, the father's cheers, Nana leaped into the air, and rushed to hug them first; but what they were going to do was secret.How nice it would be to spill the news in advance and spoil their plans.That way Mrs. Darling wouldn't even kiss Wendy when they swaggered in; No thanks either.We know Mrs. Darling now, and we are sure she will blame us for depriving the children of their little pleasures.

"But, ma'am, there are still ten days until next Thursday, and we will save you ten days of unhappiness by telling you the truth." "Yes, but what a price! Depriving the children of ten minutes of pleasure." "Ah, if that's how you look at it..." "But what else is there to think of?" You see, this woman is not in the right mood.I wanted to say something nice for her, but I despise her now and don't want to talk about the children anymore.As a matter of fact, I don't have to see Mrs. Darling arrange everything, it's all arranged.The quilts on the three beds have been aired, and she never goes out; see, the windows are open.Though we may stay and serve her, we might as well go back to the ship.However, since we are here, we might as well stay and observe.We are just bystanders, no one really needs us.So let's just sit on the sidelines and say something harsh so that some people won't like it.

The only change visible in the nursery was that the kennel was not kept in the room from nine at night to six in the morning.Ever since the children flew away, Mr. Darling felt in his heart that it was all wrong that he had chained Nana; Nana had been wiser than he all along.Of course, we have seen that Mr. Darling is a simple man; indeed, if he could get rid of his baldness, he might even pretend to be a boy again.However, he still has a noble sense of justice; he has great courage to do what he thinks is right.After the children had flown away, he thought the matter over, and got into the kennel on all fours.Mrs. Darling kindly urged him to come out, and he replied sadly but firmly:

"No, dear, this is where I should be." Mr. Darling was so remorseful that he swore he would never leave the kennel as long as the children did not come home.It was a pity, of course; but Mr. Darling took extremes in everything he set out to do, or he would soon cease to do so.The proud George Darling of the past could not be more humble.He was sitting in the kennel one evening talking to his wife about the kids and how cute they were. His respect for Nana was really touching.He didn't let Nana into the kennel; but in other matters, he followed Nana's opinion without reservation.

Every morning, Mr. Darling sat in the kennel and had the kennels carried to the car and taken to the office.At six o'clock, they will be transported home as usual.We have to remember how much this man takes the opinions of his neighbors, and we can see how strong his character is.Now, every move of this person has attracted people's astonishing attention.He must have suffered a great deal inwardly; but while the boys were pointing and gossiping about his little cabin, he was outwardly calm.He always took off his hat to any lady who was looking into the kennel. It may be a little Don Quixote, but it's also sublime.Soon, the inside story of this matter was spread out, and the broad mind of the public was deeply moved.Crowds followed his car, and the cheers were endless; pretty girls climbed into the car and begged for his autograph; One sentence: "Please sit in the kennel and visit."

On the unusual day of Thursday, Mrs. Darling sat in the nursery waiting for George to return, a sad-eyed woman.Now, let us take a closer look at her, and think of her former vivacity and cheerfulness, whose beauty has completely disappeared because of the loss of her dolls, and I cannot bear to speak ill of her now.It's no wonder that she loves her bad boys too much.She is asleep in a chair, look at her.The first thing you see is the corner of her mouth, which is almost haggard now.Her hands kept stroking her chest, as if there was a dull pain there.Some people like Peter best, and some people like Wendy best, but I like Mrs. Darling best.To please her, shall we whisper to her in her sleep that the little ones are back?

The boys were really only two miles from the window, and were flying; but we have only to whisper that they were on their way home.Let's put it this way. It was a pity that we did say so, for Mrs. Darling jumped up suddenly, and called the children by name; but there was no one in the room except Nana. "Ah, Nana, I dreamed that my darlings were back." Nana was sleepy-eyed, and all she could do was rest her paw lightly on the mistress's lap; and they sat thus while the kennel was brought back.When Mr. Darling stretched out his head to kiss his wife, we saw that his face was much haggarder than before; but it was also much gentler.

Mr. Darling handed the hat to Lisa, who took it contemptuously; Lisa had too little imagination to comprehend what the man was doing.Outside the house, a group of people who came with the car were still cheering, and Mr. Darling couldn't help but be moved. "Listening to them," he said, "is comforting." "A bunch of little fur kids," Lisa said sarcastically. "There are quite a few grown-ups in the crowd today," Mr. Darling told Liza, blushing slightly;The publicity did not make him get carried away, but it made him more genial.For a while he sat in the kennel, half stretched out, talking to Mrs. Darling of his new fame.Mrs. Darling said she hoped it wouldn't make his head spin.Then he pressed Mrs. Darling's hand firmly, and reassured her. "It's a good thing I'm not a weak man," said Mr. Darling. "My God, I'd be damned if I were a weak man." "George," said Mrs. Darling timidly, "you're still full of remorse, aren't you?" "Still full of remorse, dear. See how I punished myself: living in a kennel." "You're punishing yourself, aren't you, George? Are you sure you're not having fun with it?" "What are you talking about, dear." Mrs. Darling, of course, begged pardon; and then, Mr. Darling feeling sleepy, he curled up and lay down in the kennel. "Would you go to the kids' playroom and play the piano to hypnotize me?" he begged.As Mrs. Darling walked toward the game-room he said casually, "Close the window, I feel a draft." "Oh, George, don't tell me to close the window. The window is always open to let them fly back, always, always." Now it was Mr. Darling's turn to ask her forgiveness; Mrs. Darling went into the play-room and played the piano, and Mr. Darling soon fell asleep.While he was asleep, Wendy, John, and Michael flew into the room. No, that's not the case.We write this because it was so cleverly arranged before we left the ship; but something must have happened after we left the ship, for it was not the three of them that flew in, but Peter and Tinker bell. Peter's first few words say it all. "Quick, Tinker Bell," whispered Peter, "close the window and bar it. Yes. Now we must fly out the door; and when Wendy comes back she'll think her mother has shut her out, She has to come back with me." I have always had a question in my mind, why didn't Peter go back to the island after killing the pirates, and let Tin Tin Bell escort the children home.Now, this problem is easily solved.It turned out that Peter had been hiding such a trick in his mind. Peter didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but danced happily; then he peeked into the playroom to see who was playing the piano.He said softly to Tinker Bell, "That's Wendy's mother. She's a pretty lady, but not as pretty as my mother. Her mouth is full of thimbles, though not as many as my mother's." He knew nothing about his mother, of course; yet he liked to speak of her boastfully sometimes. Peter didn't know what tune was playing on the piano, but it was "Lovely Family"; but he knew that it kept singing "Come on, Wendy, Wendy, Wendy."Peter said triumphantly, "You'll never see Wendy again, ma'am, because the window is bolted." Peter peeped in again to see why the music had stopped; and he saw Mrs. Darling resting her head on the case, with two tears in her eyes. "She wants me to open the window," thought Peter, "but I don't, no." Peeking in again, Peter saw two teardrops still in his eyes, but they had been replaced. "She really likes Wendy," said Peter to himself.He resented Mrs. Darling now because she couldn't understand why she couldn't have Wendy again. The reasoning couldn't be simpler: "Because I like Wendy too, ma'am, we can't both have Wendy." But the lady refused to let it go, and Peter felt so displeased that he stopped looking at her.But even so, she didn't let him go.Peter was romping about the room, making funny faces; but when he stopped, Mrs. Darling seemed to be beating in his heart. "Ah, that's all right." Finally, Peter held back his breath.Then he opened the window. "Come on, Tinker Bell," he cried, casting a sharp, contemptuous glance at the Law of Nature, "we don't want a silly mother!" He flew away. So, when Wendy, John, and Michael flew back, the window was open after all: which of course they did not deserve.They fell to the floor without any sense of shame, and the youngest one even forgot his home. "John," he said, looking around suspiciously, "here, I think I've been here before." "Of course you did, fool. Wasn't that your old bed?" "That's right," said Michael, but not quite sure. "Look, the kennel!" cried John, running to look in. "Perhaps Nana is in there," said Wendy. So John whistled. "Hey," he said, "there's a man in there." "It's father!" Wendy exclaimed. "Let me see my father," Michael begged eagerly, and he took a good look. "He's not as big as the pirate I killed," he said frankly, in a tone of disappointment.Fortunately Mr. Darling was asleep, for he would have been sad to hear such a remark from his little Michael as soon as they met. Wendy and John were startled to see their father sleeping in the kennel. "Really," said John, like a man who has lost faith in his memory, "he doesn't sleep in the kennel all the time, does he?" "John," said Wendy hesitantly, "perhaps our memory of our old life is not as accurate as we think." They felt a chill all over their bodies, and they deserved it. "When we got back," said the little wretch, John, "it was very careless of mother not to be waiting here." Meanwhile Mrs. Darling was playing again. "It's Mother!" Wendy cried, peeking over the side. "Isn't it!" said John. "So, Wendy, you're not really our mother?" Michael asked.He must be sleepy. "Oh, my God!" exclaimed Wendy, feeling truly contrite for the first time. "It's time for us to come back." "Let's sneak in," John suggested, "and put our hands over her eyes." But Wendy thought that the good news should be announced in a gentler way; and she thought of a better way. "We all went to bed and when mum came in we were all lying in bed like we never left." So when Mrs. Darling went back to the children's bedroom to see if Mr. Darling was asleep, she saw a child in every bed.The children waited for a cry from her; but she did not.She saw them, but she didn't believe they were there.It turned out that she often saw children lying on the bed in her dreams, and Mrs. Darling thought she was still dreaming. Mrs. Darling sat down in the chair by the fire, where she had always sat and nursed the children. The children didn't understand what was going on, and all three felt cold. "Mom!" Wendy yelled. "This is Wendy," said Mrs. Darling, but she thought it was a dream. "Mother!" "It's John!" said Mrs. Darling. "Mom!" Michael yelled.He recognized his mother now. "This is Michael," said Mrs. Darling.She stretched out her arms for the three selfish children she thought she could never hold again.Sure enough she did, and her arms were around Wendy, John, and Michael, and all three slipped out of bed and ran to her. "George, George," cried Mrs. Darling, when she could speak; Mr. Darling awoke, shared her joy, and Nana rushed in.There is no more beautiful and moving sight than this.However, no one came to watch at this time, only a strange little boy looked in from the window.His pleasures are innumerable, which other children will never have.However, there was only this kind of happiness, the kind of happiness he saw through the window, but he was shut out and never had it.