培根美文集

 
  It was the tail of a kite, which Michael had made some days before. It had torn itself out of his hand and floated away.
 
  " Michael's kite," Peter said without interest, but next moment he had seized the tail, and was pulling the kite toward him.
 
  " It lifted Michael off the ground," he cried; " why should it not carry you?"
 
  " Both of us!"
 
  " It can't lift two; Michael and Curly tried."
 
  " Let us draw lots," Wendy said bravely.
 
  " And you a lady; never." Already he had tied the tail round her. She clung to him; she refused to go without him; but with a " Good-bye, Wendy," he pushed her from the rock; and in a few minutes she was borne out of his sight. Peter was alone on the lagoon.

  Steadily the waters rose till they were nibbling at his feet; and to pass the time until they made their final gulp, he watched the only thing on the lagoon. 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.

  It was not really a piece of paper; it was the Never bird, making desperate efforts to reach Peter on the nest. 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. She had come to save him, to give him her nest, though there were eggs in it.

  　　那是一只风筝的尾巴，这风筝是迈克尔几天前做的。它挣脱了迈克尔的手，飞走了。
 
  　　“迈克尔的风筝。”彼得不感兴趣地说，可是紧接着，他突然抓住风筝的尾巴，把它拉到身边。
 
  　　“这风筝能把迈克尔从地上拉起来，”他喊道，“为什么不能把你带走呢？”
 
  　　“把我们两个都带走！”
 
  　　“它带不动两个人，迈克尔和卷毛试过了。”
 
  　　“我们抽签吧。”温迪勇敢地说。
 
  　　“不行，你是女士，你一定要先离开。”彼得已经把风筝尾系在她身上。温迪抱住他不放，没有他一道，她不肯离开。可是，彼得说了一声“再见，温迪”，就把她推下了岩石；不多会儿，她就飘走看不见了。彼得独自留在了湖上。
  　　
  海水渐渐涨上来了，正一小口一小口地吞噬彼得的脚；在海水把他整个吞没以前，为了消磨时间，他凝视着漂游在礁湖上的唯一一件东西。他想那大概是一张漂浮着的纸片，或许是那风筝的一部分。他闲得无聊，估算着那东西漂到岸边需要多少时间。
  　
  其实，那不是一张纸片，那是永无鸟。她正坐在巢上拼命地向彼得靠近。自从她的巢掉落到水上后，她就学会了怎样通过扇动翅膀来驾驶她那只奇异的“小船”。可是，在彼得认出她来时，她已经非常疲乏了。她是来救彼得的，她要把巢让给他，尽管巢里头有鸟蛋。

  She called out to him what she had come for, and he called out to her what she was doing there; but of course neither of them understood the other's language.

  " 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."
 
  " What are you quacking about?" Peter answered. " Why don't you let the nest drift as usual?"
 
  " I - want - you - " the bird said, and repeated it all over.
 
  Then Peter tried slow and distinct.
 
  " What - are - you - quacking - about?" and so on.
 
  The Never bird became irritated; they have very short tempers.
 
  " You 11)dunderheaded little 12)jay," she screamed, " Why don't you do as I tell you?"
 
  Peter felt that she was calling him names, and at a venture he retorted hotly:
 
  " So are you!"
 
  Then rather curiously they both snapped out the same remark:
 
  " Shut up!"
 
  " Shut up!"
 
  Nevertheless the bird was determined to save him if she could, and by one last mighty effort she 13)propelled the nest against the rock. Then up she flew; deserting her eggs, so as to make her meaning clear.
 
  Then at last he understood, and clutched the nest and waved his thanks to the bird as she fluttered overhead. It was not to receive his thanks, however, that she hung there in the sky; it was not even to watch him get into the nest; it was to see what he did with her eggs.
 
  There were two large white eggs, and Peter lifted them up and reflected. The bird covered her face with her wings, so as not to see the last of them; but she could not help peeping between the feathers.
 
  I forget whether I have told you that there was a 14)stave on the rock, driven into it by some 15)buccaneers of long ago to mark the site of buried treasure. The stave was still there, and on it Starkey had hung his hat, a deep 16)tarpaulin, watertight, with a broad brim. Peter put the eggs into this hat and set it on the lagoon. It floated beautifully.
 
  The Never bird saw at once what he was up to, and screamed her admiration of him; and, alas, Peter crowed his agreement with her. Then he got into the nest, reared the stave in it as a mast, and hung up his shirt for a sail. At the same moment the bird fluttered down upon the hat and once more sat snugly on her eggs. She drifted in one direction, and he was borne off in another, both cheering.
 
  Of course when Peter landed he beached the nest in a place where the bird would easily find it; but the hat was such a great success that she abandoned the nest. 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.

  那鸟向彼得喊道，她来是为了救他的；彼得也大声问那鸟，她在那儿干什么；不过，当然他们彼此都听不懂对方的话。
  　　“我--要--你--到--巢--里--来，”那鸟叫道，尽量说得慢些，清楚些，“那--样，你--就--可--以--漂--到--岸--上--去，可--是--我--太--累--了 ， 不--能--再--靠--近--了，你--得--想--法--自--己--游--过--来。”
 
  　　“你叽叽喳喳地叫些什么呀？”彼得回答说，“你为什么不像往常一样，让你的巢随风漂流？”
 
  　　“我--要--你--”鸟说，又重复了一遍刚才的话。
 
  　　接着，彼得也又慢又清楚地说：
 
  　　“你--叽--叽--喳--喳--地--叫--些--什--么--呀？”等等。
 
  　　永无鸟暴躁起来了，这种鸟脾气是很急的。
 
  　　“你这个呆头呆脑、罗里罗嗦的小傻瓜，”她尖声叫道，“你为什么不照我的吩咐去做？”
 
  　　彼得觉出了她是在骂自己，于是他气冲冲地回敬了她一句：
 
  　　“骂你自己呢！”
 
  　　然后说也奇怪，他们竟互相对骂起同一句话来：
 
  　　“闭嘴！”
 
  　　“闭嘴！”
 
  　　不过，这鸟决心尽力救彼得，她作了一次最后的努力，终于使巢靠上了岩石。然后她飞了起来，舍弃了她的蛋，为的是使她的用意明了。
 
  　　彼得终于明白了，他抓住了鸟巢，向空中飞着的鸟挥手表示谢意。永无鸟在空中飞来飞去不是为了领他的谢意，也不是要看他怎样爬进巢里，她是要看看他怎样对待她的蛋。
 
  　　巢里有两只大白蛋，彼得把它们捧了起来，心里盘算着。那鸟用翅膀捂住了脸，不敢看她的蛋的下场，可她还是忍不住从羽毛缝里窥望。
 
  　　我不记得告诉过你们没有，岩石上有一块木板，是很久以前海盗钉在那儿，用来标志埋藏财宝的位置的。木板还在那儿，斯塔奇把他的帽子挂在了上面，那是一顶宽边的、高高的防水油布帽。彼得把蛋放在帽子里，把帽子放在水上，它就平平稳稳地漂起来了。
 
  　　永无鸟立刻看清了彼得的妙策，高声欢叫，向他表示钦佩；彼得也应声欢呼起来。然后他跨进巢去，把木板竖起来当桅杆，又把他的衬衣挂在上面当帆。同时，那鸟飞落到帽子上，又安安逸逸地孵起蛋来。鸟向这边漂去，彼得向那边漂去，皆大欢喜。
 
  彼得上岸以后，自然是把他曾坐过的鸟巢放在一处鸟容易看见的地方；可是，那顶帽子太可心了，那鸟竟放弃了原来的巢。巢漂来漂去，直到完全散架；后来，斯塔奇每次来到湖边，总看见那鸟孵在他的帽子上，心里很是不爽！