《彼得·潘》开篇：英文原著带中文翻译

All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.

所有孩子都会长大，只有一个例外。他们很快就知道自己要长大，温迪知道这件事的经过是这样的。她两岁那年的一天，正在花园里玩，她摘了一朵花，拿着它跑到母亲跟前。我猜她当时的样子一定很可爱，因为达林太太把手按在胸口，喊道：「啊，你为什么不能永远保持这个样子呢！」关于这件事，她们之间就只说了这些，但从那以后，温迪就知道自己必须长大。人过了两岁就总会知道。两岁是终结的开始。

Of course they lived at 14, and until Wendy came her mother was the chief one. She was a lovely lady, with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth. Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover there is always one more; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get, though there it was, perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner.

当然，他们住在十四号，在温迪出生之前，母亲是家里的主心骨。她是一位可爱的女士，有一颗浪漫的心，还有一张甜美的、带着嘲弄的嘴。她那颗浪漫的心就像那些来自神秘的东方的套盒，一个套着一个，无论你发现多少个，里面总还有一个；而她那甜美的、带着嘲弄的嘴上有一个吻，温迪怎么也得不到，尽管它就在那里，明明白白地挂在右边嘴角。

The way Mr. Darling won her was this: the many gentlemen who had been boys when she was a girl discovered simultaneously that they loved her, and they all ran to her house to propose to her except Mr. Darling, who took a cab and nipped in first, and so he got her. He got all of her, except the innermost box and the kiss. He never knew about the box, and in time he gave up trying for the kiss. Wendy thought Napoleon could have got it, but I can picture him trying, and then going off in a passion, slamming the door.

达林先生赢得她的经过是这样的：许多在她还是姑娘时还是男孩的先生们同时发现自己爱上了她，他们都跑到她家来求婚，只有达林先生例外，他叫了一辆马车，抢先一步赶到，于是他就得到了她。他得到了她的全部，除了最里面的那个盒子和那个吻。他从来不知道那个盒子的事，后来他也放弃了追求那个吻。温迪觉得拿破仑也许能得到它，但我能想象他去尝试，然后怒气冲冲地离开，砰地关上门。

Mr. Darling used to boast to Wendy that her mother not only loved him but respected him. He was one of those deep ones who know about stocks and shares. Of course no one really knows, but he quite seemed to know, and he often said stocks were up and shares were down in a way that would have made any woman respect him.

达林先生常常向温迪夸口，说她的母亲不仅爱他，而且敬重他。他是那种懂得股票和证券的深沉人物。当然，没有人真正懂，但他看上去很懂，他常常说股票涨了、证券跌了，那副样子足以让任何女人敬重他。

Mrs. Darling was married in white, and at first she kept the books perfectly, almost gleefully, as if it were a game, not so much as a Brussels sprout was missing; but by and by whole cauliflowers dropped out, and instead of them there were pictures of babies without faces. She drew them when she should have been totting up. They were Mrs. Darling’s guesses.

达林太太结婚时穿的是白纱，起初她把账目记得分毫不差，几乎兴高采烈，仿佛那是一场游戏，连一颗布鲁塞尔芽菜都不会漏掉；但渐渐地，整颗整颗的花椰菜都漏掉了，取而代之的是一些没有脸的婴儿画像。她本该在加总账目的时候却画了这些画。它们是达林太太的猜测。

Wendy came first, then John, then Michael.

温迪先出生，然后是约翰，接着是迈克尔。

For a week or two after Wendy came it was doubtful whether they would be able to keep her, as she was another mouth to feed. Mr. Darling was frightfully proud of her, but he was very honourable, and he sat on the edge of Mrs. Darling’s bed, holding her hand and calculating expenses, while she looked at him imploringly. She wanted to risk it, come what might, but that was not his way; his way was with a pencil and a piece of paper, and if she confused him with suggestions he had to begin at the beginning again.

温迪出生后的一两个星期里，他们能不能养得起她还很难说，因为她又多了一张要吃饭的嘴。达林先生为她感到无比骄傲，但他非常讲求体面，他坐在达林太太的床边，握着她的手计算开销，而她则恳求地看着他。她愿意冒这个险，不管结果如何，但那不是他的作风；他的作风是用一支铅笔和一张纸，如果她用各种建议把他弄糊涂了，他就得从头再来一遍。

“Now don’t interrupt,” he would beg of her.

「现在别打岔，」他会这样恳求她。