April 17, 2025 • 27 mins
Peter Pan returns to steal Wendy and her brothers away to a magical land. Together they encounter Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, and countless fantastical challenges in this beloved fantasy classic.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Recording by Patrick Seville. Chapter eight, The Mermaid's Lagoon. If
you shut your eyes into a lucky one, you may
see at times a shapeless pool of lovely, pale colors
suspended in the darkness. Then if you squeeze your eyes tighter,
the pool begins to take shape, and the colors become
(00:23):
so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire.
But just before they go on fire, you see the lagoon.
This is the nearest you ever get to it on
the mainland, Just one heavenly moment. If there could be
two moments, you might see the surf and hear the
mermaids singing. The children often spent long summer days on
(00:47):
this lagoon, swimming or floating, most of the time playing
the mermaid games in the water, and so forth. You
must not think from this that the mermaids run friendly
terms with them. On the contrary, it was among Wendy's
lasting regrets that all the time she was on the
island she never had a civil word from one of them.
(01:10):
When she stole softly to the edge of the lagoon,
she might see them by the score, especially on Marooner's Rock,
where they loved to bask combing out their hair in
a lazy way that quite irritated her. Or she might
even swim on tiptoe, as it were, to within a
yard of them. But then they saw her and dived,
(01:31):
probably splashing her with their tails, not by accident but intentionally.
They treated all the boys in the same way, except,
of course Peter, who chatted with them on Marooner's Rock
by the hour and sat on their tails. When they
got cheeky, he gave Wendy one of their combs. The
(01:52):
most haunting time at which to see them is at
the turn of the moon, when they utter strange, willing cries.
But the lagoon is dangerous for mortals. Then and until
the evening of which we have now to tell, Wendy
had never seen the lagoon by moonlight, less from fear,
for of course Peter would have accompanied her then. Because
(02:14):
she had strict rules about everyone being in bed by seven.
She was often at the lagoon. However, on sunny days
after rain, when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers
to play with their bubbles. The bubbles of many colors
make in rainbow water they treat as balls, hitting them
gaily from one to another with their tails and trying
(02:38):
to keep them in the rainbow till they burst. The
goals are at each end of the rainbow, and the
keepers only are allowed to use their hands. Sometimes a
dozen of these games will be going on in the
lagoon at a time, and it is quite a pretty sight.
But the moment the children try to join in, they
(02:59):
had to play by them, for the mermaids immediately disappeared. Nevertheless,
we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers and
were not above taking an idea from them, for John
introduced a new way of hitting the bubble with the
head instead of the hand, and the Mermaids adopted it.
(03:20):
This is the one mark that John has left on
the Neverland. It must also have been rather pretty to
see the children resting on a rock for half an
hour after their midday meal. Wendy insisted on their doing this,
and it had to be a real arrest, even though
the meal was make believe. So they lay there in
(03:40):
the sun and their bodies glistened in it, while she
sat beside them and looked important. It was one such
day and they were all on Marooner's rock. The rock
was not much larger than their great bed. But of
course they all knew how not to take up much room,
and there were dozing, or at least lying with their
(04:02):
eyes shut, and pinching occasionally when they thought Wendy was
not looking. She was very busy stitching. While she stitched,
a change came over the lagoon. Little shivers ran over it,
and the sun went away, and shadows stole across the water,
turning it cold. Wendy could no longer see to thread
(04:23):
her needle, and when she looked up, the lagoon that
had always hitherto been such a laughing place seemed formidable
and unfriendly. It was not. She knew that night had come,
but something as dark as night had come, no worse
than that it had come. But it had sent that
(04:44):
shiver through the sea to say that it was coming.
What was it? There? Crowded upon her all the story
she had been told of Marooner's Rock, so called because
evil captains put sailors on it and leave them there
to drown. They drown when the tide rises, for then
it is submerged. Of course, she should have roused the
(05:09):
children at once, not merely because of the unknown that
was talking toward them, but because it was no longer
good for them to sleep on a rock grown chilly.
But she was a young mother, and she did not
know this. She thought, you simply must stick to your rule.
About half an hour after the midday meal. So though
(05:30):
fear was upon her, and she longed to hear mill voices,
she would not waken them. Even when she heard the
sound of muffled oars. Though her heart was in her mouth,
she did not waken them. She stood over them to
let them have their sleep out. Was it not brave
of Wendy? It was well for those boys, then, that
(05:53):
there was one among them who could sniff danger even
in his sleep. Peter Sprang erect, as wide awake at
once as a dog, and with one morning cry he
roused the others. He stood motionless, one hand to his
ear pirates. He cried. The others came closer to him.
(06:16):
A strange smile was playing about his face, and Wendy
saw it and shuddered. While that smile was on his face,
no one dared address him. All they could do was
to stand ready to obey. The order came sharp and
incisive dive. There was a gleam of legs, and instantly
(06:39):
the goon seemed deserted. Marooner's Rock stood alone, and the
forbidding waters as if it were itself marooned. The boat
drew nearer. It was the pirate dinghy, with three figures
in her smee and Starkey, and the third a captive
no other than tiger Lily. Her hands and ankles were tied,
(07:03):
and she knew what was to be her fate. She
was to be left on the rock to perish, an
end to one of her race more terrible than death
by fire or torture. For is it not written in
the book of the tribe that there is no path
through water to happy hunting ground. Yet her face was impassive.
(07:23):
She was the daughter of a chief. She must die
as a chief's daughter. It is enough they had caught
her boarding the pirate ship with a knife in her mouth.
No watch was kept on the ship, it being Hook's
boast that the wind of his name guarded the ship
for a mile round. Now her fate would help to
(07:44):
guard it also when more whale would go the round
in that wind by night. In the gloom that they
brought with them, the two pirates did not see the
rock till they crashed into it. Loff, you lubber, cried
an Irish voice that was Smee's. Here's the rock now,
then what we have to do is to hoist the
(08:07):
redskin on to it and leave her to drown. It
was the work of one brutal moment to land the
beautiful girl on the rock. She was too proud to
offer a vain resistance. Quite near the rock, but out
of sight, two heads were bobbing up and down, Peter's
in Wendy's. Wendy was crying, for it was the first
(08:29):
tragedy she had seen. Peter had seen many tragedies, but
he had forgotten them all. He was less sorry than
Wendy for tiger Lily. It was two against one that
angered him, and he meant to save her. And easy
way would have been to wait until the pirates had gone,
but he was never one to choose the easy way.
(08:51):
There was almost nothing he could do, and he now
imitated the voice of hook ahoy, there you lubbers, he called.
It was a marvelous imitation, the captain said, the pirates
staring at each other in surprise. He must be swimming
out to us, Starkey said. When they had looked for
(09:14):
him in vain. We are putting the redskin on the rock,
Smee called out. Set her free, came the astonishing answer, free, yes,
cut her bonds and let her go. But captain at once,
d'ye hear, cried Peter, or I'll plunge my hook in you.
(09:37):
This is queer, Smee gasped. WoT better do what the
captain orders, said Starkey nervously. Ay, ay, Smee said, and
he cut Tigulerly's cords at once. Like an eel, she
slid between Starkey's legs into the water. Of course, Wendy
was very elated over Peter's cleverness, but she knew that
(10:01):
he would be elated also, and very likely crow and
thus betray himself, And so at once her hand went
out to cover his mouth, but it was stayed even
in the act, for boat ahoy rang over the lagoon
in Hook's voice, and this time it was not Peter
who had spoken. Peter may have been about to crow,
(10:23):
but his face puckered in a whistle of surprise instead.
Boat ahoy again came the voice. Now Wendy understood the
real Hook was also in the water. He was swimming
to the boat and as his men showed a light
to guide him, he had soon reached them. In the
light of the lantern, Wendy saw his hook grip the
(10:46):
boat's side. She saw his evil, swarthy face as he rose,
dripping from the water and quaking. She would have liked
to swim away, but Peter would not budge. He was
tingling with life, and also tup heavy with Conceit. Am
I not a wonder? Oh I am a wonder, he
(11:07):
whispered to her, And though she thought so also, she
was really glad for the sake of his reputation that
no one heard him except herself. He signaled to her
to listen. Two pirates were very curious to know who
had brought their captain to them, But he sat with
his head on his hook, in a position of profound melancholy. Captain,
(11:30):
is all well, he asked timidly. But he answered with
a hollow moan. He sighs, said Smee. He sighs again,
said Starkey, And yet a third time he sighs, said Smee.
Then at last he spoke passionately. The game's up, he cried.
(11:51):
Those boys have found a mother affrighted, though she was
Wendy swelled with pride. Oh, evil dad, cried Starkey. What's
a mother, asked the ignorant Smee. Wendy was so shocked
that she exclaimed, he doesn't know. And always after this
(12:11):
she felt that if you could not have the pet pirate,
Smee would be her one. Peter pulled her beneath the water,
for Hook had started up crying, what was that? I
heard nothing, said Starkey, raising the lantern over the waters.
And as the pirates looked, they saw a strange sight.
(12:32):
It was the nest I have told you of floating
on the lagoon, and the never bird was sitting on it. See,
said Hook, in answer to Smee's question, that is a mother?
What a lesson? The nest must have fallen into the water.
But would the mother desert her eggs? No? There was
(12:53):
a break in his voice, as if for a moment
he recalled innocent days when, but he brushed away his
weakness with his hook. Smee, much impressed, gazed at the
bird as the nest was borne past. But the more
suspicious Starkey said, if she is a mother, perhaps she
is hanging about here to help Peter. Hook winced aye,
(13:17):
He said, that is the fear that haunts me. He
was roused from this dejection by Smee's eager voice. Captain said, Smee,
could we not kidnap those boys's mother and make her
our mother. It is a princely scheme, cried Hook, and
at once it took practical shape in his great brain.
(13:41):
We will seize the children and carry them to the boat.
The boys will make walk the plank, and Wendy shall
be our mother again. Wendy forgot herself never. She cried
and bobbed. What was that? But they could see nothing.
(14:01):
They thought it must have been a leaf in the wind.
Do you agree, my bullies, asked Hook. There is my
hand on it, they both said, and there is my hook. Swear,
they all swore. By this time they were on the rock,
and suddenly Hook remembered tiger lily. Where is the red skin?
(14:26):
He demanded abruptly. He had a playful humor at moments,
and they thought this was one of those moments. That
is all right, Captain Smee answered, complacently, we let her go.
Let her go, cried Hook. Twas your own orders the
(14:46):
boats un faltered. You called over the water to us,
to let her go, said Starkey. Brimstone and Gall thundered Hook,
what cozening is going on here? Footnote cozening cheating and footnote.
His face had gone black with rage, but he saw
(15:09):
that they believed their words, and he was startled. Lads,
he said, shaking a little. I gave no such order.
It is passing, queer, Smee said, and they all fidgeted uncomfortably.
Hook raised his voice, but there was a quiver in it,
(15:30):
spirit that haunts this dark lagoon to night. He cried,
dost hear me? Of course Peter should have kept quiet,
but of course he did not. He immediately answered, in
Hook's voice, odds, bobs, hammer, and tongs, I hear you.
In that supreme moment, Hook did not blanche even at
(15:53):
the gills, but Smee and Starkey clung to each other
in terror. Who are you, stranger spa, Hook demanded, I
am James, Hook, replied the voice captain of the Jolly Roger.
You are not. You are not, Hook cried hoarsely. Brimstone
(16:15):
and Gall. The voice retorted, say that again, and I'll
cast anger in you. Hook tried a more ingratiating manner.
If you are Hook he said, almost humbly. Come tell
me who am I? A codfish? Replied the voice, Only
a codfish, A codfish, Hook echoed blankly. And it was then,
(16:41):
but not till then, that his proud spirit broke. He
saw his men draw back from him. Have we been
captained all this time by a codfish? It muttered? It
is lowering our pride. They were his dogs, snapping at him.
But try figure. Though he had become he scarcely heeded
(17:03):
them against such fearful evidence. It was not their belief
in him that he needed. It was his own. He
felt his ego slipping from him. Don't desert me, bully,
he whispered hoarsely to it. In his dark nature there
was a touch of the feminine, as in all the
(17:23):
great pirates, and at sometimes gave him intuitions. Suddenly he
tried the guessing game. Hook. He called, have you another voice? Now?
Peter could never resist the game, and he answered, blithely
in his own voice, I have and another name. Ay aye, vegetable,
(17:49):
asked Hook, No mineral, no animal? Yes, man no. This
answer rang out scornfully. Boy yes, ordinary boy, no, wonderful boy.
(18:12):
To Wendy's pain, the answer that rang out this time
was yes, are you in England? No? Are you here? Yes?
Hook was completely puzzled. You ask him some questions, he
said to the others, wiping his damp brow. Smee reflected,
(18:34):
I can't think of a thing, he said, regretfully, can't guess,
can't guess, crowed Peter, do you give it up? Of course,
in his pride he was carrying the game too far,
and the miscreants saw their chance footnote miscreants, villains and
(18:57):
footnote Yes, yes, they answered eagerly. Well, then he cried,
I am Peter Pan Pan. In a moment, Hook was
himself again, and Smee and Starkey were his faithful henchmen.
Now we have him, Hook shouted into the water. Smee, Starkey,
(19:21):
mind the boat, take him dead or alive. He leapt
as he spoke, and simultaneously came the gay voice of Peter.
Are you ready, boys, Aye? Aye? From various parts of
the lagoon. Then lamb into the pirates. The fight was
short and sharp. First to draw blood was John, who
(19:44):
gallantly climbed into the boat and held Starkey. There was
a fierce struggle in which the cutlass was torn from
the pirate's grasp. He wiggled overboard, and John leaped after him.
The dinghy drifted away. Here and there a bobbed up
in the water, and there was a flash of steel,
(20:04):
followed by a cry or a whoop. In the confusion,
some struck at their own side. The corkscrew of Smee
got tootles in the fourth rib, but he himself was
pinked in turn by curly footnote pinked, nicked and footnote.
(20:24):
Farther from the rock, Starkey was pressing slightly, and the
twins hard. Where all this time was Peter. He was
seeking bigger game. The others were all brave boys, and
they must not be blamed for backing from the pirate.
Captain his iron claw made a circle of dead water
(20:44):
round him, from which they fled like affrighted fishes. But
there was one who did not fear him. There was
one prepared to enter that circle. Strangely, it was not
in the water that they met. Hook rose to the
rock to breathe, and at the same moment Peter scaled
it on the opposite side. The rock was slippery as
(21:08):
a ball, and they had to crawl rather than climb.
Neither knew that the other was coming. Each, feeling for
a grip, met the other's arm. In surprise. They raised
their heads. Their faces were almost touching, so they met.
Some of the greatest heroes have confessed that just before
(21:29):
they fell to begin combat, they had a sinking feeling
in the stomach. It had been so with Peter at
that moment. I would admit it. After all, he was
the only man that the sea cook had feared. But
Peter had no sinking. He had one feeling, only gladness,
(21:50):
and he gnashed his pretty teeth with joy, quick as though.
He snatched a knife from Hook's belt and was about
to drive it home when he saw that he was
higher up the rock than is fall. It would not
have been fighting fair. He gave the pirate a hand
to help him up. It was then that Hook bit him.
(22:11):
Not the pain of this, but its unfairness, was what
days Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only
stare horrified. Every child is affected. Thus the first time
he has treated unfairly all he thinks he has a
right to do. When he comes to you to be
yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him,
(22:34):
he will love you again, but will never afterwards be
quite the same. Boy. No one ever gets over the
first unfairness, no one except Peter. He often met it,
but he always forgot it. I suppose that was the
real difference between him and all the rest. So when
he met it now it was like the first time,
(22:56):
and he could just stare helpless t why the iron
hand clawed him. A few moments afterwards, the other boys
saw Hook in the water, striking wildly for the ship.
No elation on the pestilent face, now only white fear,
for the crocodile was in dodge pursuit of him. On
(23:18):
ordinary occasions, the boys would have swum alongside, cheering, but
now they were uneasy, for they had lost both Peter
and Wendy and were scouring the lagoon for them, calling
them by name. They found the dinghy and went home
in it, shouting Peter Wendy as they went, but no
(23:38):
answer came, save mocking laughter from the mermaids. They must
be swimming back or flying. The boys concluded they were
not very anxious because they had such faith in Peter.
They chuckled boylike because they would be late for bed,
and it was all mother Wendy's fault. When their voices
died away, their came cold silence over the lagoon, and
(24:02):
then a feeble cry, help Help. Two small figures were
beating against the rock. The girl had fainted and lay
on the boy's arm. With a last effort, Peter pulled
her up the rock and then lay down beside her,
even as he also fainted. He saw that the water
(24:24):
was rising. He knew that they would soon be drowned,
but he could do no more. As they lay aside
by side, a mermaid caught Wendy by the feet and
began pulling her softly into the water. Peter, feeling her
slip from him, woke with a start and was just
in time to draw her back. But he had to
(24:44):
tell her the truth. We are on the rock, Wendy,
he said, but it is growing smaller. Soon the water
will be over it. She did not understand. Even now,
we must go, she said, almost bright Yes, he answered faintly.
Shall we swim or fly? Peter? He had to tell her,
(25:08):
do you think you could swim or fly as far
as the island? Wendy? Without my help? She had to
admit that she was too tired. He moaned, What is it?
She asked, anxious about him. At once. I can't help you,
Wendy hook wounded me. I can neither fly nor swim.
(25:29):
Do you mean we shall both be drowned? Look how
the water is rising. They put their hands over their
eyes to shut out the sight. They thought they would
soon be no more. As they sat thus, something brushed
against Peter as light as a kiss, and stayed there,
as if saying, timidly, can I be of any use?
(25:52):
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 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
(26:13):
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
(26:36):
her from the rock, and in a few minutes she
was born out of his sight. Peter was alone on
the lagoon. The rock was very small now soon it
would be submerged. Pale rays of light tiptoed across the waters,
and by and by there was to be heard a sound,
(26:57):
at once the most musical and the most melancholy in
the world, the mermaids calling to the moon. Peter was
not quite like the other boys, but he was afraid.
At last, A tremor ran through him, like a shudder
passing over the sea. But on the sea, one shutter
follows another, till there are hundreds of them, and Peter
(27:18):
felt just the one. Next moment, he was standing erect
on the rock again, with that smile on his face
and a drum beating within him. It was saying, to
die will be an awfully big adventure. End of chapter
eight
Recording by Patrick Seville. Chapter eight, The Mermaid's Lagoon. If
you shut your eyes into a lucky one, you may
see at times a shapeless pool of lovely, pale colors
suspended in the darkness. Then if you squeeze your eyes tighter,
the pool begins to take shape, and the colors become
(00:23):
so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire.
But just before they go on fire, you see the lagoon.
This is the nearest you ever get to it on
the mainland, Just one heavenly moment. If there could be
two moments, you might see the surf and hear the
mermaids singing. The children often spent long summer days on
(00:47):
this lagoon, swimming or floating, most of the time playing
the mermaid games in the water, and so forth. You
must not think from this that the mermaids run friendly
terms with them. On the contrary, it was among Wendy's
lasting regrets that all the time she was on the
island she never had a civil word from one of them.
(01:10):
When she stole softly to the edge of the lagoon,
she might see them by the score, especially on Marooner's Rock,
where they loved to bask combing out their hair in
a lazy way that quite irritated her. Or she might
even swim on tiptoe, as it were, to within a
yard of them. But then they saw her and dived,
(01:31):
probably splashing her with their tails, not by accident but intentionally.
They treated all the boys in the same way, except,
of course Peter, who chatted with them on Marooner's Rock
by the hour and sat on their tails. When they
got cheeky, he gave Wendy one of their combs. The
(01:52):
most haunting time at which to see them is at
the turn of the moon, when they utter strange, willing cries.
But the lagoon is dangerous for mortals. Then and until
the evening of which we have now to tell, Wendy
had never seen the lagoon by moonlight, less from fear,
for of course Peter would have accompanied her then. Because
(02:14):
she had strict rules about everyone being in bed by seven.
She was often at the lagoon. However, on sunny days
after rain, when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers
to play with their bubbles. The bubbles of many colors
make in rainbow water they treat as balls, hitting them
gaily from one to another with their tails and trying
(02:38):
to keep them in the rainbow till they burst. The
goals are at each end of the rainbow, and the
keepers only are allowed to use their hands. Sometimes a
dozen of these games will be going on in the
lagoon at a time, and it is quite a pretty sight.
But the moment the children try to join in, they
(02:59):
had to play by them, for the mermaids immediately disappeared. Nevertheless,
we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers and
were not above taking an idea from them, for John
introduced a new way of hitting the bubble with the
head instead of the hand, and the Mermaids adopted it.
(03:20):
This is the one mark that John has left on
the Neverland. It must also have been rather pretty to
see the children resting on a rock for half an
hour after their midday meal. Wendy insisted on their doing this,
and it had to be a real arrest, even though
the meal was make believe. So they lay there in
(03:40):
the sun and their bodies glistened in it, while she
sat beside them and looked important. It was one such
day and they were all on Marooner's rock. The rock
was not much larger than their great bed. But of
course they all knew how not to take up much room,
and there were dozing, or at least lying with their
(04:02):
eyes shut, and pinching occasionally when they thought Wendy was
not looking. She was very busy stitching. While she stitched,
a change came over the lagoon. Little shivers ran over it,
and the sun went away, and shadows stole across the water,
turning it cold. Wendy could no longer see to thread
(04:23):
her needle, and when she looked up, the lagoon that
had always hitherto been such a laughing place seemed formidable
and unfriendly. It was not. She knew that night had come,
but something as dark as night had come, no worse
than that it had come. But it had sent that
(04:44):
shiver through the sea to say that it was coming.
What was it? There? Crowded upon her all the story
she had been told of Marooner's Rock, so called because
evil captains put sailors on it and leave them there
to drown. They drown when the tide rises, for then
it is submerged. Of course, she should have roused the
(05:09):
children at once, not merely because of the unknown that
was talking toward them, but because it was no longer
good for them to sleep on a rock grown chilly.
But she was a young mother, and she did not
know this. She thought, you simply must stick to your rule.
About half an hour after the midday meal. So though
(05:30):
fear was upon her, and she longed to hear mill voices,
she would not waken them. Even when she heard the
sound of muffled oars. Though her heart was in her mouth,
she did not waken them. She stood over them to
let them have their sleep out. Was it not brave
of Wendy? It was well for those boys, then, that
(05:53):
there was one among them who could sniff danger even
in his sleep. Peter Sprang erect, as wide awake at
once as a dog, and with one morning cry he
roused the others. He stood motionless, one hand to his
ear pirates. He cried. The others came closer to him.
(06:16):
A strange smile was playing about his face, and Wendy
saw it and shuddered. While that smile was on his face,
no one dared address him. All they could do was
to stand ready to obey. The order came sharp and
incisive dive. There was a gleam of legs, and instantly
(06:39):
the goon seemed deserted. Marooner's Rock stood alone, and the
forbidding waters as if it were itself marooned. The boat
drew nearer. It was the pirate dinghy, with three figures
in her smee and Starkey, and the third a captive
no other than tiger Lily. Her hands and ankles were tied,
(07:03):
and she knew what was to be her fate. She
was to be left on the rock to perish, an
end to one of her race more terrible than death
by fire or torture. For is it not written in
the book of the tribe that there is no path
through water to happy hunting ground. Yet her face was impassive.
(07:23):
She was the daughter of a chief. She must die
as a chief's daughter. It is enough they had caught
her boarding the pirate ship with a knife in her mouth.
No watch was kept on the ship, it being Hook's
boast that the wind of his name guarded the ship
for a mile round. Now her fate would help to
(07:44):
guard it also when more whale would go the round
in that wind by night. In the gloom that they
brought with them, the two pirates did not see the
rock till they crashed into it. Loff, you lubber, cried
an Irish voice that was Smee's. Here's the rock now,
then what we have to do is to hoist the
(08:07):
redskin on to it and leave her to drown. It
was the work of one brutal moment to land the
beautiful girl on the rock. She was too proud to
offer a vain resistance. Quite near the rock, but out
of sight, two heads were bobbing up and down, Peter's
in Wendy's. Wendy was crying, for it was the first
(08:29):
tragedy she had seen. Peter had seen many tragedies, but
he had forgotten them all. He was less sorry than
Wendy for tiger Lily. It was two against one that
angered him, and he meant to save her. And easy
way would have been to wait until the pirates had gone,
but he was never one to choose the easy way.
(08:51):
There was almost nothing he could do, and he now
imitated the voice of hook ahoy, there you lubbers, he called.
It was a marvelous imitation, the captain said, the pirates
staring at each other in surprise. He must be swimming
out to us, Starkey said. When they had looked for
(09:14):
him in vain. We are putting the redskin on the rock,
Smee called out. Set her free, came the astonishing answer, free, yes,
cut her bonds and let her go. But captain at once,
d'ye hear, cried Peter, or I'll plunge my hook in you.
(09:37):
This is queer, Smee gasped. WoT better do what the
captain orders, said Starkey nervously. Ay, ay, Smee said, and
he cut Tigulerly's cords at once. Like an eel, she
slid between Starkey's legs into the water. Of course, Wendy
was very elated over Peter's cleverness, but she knew that
(10:01):
he would be elated also, and very likely crow and
thus betray himself, And so at once her hand went
out to cover his mouth, but it was stayed even
in the act, for boat ahoy rang over the lagoon
in Hook's voice, and this time it was not Peter
who had spoken. Peter may have been about to crow,
(10:23):
but his face puckered in a whistle of surprise instead.
Boat ahoy again came the voice. Now Wendy understood the
real Hook was also in the water. He was swimming
to the boat and as his men showed a light
to guide him, he had soon reached them. In the
light of the lantern, Wendy saw his hook grip the
(10:46):
boat's side. She saw his evil, swarthy face as he rose,
dripping from the water and quaking. She would have liked
to swim away, but Peter would not budge. He was
tingling with life, and also tup heavy with Conceit. Am
I not a wonder? Oh I am a wonder, he
(11:07):
whispered to her, And though she thought so also, she
was really glad for the sake of his reputation that
no one heard him except herself. He signaled to her
to listen. Two pirates were very curious to know who
had brought their captain to them, But he sat with
his head on his hook, in a position of profound melancholy. Captain,
(11:30):
is all well, he asked timidly. But he answered with
a hollow moan. He sighs, said Smee. He sighs again,
said Starkey, And yet a third time he sighs, said Smee.
Then at last he spoke passionately. The game's up, he cried.
(11:51):
Those boys have found a mother affrighted, though she was
Wendy swelled with pride. Oh, evil dad, cried Starkey. What's
a mother, asked the ignorant Smee. Wendy was so shocked
that she exclaimed, he doesn't know. And always after this
(12:11):
she felt that if you could not have the pet pirate,
Smee would be her one. Peter pulled her beneath the water,
for Hook had started up crying, what was that? I
heard nothing, said Starkey, raising the lantern over the waters.
And as the pirates looked, they saw a strange sight.
(12:32):
It was the nest I have told you of floating
on the lagoon, and the never bird was sitting on it. See,
said Hook, in answer to Smee's question, that is a mother?
What a lesson? The nest must have fallen into the water.
But would the mother desert her eggs? No? There was
(12:53):
a break in his voice, as if for a moment
he recalled innocent days when, but he brushed away his
weakness with his hook. Smee, much impressed, gazed at the
bird as the nest was borne past. But the more
suspicious Starkey said, if she is a mother, perhaps she
is hanging about here to help Peter. Hook winced aye,
(13:17):
He said, that is the fear that haunts me. He
was roused from this dejection by Smee's eager voice. Captain said, Smee,
could we not kidnap those boys's mother and make her
our mother. It is a princely scheme, cried Hook, and
at once it took practical shape in his great brain.
(13:41):
We will seize the children and carry them to the boat.
The boys will make walk the plank, and Wendy shall
be our mother again. Wendy forgot herself never. She cried
and bobbed. What was that? But they could see nothing.
(14:01):
They thought it must have been a leaf in the wind.
Do you agree, my bullies, asked Hook. There is my
hand on it, they both said, and there is my hook. Swear,
they all swore. By this time they were on the rock,
and suddenly Hook remembered tiger lily. Where is the red skin?
(14:26):
He demanded abruptly. He had a playful humor at moments,
and they thought this was one of those moments. That
is all right, Captain Smee answered, complacently, we let her go.
Let her go, cried Hook. Twas your own orders the
(14:46):
boats un faltered. You called over the water to us,
to let her go, said Starkey. Brimstone and Gall thundered Hook,
what cozening is going on here? Footnote cozening cheating and footnote.
His face had gone black with rage, but he saw
(15:09):
that they believed their words, and he was startled. Lads,
he said, shaking a little. I gave no such order.
It is passing, queer, Smee said, and they all fidgeted uncomfortably.
Hook raised his voice, but there was a quiver in it,
(15:30):
spirit that haunts this dark lagoon to night. He cried,
dost hear me? Of course Peter should have kept quiet,
but of course he did not. He immediately answered, in
Hook's voice, odds, bobs, hammer, and tongs, I hear you.
In that supreme moment, Hook did not blanche even at
(15:53):
the gills, but Smee and Starkey clung to each other
in terror. Who are you, stranger spa, Hook demanded, I
am James, Hook, replied the voice captain of the Jolly Roger.
You are not. You are not, Hook cried hoarsely. Brimstone
(16:15):
and Gall. The voice retorted, say that again, and I'll
cast anger in you. Hook tried a more ingratiating manner.
If you are Hook he said, almost humbly. Come tell
me who am I? A codfish? Replied the voice, Only
a codfish, A codfish, Hook echoed blankly. And it was then,
(16:41):
but not till then, that his proud spirit broke. He
saw his men draw back from him. Have we been
captained all this time by a codfish? It muttered? It
is lowering our pride. They were his dogs, snapping at him.
But try figure. Though he had become he scarcely heeded
(17:03):
them against such fearful evidence. It was not their belief
in him that he needed. It was his own. He
felt his ego slipping from him. Don't desert me, bully,
he whispered hoarsely to it. In his dark nature there
was a touch of the feminine, as in all the
(17:23):
great pirates, and at sometimes gave him intuitions. Suddenly he
tried the guessing game. Hook. He called, have you another voice? Now?
Peter could never resist the game, and he answered, blithely
in his own voice, I have and another name. Ay aye, vegetable,
(17:49):
asked Hook, No mineral, no animal? Yes, man no. This
answer rang out scornfully. Boy yes, ordinary boy, no, wonderful boy.
(18:12):
To Wendy's pain, the answer that rang out this time
was yes, are you in England? No? Are you here? Yes?
Hook was completely puzzled. You ask him some questions, he
said to the others, wiping his damp brow. Smee reflected,
(18:34):
I can't think of a thing, he said, regretfully, can't guess,
can't guess, crowed Peter, do you give it up? Of course,
in his pride he was carrying the game too far,
and the miscreants saw their chance footnote miscreants, villains and
(18:57):
footnote Yes, yes, they answered eagerly. Well, then he cried,
I am Peter Pan Pan. In a moment, Hook was
himself again, and Smee and Starkey were his faithful henchmen.
Now we have him, Hook shouted into the water. Smee, Starkey,
(19:21):
mind the boat, take him dead or alive. He leapt
as he spoke, and simultaneously came the gay voice of Peter.
Are you ready, boys, Aye? Aye? From various parts of
the lagoon. Then lamb into the pirates. The fight was
short and sharp. First to draw blood was John, who
(19:44):
gallantly climbed into the boat and held Starkey. There was
a fierce struggle in which the cutlass was torn from
the pirate's grasp. He wiggled overboard, and John leaped after him.
The dinghy drifted away. Here and there a bobbed up
in the water, and there was a flash of steel,
(20:04):
followed by a cry or a whoop. In the confusion,
some struck at their own side. The corkscrew of Smee
got tootles in the fourth rib, but he himself was
pinked in turn by curly footnote pinked, nicked and footnote.
(20:24):
Farther from the rock, Starkey was pressing slightly, and the
twins hard. Where all this time was Peter. He was
seeking bigger game. The others were all brave boys, and
they must not be blamed for backing from the pirate.
Captain his iron claw made a circle of dead water
(20:44):
round him, from which they fled like affrighted fishes. But
there was one who did not fear him. There was
one prepared to enter that circle. Strangely, it was not
in the water that they met. Hook rose to the
rock to breathe, and at the same moment Peter scaled
it on the opposite side. The rock was slippery as
(21:08):
a ball, and they had to crawl rather than climb.
Neither knew that the other was coming. Each, feeling for
a grip, met the other's arm. In surprise. They raised
their heads. Their faces were almost touching, so they met.
Some of the greatest heroes have confessed that just before
(21:29):
they fell to begin combat, they had a sinking feeling
in the stomach. It had been so with Peter at
that moment. I would admit it. After all, he was
the only man that the sea cook had feared. But
Peter had no sinking. He had one feeling, only gladness,
(21:50):
and he gnashed his pretty teeth with joy, quick as though.
He snatched a knife from Hook's belt and was about
to drive it home when he saw that he was
higher up the rock than is fall. It would not
have been fighting fair. He gave the pirate a hand
to help him up. It was then that Hook bit him.
(22:11):
Not the pain of this, but its unfairness, was what
days Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only
stare horrified. Every child is affected. Thus the first time
he has treated unfairly all he thinks he has a
right to do. When he comes to you to be
yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him,
(22:34):
he will love you again, but will never afterwards be
quite the same. Boy. No one ever gets over the
first unfairness, no one except Peter. He often met it,
but he always forgot it. I suppose that was the
real difference between him and all the rest. So when
he met it now it was like the first time,
(22:56):
and he could just stare helpless t why the iron
hand clawed him. A few moments afterwards, the other boys
saw Hook in the water, striking wildly for the ship.
No elation on the pestilent face, now only white fear,
for the crocodile was in dodge pursuit of him. On
(23:18):
ordinary occasions, the boys would have swum alongside, cheering, but
now they were uneasy, for they had lost both Peter
and Wendy and were scouring the lagoon for them, calling
them by name. They found the dinghy and went home
in it, shouting Peter Wendy as they went, but no
(23:38):
answer came, save mocking laughter from the mermaids. They must
be swimming back or flying. The boys concluded they were
not very anxious because they had such faith in Peter.
They chuckled boylike because they would be late for bed,
and it was all mother Wendy's fault. When their voices
died away, their came cold silence over the lagoon, and
(24:02):
then a feeble cry, help Help. Two small figures were
beating against the rock. The girl had fainted and lay
on the boy's arm. With a last effort, Peter pulled
her up the rock and then lay down beside her,
even as he also fainted. He saw that the water
(24:24):
was rising. He knew that they would soon be drowned,
but he could do no more. As they lay aside
by side, a mermaid caught Wendy by the feet and
began pulling her softly into the water. Peter, feeling her
slip from him, woke with a start and was just
in time to draw her back. But he had to
(24:44):
tell her the truth. We are on the rock, Wendy,
he said, but it is growing smaller. Soon the water
will be over it. She did not understand. Even now,
we must go, she said, almost bright Yes, he answered faintly.
Shall we swim or fly? Peter? He had to tell her,
(25:08):
do you think you could swim or fly as far
as the island? Wendy? Without my help? She had to
admit that she was too tired. He moaned, What is it?
She asked, anxious about him. At once. I can't help you,
Wendy hook wounded me. I can neither fly nor swim.
(25:29):
Do you mean we shall both be drowned? Look how
the water is rising. They put their hands over their
eyes to shut out the sight. They thought they would
soon be no more. As they sat thus, something brushed
against Peter as light as a kiss, and stayed there,
as if saying, timidly, can I be of any use?
(25:52):
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 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
(26:13):
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
(26:36):
her from the rock, and in a few minutes she
was born out of his sight. Peter was alone on
the lagoon. The rock was very small now soon it
would be submerged. Pale rays of light tiptoed across the waters,
and by and by there was to be heard a sound,
(26:57):
at once the most musical and the most melancholy in
the world, the mermaids calling to the moon. Peter was
not quite like the other boys, but he was afraid.
At last, A tremor ran through him, like a shudder
passing over the sea. But on the sea, one shutter
follows another, till there are hundreds of them, and Peter
(27:18):
felt just the one. Next moment, he was standing erect
on the rock again, with that smile on his face
and a drum beating within him. It was saying, to
die will be an awfully big adventure. End of chapter
eight
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.