13 - Peter Pan by J M Barrie

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.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the public domain recording by Patrick Seville, Chapter thirteen.
Do you believe in fairies? The more quickly this horror
is disposed of, the better. The first to emerge from
his tree was Curly. He rose out of it into
the arms of Cicco, who flung him to Smee, who

(00:20):
flung him to Starkey, who flung him to Bill Jukes,
who flung him to Noodler. And so he was tossed
from one to another till he fell at the feet
of the Black pirate. All the boys were plucked from
their trees in this ruthless manner, and several of them
were in the air at a time, like bales of goods,
flung from hand to hand. A different treatment was accorded

(00:42):
to Wendy, who came last. With ironical politeness, hook raised
his hat to her, and, offering her his arm, escorted
her to the spot where the others were being gagged.
He did it with such an air he was so
frightfully disungo that she was too fascinated to cry out
the footnote disungo imposingly distinguished, and footnote she was only

(01:07):
a little girl. Perhaps it is tell tale to divulge
that for a moment Hook entranced her, and we tell
on her only because her slip led to strained results.
Had she haughtily unhanded him, and we should have loved
to write it of her, she would have been hurled
through the air like the others. And then Hook would

(01:28):
probably not have been present at the tying of the children.
And had he not been at the tying, he would
not have discovered Slightly's secret, and without the secret he
could not presently have made his follow attempt on Peter's life.
They were tied to prevent their flying away, doubled up
with their knees close to their ears, and for the

(01:49):
trusting of them, the Black Pirate had cut a rope
into nine equal pieces. All went well until Slightly's turn came,
when t was found to be like the irritating parcels
that use up all the string in going round and
leave no tags with which to tie a knot footnote tags,

(02:10):
ends and footnote. The pirates kicked him in their rage,
just as you kicked the parcel, though in fairness you
should kick the string. And strange to say it was
Hook who told them to belay their violence. His lip
was curled with malicious triumph, while his dogs were merely sweating,

(02:31):
because every time they tried to pack the unhappy lad
tight in one part, he bulged out in another. Hook's
master mind had gone far beneath Slightly's surface, probing not
for effects but for causes, and his exultation showed that
he had found them slightly white to the gills. Knew

(02:51):
that Hook had surprised his secret, which was this, that
no boy so blown out could use a tree wherein
and ever man needs stick. Footnote surprised discovered, and footnote
poor Slightly, most wretched of all the children. Now, for
he was in a panic about Peter bitterly regretted what

(03:14):
he had done. Madly addicted to the drinking of water
when he was hot, he had swelled in consequence to
this present girth, And instead of reducing himself to fit
his tree, he had, unknown to the others, whittled his
tree to make it fit him. Sufficient of this, Hook
guessed to persuade him that Peter at last lay at

(03:36):
his mercy. But no word of the dark design that
now formed in the subterranean caverns of his mind crossed
his lips. He merely signed that the captives were to
be conveyed to the ship, and that he would be alone.
How to convey them? Hunched up in their ropes, they
might indeed be rolled down the hill like beryls, but

(03:58):
most of the way they threw a morass. Again, Hook's
genius surmounted difficulties. He indicated that the little house must
be used as a conveyance. The children were flung into it,
forced out, pirates raised it on their shoulders, the others
fell in behind, and, singing the hateful pirate chorus, the

(04:19):
strange Possession, set off through the wood. I don't know
whether any of the children were crying. If so, the
singing drowned the sound. But as the little House disappeared
in the forest, a brave, though tiny je of smoke
issued from its chimney, as if defying Hook. Hook saw it,
and it did Peter a bad service. It dried up

(04:42):
any trickle of pity for him than may have remained
in the pirate's infuriated breast. The first thing he did,
on finding himself alone and the fast falling night, was
to tiptoe to Slightly's tree and make sure that it
provided him with a passage. Then, for long he remained
brooding his hat of ill omen on the sward, so

(05:06):
that any gentle breeze which had arisen might play refreshingly
through his hair. Dark as were his thoughts, his blue
eyes were as soft as the periwinkle. Intently he listened
for any sound from the nether world, but all was
as silent below as above. The house under the ground

(05:26):
seemed to be but one more empty tenement in the void.
Was that boy asleep or did he stand waiting at
the foot of Slightly's tree with his dagger in his hand.
There was no way of knowing, save by going down
hook let his cloak slipped softly to the ground, and then,

(05:47):
biting his lips until a lewde blood stood on them,
he stepped into the tree. He was a brave man,
but for a moment he had to stop there and
to wipe his brow, which was dripping like a candle.
Then silently he let himself go into the unknown. He
arrived unmolested, at the foot of the shaft, and stood still, again,

(06:10):
biting at his breath, which had almost left him. As
his eyes became accustomed to the dim light, various objects
in the home under the trees took shape, but the
only one on which his greedy gaze rested, long sought for,
and found at last was the great bed. On the
bed lay Peter fast asleep, unaware of the tragedy being

(06:35):
enacted above. Peter had continued for a little time after
the children left, to play gaily on his pipes, no doubt,
rather a forlorn attempt to prove to himself that he
did not care. Then he decided not to take his
medicine so as to grieve Wendy. Then he lay down
on the bed outside the carvelet to vex her still more,

(06:59):
for she had always tucked them inside it, because you
never know that you may not grow chilly at the
turn of the night. Then he nearly cried, but it
struck him how indignant she would be if he laughed instead.
So he laughed a haughty laugh, and fell asleep in
the middle of it. Sometimes, though not often, he had dreams,

(07:24):
and they were more painful than the dreams of other boys.
For hours he could not be separated from these dreams,
though he wailed piteously in them. They had to do,
I think, with the riddle of his existence. At such
times it had been Wendy's custom to take him out
of bed and sit with him on her lap, soothing

(07:46):
him in dear ways of her own invention, and when
he grew calmer, to put him back to bed before
he quite woke up, so that he should not know
of the indignity to which she had subjected him. But
on this occasion he had fallen at once into a
dreamless sleep. One arm dropped over the edge of the bed,

(08:08):
one leg was arched, and the unfinished part of his
laugh was stranded on his mouth, which was open, showing
the little pearls. Thus the fenseless hook found him. He
stood silent at the foot of the tree, looking across
a chamber at his enemy. Did no feeling of compassion

(08:29):
disturb his somber breast. The man was not wholly evil.
He loved flowers I have been told, and sweet music.
He was himself no mean performer on the harpsichord, and
let it be frankly omitted. The idellic nature of the
scene stirred him, profoundly mastered by his better self, he

(08:51):
would have returned reluctantly up the tree, but for one thing.
What stayed him was Peter's impertinent appearance. As he sad
slept the open mouth, the drooping arm, the arched knee.
They were such a personification of cockiness, as taken together,
will never again, one may hope, be presented to eyes

(09:13):
so sensitive to their offensiveness. They stealed Hook's heart. If
his rage had broken him into a hundred pieces, every
one of them would have disregarded the incident and leapt
at the sleeper. Though a light from one lamp shone
dimly on the bed, Hook stood in darkness himself, and

(09:33):
at the first stealthy step forward he discovered an obstacle,
the door of Slightly's tree. It did not entirely fill
the aperture, and he had been looking over it feeling
for the catch. He found, to his fury that it
was low down, beyond his reach. To his disordered brain,

(09:54):
it seemed then that the irritating quality in Peter's face
and figure visibly increased, and he rattled the door and
flung himself against it. Was his enemy to escape him,
after all, But what was that The red in his
eye had caught sight of Peter's medicine standing on the
ledge within easy reach. He fathomed what it was straight away,

(10:18):
and immediately knew that the sleeper was in his power
lest he should be taken alive. Hook always carried about
his person a dreadful drug blended by himself. Of all
the death dealing rings that had come into his possession.
These he had boiled down into a yellow liquid, quite

(10:39):
unknown to science, which was probably the most rgulent poison
in existence. Five drops of this he now added to
Peter's cup. His hands shook, but it was in exultation
rather than in shame. As he did it, he avoided
glancing at the sleeper, but not less pity should unnerve him,

(11:01):
merely to avoid spilling. Then one long loading look he
cast upon his victim, and turning, wormed his way with
difficulty up the tree. As he emerged at the top,
he looked the very spirit of evil breaking from its hole.
Doning his hat at its most rakish angle, he wound

(11:24):
his cloak around him, holding one end in front, as
if to conceal his person from the night of which
it was the blackest part, and muttering strangely to himself,
stole away through the trees. Peter slept on. The light
guttered and went out, leaving the tentement in darkness. But

(11:45):
still he slept footnote guttered, burned to edges, and footnote
it must have been not less than ten o'clock by
the crocodile when he suddenly sat up in his bed,
awakened by He knew not what, but it was a soft,
cautious tapping on the door of his tree. Soft and cautious,

(12:06):
but in that stillness it was sinister. Peter felt for
his dagger till his hand gripped it. Then he spoke,
who is that? For long there was no answer, Then
again the knock, Who are you? No answer? He was thrilled,
and he loved being thrilled. In two strides, he reached

(12:29):
the door. Unlike Slately's door, it filled the aperture so
that he could not see beyond it, nor could the
one knocking see him. Footnote aperture opening and footnote I
won't open unless you speak, Peter cried. Then at last
the visitor spoke, in a lovely bell like voice, Let

(12:52):
me in, Peter. It was tink, and quickly he unbarred
to her. She flew in excitedly, her face flushed and
her dress stained with mud. What is it? Oh, you
could never guess, she cried, and offered him three guesses
out with it, he shouted, and in one ungrammatical sentence,

(13:15):
as long as the ribbons that conjurors pull from their mouths,
she told of the capture of Wendy and the boys
footnote conjurers, magicians and footnote. Peter's heart bobbed up and
down as he listened. Wendy bound and on the pirate ship,
she who loved everything to be just so, I'll rescue her,

(13:37):
he cried, leaping at his weapons. As he leapt, he
thought of something he could do to please her. He
could take his medicine, and his hand closed on the
fatal draft. No, shrieked tinker Bell, who had heard Hook
mutter about his deed as he sped through the forest.

(13:58):
Why not it is poisoned, poisoned? Who could have poisoned it? Hook?
Don't be silly? How could Hook have gotten down here? Alas,
tinker Bell could not explain this, for even she did
not know the dark secret of Slightly's tree. Nevertheless, Hook's

(14:19):
words had left no room for doubt. The cup was poisoned. Besides,
said Peter, quite believing himself. I never fell asleep. He
raised the cup. No time for words, now time for deeds,
and with one of her lightning movements, Tink got between
his lips and the draft and drained it to the dregs.

(14:43):
Why Tink, how dare you drink my medicine? But she
did not answer. Already she was reeling in the air.
What is the matter with you? Cried Peter, suddenly afraid
it was poisoned Peter, she told him softly, and now
I'm going to be dead. Oh Tink, did you drink

(15:06):
it to save me? Yes? But why Tink? Her wings
would scarcely carry her now. But in reply, she alighted
on his shoulder and gave his nose a loving bite.
She whispered in his ear, you silly ass, and then,
tottering to her chamber, lay down on the bed. His

(15:29):
head almost filled the fourth wall of her little room
as he knelt near her in distress. Every movement in
her light was growing fainter, and he knew that if
it went out, she would be no more. She liked
his tears so much that she put out her beautiful
finger and let them run over it. Her voice was

(15:50):
so low that at first he could not make out
what she said. Then he made it out. She was
saying that she thought she could get well again if
children believed in fairies. Peter flung out his arms. There
were no children there, and it was night time, but
he addressed all who might be dreaming of the Neverland,

(16:12):
and who were therefore nearer to him than you think,
boys and girls and their nighties, and naked papooses and
their baskets hung from trees. Do you believe? He cried?
Tink sat up in bed, almost briskly, to listen to
her fate. She fancied, she heard answers in the affirmative,

(16:33):
and then again she wasn't sure. What do you think,
she asked Peter, If you believe, he shouted to them,
clap your hands, don't let Tink die. Many clapped, some didn't.
A few beasts hissed. The clapping stopped suddenly, as if

(16:54):
countless mothers had rushed to their nurseries to see what
on earth was happening. Ready, Tink was saved. First her
voice grew strong, Then she popped out of bed. Then
she was flashing through the room, more merry and imprudent
than ever. She never thought of thinking those who believed,
but she would have liked to get at the ones

(17:16):
who had hissed, and now to rescue Wendy. The moon
was riding in a cloudy heaven when Peter rose from
his tree, begirt with weapons and wearing little else, to
set out upon his perilous quest. Footnote, begirt belted and footnote.

(17:36):
It was not such a night as he would have chosen.
He had hoped to fly, keeping not far from the ground,
so that nothing unwonted should escape his eyes. But in
that fitful light, to have flown low would have meant
trailing his shadow through the trees, thus disturbing birds and
acquainting a watchful foe that he was astir He regretted

(17:59):
now that he had given the birds of the island
such strange names, that they were very wild and difficult
to approach. There was no other course but to press
forward in redskin fashion, at which happily he was an
adept footnote adept expert and footnote. But in what direction?

(18:20):
For he could not be sure that the children had
been taken to the ship. A light fall of snow
had obliterated all footmarks, and a deathly silence pervaded the island,
as if for a space. Nature stood still in horror
of the recent carnage. He had taught the children something
of the forest's lore that he himself learned from Tiger

(18:42):
Lily and tinker Bell, and knew that in their dire
hour they were not likely to forget it slightly. If
he had an opportunity, would blaze the trees. For instance,
Curly could drop seeds, and Wendy would leave her handkerchief
at some important place. Footnote, blaze, cut a mark in

(19:03):
and footnote. The morning was needed to search for such guidance,
and he could not wait. The upper world had called him,
but would give no help. The crocodile passed him, but
not another living thing, not a sound, not a movement.
And yet he knew well that sudden death might be

(19:23):
at the next tree, or stalking him from behind. He
swore this terrible oath, hook or me this time. Now
he crawled forward like a snake, and again erect he
darted across a space on which the moonlight played. One
finger on his lip and his dagger at the ready.

(19:45):
He was frightfully happy. End of Chapter thirteen.