April 17, 2025 • 23 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.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the public Domain recording by Patrick Seville, chapter seventeen.
When Wendy grew up, I hope you want to know
what became of the other boys. They were waiting below
to give Wendy time to explain about them, and when
they had counted five hundred, they went up. They went
(00:20):
up by the stair because they thought this would make
a better impression. They stood in a row in front
of Missus Darling, with their hats off and wishing they
were not wearing their pirate clothes. They said nothing, but
their eyes asked her to have them. They ought to
have looked at mister Darling also, but they forgot about him.
(00:42):
Of course, Missus Darling said at once that she would
have them. But mister Darling was curiously depressed, and they
saw that he considered six a rather large number. I
must say. He said to Wendy that you don't do
things by halves, a grudging remark which the twins thought
(01:02):
was pointed at them. The first twin was the proud one,
and he asked, flushing, do you think we should be
too much of a handful, sir, because if so, we
can go away. Father Wendy cried shocked, but still the
cloud was on him. He knew he was behaving unworthily,
but he could not help it. We could lie doubled up,
(01:26):
said NIBBs. I always cut their hair myself, said Wendy. George,
missus Darling exclaimed, pained to see her dear one shriving
himself in such an unfavorable light. Then he burst into
tears and the truth came out. He was glad as
to have them as she was, he said, but he
(01:48):
thought they should have asked his consent as well as hers,
instead of treating him as a cipher in his own house.
Footnote cypher zero and footnote I don't think he is
a cipher, Toodles cried instantly. Do you think he's a cipher? Curly, No,
I don't. Do you think he is a safer? Slightly
(02:11):
rather not twin? What do you think? It turned out
that not one of them thought him a cipher, and
he was absurdly gratified and said he would find space
for them all in the drawing room if they fitted in.
We'll fit in, sir, they assured him. Then follow the leader.
He cried, gaily, mind you, I'm not sure that we
(02:34):
have a drawing room. But we pretend we have, and
it's all the same. Hoopla. He went off dancing through
the house, and they all cried hoopla, and danced after him,
searching for the drawing room. And I forget whether they
found it, but at any rate they found corners and
they all fitted in. As for Peter, he saw Wendy
(02:55):
once again before he flew away. He did not exactly
come to the window. He brushed against it in passing,
so that she could open it if she liked and
call to him. That is what she did. Hello, Wendy, goodbye,
he said, Oh dear, are you going away? Yes, you
(03:17):
don't feel Peter. She said, falteringly that you would like
to say anything to my parents about a very sweet subject.
No about me, Peter, No, missus Darling came to the window,
for at present she was keeping a sharp eye on Wendy.
She told Peter that she had adopted all the other
(03:40):
boys and would like to adopt him. Also, would you
send me to school? He inquired craftily, Yes, and then
to an office. I suppose so soon I would be
a man, very soon. I don't want to go to
a school and learn solemn things, he told her. Passionately.
(04:03):
I don't want to be a man, Oh, Wendy's mother.
If I was to wake up and feel there was
a beard, Peter said Wendy the comforter, I should love
you in a beard, and missus Darling stretched out her
arms to him, but he repulsed her. Keep back, lady,
no one is going to catch me and make me
a man. But where are you going to live with
(04:26):
tink in the house be built for Wendy. The fairies
are to put it high up among the tree tops
where they sleep at nights. How lovely, cried Wendy, so
longingly that missus Darling tightened her grip. I thought all
the fairies were dead, missus Darling said. There are always
a lot of young ones, explained Wendy, who was now
(04:49):
quite an authority, because you see, when a baby laughs
for the first time, a new fairy is born, and
as there are always new babies, there are always new fairies.
They live in nests on the top of trees, and
the mauve ones are boys, and the white ones are girls,
and the blue ones are just little sillies who are
(05:09):
not sure what they are. I shall have such fun,
said Peter, with eye on Wendy. It will be rather
lonely in the evening, she said, sitting by the fire,
I shall have Tink. Tink can't go a twentieth part
of the way round, she reminded him a little tartly sneak,
(05:30):
Ye tell all, Tink called out from somewhere round the corner.
It doesn't matter, Peter said, Oh, Peter, you know it matters. Well,
then come with me to the little house, may I? Mummy?
Certainly not. I have got you home again, and I
mean to keep you. But he does so need a mother,
(05:55):
So do you, my love? All all right, Peter said,
as he had asked her from politeness merely. But missus
Darling saw his mouth twitch, and she made this handsome
offer to let Wendy go to him for a week
every year to do his spring cleaning. Wendy would have
preferred a more permanent arrangement, and it seemed to her
(06:18):
that spring would be long in coming. But this promise
sent Peter away quite gay again. He had no sense
of time, and was so full of adventures that all
they have told you about him is only a half
pennyworth of them. I suppose it was because Wendy knew
this that her last words to him were these rather
(06:38):
plaintive ones. You won't forget me, Peter, will you before
spring cleaning time comes? Of course? Peter promised, and then
he flew away. He took missus Darling's kiss with him,
the kiss that had been for no one else. Peter
took quite easily funny, but she seemed satisfied. Of course.
(07:01):
All the boys went to school, and most of them
got into class three, but slately was put into class four,
and then into class five. Class one is the top class.
Before they attended school a week they saw what goats
they had been not to remain on the island, But
(07:21):
it was too late now, and soon they settled down
to being as ordinary as you or me or Jenkins miner.
It is sad to have to say that the power
to fly gradually left them. At first, Nina tied their
feet to the bedposts so that they shall not fly
away in the night, and one of their diversions by
(07:43):
day was to pretend to fall off buses. But by
and by they ceased to tug at their bonds and
bed and found that they hurt themselves when they let
go of the bus. In time, they could not even
fly after their hats. Want of practice, they called it,
but what it really meant was that they no longer believed.
(08:04):
Michael believed longer than the other boys, though they jeered
at him. So he was with Wendy when Peter came
for her at the end of the first year. She
flew away with Peter and the frock she had woven
from leaves and berries in the Neverland, and her one
fear was that he might notice how short it had become.
(08:24):
But he never noticed. He had so much to say
about himself. She had looked forward to thrilling talks with
him about old times, but new adventures had crowded the
old ones from his mind. Who was Captain Hook, he
asked with interest when she spoke of the arch enemy?
Don't you remember, she asked, amazed, how you killed him
(08:48):
and saved all our lives. I forget them after I
kill them, he replied carelessly. When she expressed a doubtful
hope that tinker Bell would be glad to see her,
he said, who was tinker Bell? Oh, Peter, she said, shocked,
But even when she explained, he could not remember. There
(09:10):
are such a lot of them, he said, I expect
she is no more. I expect he was right, for
fairies don't live long, but they are so little that
a short time seems a good while to them. Wendy
was pained, too to find that the past year was
but as yesterday to Peter. It had seemed such a
(09:31):
long year of waiting to her, But he was exactly
as fascinating as ever, and they had a lovely spring
cleaning and the little house on the tree tops. Next year,
he did not come for her. She waited in a
new frock because the old one simply would not meet.
But he never came. Perhaps he is ill, Michael said,
(09:54):
you know, he is never ill. Michael came close to
her and whispered with a ship. Perhaps there is no
such person, Wendy. And then Wendy would have cried if
Michael had not been crying. Peter came next spring cleaning,
and the strange thing was that he never knew he
had missed the year. That was the last time the
(10:17):
girl Wendy ever saw him for a little longer. She tried,
for his sake not to have growing pains, and she
felt she was untrue to him. When she got a
prize for general Knowledge, But the years came and went
without bringing the careless boy. And when they met again,
Wendy was a married woman, and Peter was no more
(10:38):
to her than a little dust in the box in
which she had kept her toys. Wendy was grown up.
You need not be sorry for her. She was one
of the kind that lakes to grow up. In the end.
She grew up of her own free will a day
quicker than other girls. All the boys were grown up
(11:00):
up and done for by this time, so it is
scarcely worth while singing anything more about them. You may
see the twins and Nibs and Curly any day going
to an office, each carrying a little bag and an umbrella.
Michael is an engine driver footnote, engine driver, train engineer
(11:21):
and footnote slightly married a lady of title, and so
he became a lord. You see that judge in a
wig coming out of the iron door that used to
be toodles. The bearded man who doesn't know any story
to tell his children was once John. Wendy was married
in white with a pink sash. It is strange to
(11:44):
think that Peter did not alight in the church and
forbid the bands footnote bands formal announcement of a marriage
and a footnote. Years rolled on again, and Wendy had
a daughter. This ought not to be written in ink,
but in a golden splash. She was called Jane and
(12:07):
always had an odd, inquiring look, as if from the
moment she arrived on the mainland she wanted to ask questions.
When she was old enough to ask them. They were
mostly about Peter Pan. She loved to hear of Peter,
and Wendy told her all she could remember, and the
very nursery from which the famous flight had taken place.
(12:31):
It was Jane's nursery now, for her father had bought
it at the three percents from Wendy's father, who was
no longer fond of stairs. Missus Darling was now dead
and forgotten. Footnote persense, mortgage rate and footnote. There were
only two beds in the nursery now Jane's and her nurse's,
(12:54):
and there was no kennel, for Nana also had passed away.
She died of old age, and at the end she
had been rather difficult to get on with, being very
firmly convinced that no one knew how to look after
children except herself. Once a week, Jane's nurse had her
evening off, and then it was Wendy's part to put
(13:16):
Jane to bed. That was the time for stories. It
was Jane's invention to raise the sheet over her mother's
head and her own, thus making a tent, and in
the awful darkness to whisper, what do we see now?
I don't think I see anything to night, says Wendy,
with a feeling that if Nana were here, she would
(13:38):
object to further conversation. Yes you do, said Jane. You
see when you were a little girl. That is a
long time ago, sweetheart, says Wendy. Ah Me, how time flies?
Does it fly? Asked the artful child. The way you
flew when you were a little girl, the way I flew?
(14:01):
Do you know, Jane? I sometimes wonder whether I ever
did really fly? Yes, you did the dear old days
when I could fly? Why can't you fly now? Mother?
Because I am a grown up, dearest? When people grow
up they forget the way. Why do they forget the way?
(14:22):
Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless.
It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who
can fly. What is gay and innocent? And heartless. I
do wish I were gay and innocent and heartless, or
perhaps Wendy admits she does see something. I do believe
She says that it is this nursery. I do believe
(14:45):
it is, says Jane. Go On. They are now embarked
on the great adventure of the night. When Peter flew
in looking for his shadow, the foolish fellow, says Wendy,
try to stick it with soap, And when he could not,
he cried, and that woke me, and I sewed it
(15:06):
on for him. You have missed a bit, interrupts Jane,
who now knows a story better than her mother. When
you saw him sitting on the floor crying, what did
you say? Well, I sat up in bed and said, boy,
why are you crying? Yes, that was it, says Jane,
(15:26):
with a big breath. And then he flew us all
the way to the Neverland and the fairies and the pirates,
and the Redskins, and the Mermaid's Lagoon, and the Home
under the Ground and the little House. Yes, which did
you like best of all? I think I liked the
Home under the Ground best of all. Yes, so do I.
(15:50):
What was the last thing? Peter ever said to you.
The last thing he ever said to me was just
always be waiting for me, and then some night you
will hear me crowing. Yes, but alas he forgot all
about me. Wendy said it with a smile. She was
as grown up as that. What did his crow sound like,
(16:14):
Jane asked one evening. It was like this, Wendy said,
trying to imitate Peter's crow. No it wasn't, Jane said gravely,
It was like this, and she did it, ever so
much better than her mother. Wendy was a little startled,
(16:36):
my darling, How can you know I often hear it
when I'm sleeping, Jane said, Ah, yes, many girls hear
it when they are sleeping, but I was the only
one who heard it. Awake. Lucky you, said Jane. And
then one night came the tragedy. It was the spring
(16:59):
of the year, and the story had been told for
the night, and Jane was now asleep in her bed.
Wendy was sitting on the floor, very close to the
fire so as to see to darn, for there was
no other light in the nursery. And while she sat darning,
she heard a crow. Then the window blew open, as
(17:20):
of old, and Peter dropped in on the floor. He
was exactly the same as ever, and Wendy saw at
once that he still had all his first teeth. He
was a little boy, and she was drown up. She
huddled by the fire, not daring to move, helpless and guilty.
A big woman. Hello, Wendy, he said, not noticing any difference,
(17:46):
for he was thinking chiefly of himself, and in the
dim light, her white dress might have been the night
gown in which he had seen her first. Hello, Peter,
she replied, faintly, squeezing herself as as possible. Something inside
her was crying, woman, woman, Let go of me. Hello,
(18:08):
Where is John? He asked, suddenly missing the third bed.
John is not here now, she gasped. Is Michael asleep,
he asked, with a careless glance at Jane. Yes, she answered,
and now she felt that she was untrue to Jane
as well as to Peter. That is not Michael, she said, quickly,
(18:32):
lest a judgment should fall on her. Peter looked, hello,
is it a new one? Yes? Boy or girl? Girl?
Now surely he would understand. But not a bit of it, Peter,
she said, faltering, are you expecting me? To fly away
(18:54):
with you. Of course, that is why I have come,
he added a little. Have you forgotten that this is
spring cleaning time? She knew it was useless to say that,
he had let many spring cleaning times pass. I can't come,
she said, apologetically. I have forgotten how to fly. I'll
(19:18):
soon teach you again. Oh Peter, don't waste the fairy
dust on me. She had risen, and now at last
a fear assailed him. What is it, he cried, shrinking.
I will turn up the light, she said, and then
you can see me for yourself. For almost the only
(19:41):
time in his life that I know of, Peter was afraid.
D don't turn up the light, he cried. She let
her hands play in the hair of the tragic boy.
She was not a little girl heart broken about him.
She was a grown woman smiling at it all. But
they were wet eyed smiles. Then she turned up the
(20:04):
light and Peter saw. He gave a cry of pain,
and when the tall, beautiful creature stooped to lift him
in her arms, he drew back sharply. What is it?
He cried again. She had to tell him. I am old, Peter,
I'm ever so much more than twenty. I grew up
(20:25):
long ago. You promised not to. I couldn't help it.
I'm a married woman, Peter. No, you're not. Yes, And
the little girl in the bed is my baby. No
she's not, but he supposed she was, and he took
(20:45):
a step towards a sleeping child with his dagger upraised.
Of course, he did not strike. He sat down on
the floor instead and sobbed, and Wendy did not know
how to comfort him, though she could have done it
so easily once. She was only a woman now, and
she ran out of the room to try to think.
(21:07):
Peter continued to cry, and soon his sobs woke Jane.
She sat up in bed and was interested at once boy.
She said, why are you crying. Peter rose and bowed
to her, and she bowed to him from the bed. Hullo,
he said, Hullo, said Jane. My name is Peter Pan
(21:30):
He told her, Yes, I know. I came back from
my mother, he explained, to take her to the Neverland.
Yes I know, Jane said, I have been waiting for you.
When Wendy returned, diffidently, she found Peter sitting on the
bed post crowing gloriously while Jane and her nightie was
(21:51):
flying around the room and solemn ecstasy. She is my mother,
Peter explained, and Jane descended and stood by his side,
with the look in her face that he liked to
see on ladies when they gazed at him. He does
so need a mother, Jane said, yes, I know, Wendy admitted,
(22:13):
rather forlornly. No one knows it so well as I.
Good Bye, said Peter to Wendy, and he rose in
the air, and the shameless Jane rose with him. It
was already her easiest way of moving about. Wendy rushed
to the window. No, no, she cried, It is just
(22:36):
for spring cleaning time. Jane said. He wants me always
to do his spring cleaning. If only I could go
with you, Wendy sighed. You see, you can't fly, said Jane.
Of course. In the end, Wendy let them fly away together.
Our last glimpse of her shows her at the window,
(22:57):
watching them receding into the sky until they were as
small as stars. As you look at Wendy, you may
see her hair becoming white and her figure little again.
For all this happened long ago, Jane is now a
common grown up with a daughter, called Margaret, and every
(23:17):
spring cleaning time, except when he forgets Peter comes from
Margaret and takes her to the Neverland, where she tells
him stories about himself, to which he listens eagerly. When
Margaret grows up, she will have a daughter who is
to be Peter Pan's mother in turn. And thus it
(23:38):
will go on so long as children are gay and
innocent and heartless. End of Chapter seventeen. End of Peter
Pan by J. M. Barry
In the public Domain recording by Patrick Seville, chapter seventeen.
When Wendy grew up, I hope you want to know
what became of the other boys. They were waiting below
to give Wendy time to explain about them, and when
they had counted five hundred, they went up. They went
(00:20):
up by the stair because they thought this would make
a better impression. They stood in a row in front
of Missus Darling, with their hats off and wishing they
were not wearing their pirate clothes. They said nothing, but
their eyes asked her to have them. They ought to
have looked at mister Darling also, but they forgot about him.
(00:42):
Of course, Missus Darling said at once that she would
have them. But mister Darling was curiously depressed, and they
saw that he considered six a rather large number. I
must say. He said to Wendy that you don't do
things by halves, a grudging remark which the twins thought
(01:02):
was pointed at them. The first twin was the proud one,
and he asked, flushing, do you think we should be
too much of a handful, sir, because if so, we
can go away. Father Wendy cried shocked, but still the
cloud was on him. He knew he was behaving unworthily,
but he could not help it. We could lie doubled up,
(01:26):
said NIBBs. I always cut their hair myself, said Wendy. George,
missus Darling exclaimed, pained to see her dear one shriving
himself in such an unfavorable light. Then he burst into
tears and the truth came out. He was glad as
to have them as she was, he said, but he
(01:48):
thought they should have asked his consent as well as hers,
instead of treating him as a cipher in his own house.
Footnote cypher zero and footnote I don't think he is
a cipher, Toodles cried instantly. Do you think he's a cipher? Curly, No,
I don't. Do you think he is a safer? Slightly
(02:11):
rather not twin? What do you think? It turned out
that not one of them thought him a cipher, and
he was absurdly gratified and said he would find space
for them all in the drawing room if they fitted in.
We'll fit in, sir, they assured him. Then follow the leader.
He cried, gaily, mind you, I'm not sure that we
(02:34):
have a drawing room. But we pretend we have, and
it's all the same. Hoopla. He went off dancing through
the house, and they all cried hoopla, and danced after him,
searching for the drawing room. And I forget whether they
found it, but at any rate they found corners and
they all fitted in. As for Peter, he saw Wendy
(02:55):
once again before he flew away. He did not exactly
come to the window. He brushed against it in passing,
so that she could open it if she liked and
call to him. That is what she did. Hello, Wendy, goodbye,
he said, Oh dear, are you going away? Yes, you
(03:17):
don't feel Peter. She said, falteringly that you would like
to say anything to my parents about a very sweet subject.
No about me, Peter, No, missus Darling came to the window,
for at present she was keeping a sharp eye on Wendy.
She told Peter that she had adopted all the other
(03:40):
boys and would like to adopt him. Also, would you
send me to school? He inquired craftily, Yes, and then
to an office. I suppose so soon I would be
a man, very soon. I don't want to go to
a school and learn solemn things, he told her. Passionately.
(04:03):
I don't want to be a man, Oh, Wendy's mother.
If I was to wake up and feel there was
a beard, Peter said Wendy the comforter, I should love
you in a beard, and missus Darling stretched out her
arms to him, but he repulsed her. Keep back, lady,
no one is going to catch me and make me
a man. But where are you going to live with
(04:26):
tink in the house be built for Wendy. The fairies
are to put it high up among the tree tops
where they sleep at nights. How lovely, cried Wendy, so
longingly that missus Darling tightened her grip. I thought all
the fairies were dead, missus Darling said. There are always
a lot of young ones, explained Wendy, who was now
(04:49):
quite an authority, because you see, when a baby laughs
for the first time, a new fairy is born, and
as there are always new babies, there are always new fairies.
They live in nests on the top of trees, and
the mauve ones are boys, and the white ones are girls,
and the blue ones are just little sillies who are
(05:09):
not sure what they are. I shall have such fun,
said Peter, with eye on Wendy. It will be rather
lonely in the evening, she said, sitting by the fire,
I shall have Tink. Tink can't go a twentieth part
of the way round, she reminded him a little tartly sneak,
(05:30):
Ye tell all, Tink called out from somewhere round the corner.
It doesn't matter, Peter said, Oh, Peter, you know it matters. Well,
then come with me to the little house, may I? Mummy?
Certainly not. I have got you home again, and I
mean to keep you. But he does so need a mother,
(05:55):
So do you, my love? All all right, Peter said,
as he had asked her from politeness merely. But missus
Darling saw his mouth twitch, and she made this handsome
offer to let Wendy go to him for a week
every year to do his spring cleaning. Wendy would have
preferred a more permanent arrangement, and it seemed to her
(06:18):
that spring would be long in coming. But this promise
sent Peter away quite gay again. He had no sense
of time, and was so full of adventures that all
they have told you about him is only a half
pennyworth of them. I suppose it was because Wendy knew
this that her last words to him were these rather
(06:38):
plaintive ones. You won't forget me, Peter, will you before
spring cleaning time comes? Of course? Peter promised, and then
he flew away. He took missus Darling's kiss with him,
the kiss that had been for no one else. Peter
took quite easily funny, but she seemed satisfied. Of course.
(07:01):
All the boys went to school, and most of them
got into class three, but slately was put into class four,
and then into class five. Class one is the top class.
Before they attended school a week they saw what goats
they had been not to remain on the island, But
(07:21):
it was too late now, and soon they settled down
to being as ordinary as you or me or Jenkins miner.
It is sad to have to say that the power
to fly gradually left them. At first, Nina tied their
feet to the bedposts so that they shall not fly
away in the night, and one of their diversions by
(07:43):
day was to pretend to fall off buses. But by
and by they ceased to tug at their bonds and
bed and found that they hurt themselves when they let
go of the bus. In time, they could not even
fly after their hats. Want of practice, they called it,
but what it really meant was that they no longer believed.
(08:04):
Michael believed longer than the other boys, though they jeered
at him. So he was with Wendy when Peter came
for her at the end of the first year. She
flew away with Peter and the frock she had woven
from leaves and berries in the Neverland, and her one
fear was that he might notice how short it had become.
(08:24):
But he never noticed. He had so much to say
about himself. She had looked forward to thrilling talks with
him about old times, but new adventures had crowded the
old ones from his mind. Who was Captain Hook, he
asked with interest when she spoke of the arch enemy?
Don't you remember, she asked, amazed, how you killed him
(08:48):
and saved all our lives. I forget them after I
kill them, he replied carelessly. When she expressed a doubtful
hope that tinker Bell would be glad to see her,
he said, who was tinker Bell? Oh, Peter, she said, shocked,
But even when she explained, he could not remember. There
(09:10):
are such a lot of them, he said, I expect
she is no more. I expect he was right, for
fairies don't live long, but they are so little that
a short time seems a good while to them. Wendy
was pained, too to find that the past year was
but as yesterday to Peter. It had seemed such a
(09:31):
long year of waiting to her, But he was exactly
as fascinating as ever, and they had a lovely spring
cleaning and the little house on the tree tops. Next year,
he did not come for her. She waited in a
new frock because the old one simply would not meet.
But he never came. Perhaps he is ill, Michael said,
(09:54):
you know, he is never ill. Michael came close to
her and whispered with a ship. Perhaps there is no
such person, Wendy. And then Wendy would have cried if
Michael had not been crying. Peter came next spring cleaning,
and the strange thing was that he never knew he
had missed the year. That was the last time the
(10:17):
girl Wendy ever saw him for a little longer. She tried,
for his sake not to have growing pains, and she
felt she was untrue to him. When she got a
prize for general Knowledge, But the years came and went
without bringing the careless boy. And when they met again,
Wendy was a married woman, and Peter was no more
(10:38):
to her than a little dust in the box in
which she had kept her toys. Wendy was grown up.
You need not be sorry for her. She was one
of the kind that lakes to grow up. In the end.
She grew up of her own free will a day
quicker than other girls. All the boys were grown up
(11:00):
up and done for by this time, so it is
scarcely worth while singing anything more about them. You may
see the twins and Nibs and Curly any day going
to an office, each carrying a little bag and an umbrella.
Michael is an engine driver footnote, engine driver, train engineer
(11:21):
and footnote slightly married a lady of title, and so
he became a lord. You see that judge in a
wig coming out of the iron door that used to
be toodles. The bearded man who doesn't know any story
to tell his children was once John. Wendy was married
in white with a pink sash. It is strange to
(11:44):
think that Peter did not alight in the church and
forbid the bands footnote bands formal announcement of a marriage
and a footnote. Years rolled on again, and Wendy had
a daughter. This ought not to be written in ink,
but in a golden splash. She was called Jane and
(12:07):
always had an odd, inquiring look, as if from the
moment she arrived on the mainland she wanted to ask questions.
When she was old enough to ask them. They were
mostly about Peter Pan. She loved to hear of Peter,
and Wendy told her all she could remember, and the
very nursery from which the famous flight had taken place.
(12:31):
It was Jane's nursery now, for her father had bought
it at the three percents from Wendy's father, who was
no longer fond of stairs. Missus Darling was now dead
and forgotten. Footnote persense, mortgage rate and footnote. There were
only two beds in the nursery now Jane's and her nurse's,
(12:54):
and there was no kennel, for Nana also had passed away.
She died of old age, and at the end she
had been rather difficult to get on with, being very
firmly convinced that no one knew how to look after
children except herself. Once a week, Jane's nurse had her
evening off, and then it was Wendy's part to put
(13:16):
Jane to bed. That was the time for stories. It
was Jane's invention to raise the sheet over her mother's
head and her own, thus making a tent, and in
the awful darkness to whisper, what do we see now?
I don't think I see anything to night, says Wendy,
with a feeling that if Nana were here, she would
(13:38):
object to further conversation. Yes you do, said Jane. You
see when you were a little girl. That is a
long time ago, sweetheart, says Wendy. Ah Me, how time flies?
Does it fly? Asked the artful child. The way you
flew when you were a little girl, the way I flew?
(14:01):
Do you know, Jane? I sometimes wonder whether I ever
did really fly? Yes, you did the dear old days
when I could fly? Why can't you fly now? Mother?
Because I am a grown up, dearest? When people grow
up they forget the way. Why do they forget the way?
(14:22):
Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless.
It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who
can fly. What is gay and innocent? And heartless. I
do wish I were gay and innocent and heartless, or
perhaps Wendy admits she does see something. I do believe
She says that it is this nursery. I do believe
(14:45):
it is, says Jane. Go On. They are now embarked
on the great adventure of the night. When Peter flew
in looking for his shadow, the foolish fellow, says Wendy,
try to stick it with soap, And when he could not,
he cried, and that woke me, and I sewed it
(15:06):
on for him. You have missed a bit, interrupts Jane,
who now knows a story better than her mother. When
you saw him sitting on the floor crying, what did
you say? Well, I sat up in bed and said, boy,
why are you crying? Yes, that was it, says Jane,
(15:26):
with a big breath. And then he flew us all
the way to the Neverland and the fairies and the pirates,
and the Redskins, and the Mermaid's Lagoon, and the Home
under the Ground and the little House. Yes, which did
you like best of all? I think I liked the
Home under the Ground best of all. Yes, so do I.
(15:50):
What was the last thing? Peter ever said to you.
The last thing he ever said to me was just
always be waiting for me, and then some night you
will hear me crowing. Yes, but alas he forgot all
about me. Wendy said it with a smile. She was
as grown up as that. What did his crow sound like,
(16:14):
Jane asked one evening. It was like this, Wendy said,
trying to imitate Peter's crow. No it wasn't, Jane said gravely,
It was like this, and she did it, ever so
much better than her mother. Wendy was a little startled,
(16:36):
my darling, How can you know I often hear it
when I'm sleeping, Jane said, Ah, yes, many girls hear
it when they are sleeping, but I was the only
one who heard it. Awake. Lucky you, said Jane. And
then one night came the tragedy. It was the spring
(16:59):
of the year, and the story had been told for
the night, and Jane was now asleep in her bed.
Wendy was sitting on the floor, very close to the
fire so as to see to darn, for there was
no other light in the nursery. And while she sat darning,
she heard a crow. Then the window blew open, as
(17:20):
of old, and Peter dropped in on the floor. He
was exactly the same as ever, and Wendy saw at
once that he still had all his first teeth. He
was a little boy, and she was drown up. She
huddled by the fire, not daring to move, helpless and guilty.
A big woman. Hello, Wendy, he said, not noticing any difference,
(17:46):
for he was thinking chiefly of himself, and in the
dim light, her white dress might have been the night
gown in which he had seen her first. Hello, Peter,
she replied, faintly, squeezing herself as as possible. Something inside
her was crying, woman, woman, Let go of me. Hello,
(18:08):
Where is John? He asked, suddenly missing the third bed.
John is not here now, she gasped. Is Michael asleep,
he asked, with a careless glance at Jane. Yes, she answered,
and now she felt that she was untrue to Jane
as well as to Peter. That is not Michael, she said, quickly,
(18:32):
lest a judgment should fall on her. Peter looked, hello,
is it a new one? Yes? Boy or girl? Girl?
Now surely he would understand. But not a bit of it, Peter,
she said, faltering, are you expecting me? To fly away
(18:54):
with you. Of course, that is why I have come,
he added a little. Have you forgotten that this is
spring cleaning time? She knew it was useless to say that,
he had let many spring cleaning times pass. I can't come,
she said, apologetically. I have forgotten how to fly. I'll
(19:18):
soon teach you again. Oh Peter, don't waste the fairy
dust on me. She had risen, and now at last
a fear assailed him. What is it, he cried, shrinking.
I will turn up the light, she said, and then
you can see me for yourself. For almost the only
(19:41):
time in his life that I know of, Peter was afraid.
D don't turn up the light, he cried. She let
her hands play in the hair of the tragic boy.
She was not a little girl heart broken about him.
She was a grown woman smiling at it all. But
they were wet eyed smiles. Then she turned up the
(20:04):
light and Peter saw. He gave a cry of pain,
and when the tall, beautiful creature stooped to lift him
in her arms, he drew back sharply. What is it?
He cried again. She had to tell him. I am old, Peter,
I'm ever so much more than twenty. I grew up
(20:25):
long ago. You promised not to. I couldn't help it.
I'm a married woman, Peter. No, you're not. Yes, And
the little girl in the bed is my baby. No
she's not, but he supposed she was, and he took
(20:45):
a step towards a sleeping child with his dagger upraised.
Of course, he did not strike. He sat down on
the floor instead and sobbed, and Wendy did not know
how to comfort him, though she could have done it
so easily once. She was only a woman now, and
she ran out of the room to try to think.
(21:07):
Peter continued to cry, and soon his sobs woke Jane.
She sat up in bed and was interested at once boy.
She said, why are you crying. Peter rose and bowed
to her, and she bowed to him from the bed. Hullo,
he said, Hullo, said Jane. My name is Peter Pan
(21:30):
He told her, Yes, I know. I came back from
my mother, he explained, to take her to the Neverland.
Yes I know, Jane said, I have been waiting for you.
When Wendy returned, diffidently, she found Peter sitting on the
bed post crowing gloriously while Jane and her nightie was
(21:51):
flying around the room and solemn ecstasy. She is my mother,
Peter explained, and Jane descended and stood by his side,
with the look in her face that he liked to
see on ladies when they gazed at him. He does
so need a mother, Jane said, yes, I know, Wendy admitted,
(22:13):
rather forlornly. No one knows it so well as I.
Good Bye, said Peter to Wendy, and he rose in
the air, and the shameless Jane rose with him. It
was already her easiest way of moving about. Wendy rushed
to the window. No, no, she cried, It is just
(22:36):
for spring cleaning time. Jane said. He wants me always
to do his spring cleaning. If only I could go
with you, Wendy sighed. You see, you can't fly, said Jane.
Of course. In the end, Wendy let them fly away together.
Our last glimpse of her shows her at the window,
(22:57):
watching them receding into the sky until they were as
small as stars. As you look at Wendy, you may
see her hair becoming white and her figure little again.
For all this happened long ago, Jane is now a
common grown up with a daughter, called Margaret, and every
(23:17):
spring cleaning time, except when he forgets Peter comes from
Margaret and takes her to the Neverland, where she tells
him stories about himself, to which he listens eagerly. When
Margaret grows up, she will have a daughter who is
to be Peter Pan's mother in turn. And thus it
(23:38):
will go on so long as children are gay and
innocent and heartless. End of Chapter seventeen. End of Peter
Pan by J. M. Barry
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