Reading Help Peter-pan BY J. M. BARRIE
places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If `
` you could keep awake (but of course you can't) you would see your `
` own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to `
` watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers. You would see `
` her on her knees, I expect, lingering humorously over some of `
` your contents, wondering where on earth you had picked this thing `
` up, making discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to `
` her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten, and hurriedly `
` stowing that out of sight. When you wake in the morning, the `
` naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have `
` been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind and `
` on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier `
` thoughts, ready for you to put on. `
` `
` I don't know whether you have ever seen a map of a person's `
` mind. Doctors sometimes draw maps of other parts of you, and `
` your own map can become intensely interesting, but catch them `
` trying to draw a map of a child's mind, which is not only `
` confused, but keeps going round all the time. There are zigzag `
` lines on it, just like your temperature on a card, and these are `
` probably roads in the island, for the Neverland is always more or `
` less an island, with astonishing splashes of colour here and `
` there, and coral reefs and rakish-looking craft in the offing, `
` and savages and lonely lairs, and gnomes who are mostly tailors, `
` and caves through which a river runs, and princes with six elder `
` brothers, and a hut fast going to decay, and one very small old `
` lady with a hooked nose. It would be an easy map if that were `
` all, but there is also first day at school, religion, fathers, `
` the round pond, needle-work, murders, hangings, verbs that take `
` the dative, chocolate pudding day, getting into braces, say `
` ninety-nine, three-pence for pulling out your tooth yourself, and `
` so on, and either these are part of the island or they are `
` another map showing through, and it is all rather confusing, `
` especially as nothing will stand still. `
` `
` Of course the Neverlands vary a good deal. John's, for `
` instance, had a lagoon with flamingoes flying over it at which `
` John was shooting, while Michael, who was very small, had a `
` flamingo with lagoons flying over it. John lived in a boat `
` turned upside down on the sands, Michael in a wigwam, Wendy in a `
` house of leaves deftly sewn together. John had no friends, `
` Michael had friends at night, Wendy had a pet wolf forsaken by `
` its parents, but on the whole the Neverlands have a family `
` resemblance, and if they stood still in a row you could say of them `
` that they have each other's nose, and so forth. On these magic `
` shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles `
` [simple boat]. We too have been there; we can still hear the `
` sound of the surf, though we shall land no more. `
` `
` Of all delectable islands the Neverland is the snuggest and `
` most compact, not large and sprawly, you know, with tedious `
` distances between one adventure and another, but nicely crammed. `
` When you play at it by day with the chairs and table-cloth, it is `
` not in the least alarming, but in the two minutes before you go to `
` sleep it becomes very real. That is why there are night-lights. `
` `
` Occasionally in her travels through her children's minds Mrs. `
` Darling found things she could not understand, and of these quite `
` the most perplexing was the word Peter. She knew of no Peter, `
` and yet he was here and there in John and Michael's minds, while `
` Wendy's began to be scrawled all over with him. The name stood `
` out in bolder letters than any of the other words, and as Mrs. `
` Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance. `
` `
` "Yes, he is rather cocky," Wendy admitted with regret. Her `
` mother had been questioning her. `
` `
` "But who is he, my pet?" `
` `
` "He is Peter Pan, you know, mother." `
` `
` At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back `
` into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said `
` to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him, as `
` that when children died he went part of the way with them, so `
` that they should not be frightened. She had believed in him at `
` the time, but now that she was married and full of sense she `
` quite doubted whether there was any such person. `
` `
` "Besides," she said to Wendy, "he would be grown up by this `
` time." `
` `
` "Oh no, he isn't grown up," Wendy assured her confidently, "and `
` he is just my size." She meant that he was her size in both mind `
` and body; she didn't know how she knew, she just knew it. `
` `
` Mrs. Darling consulted Mr. Darling, but he smiled pooh-pooh. `
` "Mark my words," he said, "it is some nonsense Nana has been `
` putting into their heads; just the sort of idea a dog would have. `
` Leave it alone, and it will blow over." `
` `
` But it would not blow over and soon the troublesome boy gave `
` Mrs. Darling quite a shock. `
` `
` Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled `
` by them. For instance, they may remember to mention, a week `
` after the event happened, that when they were in the wood they `
` had met their dead father and had a game with him. It was in `
` this casual way that Wendy one morning made a disquieting `
` revelation. Some leaves of a tree had been found on the nursery `
` floor, which certainly were not there when the children went to `
` bed, and Mrs. Darling was puzzling over them when Wendy said with `
` a tolerant smile: `
` `
` "I do believe it is that Peter again!" `
` `
` "Whatever do you mean, Wendy?" `
` `
` "It is so naughty of him not to wipe his feet," Wendy said, `
` sighing. She was a tidy child. `
` `
` She explained in quite a matter-of-fact way that she thought `
` Peter sometimes came to the nursery in the night and sat on the `
` foot of her bed and played on his pipes to her. Unfortunately `
` she never woke, so she didn't know how she knew, she just knew. `
` `
` "What nonsense you talk, precious. No one can get into the `
` house without knocking." `
` `
` "I think he comes in by the window," she said. `
` `
` "My love, it is three floors up." `
` `
` "Were not the leaves at the foot of the window, mother?" `
` `
` It was quite true; the leaves had been found very near the `
` window. `
` `
` Mrs. Darling did not know what to think, for it all seemed so `
` natural to Wendy that you could not dismiss it by saying she had `
` been dreaming. `
` `
` "My child," the mother cried, "why did you not tell me of this `
` before?" `
` `
` "I forgot," said Wendy lightly. She was in a hurry to get her `
` breakfast. `
` `
` Oh, surely she must have been dreaming. `
` `
` But, on the other hand, there were the leaves. Mrs. Darling `
` examined them very carefully; they were skeleton leaves, but she `
` was sure they did not come from any tree that grew in England. `
` She crawled about the floor, peering at it with a candle for `
` marks of a strange foot. She rattled the poker up the chimney `
` and tapped the walls. She let down a tape from the window to the `
` pavement, and it was a sheer drop of thirty feet, without so much `
` as a spout to climb up by. `
` `
` Certainly Wendy had been dreaming. `
` `
` But Wendy had not been dreaming, as the very next night showed, `
` the night on which the extraordinary adventures of these children `
` may be said to have begun. `
` `
` On the night we speak of all the children were once more in `
` bed. It happened to be Nana's evening off, and Mrs. Darling had `
` bathed them and sung to them till one by one they had let go her `
` hand and slid away into the land of sleep. `
` `
` All were looking so safe and cosy that she smiled at her fears `
` now and sat down tranquilly by the fire to sew. `
` `
` It was something for Michael, who on his birthday was getting `
` into shirts. The fire was warm, however, and the nursery dimly `
` lit by three night-lights, and presently the sewing lay on Mrs. `
` Darling's lap. Then her head nodded, oh, so gracefully. She was `
` asleep. Look at the four of them, Wendy and Michael over there, `
` John here, and Mrs. Darling by the fire. There should have been `
` a fourth night-light. `
` `
` While she slept she had a dream. She dreamt that the Neverland `
` had come too near and that a strange boy had broken through from `
` it. He did not alarm her, for she thought she had seen him `
` before in the faces of many women who have no children. Perhaps `
` he is to be found in the faces of some mothers also. But in her `
` dream he had rent the film that obscures the Neverland, and she `
` saw Wendy and John and Michael peeping through the gap. `
` `
` The dream by itself would have been a trifle, but while she was `
` dreaming the window of the nursery blew open, and a boy did drop `
` on the floor. He was accompanied by a strange light, no bigger `
` than your fist, which darted about the room like a living thing `
` and I think it must have been this light that wakened Mrs. `
` Darling. `
` `
` She started up with a cry, and saw the boy, and somehow she `
` knew at once that he was Peter Pan. If you or I or Wendy had `
` been there we should have seen that he was very like Mrs. `
` Darling's kiss. He was a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and `
` the juices that ooze out of trees but the most entrancing thing `
` about him was that he had all his first teeth. When he saw she `
` was a grown-up, he gnashed the little pearls at her. `
` `
` `
` `
` Chapter 2 `
` `
` THE SHADOW `
` `
` `
`
` you could keep awake (but of course you can't) you would see your `
` own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to `
` watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers. You would see `
` her on her knees, I expect, lingering humorously over some of `
` your contents, wondering where on earth you had picked this thing `
` up, making discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to `
` her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten, and hurriedly `
` stowing that out of sight. When you wake in the morning, the `
` naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have `
` been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind and `
` on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier `
` thoughts, ready for you to put on. `
` `
` I don't know whether you have ever seen a map of a person's `
` mind. Doctors sometimes draw maps of other parts of you, and `
` your own map can become intensely interesting, but catch them `
` trying to draw a map of a child's mind, which is not only `
` confused, but keeps going round all the time. There are zigzag `
` lines on it, just like your temperature on a card, and these are `
` probably roads in the island, for the Neverland is always more or `
` less an island, with astonishing splashes of colour here and `
` there, and coral reefs and rakish-looking craft in the offing, `
` and savages and lonely lairs, and gnomes who are mostly tailors, `
` and caves through which a river runs, and princes with six elder `
` brothers, and a hut fast going to decay, and one very small old `
` lady with a hooked nose. It would be an easy map if that were `
` all, but there is also first day at school, religion, fathers, `
` the round pond, needle-work, murders, hangings, verbs that take `
` the dative, chocolate pudding day, getting into braces, say `
` ninety-nine, three-pence for pulling out your tooth yourself, and `
` so on, and either these are part of the island or they are `
` another map showing through, and it is all rather confusing, `
` especially as nothing will stand still. `
` `
` Of course the Neverlands vary a good deal. John's, for `
` instance, had a lagoon with flamingoes flying over it at which `
` John was shooting, while Michael, who was very small, had a `
` flamingo with lagoons flying over it. John lived in a boat `
` turned upside down on the sands, Michael in a wigwam, Wendy in a `
` house of leaves deftly sewn together. John had no friends, `
` Michael had friends at night, Wendy had a pet wolf forsaken by `
` its parents, but on the whole the Neverlands have a family `
` resemblance, and if they stood still in a row you could say of them `
` that they have each other's nose, and so forth. On these magic `
` shores children at play are for ever beaching their coracles `
` [simple boat]. We too have been there; we can still hear the `
` sound of the surf, though we shall land no more. `
` `
` Of all delectable islands the Neverland is the snuggest and `
` most compact, not large and sprawly, you know, with tedious `
` distances between one adventure and another, but nicely crammed. `
` When you play at it by day with the chairs and table-cloth, it is `
` not in the least alarming, but in the two minutes before you go to `
` sleep it becomes very real. That is why there are night-lights. `
` `
` Occasionally in her travels through her children's minds Mrs. `
` Darling found things she could not understand, and of these quite `
` the most perplexing was the word Peter. She knew of no Peter, `
` and yet he was here and there in John and Michael's minds, while `
` Wendy's began to be scrawled all over with him. The name stood `
` out in bolder letters than any of the other words, and as Mrs. `
` Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance. `
` `
` "Yes, he is rather cocky," Wendy admitted with regret. Her `
` mother had been questioning her. `
` `
` "But who is he, my pet?" `
` `
` "He is Peter Pan, you know, mother." `
` `
` At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back `
` into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said `
` to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him, as `
` that when children died he went part of the way with them, so `
` that they should not be frightened. She had believed in him at `
` the time, but now that she was married and full of sense she `
` quite doubted whether there was any such person. `
` `
` "Besides," she said to Wendy, "he would be grown up by this `
` time." `
` `
` "Oh no, he isn't grown up," Wendy assured her confidently, "and `
` he is just my size." She meant that he was her size in both mind `
` and body; she didn't know how she knew, she just knew it. `
` `
` Mrs. Darling consulted Mr. Darling, but he smiled pooh-pooh. `
` "Mark my words," he said, "it is some nonsense Nana has been `
` putting into their heads; just the sort of idea a dog would have. `
` Leave it alone, and it will blow over." `
` `
` But it would not blow over and soon the troublesome boy gave `
` Mrs. Darling quite a shock. `
` `
` Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled `
` by them. For instance, they may remember to mention, a week `
` after the event happened, that when they were in the wood they `
` had met their dead father and had a game with him. It was in `
` this casual way that Wendy one morning made a disquieting `
` revelation. Some leaves of a tree had been found on the nursery `
` floor, which certainly were not there when the children went to `
` bed, and Mrs. Darling was puzzling over them when Wendy said with `
` a tolerant smile: `
` `
` "I do believe it is that Peter again!" `
` `
` "Whatever do you mean, Wendy?" `
` `
` "It is so naughty of him not to wipe his feet," Wendy said, `
` sighing. She was a tidy child. `
` `
` She explained in quite a matter-of-fact way that she thought `
` Peter sometimes came to the nursery in the night and sat on the `
` foot of her bed and played on his pipes to her. Unfortunately `
` she never woke, so she didn't know how she knew, she just knew. `
` `
` "What nonsense you talk, precious. No one can get into the `
` house without knocking." `
` `
` "I think he comes in by the window," she said. `
` `
` "My love, it is three floors up." `
` `
` "Were not the leaves at the foot of the window, mother?" `
` `
` It was quite true; the leaves had been found very near the `
` window. `
` `
` Mrs. Darling did not know what to think, for it all seemed so `
` natural to Wendy that you could not dismiss it by saying she had `
` been dreaming. `
` `
` "My child," the mother cried, "why did you not tell me of this `
` before?" `
` `
` "I forgot," said Wendy lightly. She was in a hurry to get her `
` breakfast. `
` `
` Oh, surely she must have been dreaming. `
` `
` But, on the other hand, there were the leaves. Mrs. Darling `
` examined them very carefully; they were skeleton leaves, but she `
` was sure they did not come from any tree that grew in England. `
` She crawled about the floor, peering at it with a candle for `
` marks of a strange foot. She rattled the poker up the chimney `
` and tapped the walls. She let down a tape from the window to the `
` pavement, and it was a sheer drop of thirty feet, without so much `
` as a spout to climb up by. `
` `
` Certainly Wendy had been dreaming. `
` `
` But Wendy had not been dreaming, as the very next night showed, `
` the night on which the extraordinary adventures of these children `
` may be said to have begun. `
` `
` On the night we speak of all the children were once more in `
` bed. It happened to be Nana's evening off, and Mrs. Darling had `
` bathed them and sung to them till one by one they had let go her `
` hand and slid away into the land of sleep. `
` `
` All were looking so safe and cosy that she smiled at her fears `
` now and sat down tranquilly by the fire to sew. `
` `
` It was something for Michael, who on his birthday was getting `
` into shirts. The fire was warm, however, and the nursery dimly `
` lit by three night-lights, and presently the sewing lay on Mrs. `
` Darling's lap. Then her head nodded, oh, so gracefully. She was `
` asleep. Look at the four of them, Wendy and Michael over there, `
` John here, and Mrs. Darling by the fire. There should have been `
` a fourth night-light. `
` `
` While she slept she had a dream. She dreamt that the Neverland `
` had come too near and that a strange boy had broken through from `
` it. He did not alarm her, for she thought she had seen him `
` before in the faces of many women who have no children. Perhaps `
` he is to be found in the faces of some mothers also. But in her `
` dream he had rent the film that obscures the Neverland, and she `
` saw Wendy and John and Michael peeping through the gap. `
` `
` The dream by itself would have been a trifle, but while she was `
` dreaming the window of the nursery blew open, and a boy did drop `
` on the floor. He was accompanied by a strange light, no bigger `
` than your fist, which darted about the room like a living thing `
` and I think it must have been this light that wakened Mrs. `
` Darling. `
` `
` She started up with a cry, and saw the boy, and somehow she `
` knew at once that he was Peter Pan. If you or I or Wendy had `
` been there we should have seen that he was very like Mrs. `
` Darling's kiss. He was a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and `
` the juices that ooze out of trees but the most entrancing thing `
` about him was that he had all his first teeth. When he saw she `
` was a grown-up, he gnashed the little pearls at her. `
` `
` `
` `
` Chapter 2 `
` `
` THE SHADOW `
` `
` `
`