Peter Pan — Page 2

她们对所有的男孩都一视同仁，当然彼得除外——彼得常常在迷途者礁石上与她们聊上好几个小时，当她们变得无礼时，他就坐在她们的尾巴上。他送给温迪一把她们的梳子。

They treated all the boys in the same way, except of course Peter, who chatted with them on Marooners' Rock by the hour, and sat on their tails when they got cheeky. He gave Wendy one of their combs.

观看她们最令人难以忘怀的时刻是月亮转换之际，那时她们会发出奇异的哀鸣；然而那时泻湖对凡人来说十分危险。直到我们即将讲述的那个夜晚，温迪从未在月光下见过这片泻湖。这与其说是出于恐惧——因为彼得当然会陪她去——不如说是因为她有严格的规定，要求每个人必须在七点前上床睡觉。

The most haunting time at which to see them is at the turn of the moon, when they utter strange wailing 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, than because she had strict rules about every one being in bed by seven.

然而，她常常在雨后晴天时来到泻湖，那时人鱼们会成群结队地出来，用她们的泡泡玩耍。

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.

她们在彩虹水中吹出五彩缤纷的泡泡，把这些泡泡当作球，用尾巴欢快地互相拍打，并努力让泡泡在彩虹中飘舞，直到它们破裂为止。

The bubbles of many colours made in rainbow water they treat as balls, hitting them gaily from one to another with their tails, and trying to keep them in the rainbow till they burst.

彩虹两端各设一个球门，只有守门员才被允许用手触碰泡泡。有时泻湖里会同时进行十几场这样的比赛，景象十分美丽。

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.

但每当孩子们试图加入时，她们只能自己玩，因为人鱼们会立刻消失不见。

But the moment the children tried to join in they had to play by themselves, for the mermaids immediately disappeared.