Read Peter Pan in English with Spanish translation — parallel text
J. M. Barrie published Peter Pan, also called Peter and Wendy, in 1911. It begins with a simple claim: all children, except one, grow up. Then we are in the Darling house, where Wendy, John and Michael sleep and their mother tidies up the stories they have played. The sentences are mostly short and the world is a nursery, so the original is approachable around A2 to B1, even when Barrie winks at the adult reading over the child’s shoulder. There is almost no difficult plot yet, only a house and a strange idea. This page is that opening in English with a Spanish translation written for LingoRead. The public-domain story continues in the reader.
Original / Translation
| English | Español |
|---|---|
| All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end. | Todos los niños, salvo uno, crecen. Pronto saben que van a crecer, y Wendy lo supo de este modo. Un día, cuando tenía dos años, jugaba en un jardín, arrancó otra flor y corrió con ella hasta su madre. Supongo que debió de estar preciosa, porque la señora Darling se llevó la mano al corazón y exclamó: «¡Ay, por qué no puedes seguir así para siempre!». No se dijeron nada más sobre aquello, pero desde entonces Wendy supo que tenía que crecer. Siempre se sabe pasados los dos años. Los dos son el principio del fin. |
| Of course they lived at 14, and until Wendy came her mother was the chief one. | Vivían, claro está, en el número 14, y hasta que llegó Wendy la importante de la casa era su madre. |
| She was a lovely lady, with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth. | Era una señora encantadora, de mente romántica y con una boca dulce y burlona. |
| Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover there is always one more; and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get, though there it was, perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner. | Su mente romántica se parecía a esas cajas minúsculas, metidas unas dentro de otras, que vienen del Oriente de los enigmas: por muchas que descubras, siempre queda una más; y en aquella boca dulce y burlona había un beso que Wendy no conseguía coger nunca, aunque estaba allí, bien a la vista, en la comisura derecha. |
| The way Mr. Darling won her was this: the many gentlemen who had been boys when she was a girl discovered simultaneously that they loved her, and they all ran to her house to propose to her except Mr. Darling, who took a cab and nipped in first, and so he got her. | El señor Darling la consiguió así: los muchos caballeros que habían sido niños cuando ella era niña descubrieron a la vez que la querían, y todos corrieron a su casa a pedirla, menos el señor Darling, que tomó un coche, se coló el primero y de ese modo se quedó con ella. |
| He got all of her, except the innermost box and the kiss. | Se quedó con ella entera, salvo la caja más interior y el beso. |
| He never knew about the box, and in time he gave up trying for the kiss. | De la caja nunca supo nada y, con el tiempo, dejó de intentar el beso. |
| Wendy thought Napoleon could have got it, but I can picture him trying, and then going off in a passion, slamming the door. | Wendy pensaba que Napoleón habría podido lograrlo, pero yo me lo imagino probando y luego marchándose hecho una furia, de un portazo. |
| Mr. Darling used to boast to Wendy that her mother not only loved him but respected him. | El señor Darling solía presumir ante Wendy de que su madre no solo lo quería, sino que lo respetaba. |
| He was one of those deep ones who know about stocks and shares. | Era de esos hombres profundos que entienden de valores y de acciones. |
| Of course no one really knows, but he quite seemed to know, and he often said stocks were up and shares were down in a way that would have made any woman respect him. | Claro que nadie entiende de verdad, pero él lo parecía bastante, y a menudo decía que los valores subían y las acciones bajaban con un aire que habría hecho respetarlo a cualquier mujer. |
| Mrs. Darling was married in white, and at first she kept the books perfectly, almost gleefully, as if it were a game, not so much as a Brussels sprout was missing; but by and by whole cauliflowers dropped out, and instead of them there were pictures of babies without faces. She drew them when she should have been totting up. They were Mrs. Darling’s guesses. | La señora Darling se casó de blanco y, al principio, llevaba las cuentas sin un fallo, casi con entusiasmo, como si fuera un juego; no faltaba ni una col de Bruselas. Pero al poco se le caían coliflores enteras y, en su lugar, aparecían dibujos de bebés sin cara. Los hacía cuando le tocaba sumar. Eran las conjeturas de la señora Darling. |
| Wendy came first, then John, then Michael. | Primero llegó Wendy, luego John, luego Michael. |
| For a week or two after Wendy came it was doubtful whether they would be able to keep her, as she was another mouth to feed. Mr. Darling was frightfully proud of her, but he was very honourable, and he sat on the edge of Mrs. Darling’s bed, holding her hand and calculating expenses, while she looked at him imploringly. She wanted to risk it, come what might, but that was not his way; his way was with a pencil and a piece of paper, and if she confused him with suggestions he had to begin at the beginning again. | Durante una semana o dos después de llegar Wendy, no estaba claro si podrían quedársela, porque era otra boca que alimentar. El señor Darling estaba orgullosísimo de ella, pero era muy honrado, y se sentaba al borde de la cama de la señora Darling, le cogía la mano y calculaba los gastos, mientras ella lo miraba suplicante. Ella quería arriesgarse, pasara lo que pasara; esa no era la manera de él. La suya era un lápiz y un papel, y si ella lo despistaba con ideas, tenía que empezar otra vez desde el principio. |
| “Now don’t interrupt,” he would beg of her. | —Ahora no interrumpas —le pedía. |
| “I have one pound seventeen here, and two and six at the office; I can cut off my coffee at the office, say ten shillings, making two nine and six, with your eighteen and three makes three nine seven, with five naught naught in my cheque-book makes eight nine seven—who is that moving?—eight nine seven, dot and carry seven—don’t speak, my own—and the pound you lent to that man who came to the door—quiet, child—dot and carry child—there, you’ve done it!—did I say nine nine seven? yes, I said nine nine seven; the question is, can we try it for a year on nine nine seven?” | —Tengo aquí una libra y diecisiete, y dos con seis en la oficina; puedo quitarme el café de la oficina, digamos diez chelines, y quedan dos nueve y seis; con tus dieciocho y tres hacen tres nueve siete; con cinco cero cero del talonario hacen ocho nueve siete… ¿quién se mueve?… ocho nueve siete, punto y me llevo siete… no hables, vida mía… y la libra que le prestaste a aquel hombre que vino a la puerta… quieta, niña… punto y me llevo a la niña… ¡ya está, lo has hecho!… ¿he dicho nueve nueve siete? sí, he dicho nueve nueve siete; la cuestión es: ¿podemos probarlo durante un año con nueve nueve siete? |
| “Of course we can, George,” she cried. | —Claro que podemos, George —exclamó ella. |
| But she was prejudiced in Wendy’s favour, and he was really the grander character of the two. | Pero ella ya estaba de parte de Wendy, y de los dos quien tenía más grandeza era él. |
| “Remember mumps,” he warned her almost threateningly, and off he went again. | —Acuérdate de las paperas —le avisó, casi en tono de amenaza, y siguió otra vez—. |
| “Mumps one pound, that is what I have put down, but I daresay it will be more like thirty shillings—don’t speak—measles one five, German measles half a guinea, makes two fifteen six—don’t waggle your finger—whooping-cough, say fifteen shillings”—and so on it went, and it added up differently each time; but at last Wendy just got through, with mumps reduced to twelve six, and the two kinds of measles treated as one. | Paperas, una libra: eso es lo que he apuntado, pero calculo que andará más bien por los treinta chelines… no hables… sarampión, uno cinco; sarampión alemán, media guinea; suman dos quince seis… no menees el dedo… tos ferina, pongamos quince chelines —y así continuó, y cada vez la suma salía distinta; pero al final Wendy entró por los pelos, con las paperas rebajadas a doce con seis y las dos clases de sarampión contadas como una sola. |
| There was the same excitement over John, and Michael had even a narrower squeak; but both were kept, and soon, you might have seen the three of them going in a row to Miss Fulsom’s Kindergarten school, accompanied by their nurse. | Con John hubo el mismo alboroto, y Michael salió adelante por un margen aún más justo; pero se quedaron con los dos y, pronto, se los veía a los tres en fila, camino del parvulario de la señorita Fulsom, acompañados de su niñera. |
| Mrs. Darling loved to have everything just so, and Mr. Darling had a passion for being exactly like his neighbours; so, of course, they had a nurse. | A la señora Darling le gustaba que cada cosa estuviera en su sitio, y el señor Darling tenía la manía de ser exactamente como los vecinos; así que, por supuesto, había niñera. |
| As they were poor, owing to the amount of milk the children drank, this nurse was a prim Newfoundland dog, called Nana, who had belonged to no one in particular until the Darlings engaged her. | Como eran pobres, por la cantidad de leche que bebían los niños, la niñera era una perra terranova, formal y tiesa, llamada Nana, que no había pertenecido a nadie en concreto hasta que los Darling la contrataron. |
| She had always thought children important, however, and the Darlings had become acquainted with her in Kensington Gardens, where she spent most of her spare time peeping into perambulators, and was much hated by careless nursemaids, whom she followed to their homes and complained of to their mistresses. | Ella, sin embargo, siempre había creído que los niños importaban, y los Darling la conocieron en Kensington Gardens, donde pasaba casi todo el tiempo libre asomándose a los cochecitos, y era muy odiada por las niñeras descuidadas, a las que seguía hasta sus casas para quejarse de ellas ante sus señoras. |
| She proved to be quite a treasure of a nurse. | Resultó una niñera de mucho valor. |
| How thorough she was at bath-time, and up at any moment of the night if one of her charges made the slightest cry. | Qué concienzuda era a la hora del baño, y en pie a cualquier hora de la noche si alguno de los niños a su cargo soltaba el llanto más leve. |
| Of course her kennel was in the nursery. | La caseta, naturalmente, estaba en el cuarto de los niños. |
| She had a genius for knowing when a cough is a thing to have no patience with and when it needs stocking around your throat. | Tenía un don para saber cuándo una tos no merece paciencia y cuándo hace falta una media alrededor del cuello. |
| She believed to her last day in old-fashioned remedies like rhubarb leaf, and made sounds of contempt over all this new-fangled talk about germs, and so on. | Creyó hasta el último día en los remedios de siempre, como la hoja de ruibarbo, y soltaba resoplidos de desprecio ante toda aquella charla moderna de los gérmenes y lo demás. |
| It was a lesson in propriety to see her escorting the children to school, walking sedately by their side when they were well behaved, and butting them back into line if they strayed. | Era una lección de compostura verla llevar a los niños al colegio, caminando seria a su lado cuando se portaban bien y devolviéndolos a la fila de un topetazo si se desviaban. |
| On John’s footer days she never once forgot his sweater, and she usually carried an umbrella in her mouth in case of rain. | Los días de fútbol de John no olvidaba ni una sola vez el jersey, y solía llevar un paraguas en la boca por si llovía. |
| There is a room in the basement of Miss Fulsom’s school where the nurses wait. | Hay un cuarto en el sótano de la escuela de la señorita Fulsom donde esperan las niñeras. |
| They sat on forms, while Nana lay on the floor, but that was the only difference. | Ellas se sentaban en bancos, mientras Nana se echaba en el suelo, pero esa era la única diferencia. |
| They affected to ignore her as of an inferior social status to themselves, and she despised their light talk. | Fingían no verla, por tenerla por inferior en condición social, y ella despreciaba su conversación ligera. |
| She resented visits to the nursery from Mrs. Darling’s friends, but if they did come she first whipped off Michael’s pinafore and put him into the one with blue braiding, and smoothed out Wendy and made a dash at John’s hair. | Le molestaba que las amigas de la señora Darling visitaran el cuarto de los niños; pero, si venían, lo primero era quitarle a Michael el delantal y ponerle el del galón azul, alisar a Wendy y lanzarse al pelo de John. |
| No nursery could possibly have been conducted more correctly, and Mr. Darling knew it, yet he sometimes wondered uneasily whether the neighbours talked. | Ningún cuarto de los niños se habría podido llevar con más corrección, y el señor Darling lo sabía; aun así, a veces se preguntaba, inquieto, si los vecinos hablaban. |
| He had his position in the city to consider. | Tenía que pensar en su posición en la City. |
| Nana also troubled him in another way. | Nana también lo inquietaba de otra manera. |
| He had sometimes a feeling that she did not admire him. | A veces tenía la sensación de que ella no lo admiraba. |
| “I know she admires you tremendously, George,” Mrs. Darling would assure him, and then she would sign to the children to be specially nice to father. | «Sé que te admira muchísimo, George», le aseguraba la señora Darling, y luego hacía una seña a los niños para que fueran especialmente amables con papá. |
| Lovely dances followed, in which the only other servant, Liza, was sometimes allowed to join. | Seguían unos bailes preciosos, en los que a veces dejaban participar a la única otra criada, Liza. |
| Such a midget she looked in her long skirt and maid’s cap, though she had sworn, when engaged, that she would never see ten again. | Qué pequeñaja parecía con la falda larga y la cofia de doncella, aunque, al contratarla, había jurado que no volvería a ver los diez. |
| The gaiety of those romps! | ¡Qué alegría aquellos juegos! |
| And gayest of all was Mrs. Darling, who would pirouette so wildly that all you could see of her was the kiss, and then if you had dashed at her you might have got it. | Y la más alegre de todas era la señora Darling, que hacía piruetas tan disparatadas que de ella solo se veía el beso, y entonces, si uno se abalanzaba, quizá lo alcanzaba. |
| There never was a simpler happier family until the coming of Peter Pan. | Nunca hubo una familia más sencilla ni más feliz hasta que llegó Peter Pan. |
| Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children’s minds. | La señora Darling oyó hablar de Peter por primera vez mientras ordenaba la mente de sus hijos. |
| It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. | Toda buena madre tiene la costumbre, cada noche, cuando los hijos ya duermen, de rebuscar en sus mentes y dejarlas listas para la mañana siguiente, volviendo a colocar en su sitio las muchas cosas que durante el día se han ido de su lugar. |
| 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. | Si lograras mantenerte despierto (pero claro que no lo logras), verías a tu propia madre hacerlo, y te resultaría muy interesante mirarla. |
| It is quite like tidying up drawers. | Es casi como ordenar cajones. |
| 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. | La verías de rodillas, calculo yo, deteniéndose con gracia en algunas de tus cosas, preguntándose de dónde diablos habrías sacado aquello, haciendo descubrimientos dulces y otros que no lo son tanto, apretando esto contra la mejilla como si fuera tan agradable como un gatito, y guardando aquello a toda prisa, fuera de la vista. |
| 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. | Cuando despiertas por la mañana, las travesuras y las malas pasiones con las que te fuiste a la cama están dobladas en pequeño y puestas al fondo de la mente, y encima, bien aireados, quedan extendidos tus pensamientos más bonitos, listos para que te los pongas. |
Top words in this book
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| peter | Peter |
| said | dijo |
| wendy | Wendy |
| one | uno |
| now | ahora |
| hook | garfio |
| cried | gritó |
| john | John |
| time | tiempo |
| darling | querido |
| little | pequeño |
| boys | chicos |
| michael | Michael |
| children | niños |
| like | como, gustar |
| know | saber |
| mother | madre |
| night | noche |
| first | primero |
| way | manera |
| never | nunca |
| go | ir |
| thought | pensamiento |
| came | vino |
| come | venir |
| don’t | no |
| knew | sabía |
| course | curso |
| back | atrás |
| quite | bastante |
| bed | cama |
| still | todavía |
| must | debe |
| say | decir |
| think | pensar |
| away | lejos |
| last | último |
| moment | momento |
| oh | oh |
| hand | mano |
| long | largo |
| man | hombre |
| pirates | piratas |
| yes | sí |
| always | siempre |
| went | fue |
| nana | Nana |
| even | incluso |
| made | hecho |
| look | mirada |
Related books
A2
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
A bored Alice follows a rabbit and falls down a very long well.
A2Platero and I
A poet and his small silver donkey walk through a village in short scenes.
A2Fables
Samaniego’s verse fables, starting with the cricket and the ant.
Text from Project Gutenberg #16. The original is public domain. The translation on this page was written for LingoRead.