Come Away! Come Away!
Reading Comprehension Activity
Author: J.M. Barrie
Chapter 3 Passage: “Peter Pan” is J.M. Barrie’s beloved classic about a boy who would not grow up. It tells about his adventures in Neverland with the Darling children: Wendy, Michael, and John. Students will read the passage and answer questions on details and the language in the story.
Topic(s): Adventure / Thriller, Science Fiction / Fantasy. Skill(s): Summary, Context Clues. Genre(s): Prose
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Peter Pan tells the story of a boy from Neverland who has some amazing adventures. In this passage, Peter has left his shadow in the bedroom of the Darling children. He has come to get it back. With him is his best friend, Tinker Bell, a fairy. Peter has not met the Darling children yet because they are asleep.
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A moment after the fairy’s entrance the window was blown open by the breathing of the little stars, and Peter dropped in. He had carried Tinker Bell part of the way, and his hand was still messy with the fairy dust.
“Tinker Bell,” he called softly, after making sure that the children were asleep, “Tink, where are you?” She was in a jug for the moment, and liking it extremely; she had never been in a jug before.
“Oh, do come out of that jug, and tell me, do you know where they put my shadow?”
The loveliest tinkle as of golden bells answered him. It is the fairy language. You ordinary children can never hear it, but if you were to hear it you would know that you had heard it once before.
Tink said that the shadow was in the big box. She meant the chest of drawers, and Peter jumped at the drawers, scattering their contents to the floor with both hands, as kings toss ha’pence to the crowd. In a moment he had recovered his shadow, and in his delight he forgot that he had shut Tinker Bell up in the drawer.
If he thought at all, but I don’t believe he ever thought, it was that he and his shadow, when brought near each other, would join like drops of water, and when they did not he was appalled. He tried to stick it on with soap from the bathroom, but that also failed. A shudder passed through Peter, and he sat on the floor and cried.
His sobs woke Wendy, and she sat up in bed. She was not alarmed to see a stranger crying on the nursery floor; she was only pleasantly interested.
“Boy,” she said courteously, “why are you crying?”
Peter could be exceeding polite also, having learned the grand manner at fairy ceremonies, and he rose and bowed to her beautifully. She was much pleased, and bowed beautifully to him from the bed.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Wendy Moira Angela Darling,” she replied with some satisfaction. “What is your name?”
“Peter Pan.”
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