Just as the frying-pan was nicely hissing， Peter and Mr Beaver came in with the fish which Mr Beaver had already opened with his knife and cleaned out in the open air. You can think how good the new-caught fish smelled while they were frying and how the hungry children longed for them to be done and how very much hungrier still they had become before Mr Beaver said， “Now we‘re nearly ready.” Susan drained the potatoes and then put them all back in the empty pot to dry on the side of the range while Lucy was helping MrsBeaver to dish up the trout， so that in a very few minutes everyone was drawing up their stools （it was all three-legged stools in the Beavers’ house except for Mrs Beaver‘s own special rocking-chair beside the fire） and preparing to enjoy themselves. There was a jug of creamy milk for the children （Mr Beaver stuck to beer） and a great big lump of deep yellow butter in the middle of the table from which everyone took as much as he wanted to go with his potatoes， and all the children thought-and I agree with them-that there’s nothing to beat good freshwater fish if you eat it when it has been alive half an hour ago and has come out of the pan half a minute ago. And when they had finished the fish Mrs Beaver brought unexpectedly out of the oven a great and gloriously sticky marmalade roll， steaming hot， and at the same time moved the kettle onto the fire， so that when they had finished the marmalade roll the tea was made and ready to be poured out. And when each person had got his （or her） cup of tea， each person shoved back his （or her） stool so as to be able to lean against the wall and gave a long sigh of contentment.
“And now，” said Mr Beaver， pushing away his empty beer mug and pulling his cup of tea towards him， “if you‘ll just wait till I’ve got my pipe lit up and going nicely-why， now we can get to business. It‘s snowing again，” he added， cocking his eye at the window. “That’s all the better， because it means we shan‘t have any visitors； and if anyone should have been trying to follow you， why he won’t find any tracks.”
中文阅读
两个男孩子在后面窃窃私语时，两个女孩子突然大叫“喔！”并且停下了脚步。
“那只知更鸟！”露西嚷道，“那只知更鸟，它飞走了。”确实如此--它已经飞得看不见踪影了。
“现在我们该怎么办？”埃德蒙说着，看了彼得一眼，好像是在说：“我刚才不是告诉你了吗？”
“嘘！看！”苏珊说。
“什么？”彼得说。“有什么东西在树木间移动，那边偏左的地方。”他们都聚精会神地朝那边望去，每个人都感到十分不安。“它又在移动。”这会儿苏珊说道。
“上次我也看见它动了。”彼得说，“它还在那里。它刚挪到那棵大树的后面。”
“那是什么？”露西问道，尽量使声音听起来不那么紧张。“不管它是什么，”彼得说，“它正在躲避我们。那是一种不想让人看见的东西。”
“我们回家吧。”苏珊说。这时，尽管没有人大声地说出来，每个人都突然意识到了同一个事实，即埃德蒙在上一章的末了悄悄对彼得说的话：他们迷路了。
“它像一个什么？”露西说。“它是--它是一种动物。”苏珊说道，接着她又说：“看！看！快看！它在那儿。”这一次他们都看见它了，一张长着胡子的毛绒绒的脸从树后探了出来，向外张望。但是这一次它并没有马上缩回去。相反地，那个动物将一只爪子放在嘴巴上，就像人们将手指放在嘴唇上，示意要你安静的时候一样。随后它又一次消失了。孩子们都屏住了呼吸，站在那里。
过了一小会儿，那个陌生的动物又从树后现身，它扫视了一下四周，好像害怕有人正在监视，它“嘘”了一声，做出一些手势，让他们到它所站立的那片比较茂密的树林中与它会合，然后再次消失了。
“我知道那是什么了，”彼得说，“那是一只河狸。我看见了它的尾巴。”“它要我们到它那儿去，”苏珊说，“它还警告我们不要发出声响。”“我知道。”彼得说，“问题是，我们去还是不去？你是怎么想的，露？”“我认为，它是一只友好的河狸。”露西说。“好吧，但是我们怎样才能知道？”埃德蒙说。“我们是否应该冒一下风险？”苏珊说，“我指的是，傻站在这里毫无益处，我也饿了，很想吃饭。”这时，河狸再次把脑袋从树后探了出来，诚挚地向他们招手。
“来吧，”彼得说，“让我们来试一下。大家都靠拢在一起。我们应该能够对付得了一只河狸，如果它是一个敌人的话。”
于是孩子们紧紧地靠在一起，朝那棵树走去。果然，在树的后面，他们发现了那只河狸。河狸仍然向后倒退，用一种沙哑的喉音对他们低语道：“过来一点，再过来一点。就是这里。在开阔地我们不安全！”直到将他们领到了一个昏暗的地方，那里有四棵树紧密地长在一起，它们的树枝相互交叉，树底下可以看见褐色的泥土和松针，因为雪花被枝杈挡住了，落不下来。这时它才开口对他们说话。
“你们是亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿吗？”它说。“我们只是其中的几个。”彼得说。“嘘--安静！”河狸说，“请不要大声说话。即使在这里，我们也不安全。”
“哎呦，你对谁那么害怕？”彼得说，“除了我们几个，这里再没有别的人了。”
“还有树木。”河狸说，“它们总是在倾听。它们大多数都在我们这一边，但也有树木会将我们出卖给她。你们知道我指的是谁。”它点了几下头。
“你谈到了两个阵营，”埃德蒙说，“我们怎么知道你是个朋友？”
“我们并没有冒犯你的意思，河狸先生，”彼得补充道，“但是你知道，我们是外来的人。”
