Charlotte’s Web

E.B.White

Next morning when the first light came into the skyand the sparrows stirred in the trees， when the cows rattledtheir chains and the rooster crowed and the early automobileswent whispering along the road， Wilbur awoke andlooked for Charlotte. He saw her up overhead in a cornernear the back of his pen. She was very quiet. Her eight legswere spread wide. She seemed to have shrunk during thenight. Next to her， attached to the ceiling， Wilbur saw a curiousobject. It was a sort of sac， or cocoon. It was peach-coloredand looked as though it were made of cotton candy.

“Are you awake， Charlotte？”he said softly.

“Yes，”came the answer.

“What is that nifty little thing？ Did you make it？”“Idid indeed，”replied Charlotte in a weak voice.

“Is it a plaything？”“Plaything？ I should say not. It ismy egg sac， my magnum opus.”“I don’t know what a magnumopus is，”saidWilbur.

“That Latin，”explained Charlotte.“It means‘greatwork’. This egg sac is my great work—the finest thing Ihave ever made.”“What’s inside it？” asked Wilbur.“Eggs？”“Five hundred and fourteen of them，”she replied.

“Five hundred and fourteen？”said Wilbur.“You’rekidding.”“No， I’m not. I counted them. I got started counting，so I kept on—just to keep my mind occupied.”“It’s aperfectly beautiful egg sac，”said Wilbur， feeling as happyas though he had constructed it himself.

“Yes， it is pretty，”replied Charlotte， patting the sacwith her two front legs.“Anyway， I can guarantee that it isstrong. It’s made out of the toughest material I have. It is alsowaterproof. The eggs are inside and will be warm anddry.”“Charlotte，”said Wilbur dreamily，“are you really goingto have five hundred and fourteen children？”“If nothinghappens， yes，”she said.“Of course， they won’t show uptill next spring.”Wilbur noticed that Charlotte’s voicesounded sad.

“What makes you sound so down- hearted？ I shouldthink you’d be terribly happy about this.”“Oh， don’t payany attention to me，”said Charlotte.“I just don’t havemuch pep any more. I guess I feel sad because I won’t eversee my children.”“What do you mean you won’t see yourchildren！ Of course you will. We’ll all see them. It’s goingto be simply wonderful next spring in the barn cellar withfive hundred and fourteen baby spiders running around allover the place. and the geese will have a new set of goslings，and the sheep will have their new lambs...”“Maybe，”said Charlotte quietly.“However， I have a feeling I’m notgoing to see the results of last night’s efforts. I don’t feelgood at all. I think I’m languishing， to tell you the truth.”Wilbur didn’t understand the word“l(fā)anguish”and he hatedto bother Charlotte by asking her to explain. But he was soworried he felt he had to ask.

“What does‘languishing’mean？”“It means I’m slowingup， feeling my age. I’m not young any more， Wilbur.But I don’t want you to worry about me. This is your bigday today. Look at my web—doesn’t it show up well withthe dew on it？”“Charlotte’s web never looked more beautifulthan it looked this morning. Each strand held dozens ofbright drops of early morning dew. The light from the eaststruck it and made it plain and clear. It was a perfect pieceof designing and building. In another hour or two， a steadystream of people would pass by， admiring it， and reading it，and looking atWilbur， and marveling at the miracle.

As Wilbur was studying the web， a pair of whiskersand a sharp face appeared. Slowly Templeton dragged him-self across the pen and threw himself down in a corner.

“I’m back，”he said in a husky voice.“What a night！”The rat was swollen to twice his normal size. His stomachwas as big around as a jelly jar.

“What a night！”he repeated， hoarsely.“What feastingand carousing！ A real gorge！ I must have eaten the remainsof thirty lunches. Never have I seen such leavings， and everythingwell- ripened and seasoned with the passage oftime and the heat of the day. Oh， it was rich， my friends，rich！”“You ought to be ashamed of yourself，”said Charlottein disgust.“It would serve you right if you had anacute attack of indigestion.”“Don’t worry about my stomach，”snarled Templeton.“It can handle anything. And bythe way， I’ve got some bad news. As I came past that pignext door—the one that calls himself Uncle—I noticed ablue tag on the front of his pen. That means he has won firstprize. I guess you’re licked， Wilbur. You might as well relax--nobody is going to hang any medal on you. Furthermore，I wouldn’t be surprised if Zuckerman changes hismind about you. Wait till he gets hankering for some freshpork and smoked ham and crisp bacon！ He’ll take the knifeto you， my boy.”“Be still， Templeton！”said Charlotte.“You’re too stuffed and bloated to know what you’re saying.Don’t pay any attention to him， Wilbur！”Wilbur triednot to think about what the rat had just said. He decided tochange the subject.

“Templeton，”said Wilbur，“if you weren’t so dopey，you would have noticed that Charlotte has made an egg sac.She is going to become a mother. For your information，there are five hundred and fourteen eggs in that peachy littlesac.”“Is this true？”asked the rat， eyeing the sac suspiciously.

“Yes， it’s true，”sighed Charlotte.

“Congratulations！”murmured Templeton.“This hasbeen a night！”He closed his eyes， pulled some straw overhimself， and dropped off into a deep sleep.Wilbur and Charlottewere glad to be rid of him for a while.

At nine o’clock， Mr. Arable’s truck rolled into theFair Grounds and came to a stop at Wilbur’s pen. Everybodyclimbed out.

“Look！”cried Fern.“Look at Charlotte’s web！ Lookwhat it says！”The grownups and the children joined handsand stood there， studying the new sign.

“‘Humble，’”said Mr. Zuckerman.“Now isn’t thatjust the word for Wilbur！”Everyone rejoiced to find that themiracle of the web had been repeated. Wilbur gazed up lovinglyinto their faces. He looked very humble and verygrateful. Fern winked at Charlotte. Lurvy soon got busy. Hepoured a bucket of warm slops into the trough， and whileWilbur ate his breakfast Lurvy scratched him gently with asmooth stick.

“Wait a minute！”cried Avery.“Look at this！”he pointedto the blue tag on Uncle’s pen.“this pig has won firstprize already.”The Zuckermans and the Arables stared atthe tag. Mrs. Zuckerman began to cry. Nobody said a word.They just stared at the tag. Then they stared at Uncle. Thenthey stared at the tag again. Lurvy took out an enormoushandkerchief and blew his nose very loud--so loud， in fact，that the noise was heard by stableboys over at the horsebarn.

“Can I have some money？”asked Fern.“I want to goout on the midway.”“You stay right where you are！”saidher mother. Tears came to Fern’s eyes.

“What’s everybody crying about？”asked Mr. Zuckerman.“Let’s get busy！ Edith， bring the buttermilk！”Mrs.Zuckerman wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. She wentto the truck and came back with a gallon jar of buttermilk.

“Bath time！”said Zuckerman， cheerfully. He and Mrs.Zuckerman and Avery climbed into Wilbur’s pen. Averyslowly poured buttermilk on Wilbur’s head and back， andas it trickled down his sides and cheeks， Mr. and Mrs. Zuckermanrubbed it into his hair and skin. Passersby stopped towatch. Pretty soon quite a crowd had gathered. Wilbur grewbeautifully white and smooth. The morning sun shonethrough his pink ears.

“He isn’t as big as that pig next door，”remarked onebystander，“but he’s cleaner. That’s what I like.”“So do I，”said another man.

“He’s humble， too，”said a woman， reading the signon the web.

“Everybody who visited the pigpen had a good wordto say about Wilbur. Everyone admired the web. And ofcourse nobody noticed Charlotte.

Suddenly a voice was heard on the loud speaker.

“Attention， please！”it said.“Will Mr. Homer Zuckermanbring his famous pig to the judges’booth in promptly！”For a moment after this announcement， the Arables andthe Zuckermans were unable to speak or move. Then Averypicked up a handful of straw and threw it high in the air andgave a loud yell. The straw fluttered sown like confetti intoFern’s hair. Mr. Zuckerman hugged Mrs. Zuckerman. Mr.Arable kissed Mrs. Avery kissed Wilbur. Lurvy shook handswith everybody. Fern hugged her mother. Avery huggedFern. Mrs. Arable hugged Mrs. Zuckerman.

Up overhead， in the shadows of the ceiling， Charlottecrouched unseen， her front legs encircling her egg sac. Herheart was not beating as strongly as usual and she felt wearyand old， but she was sure at last that she had saved Wilbur’slife， and she felt peaceful and contented.

“We have no time to lose！”shouted Mr. Zuckerman.“Lurvy， help with the crate！”“Can I have some money？”asked Fern.

“You wait！”said Mrs. Arable.“Can’t you see everybodyis busy？”“Put that empty buttermilk jar into thetruck！”commanded Mr. Arable. Avery grabbed the jar andrushed to the truck.

“Does my hair look all right？”asked Mrs. Zuckerman.“Looks fine，”snapped Mr. Zuckerman， as he andLurvy set the crate down in front ofWilbur.

“You didn’t even look at my hair！" said Mrs. Zuckerman.

“You’re all right， Edith，”said Mrs. Arable.“Just keepcalm.”Templeton， asleep in the straw， heard the commotion

第二天早晨，當(dāng)?shù)谝豢|晨光在天空出現(xiàn)，麻雀們開始在樹上叫時;當(dāng)母牛把身上的鏈子搖得直響，公雞也開始啼叫時;當(dāng)早行的汽車從路邊呼嘯而過時，威伯醒了，開始尋找夏洛。他在豬圈后面上方的一個角落里看到了她。她顯得很安詳，八條腿都松松地張在那里。她似乎在一夜之間縮小了。在她身旁，威伯看到了一個奇怪的東西，就粘在豬圈的頂層上。那是一種囊，或者說是繭?？雌饋硎翘壹t色的，好像是用棉花糖做出來的。

“你醒了嗎，夏洛？”他輕聲問。

“是的?！彼卮?。

“那漂亮的小東西是什么？是你造的嗎？”“是我造的。”夏洛用微弱的聲音回答。

“那是個玩具嗎？”“玩具？應(yīng)該說不是。這是我的卵囊，我的Magnum opus。”“我不懂Magnumopus 是什么意思?！蓖f。

“那是一句拉丁語，”夏洛解釋說，“它的意思就像‘最偉大的作品’。這個卵囊就是我最偉大的作品——是我所造出的最好的東西。”“里面裝的是什么？”威伯問，“卵嗎？”“514枚卵?！彼卮?。

“514枚？”威伯說，“你在騙我。”“不，我沒有，我數(shù)過的。我先是一個一個地數(shù)著，然后就一直數(shù)到完——這正好可以消磨時間?！薄斑@是一個完美的卵囊?！蓖湴恋卣f，好像這個卵囊是他自己造的一樣。

“是的，它是很完美，”夏洛用她的兩條前腿拍著卵囊說，“此外，我還能保證，它是非常結(jié)實的。它是用我最粗的絲線造出來的。它還能防水。這些卵在里面會時刻保持溫暖、干燥的?！薄跋穆澹蓖鰤舭愕卣f，“你真的會有514個孩子嗎？”“如果沒有意外的話，會有的，”她說，“可是，他們得明年春天才會孵出來?！蓖⒁獾较穆宓恼Z調(diào)顯得很悲傷。

“是什么使你的聲音聽起來那么傷心？我想你該為此狂喜才對?！薄班蓿挥迷谝馕?，”夏洛說，“我只是沒有力氣了。我感到悲傷，是因為我將看不到我的孩子們了，我想?！薄澳銥槭裁凑J(rèn)為你看不到你的孩子們！你當(dāng)然能了。我們都會看見他們的。到了明年春天，看著514只小蜘蛛在谷倉地窖跑來跑去，一定是很開心的。那時，母鵝將孵出又一群小鵝，綿羊也會生出新的羊羔來……”“可能吧，”夏洛輕輕地說，“不管怎樣，我都有一個預(yù)感，我將不會看到我昨夜努力的成果了。我現(xiàn)在的感覺很糟。告訴你實話吧，我想我正在衰殘下去?！蓖幻靼住八垺钡囊馑迹膊缓靡馑伎傉埾穆鍋碜鼋忉?。但由于極度的擔(dān)心，他覺得還是有必要問個清楚。

“‘衰殘’是什么意思？”“就是說我的行動正在變得遲緩，歲月已經(jīng)不饒人了。我不再年輕了，威伯。但我不要你為我擔(dān)憂。今天是你的好日子。看我的網(wǎng)——在里面有露珠時，看起來效果不是很好嗎？”夏洛今天早上織的網(wǎng)，看起來比以往任何時候織出來的都要美。每根絲線上都綴飾著光閃閃的晨露。從東邊照過來的陽光使里面的字顯得格外的清晰、美麗。那是一張無論構(gòu)思還是織工都十分完美的網(wǎng)。一、兩個小時后，如流的人群將會涌過來，贊美著，讀著，對威伯看著，為眼中出現(xiàn)的奇跡而驚嘆。

當(dāng)威伯正在觀賞那張網(wǎng)時，幾縷小胡子和一張86 尖尖的面孔出現(xiàn)了。坦普爾曼慢慢地蹭回豬圈，躺到了角落里。

“我回來了，”他啞著嗓子說，“多美的一夜！”老鼠脹得比平時足足胖了兩倍。他的肚子就像一個大圓果醬瓶子。

“多美的一夜！”他沙啞地重復(fù)道，“多么豐盛的酒宴！真正的狂吃！我一定吃下了整整三十份剩下來的午餐。我從沒見過這么好的剩飯，白天的火熱和這么長時間的烘烤恰好使得這些東西變得格外的夠味。噢，太豐盛了，我的朋友，太豐盛了！”“你該為你的行為感到羞恥，”夏洛厭惡地說，“如果你得了嚴(yán)重的消化不良，那可是活該?！薄坝貌恢銥槲业亩亲硬傩?，”坦普爾曼咆哮，“它可以容納任何東西。順便說一句，我得到一個壞消息。當(dāng)我從那頭豬旁邊經(jīng)過時——就是叫伯伯的那頭豬——我看到他的豬圈前面貼著一個藍(lán)標(biāo)簽。那表示他得了頭獎。我猜你輸了，威伯。你可要盡量想開呀——沒人會來給你掛什么獎?wù)铝?。此外，如果祖克曼先生對你改了主意，我也不會吃驚的。活到他想吃鮮豬肉和熏火腿、脆腌肉的時候為止吧！那時他會對你揮舞起刀子來的，我的寶貝?！薄白∽?，坦普爾曼！”

夏洛說，“你吃得太多了吧，撐得你都開始說胡話了。別聽他的，威伯！”威伯盡力使自己不去回想剛才老鼠說過的話。他決定換個話題，來分散注意力。

“坦普爾曼，”威伯說，“如果你不是吃傻了，就該注意到夏洛已經(jīng)造了個卵囊。她要做媽媽了。

告訴你一個消息，那個桃色的小卵囊里有514枚卵呢?！薄澳鞘钦娴膯?？”老鼠的眼睛好奇地盯著卵囊問。

“是的，真的?！毕穆遢p聲道。

“恭喜！”坦普爾曼嘟囔道，“這是個不平凡的夜晚！”他閉上眼，拖過一些稻草蓋到身上，美美地睡了。威伯和夏洛很高興能暫時擺脫老鼠的糾纏。

九點鐘，阿拉貝爾先生的卡車開回展覽會場，停到威伯的豬圈旁。每個人都下了車。

“看！”芬叫道，“看夏洛的網(wǎng)！看上面說什么！”大人和孩子們手牽著手站在那里，觀察著這個新織的字。

“謙恭，”祖克曼先生說，“這個詞對威伯太合適了！”每個人都說蜘蛛網(wǎng)里又出現(xiàn)了奇跡。威伯神情可愛地望著人們的臉。他看起來既謙恭，又討人喜歡。芬會意地朝夏洛眨了眨眼。不久魯維開始忙起來。他把一桶溫乎乎的豬食倒進(jìn)食槽，又在威伯吃早飯時，用一根光滑的小棍子輕輕地給他抓癢。

“等一下！”埃弗里說，“看這個！”他指著“伯伯”

的豬圈上的藍(lán)標(biāo)簽說：”這頭豬已經(jīng)贏得了大獎?！?/p>

祖克曼一家與阿拉貝爾一家盯住了那張標(biāo)簽。祖克曼太太開始哭起來。沒人再說一句話。他們只是呆呆地看著那標(biāo)簽。然后他們看看“伯伯”，再看看標(biāo)簽。魯維掏出一方特別大的手絹大聲地擤著鼻子——這聲音很大，大得連那邊馬廄里的馬夫都聽見了。

“能給我點兒錢嗎？”芬問，“我想去游樂場?！?/p>

“你就在這兒呆著！”她的母親說。淚水開始在芬的眼里打轉(zhuǎn)。

“你們都哭什么？”祖克曼先生說，“讓我們忙起來！伊迪絲，拿酸奶來！”祖克曼太太用手絹擦擦眼睛。她走向卡車，帶回一個裝著一加侖酸奶的瓶子。

“洗澡時間！”祖克曼先生快樂地叫道。他和祖克曼太太、埃弗里走進(jìn)威伯的豬圈。埃弗里慢慢地往威伯的頭和背上倒著酸奶，當(dāng)酸奶流到威伯身上時，祖克曼夫婦就把它往威伯的毛發(fā)和皮膚上抹。

過路的人都停下來參觀。不久，一頭漂亮的豬出現(xiàn)了。威伯又白又光滑，變得非常漂亮。早晨的陽光映過了他粉紅色的耳朵。

88 “他不像那個圈里的豬那么大，”一個旁觀者說，“但他更干凈。這就是我喜歡他的地方。”“我也這么想。”另一個男人說。

“他也很謙恭?！币粋€女人讀著網(wǎng)里的字說。

每個來參觀的人都對威伯說了些贊美的話。

大家都對那張網(wǎng)感到驚奇。當(dāng)然，沒人注意到夏洛。

突然，擴音器里傳出了聲音。

“請注意！”那里面說，“請霍默·祖克曼先生把他的名豬帶到大看臺上的裁判場來。在這通告發(fā)布完的一瞬間里，阿拉貝爾一家與祖克曼一家?guī)缀跏裁匆舱f不出，也不能動了。然后，埃弗里抓起一大把稻草興奮地大叫著向空中撒去。這些稻草就像婚禮上撒的五彩紙般，飄上了芬的頭發(fā)。阿拉貝爾先生吻了阿拉貝爾太太。埃弗里吻了威伯。魯維對大家揮手示意。芬緊緊抱住了她的母親。埃弗里抱住了芬。阿拉貝爾太太抱住了祖克曼太太。

在豬圈頂層上的陰影里，無人察覺的夏洛正蹲在那里，前腿激動地緊抱著她的卵囊。她的心不像以前跳得那么有力了，她感覺自己現(xiàn)在既衰老又無力，但她相信，最后她終于救了威伯的命，所以她的心里非常的滿足。

“我們不要浪費時間了！”祖克曼先生喊，“魯維，幫我抬箱子！”“可以給我點錢嗎？”芬問。

“你等等！”阿拉貝爾說，“你看不到大家都在忙著嗎？”“把空酸奶瓶送回卡車上去！”阿拉貝爾先生命令。埃弗里抱著瓶子沖上了卡車。

“我的頭發(fā)看起來還好吧？”祖克曼太太說。

“還好。”祖克曼先生敷衍道，在他和魯維把板條箱放到威伯面前的時候。

“你根本就沒看我的頭發(fā)！”祖克曼太太說。

“你很好，伊迪絲，”阿拉貝爾先生說，“只要你保持鎮(zhèn)靜?！彼诘静堇锏奶蛊諣柭?，聽到響動，醒