Charlotte

E. B. White

作者：埃爾文·布魯克斯·懷特（1899—1985），美國(guó)當(dāng)代著名散文家、評(píng)論家，以散文名世。他生于紐約蒙特弗農(nóng)，畢業(yè)于康奈爾大學(xué)。懷特是一位頗有造詣的散文家、幽默作家、詩(shī)人和諷刺作家。對(duì)于人們來(lái)說(shuō)，他之所以出名，是因?yàn)閷?xiě)出了一流的讀物《精靈鼠小弟》和《夏洛的網(wǎng)》。

作品：《夏洛的網(wǎng)》是一部關(guān)于友情的童話。在朱克曼家的谷倉(cāng)里，小豬威爾伯和蜘蛛夏洛建立了最真摯的友誼。威爾伯的生命有危險(xiǎn)時(shí)，看似渺小的夏洛用自己的力量救了威爾伯，但這時(shí)，蜘蛛夏洛的生命卻走到了盡頭……作者用童話的敘事風(fēng)格表現(xiàn)出對(duì)生命本身的贊美與眷戀，引發(fā)我們對(duì)生命的思索。

Fern loved Wilbur more than anything.She loved to stroke him， to feed himand to put him to bed. Every morning， assoon as she got up， she warmed his milk，tied his bib on， and held the bottle for him.Every afternoon， when the school busstopped in front of her house， she jumped?out and ran to the kitchen to fix anotherbottle for him. She fed him again at suppertime，and again just before going to bed.Mrs Arable gave him feeding aroundnoontime each day， when Fern was awayin school. Wilbur loved his milk， and hewas never happier than when Fern waswarming up a bottle for him. He wouldstand and gaze at her with adoring eyes.

For the first few days of his life，Wilbur was allowed to live in a box nearthe stove in the kitchen. Then when MrsArable complained， he was moved to abigger box in the woodshed. At two weeksof age， he was moved outdoors. It wasappleblossomtime， and the days weregetting warmer. Mr Arable fixed a small?yard specially for Wilbur under an appletree， and gave him a large wooden box fullof straw， with a doorway cut in it so hecould walk in and out as he pleased.

“Won't he be cold at night？” askedFern. “No，” said her father. “You watchand see what he does.” Carrying a bottle ofmilk， Fern sat down under the apple treeinside the yard. Wilbur ran to her and sheheld the bottle for him while he sucked.When he had finished the last drop， hegrunted （發(fā)出呼嚕聲） and walked sleepilyinto the box. Fern peered through the door.Wilbur was poking the straw with hissnout （鼻子）. In a short time， he had duga tunnel in the straw. He crawled intothe tunnel and disappeared from sight，completely covered with straw. Fern wasenchanted. It relieved her mind to knowthat her baby would sleep covered up， andwould stay warm.

Every morning after breakfast，Wilbur walked out to the road with Fernand waited with her till the bus came. Shewould wave goodbye to him， and he wouldstand and watch the bus until it vanishedaround a turn. While Fern was in school，Wilbur was shut up inside his yard. But assoon as she got home in the afternoon， shewould take him out and he would followher around the place. If she went into the?house， Wilbur went， too. If she wentupstairs， Wilbur would wait at the bottomstep until she came down again. If she tookher doll for a walk in the doll carriage，Wilbur followed along. Sometimes， onthese journeys， Wilbur would get tired，and Fern would pick him up and put himin the carriage alongside the doll. He likedthis. And if he was very tired， he wouldclose his eyes and go to sleep under thedoll's blanket. He looked cute when hiseyes were closed， because his lashes wereso long. The doll would close her eyes， too，and Fern would wheel the carriage veryslowly and smoothly so as not to wake herinfants.

One warm afternoon， Fern and Averyput on bathing suits and went down to thebrook （小溪） for a swim. Wilbur taggedalong at Ferns heels. When she wadedinto the brook， Wilbur waded in with her.He found the water quite cold—too coldfor his liking. So while the children swam，played and splashed water at each other，Wilbur amused himself in the mud alongthe edge of the brook.

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What did Wilbur do when he got tired during walks with Fern？

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