Charlotte's Web E.B.White

《夏洛的网》是一部描写关于友情的童话。在朱克曼家的谷仓里，小猪威尔伯和蜘蛛夏洛建立了最真挚的友谊。威尔伯的生命有危险时，看似渺小的夏洛用自己的力量救了威尔伯，但这时，蜘蛛夏洛的生命却走到了尽头……

《夏洛的网》是一部可以与《小王子》相媲美的世界名著。这部作品初版于1952年，已有20多种译文，发行近千万册。

本文节选自《夏洛的网》第六章。

Wilbur  liked  Charlotte  better  and  better  each  day. Her campaign  against  insects  seemed  sensible  and  useful. Hardly anybody around the farm had a good word to say for a fly. Flies spent  their  time  pestering  others. The  cows  hated  them. The horses  detested  them. The  sheep  loathed  them. Mr. and  Mrs. Zukerman were always complaining about them，and putting up screens.

Wilbur  admired  the  way  Charlotte  managed. He  was particularly glad that she always put her victim to sleep before eating it.

“It’s real thoughtful of you to do that，Charlotte，”he said.“Yes，”she replied in her sweet，musical voice，“I always give them an anaesthetic so they won’t feel pain. It’s a little service I throw in.”

As the days went by，Wilbur grew and grew. He ate three big meals  a  day. He  spent  long hours  lying  on his  side，half asleep，dreaming pleasant dreams. He enjoyed good health and he gained a lot of weight. One afternoon，when Fern was sitting on her stool，the oldest sheep walked into the barn，and stopped to pay a call on Wilbur.

“Hello！”she said.“Seems to me you’re putting on weight.”

“Yes，I guess I am，”replied Wilbur.“At my age it’s a good idea to keep gaining.”

“ Just the same ，I don’t envy you，”said the old sheep.“ You know why they’re fattening you up，don’tyou？”

威伯一天比一天更喜歡夏洛了。她对昆虫发动的战争似乎是英明的、有益处的。农场周围几乎没人为苍蝇说一句好话，因为苍蝇把他们的所有时间都用来骚扰别人了。母牛恨他们。马憎恶他们。绵羊讨厌他们。祖克曼先生和太太也总是抱怨他们，所以特意装上了纱窗。

威伯也欣赏夏洛的行事方法。他很高兴她能在吃她的受害者之前先把他们弄睡。

“你那么做可真体贴，夏洛，”他说。

“是的，”她用甜甜的嗓音回答，“我总是先麻醉他们，这样他们就不会感到疼了。这是我的一项小小的免费服务。”

很多天过去了，威伯不断长大。他一天要大吃三顿。他把时间都花在躺着，小睡，做美梦上了。他的身体非常健康，体重也增长了许多。一天下午，当芬正在她的凳子上坐着时，那只老羊走到谷仓来拜访威伯。

“你好！”她说。“我看你好像正在变胖。”

“是的，我想是，”威伯回答。“在我这个年纪胖起来是好事儿。”

“虽然如此，可我却不嫉妒你，”老羊说。“你知道他们为什么要把你养这么胖吗？”

“No，”said Wilbur.

“Well，I don’t like to spread bad news，”said the sheep，“but they’re fattening you up because they’re going to kill you，that’s why.”

“They’re going to what？”screamed Wilbur. Fern grew rigid on her stool.

“Kill  you. Turn  you  into  smoked  bacon  and  ham，” continued the old sheep.“Almost all young pigs get murdered by the farmer as soon as the real cold weather sets in. There’sregular conspiracy around here to kill you at Christmastime.  Everybody  is  in  the  plog—Lurvy，Zuckerman ，even  John Arable.”

“Mr. Arable？”sobbed Wilbur.“Fern’s father？”

“Certainly. When a pig is to be butchered，everybody helps. I’m an old sheep and I see the same thing，same old business，year after year. Arable arrives with hi .22，shoots the...”

“Stop！”screamed Wilbur.“I don’t want to die！ Save me，somebody！ Save me！”Fern was just about to jump up when a voice was heard.

“Be  quiet ，Wilbur！”said  Charlotte ，who  had  been listening to this awful conversation.

“I  can’t be  quiet，”screamed Wilbur，racing up  and down.“I don’twant to be killed. I don’twant to die. Is it true what the old sheep says，Charlotte？ Is it true they are going to kill me when the cold weather comes？”

“Well，”said the  spider，plucking thoughtfully  at her web，“the old sheep has been around this barn a long time. She has seen many a spring pig come and go. If she says they plan to kill you，I’m sure it’s true. It’s also the dirtiest trick I ever heard of. What people don’tthink of！”Wilbur burst into tears.

“I don’t want to die，”he moaned.“I want to stay alive ， right here in my comfortable manure pile with all my friends.  I want to breathe the beautiful air and lie in the beautiful sun.”

“不知道，”威伯说。

“呃，我不喜欢传播坏消息，”老羊说，“但我还是要告诉你，他们喂胖你，其实是为了将来杀你，这就是原因。”

“他们将来要做什么？”威伯尖叫。坐在凳子上的芬也听呆了。

“杀死你。把你做成腌肉和火腿。”老羊继续说。“几乎所有年青的小猪到了冬天来的时候都会被农场主谋杀。这里有个人尽皆知的阴谋，就是你将在圣诞节被杀掉。每个人都在参与这个计划——鲁维，祖克曼甚至约翰·阿拉贝尔。”

“阿拉贝尔先生？”威伯啜泣起来。“芬的爸爸？”

“当然了。宰一头猪时，每人都要来帮忙的。我是一只老羊，这样的事儿见得多了，每一年都是这老一套。阿拉贝尔会带着他的0.22口径的枪，来射向……”

“别说了！”威伯尖叫。“我不想死！救我，来人哪！救我呀！”这尖叫几乎把芬吓得跳起来。

“镇静，威伯！”一直听着这段恐怖对话的夏洛说。

“我不能镇静，”威伯大嚷着跑来跑去。“我不想被杀死。我不想死。老羊说的是真的吗，夏洛？冬天来时他们真会杀我吗？”

“唔，”夏洛说着，轻轻地拉了拉她的网，“老羊已经在这谷仓住很久了。她看过很多来去的春猪。如果她说人们打算杀你，我想那就是真的。这也是我听过的最可耻的诡计。人类有什么想不出来！”

威伯号啕大哭起来。“我不想死，”他呻吟。“我想在这里活着，就呆在我舒服的牛粪堆旁，和我所有的朋友在一起。我想呼吸甜美的空气，躺在美麗的太阳底下。”

“You’re certainly making a beautiful noise，”snapped theold sheep.

“I don’t want to die！”screamed Wilbur，throwing himselfto the ground.

“You shall not die，”said Charlotte，briskly.

“What？ Really？”cried Wilbur.“Who’s going to save me？”

“I am，”said Charlotte.

“How？”asked Wilbur.

“That remains to be seen. But I am going to save you，andI want you to quiet down immediately. You’re carrying on in achildish way. Stop your crying！ I can’tstand hysterics.”

On  Sunday morning Mr. and Mrs. Arable and Fern weresitting at breakfast in the kitchen. Avery had finished and wasupstairs looking for his slingshot.

“Did  you  know  that  Uncle  Homer’s  goslings  hadhatched？”asked Fern.

“How many？”asked Mr. Arable.

“Seven，”replied Fern.“There were eight eggs but one eggdidn’t hatch and the goose told Templeton she didn’t want itany more，so he took it away.”

“The goose did what？”asked Mrs. Arable，gazing at herdaughter with a queer，worried look.

“Told  Templeton  she  didn’t  want  the  egg  any  more，”repeated Fern.

“Who is Templeton？”asked Mrs. Arable.

“He’s the rat，”replied Fern.“None of us like him much.”

“你說的全是美丽的胡话。”老羊迅速地打断了他的话。

“我不想死！”威伯尖叫着，瘫到地上。

“你不会死的，”夏洛轻快地说。

“什么？真的吗？”威伯叫。“谁会来救我呢？”

“我，”夏洛说。

“怎么救？”威伯问。

“办法以后会有的。但是在我正考虑怎么救你的时候，我希望你立刻安静下来。你哭叫的样子简直像个小孩子。不要哭！我不能忍受歇斯底里。”

星期六早上，阿拉贝尔先生和太太还有芬正坐在厨房吃早餐。埃弗里已经吃过了饭，便上楼找他的弹弓去了。

“你们知道霍默舅舅的小鹅孵出来了吗？”芬问。

“孵出了多少个？”阿拉贝尔先生问。

“七个。”芬回答。“本来有八个蛋，但有一个没孵出来。母鹅告诉坦普尔曼她不想要这

个蛋了，所以他把蛋带走了。”

“母鹅说什么了？”阿拉贝尔太太惊奇而又担心地盯着女儿问。

“她告诉坦普尔曼，她不想再要那个蛋了，”芬重复道。

“谁是坦普尔曼？”阿拉贝尔太太问。

“他就是那只老鼠，”芬回答。“我们都不太喜欢他。”

“Who is‘us’？”asked Mr. Arable.

“Oh，everybody in the barn cellar. Wilbur and the sheep andthe lambs and the goose and the gander and the goslings andCharlotte and me.”

“Charlotte？”said Mrs. Arable.“Who’s Charlotte？”

“She’s Wilbur’s best friend. She’s terribly clever.”

“What does she look like？”asked Mrs. Arable.

“Well，”said Fern，thoughtfully，“ she has eight legs. Allspiders do，I guess.”

“Charlotte is a spider？”asked Fern’s mother.

Fern nodded.“A big grey one. She has a web across the topof Wilbur’s doorway. She catches flies and sucks their blood.Wilbur adores her.”

“Does he really？”said Mrs. Arable，rather vaguely. She wasstaring at Fern with a worried expression on her face.

“Oh，yes，Wilbur adores Charlotte，”said Fern.“Do youknow what Charlotte said when the goslings hatched？”

“I haven’t the faintest idea，”said Mr. Arable.“Tell us.”

“Well，when the first gosling stuck its little head out fromunder the goose，I was sitting on my stool in the corner andCharlotte was on her web. She made a speech. She said：‘I amsure that every one of us here in the barn cellar will be gratified tolearn that after four weeks of unremitting effort and patience onthe part of the goose，she now has something to show for it.’Don’tyou think that was a pleasant thing for her to say？”

“Yes，I do，”said Mrs. Arable.“And now，Fern，it’s timeto get ready for Sunday School. And tell Avery to get ready. Andthis afternoon you can tell me more about what goes on in UncleHomer’s barn. Aren’t you spending quite a lot of time there？You go there almost every afternoon，don’t you？”

“谁是‘我们’？”阿拉贝尔先生问。

“噢，就是住在谷仓地窖里的所有人。威伯，绵羊，羊羔，母鹅，公鹅，小鹅，夏洛和我。”

“夏洛？”阿拉贝尔太太说。“谁是夏洛？”

“她是威伯最好的朋友，她非常的聪明。”

“她长得什么样儿？”阿拉贝尔太太问。

“嗯，”芬仔细想了想，说，“她有八条腿。所有的蜘蛛都如此，我猜。”

“夏洛是一只蜘蛛？”芬的母亲问。

芬点点头：“一只很大的灰蜘蛛。她在威伯的门口上方织了一张网。她能抓苍蝇，还吸他们的血。威伯可崇拜她了。”

“他真的崇拜她？”阿拉贝尔太太几乎听糊涂了。她用一种担忧的表情盯着芬的脸。

“噢，是的，威伯崇拜夏洛。”芬说，“你知道当小鹅出世时夏洛说什么了？”

“我可什么都不知道，”阿拉贝尔先生说，“跟我们讲讲。”

“好吧。当第一只小鹅从鹅妈妈的身下伸出他的小脑袋时，我正在旁边的凳子上坐着，夏洛就在她的网上挂着。她发表了一场演说。她说：‘我们在谷仓地窖里的每一位都将高兴地获悉，经过四周的不懈努力与耐心的等待，我们的朋友母鹅终于取得了骄人的成绩。’你不认为她说的是件大喜事吗？”

“是的，我承认，”阿拉贝尔太太说。“现在，芬，该到上主日学校的时间了。告诉埃弗里做好准备。今天下午你可以把你在霍默舅舅谷仓里的事儿再告诉我们一些。你在那里花了不少时间吧？你几乎每天下午都去，是不是？”

“I like it there，”replied Fern. She wiped her mouth and ran upstairs. After she had left the room，Mrs. Arable spoke in a low voice to her husband.“I worry about Fern，”she said.“Did you hear the way she  rambled  on  about  the  animals ，pretending  that  they talked？”

Mr. Arable chuckled.“Maybe they do talk，”he said.“I’ve sometimes wondered. At any rate，don’t worry about Fern— she’s just got a lively imagination. Kids think they hear all sorts of things.”

“Just  the  same ，I  do  worry  about  her，”replied  Mrs. Arable.“I think I shall ask Dr. Dorian about her the next timeI see him. He loves Fern almost as much as we do，and I want him to know how  queerly  she  is  acting  about that pig  and everything. I don’t think it’s normal. You know perfectly well animals don’ttalk.”

Mr. Arable grinned.“Maybe our ears aren’t as sharp as Fern’s，”he said.

“我喜欢那儿，”芬回答。她擦擦嘴巴跑上了楼。她离开房间后，阿拉贝尔太太和她丈夫低声交谈起来。

“我为芬担心，”她说，“你听见她是怎么信口开河地说那些动物的吗，好像他们会说话一样？”

阿拉贝尔先生微笑了。“可能他们真会说话吧，”他说，“我有时也觉得这很奇怪。不管怎样，不必担心芬——她不过是有生动的想象力罢了。小孩子认为他们什么都能听到。”

“虽然如此，我還是担心她，”阿拉贝尔太太回答。“我想我下次看到多里安医生时，该对他谈谈芬的事儿。他几乎像我们一样的爱芬，我要问问他，芬自以为能听懂猪和别的动物的谈话，这是不是很奇怪。我不认为这是正常的。你完全知道动物们根本不会说话的。”

阿拉贝尔先生咧开嘴笑起来。“可能我们的耳朵不像芬那么尖吧，”他说。