Charlotte's Web

E. B. White

《夏洛的网》是一部描写友情的童话。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》第十四章。

The night before the County Fair， everybody went to bed early. Fern and Avery were in bed by eight. Avery lay dreaming that the Ferris wheel had stopped and that he was in the top car. Fern lay dreaming that she was getting sick in the swings.

Lurvy was in bed by eight-thirty. He lay dreaming that he was throwing baseballs at a cloth cat and winning a genuine Navajo blanket. Mr. and Mrs. Zuckerman were in bed by nine. Mrs. Zuckerman lay dreaming about a deep freeze unit. Mr. Zuckerman lay dreaming about Wilbur. He dreamt that Wilbur had grown until he was one hundred and sixteen feet long and ninety-tow feet high and that he had won all the prizes at the Fair and was covered with blue ribbons and even had a blue ribbon tied to the end of his tail.

Down in the barn cellar， the animals， too， went to sleep early， all except Charlotte. Tomorrow would be Fair Day. Every creature planned to get up early to see Wilbur off on his great adventure.

When morning came， everybody got up at daylight. The day was hot. Up the road at the Arables' house， Fernlugged a pail of hot water to her room and took a sponge bath. Then she put on her prettiest dress because she knew she would see boys at the Fair. Mrs. Arable scrubbed the back of Avery's neck， and wet his hair， and parted it， and brushed it down hard till it stuck to the top of his head-- all but about six hairs that stood straight up. Avery put on clean underwear， clean blue jeans， and a clean shirt. Mr. Arable dressed， ate breakfast， and then went out and polished his truck. He had offered to drive everybody to the Fair， including Wilbur.

展覽会的前夜，每个人都早早地上了床。芬和埃弗里八点就上床了。埃弗里梦见自己正高高地坐在展览会里的费里斯大转轮上最高的位子里。芬则梦到自己在那个大转轮上转迷糊了。

鲁维八点半上的床。他梦见自己在“布猫队”里打篮球赛，还赢得了一块真正的拿佛和地毯。祖克曼先生和太太在九点上的床。祖克曼太太梦见了一排电冰箱。祖克曼先生梦见了威伯。他梦见威伯长到一百六十英尺长，九十二英尺高，赢得了展览会上的所有奖品。浑身披满蓝色的丝带，甚至尾巴尖上还系了一条蓝丝带。

谷仓下的地窖里的动物们也都早早的睡了，只除了夏洛。明天就要开展览会了，每个动物都打算早早起来为威伯这次伟大的冒险送行。

第二天，每个人都在黎明就起了床。那天很热。小路上头的阿拉贝尔家的房子里，芬往卧室拎了桶热水，用毛巾简单擦了个澡。然后她穿上了她最漂亮的衣服，因为她知道会在展览会上看到男孩们。阿拉贝尔太太把埃弗里的脖子后面擦了又擦，又往他的头上掸了些水，把他的头发往两边梳起来。她梳得非常用力，直到把头发梳干，竖立起来为止——结果除六根头发之外，其余的头发全都笔直地竖起来了。埃弗里穿上干净的内裤、牛仔裤，还有干净的衬衫。阿拉贝尔先生已经穿戴好了，吃完了早饭，就出去擦他的卡车了。他要开车把每个人送到展览会上，也包括威伯。

Bright and early， Lurvy put clean straw in Wilbur's crate and lifted it into the pigpen. The crate was green. In gold letters it said;Charlotte had her web looking fine for the occasion. Wilbur ate his breakfast slowly. He tried to look radiant without getting food in his ears.

In the kitchen， Mrs. Zuckerman suddenly made an announcement.

“Homer，”she said to her husband， “I am going to give that pig a buttermilk bath.”“Awhat？”said Mr. Zuckerman.

“A buttermilk bath. My grandmother used to bathe her pig with buttermilk when it got dirty -- I just remembered.”“Wilbur's not dirty，”said Mr. Zuckerman proudly.

“He's filthy behind the ears，”said Mrs. Zuckerman. “Every time Lurvy slops him， the food runs down around the ears. Then it dries and forms a crust. He also has a smudge on one side where he lays in the manure.”“He lays in clean straw，”corrected Mr. Zuckerman.

“Well， he's dirty， and he's going to have a bath.”Mr. Zuckerman sat down weakly and ate a doughnut. His wifewent to the woodshed. When she returned， she wore rubber boots and an old raincoat， and she carried a bucket of buttermilk and a small wooden paddle.

天剛亮，鲁维就在威伯的大板条箱里铺上干净的稻草，将箱子抬到了猪圈。这箱子是绿色的，上面写着金色的大字：祖克曼家的名猪。夏洛为了展览会把她的网整修得很漂亮。威伯在慢慢吃他的早餐。他试图不让食物沾到他的耳朵上，好让自己的样子更加闪光。

祖克曼太太突然在厨房喊起来。

“霍默，”她对丈夫说，“我打算给那头猪洗一个酸奶澡。”“一个什么？”祖克曼先生说。

“一个酸奶澡。当猪变脏时我祖母就常用酸奶给它们洗澡——我才想起来。”“威伯并不脏。”祖克曼先生骄傲地说。

“他的耳朵后面很脏，”祖克曼太太说，“每次鲁维喂他时，猪食都会溅到他的耳朵四周。它们干了以后就结成硬块儿了。他常躺在粪堆里的那边身子也有埋汰的地方。”“他可是躺在干净的稻草上。”祖克曼先生更正。

“算了，他很脏，他需要洗澡。”祖克曼先生只好无奈地坐下来，去吃油煎圈饼。他妻子向柴棚走去。当她回来时，脚上蹬了双水靴，身上穿了件旧雨衣，一手拎着一桶酸奶，一手拿着一把小木刷。

“Edith， you’re crazy，”mumbled Zuckerman.

But she paid no attention to him. Together they walked to the pigpen. Mrs. Zuckerman wasted no time. She climbed in with Wilbur and went to work. Dipping her paddle in the buttermilk， she rubbed him all over. The geese gathered around to see the fun， and so did the sheep and lambs. Even Templeton poked his head out cautiously， to watch Wilbur get a buttermilk bath. Charlotte got so interested， she lowered herself on a dragline so she could see better. Wilbur stood still and closed his eyes. He could feel the buttermilk trickling down his sides. he opened his mouth and some buttermilk ran in. it was delicious. He felt radiant and happy. When Mrs. Zuckerman got through and rubbed him dry， he was the cleanest， prettiest pig you ever saw. He was pure white， pink around the ears and snout， and smooth as silk.

The Zuckermans went up to change into their best clothes. Lurvy went to shave and put on his plaid shirt and his purple necktie. The animals were left to themselves in the barn.

The seven goslings paraded round and round their mother.

“Please， please， please take us to the Fair！”begged a gosling. Then all seven began teasing to go.

“Please， Please， Please， Please， Please， Please...”They made quite a racket.

“伊迪絲，你疯了。”祖克曼小声嘀咕道。

但她没理他。他们一起往猪圈走去。祖克曼太太一点儿也没浪费时间，她爬进猪圈来到威伯身边就开始工作了。她用蘸着酸奶的刷子把威伯全身刷了个遍。母鹅一家都来参观这有趣的一幕，绵羊和羊羔也跑来看。甚至坦普尔曼也好奇地伸出脑袋，去看威伯洗酸奶澡。夏洛也很感兴趣，便随着一根长丝线从网上慢慢地荡下来，以便能看得更清楚。威伯安静地闭着眼站在那里。他能感觉酸奶流遍了全身。他张开嘴，一些酸奶便淌了进去。那味道可真好。他觉得自己是闪光的，他幸福极了。当祖克曼太太把他洗完擦干，他便成了一头你曾经见过的最干净、最漂亮的猪。他浑身雪白，耳朵和鼻子是粉红的，毛皮像缎子一样的光滑。

祖克曼一家回去穿上他们最好的衣服。鲁维去刮了脸，穿起他的格子衬衫，打上他的紫领带。动物们离开他们的住所涌进了谷仓。

七只小鹅在他们的妈妈周围转来转去地嚷起来。

“请，请，请带我们去参加展览会吧！”一只小鹅央求。接着所有的七只小鹅都乞求起来。

“请，请，请，请，请，请……”他们发出很大的吵闹声。

“Children！”snapped the goose. “We're staying quietly-ietly-ietly at home. Only Wilbur- ilbur-ilbur is going to the Fair.”Just then Charlotte interrupted.

“I shall go， too，”she said， softly. “I have decided to go with Wilbur. He may need me. We can't tell what may happen at the Fair Grounds. Somebody's got to go along who knows how to write. And I think Templeton better come， too-- I might need somebody to run errands and do general work.”“I'm staying right here，”grumbled the rat. “I haven't the slightest interest in fairs.”“That's because you've never been to one，”remarked the old sheep. “A fair is a rat's paradise. Everybody spills food at a fair. A rat can creep out late at night and have a feast. In the horse barn you will find oats that the trotters and pacers have spilled. In the trampled grass of the infield you will find old discarded lunch boxes containing the foul remains of peanut butter sandwiches， hard- boiled eggs， cracker crumbs， bits of doughnuts， and particles of cheese. In the hard- packed dirt of the midway， after the glaring lights are out and the people have gone home to bed， you will find a veritable treasure of popcorn fragments， frozen custard dribblings， candied apples abandoned by tired children， sugar fluff crystals， salted almonds， popsicles， partially gnawed ice cream cones， and the wooden sticks of lollypops. Everywhere is loot for a rat-in tents， in booths， in hay lofts-why， a fair has enough disgusting leftover food to satisfy a whole army of rats.”Tem- pleton's eyes were blazing.

“Is this true？”heasked.“Is this appetizing yarn of yours true？ I like high living， and what you say tempts me.”“It is true，”said the old sheep.“Go to the Fair， Templeton. You will find that the conditions at a fair will surpass your wildest dreams. Buckets with sour mash sticking to them，tin cans containing particles of tuna fish， greasy paper bags stuffed with rotten...”“That’s enough！”cried Templeton. “Don't tell me any more. I’m going.”“Good，”said Charlotte， winking at the old sheep. “Now then--there is no time to be lost. Wilbur will soon be put into the crate. Templeton and I must get in the crate right now and hide ourselves.”The rat didn’t waste a minute. He scampered over to the crate， crawled between the slats， and pulled straw up over him so he was hidden from sight.

“孩子们！”母鹅尖叫，“我们要安静-静-静地呆在家里。只有威伯-伯-伯才去展览会。”就在那时，夏洛打断了母鹅。

“我也去，”她轻轻地说，“我已经决定和威伯一起去了。他可能会需要我。我们不知道展览会上可能发生什么意外。谁知道怎么写字可以和我一起去。我想坦普尔曼最好也去——我可能需要有人跑腿，做些复杂的工作。”“我就在这儿呆着，”老鼠不满地说，“我对展览会一丁点儿兴趣都没有。”“那是因为你从来没去过展览会，”老羊提醒道，”展览会是老鼠的天堂。展览会上的人都把食物乱丢。一只老鼠可以在夜里溜出去吃一顿宴席。在马厩你能找到马吃剩的燕麦，在有人迹的草地你会找到人们扔掉的午餐盒，里面有花生三明治，煮鸡蛋，面包渣，小块的油煎圈饼，还有干酪。当灯光熄灭，人们回家睡觉后，你还会在游乐场里到处都是的垃圾袋中间找到真正的财宝：碎爆米花，往下直淌的果冻，累了的孩子们丢下的蜜饯，水晶般闪光的糖球，咸杏仁，冰棒，一块被咬掉的冰激凌，带着小木棍儿的棒棒糖。对一个老鼠来说到处都可以打劫——帐子里，摊床上，草堆中——为什么不去呢？ 一个展览会上有那么多美味的食物，足够一个老鼠大军吃的。”坦普尔曼的眼睛放光了。

“是真的吗？”他问，“你是在馋我吧？我喜欢超值的享受，你说的完全打动了我。”“真的，”老羊说，“去展览会吧，坦普尔曼。你会发现展览会上的好东西远比你最疯狂的梦里想出来的还多。上面沾满了好吃的东西的桶，吃剩的金枪鱼罐头，油腻腻的食品袋里装着的烂……“够了！”坦普尔曼叫，“不要再对我说了。我去。“很好，”夏洛说着，朝老羊挤挤眼睛“那么现在——就没有太多的时间可以浪费了。威伯马上就会被放进板条箱。坦普尔曼和我也必须钻进板条箱躲起来。”老鼠一分钟也没有耽误。他迅速地钻进了板条箱，爬到板条的缝隙间，又拉了几根稻草把自己盖上，这样便没人能看见他了。

“All right，”said Charlotte， “I'm next.”She sailed into the air， let out a dragline， and dropped gently to the ground. then she climbed the side of the crate and hid herslef inside a knothole in the top board.

“好，”夏洛說，“该我了。”她扯起一根长丝线，往空中荡去，轻轻地落到了箱子上。然后她爬进去，躲到箱子最上面的一块木板的结孔里。