Charlotte’s Web

E.B.White

《夏洛的網》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》第五章。

The early summer days on a farm are the happiest and fairest  days  of the  year. Lilacs  bloom  and  make  the  air sweet， and then fade. Apple blossoms come with the lilacs， and the bees visit around among the apple trees. The days grow warm and soft. School ends， and children have time to play and to fish for trouts in the brook. Avery often brought a trout home in his pocket， warm and stiff and ready to be fried for supper.

Now that school was over， Fern visited the barn almost every day， to sit quietly on her stool. The animals treated her as an equal. The sheep lay calmly at her feet.

Around the first of July， the work horses were hitched to the mowing machine， and Mr. Zuckerman climbed into the  seat and drove into the  field. All morning you could hear the rattle of the machine as it went round and round， while the tall grass fell down behind the cutter bar in long green swathes. Next day， if there was no thunder shower， all hands  would  help  rake  and  pitch  and  load，  and  the  hay would be hauled to barn in the high hay wagon， with Fern and Avery riding at the top of the load. Then the hay would be  hoisted，  sweet  and  warm，  into  the  big  loft，  until  the whole barn seemed like a wonderful bed of timothy and clover. It was fine to jump in， and perfect to hide in. And some- times Avery would find a little grass snake in the hay， andwould add it to the other things in his pocket.

农场的初夏，是一年中最快乐最美好的时候。紫丁香开花了，把空气薰得又苦又香。等到丁香花开败了，苹果花就露出了笑脸。这时候，蜂儿们就会成群地到苹果树中间来观光了。天气渐渐变暖了。学校放假了，孩子们也更有空儿去玩耍，或者去小河里抓鳟鱼了。埃弗里经常兜里揣着一条鳟鱼回家，准备在晚饭时把它煎着吃。

既然放了假，芬就更有时间去参观谷仓了。她几乎每天都去，静静地坐在她的小凳上观察着。动物们已经把她当自己人看待了。绵羊安静地躺在她的脚边，一点儿也不怕。

差不多在七月的第一天，祖克曼先生便开始把割草机套在马的脖子上，自己跳进座位里，赶着马往田野里去了。整个早晨你都能听到割草机转来转去的嘎嘎声，看到高高的草渐渐的在长条割刀的后面排起了长长的绿色队伍的情景。第二天，如果没有雷阵雨，所有的人就会来帮着用耙子把割下来的草收拢到一起，装上高高的干草车往谷仓拉，芬和埃弗里则坐到了车的最顶上。然后，暖暖的散发着清香的干草会被卸进大阁楼，直到堆得整个谷仓看起来像无数的筒状草与苜蓿铺起的奇妙的大床一样。如果你跳上去，一定感觉很舒服，躲到里面也没人看得见。偶尔，来这里玩的埃弗里能在干草堆里找到一条可爱的小草蛇，便把它和兜里的别的宝贝装到一起。

Early summer days are a jubilee time for birds. In thefields， around the house， in the barn， in the woods， in theswamp-- everywhere  love  and  songs  and  nests  and  eggs.From the edge of the woods， the white- throated  sparrow（which must come all the way from Boston） calls，“Oh， Peabody， Peabody， Peabody！”On an apple bough， the phoebeteeters and wags its tail and says，“Phoebe， phoe-bee！”Thesong sparrow， who knows how brief and lovely life is， says，“Sweet， sweet， sweet interlude; sweet， sweet， sweet interlude.”If you  enter  the  barn，  the  swallows  swoop  downfrom their nests and scold.“Cheeky， cheeky！”they say.

In early summer there are plenty of things for a childto eat and drink and suck and chew. Dandelion stems arefull of milk， clover heads are loaded with nectar， the Frigidaire is full of ice-cold drinks. Everywhere you look is life;even the little ball of spit on the weed stalk， if you poke itapart， has a green worm inside it. And on the under side ofthe leaf of the potato vine are the bright orange eggs of thepotato bug.

It was on a day in early summer that the goose eggshatched. This  was  an  important  event  in  the barn  cellar.Fern was there， sitting on her stool， when it happened.

Except for the goose herself， Charlotte was the first toknow that the goslings had at last arrived. The goose knewa day in advance that they were coming—she could heartheir weak voices  calling  from inside the  egg. She knewthat they were coming. She knew that they were in a desperately cramped position inside the shell and were most anxious to break through and get out. So she sat quite still， andtalked less than usual.

When  the  first  gosling  poked  its  grey- green  headthrough the goose’s feathers and looked around， Charlottespied it and made the announcement.

“I am sure，”she said，“ that every one of us here will88 be gratified to learn that after four weeks of unremitting effort and patience on the part of our friend the goose， shenow has something to show for it. The goslings have arrived. May I offer my sincere congratulations！

初夏简直是鸟儿们的狂欢节。在田野间，房子四周，谷仓里，树林中，湿地上——到处都有欢爱，歌声，鸟巢和鸟蛋。白喉雀（从波士顿飞来的）在树林边叫，“啊，皮儿剥，皮儿剥，皮儿剥！”在苹果树杈间，京燕颤巍巍地晃着尾巴走来走去，嘴里喊着：“波碧，波儿—碧！”深知生命是多么可爱和短促的百灵鸟说，“快乐的，快乐的偷闲！快乐的，快乐的，快乐的偷闲。”如果你来到谷仓，就会听见燕子们从他们的巢里一头扎过去叱责。“无耻，无耻！”他们说。

初夏里有很多孩子们喜欢吃，喝，吮，嚼的好东西。蒲公英的花梗里都是乳汁，苜蓿花的芯里盛满了琼浆，冰箱里放了那么多冰凉的饮料。到处都是勃勃的生机，甚至粘在草茎上的小雪球里，也会躺着一只小绿虫，如果你把它捅开的话。在土豆枝叶的下面，还有鲜橙色的薯虫蛋呢。

初夏的某天，小鹅们被孵出来了。在谷仓的地窖里，这可算一件大事情。当时，芬正在她的凳子上坐着呢。

除了母鹅之外，夏洛是第一个得知小鹅出世的消息的。母鹅头一天就知道小鹅们快要出来了——她听到了蛋壳里传出的微弱叫声。她知道他们已经在里面呆不安稳，急着打破蛋壳出来走走了。于是她就静静地坐着，话也比平时少多了。

当第一只小鹅从鹅妈妈的羽毛里探出灰绿的小脑袋，开始四处观望时，夏洛第一个瞥见了他，并发布了一个声明。

“我相信，”她说，“我们中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。小鵝出世了。请让我在这里衷心地表示祝贺！”

“Thank you， thank you， thank you！”said the goose，nodding and bowing shamelessly.

“Thank you，”said the gander.

“Congratulations！”shoutedWilbur.“How many goslings are there？ I can only see one.”

“There are seven，”said the goose.

“Fine！”saidCharlotte.“Seven is a lucky number.”

“Luck had nothing to do with this，”said the goose.“Itwas good management and hard work.”

At this point， Templeton showed his nose from his hiding place under Wilbur’s trough. He glanced at Fern， thencrept cautiously toward the goose， keeping close to thewall. Everyone watched him， for he was not well liked， nottrusted.

“Look，”he began in his sharp voice，“you say youhave seven goslings. There were eight eggs. What happenedto the other egg？ Why didn’t it hatch？”

“It’s a dud， I guess，”said the goose.

“What are you going to do with it？”continued Templeton， his little round beady eyes fixed on the goose.

“You can have it，”replied the goose.“Roll it awayand add it to that nasty collection of yours.”（Templetonhad a habit of picking up unusual objects around the farmand storing them in his home.He saved everything.）

“Certainly- ertainly- ertainly，”said the gander”Youmay have the egg. But I'll tell you one thing， Templeton， if I ever catch you poking-oking-oking your ugly nose aroundour goslings， I’ll give you the worst pounding a rat ever took.”And the gander opened his strong wings and beat the air with them to show his power. He was strong and brave， but the truth is， both the goose and the gander were worried about Templeton. And with  good reason. The rat had no morals， no conscience， no scruples， no consideration， no de- cency，  no  milk  of rodent  kindness，  no  compunctions，  no higher feeling， no friendliness， no anything. He would kill a gosling if he could get away with it—the goose knew that. Everybody knew it.

“谢谢你，谢谢你，谢谢你！”母鹅点点头，不好意思地鞠了一躬。

“谢谢你，”公鹅说。

“祝贺！”威伯喊。“一共有几只小鹅？我只看见一只呀。”

“有七个，”母鹅说。

“太好了！”夏洛说，“七是个幸运数字。”

“这可与什么幸运无关，”母鹅说。“这需要很好的筹划和辛苦的劳动。”

这时，坦普尔曼从他在威伯食槽下的藏身处露出了鼻子。他偷看了芬一眼，然后贴着墙小心地朝母鹅这边溜过来。大家都警惕地看着他，因为他既不討人喜欢，又不被人相信。

“看，”他尖细地叫起来，“你说你有了七只小鹅。可共有八只蛋呢。第八只蛋怎么了？你没有孵吗？”

“它是只坏蛋，我猜，”母鹅说。

“你将怎么处理它？”坦普尔曼那圆溜溜的小眼珠盯向母鹅，继续说道。

“你可以把它带走，”母鹅回答。“把它滚到你那些肮脏的收藏品里去吧。”（坦普尔曼有把农场里没人要的东西收藏到家里的习惯。他什么都收藏。）

“当然-然-然，”公鹅说。“你可以拿走这只蛋。但我有件事要告诉你，坦普尔曼，如果我发现你把你那丑陋的鼻子伸-伸-伸到我们的小鹅身边的话，我就会给你一记一只耗子从来没受过的重拳。”说着，公鹅张开他强壮的翅膀，用它们使劲扑打着空气，好让老鼠看看他是多么的孔武有力。他虽然既结实又勇猛，但事实上，母鹅和公鹅还是有对坦普尔曼担心的充分理由。这只耗子不讲道义，没同情心，无所顾忌，不顾他人，没有品德，没有啮齿类动物的仁慈心肠，从不会良心不安，毫无高尚情感，没有友情，什么好的地方都没有。如果可以逃脱惩罚，他就会杀死小鹅的——母鹅深知这一点。大家也知道。

With her broad bill the  goose pushed the unhatched egg out of the nest， and the entire company watched in dis- gust while the rat rolled it away. Even Wilbur， who could eat  almost  anything，  was  appalled.“Imagine  wanting  a junky old rotten egg！”he muttered.

“A rat is a rat，”said Charlotte. She laughed a tinkling little  laugh.“But，  my  friends，  if  that  ancient  egg  ever breaks， this barn will be untenable.”

“What’s that mean？”asked Wilbur.

“It means nobody will be able to live here on account of the smell. A rotten egg is a regular stink bomb.”

“I won’t break it，”snarledTempleton.“I know whatI'm doing. I handle stuff like this all the time.”

He disappeared into his tunnel， pushing the goose egg in front of him. He pushed and nudged till he succeeded in rolling it to his lair under the trough.

That afternoon， when the wind had died down and the barnyard was quiet and warm， the grey goose led her seven goslings off the nest and out into the world. Mr. Zucherman spied them when he came with Wilbur’s supper.

“Well， hello there！”he said， smiling all over.“Let’s see...one，  two，  three，  four，  five，  six，  seven. Seven  baby geese. Now isn’tthat lovely！”

母鹅用她扁扁的嘴巴把那只没有孵出来的蛋推到了她的巢外，全體伙伴都带着憎恶的表情看着耗子把它搬走。甚至连几乎什么都吃的威伯见此情景也感到恶心。“想想吧，竟有人愿意要一只臭烘烘的破蛋！”他嘟囔着。

“老鼠不愧为老鼠。”夏洛的笑声好像风里的铃儿一样。“但是，我的朋友，如果这只蛋被打碎了，这个谷仓就会让人受不了的。”

“那是什么意思？”威伯问。

“这就是说那传出的气味会薰得我们无法在这里住下去的。一只坏了的蛋通常都是非常臭的。”

“我不会弄破它的，”坦普尔曼气恼地说。“我知道我在干什么。我可是常搬这类东西的。”

他推着面前的鹅蛋钻进了他的地道。他小心地把蛋滚着，直到安全到达他在猪食槽下的窝。

那天下午，当风渐弱，谷仓里变得又静又暖的时候，灰色的母鹅把她的七只小鹅领到了巢外的世界。祖克曼先生在给威伯送晚饭时看到了他们。

“哈，那是什么！”他笑着说，“让我来看看……一、二、三、四、五、六、七。七只鹅宝宝。它们多可爱呀！”