Charlotte’s Web

E.B.White

The old sheep nodded.“What a cargo！”she said.“Thatsign ought to say ‘Zuckerman’s Famous Pig and TwoStowaways’”“Look out， the people are coming—omingoming！”shouted the gander.“Cheese it，cheese it，cheese it！”The big truck with Mr. Arable at the wheel backed slowly downtoward the barnyard. Lurvy and Mr. Zuckerman walkedalongside. Fern and Avery were standing in the body of thetruck hanging on to the sideboards.

“Listen to me，”whispered the old sheep to Wilbur.“When they open the crate and try to put you in，struggle！Don’t go without a tussle. Pigs always resist when they arebeing loaded.”“If I struggle I’ll get dirty，”saidWilbur.

“Never mind that—do as I say！ Struggle！ If you wereto walk into the crate without resisting，Zuckerman might thinkyou were bewitched. He’d be scared to go to the Fair.”Templeton poked his head up through the straw.“Struggle ifyou must，”said he，“but kindly remember that I’m hidingdown here in this crate and I don’t want to be stepped on，orkicked in the face，or pummeled，or crushed in any way，orsquashed，or buffeted about，or bruised，or lacerated，orscarred，or biffed. Just watch what you’re doing，Mr. Radiant，when they get shoving you in！”“Be quiet，Templeton！”saidthe sheep.“Pull in you head—they’re coming. Look radiant，Wilbur！ Lay low，Charlotte！ Talk it up，geese！”The truckbacked slowly to the pigpen and stopped. Mr. arable cut themotor，got out，walked around to the rear，and lowered thetailgate. The geese cheered. Mrs. Arable got out of the truck.Fern and Avery jumped to the ground. Mrs. Zuckerman camewalking down from the house. Everybody lined up at the fenceand stood for a moment admiring Wilbur and the beautifulgreen crate. Nobody realized that the crate alreadycontained a rat and a spider.

“That’s some pig！”said Mrs. Arable.

“He’s terrific，”said Lurvy.

“He’s very radiant，”said Fern，remembering the dayhe was born.

“Well，”said Mrs. Zuckerman，“he’s clean，anyway.The buttermilk certainly helped.”Mr. Arable studied Wilburcarefully.“Yes，he’s a wonderful pig，”he said.“It’s hardto believe that he was the runt of the litter. You’ll get someextra good ham and bacon，Homer，when it comes time tokill that pig.”Wilbur heard these words and his heart almoststopped.“I think I’m going to faint，”he whispered to theold sheep，who was watching.

“Kneel down.”whispered the old sheep.“Let theblood rush to you head！”Wilbur sank to his knees，allradiance gone. His eyes closed.

“Look！”screamed Fern.“He’s fading away！”“Hey，watch me！”yelled Avery，crawling on all fours into thecrate.“I’ma pig！ I’ma pig！”Avery’s foot touchedTempletonunder the straw.“What a mess！”thought the rat.“Whatfantastic creatures boys are！ Why did I let myself in forthis？”The geese saw Avery in the crate and cheered.

“Avery， you get out of that crate this instant！”commanded his mother.“What do you think you are？”“I’ma pig！”cried Avery，tossing handfuls of straw into the air.“Oink，oink，oink！”“The truck is rolling away，Papa，”said Fern.

The truck，with no one at the wheel，had started toroll downhill. Mr. Arable dashed to the driver’s seat andpulled on the emergency brake. The truck stopped. Thegeese cheered. Charlotte crouched and made herself assmall as possible in the knothole，soAvery wouldn’t see her.

“Come out at once！” cried Mrs. Arable. Averycrawled out of the crate on hands and knees，making faces atWilbur.Wilbur fainted away.

“The pig has passed out，”said Mrs. Zuckerman.“Throwwater on him！”“Throw buttermilk！”suggested Avery.

The geese cheered.

Lurvy ran for a pail of water. Fern climbed into the penand knelt byWilbur’s side.

“It’s sunstroke，”said Zuckerman.“The heat is too muchfor him.”“Maybe he’s dead，”said Avery.

“Come out of that pigpen immediately！” cried Mrs.Arable. Avery obeyed his mother and climbed into the back ofthe truck so he could see better. Lurvy returned with cold waterand dashed it onWilbur.

“Throw some on me！”cried Avery.“I’m hot，too.”“Oh，keep quiet！”hollered Fern.“Keep qui- et！”Her eyes werebrimming with tears.

Wilbur，feeling the cold water，came to. He rose slowlyto his feet，while the geese cheered.

“He’s up！”said Mr. Arable.“I guess there’s nothingwrong with him.”“I’m hungry，”said Avery.“I want a candiedapple.”“Wilbur’s all right now，”said Fern. "We can start. Iwant to take a ride in the Ferris wheel."Mr. Zuckerman and Mr.Arable and Lurvy grabbed the pig and pushed him headfirsttoward the crate. Wilbur began to struggle. The harder the menpushed，the harder he held back. Avery jumped down andjoined the men. Wilbur kicked and thrashed and grunted.“Nothing wrong with this pig，” said Mr. Zuckermancheerfully，pressing his knee against Wilbur’s behind.“Alltogether，now， boys！ Shove！”With a final heave theyjammed him into the crate. The geese cheered. Lurvy nailedsome boards across the end，so Wilbur couldn’t back out.Then，using all their strength，the men picked up the crate andheaved it aboard the truck. They did not know that under thestraw was a rat，and inside a knothole was a big grey spider.They saw only a pig.

“Everybody in！”called Mr. Arable. He started themotor. The ladies climbed in beside him. Mr. Zuckerman andLurvy and Fern and Avery rode in back，hanging onto thesideboards. The truck began to move ahead. The geesecheered. The children answered their cheer，and away wenteverybody to the Fair.

When they pulled into the Fair Grounds，they couldhear music and see the Ferris wheel turning in the sky. Theycould smell the dust of the race track where the sprinklingcart had moistened it;and they could smell hamburgersfrying and see balloons aloft. They could hear sheep blattingin their pens. An enormous voice over the loudspeaker said：“Attention， please！ Will the owner of a Pontiac car，license number H- 2439，please move your car away fromthe fireworks shed！”“Can I have some money？”asked Fern.

“Can I，too？”asked Avery.

“I’m going to win a doll by spinning a wheel and it willstop at the right number，”said Fern.

“I’m going to steer a jet plane and make it bump intoanother one.”“Can I have a balloon？”asked Fern.

“Can I have a frozen custard and a cheeseburger andsome raspberry soda pop？”asked Avery.

“You children be quiet till we get the pig unloaded，”said Mrs. Arable.

“Let’s let the children go off by themselves，”suggested Mr. Arable.“The Fair only comes once a year.”Mr. Arable gave Fern two quarters and two dimes. He gaveAvery five dimes and four nickels.“Now run along”he said.“And remember，the money has to last all day. Don’t spendit all the first few minutes. And be back here at the truck atnoontime so we can all have lunch together. And don’t eat alot of stuff that’s going to make you sick to your stomachs.”“And if you go in those swings，”said Mrs. Arable，“youhang on tight！ You hang on very tight. Hear me？”“And don’t get lost！”said Mrs. Zuckerman.

“And don’t get dirty！”“Don’t get overheated！”saidtheir mother.

“Watch out for pickpockets！”cautioned their father.

“And don’t cross the race track when the horses arecoming！”cried Mrs. Zuckerman.

The children grabbed each other by the hand anddanced off in the direction of the merry-go-round，towardthe wonderful music and the wonderful adventure and thewonderful excitement，into the wonderful midway wherethere would be no parents to guard them and guide them，and where they could be happy and free and do as theypleased. Mrs. Arable stood quietly and watched them go.Then she sighed. Then she blew her nose.

“Do you really think it’s all right？”she asked.

“Well，they’ve got to grow up some time，”said Mr.Arable.“And a fair is a good place to start，I guess.”WhileWilbur was being unloaded and taken out of his crate andinto his new pigpen，crowds gathered to watch. Theystared at the sign ZUCKERMAN’S FAMOUS PIG. Wilburstared back and tried to look extra good. He was pleasedwith his new home. The pen was grassy，and it was shadedfrom the sun by a shed roof.

Charlotte，watching her chance，scrambled out of thecrate and climbed a post to the under side of the roof.Nobody noticed her.

Templeton， not wishing to come out in broaddaylight，stayed quietly under the straw at the bottom ofthe crate. Mr. Zuckerman poured some skim milk intoWilbur’s trough，pitched clean straw into his pen，andthen he and Mrs. Zuckerman and the Arables walked awaytoward the cattle barn to look at purebred cows and to seethe sights. Mr. Zuckerman particularly wanted to look attractors. Mrs. Zuckerman wanted to see a deep freeze.Lurvy wandered off by himself，hoping to meet friends andhave some fun on the midway.

As soon as the people were gone，Charlotte spoke toWilbur.

“It’s a good thing you can’t see what I see，”she said.

“What do you see？”askedWilbur.

“There’s a pig in the next pen and he’s enormous. I’mafraid he’s much bigger than you are.”“Maybe he’s older thanI am，and has had more time to grow，”suggested Wilbur.Tears began to come to his eyes.

“I’ll drop down and have a closer look，”Charlotte said.Then she crawled along a beam till she was directly over thenext pen. She let herself down on a dragline until she hung inthe air just in front of the big pig’s snout.

“May I have your name？”she asked，politely.

The pig stared at her.“No name，”he said in a big，heartyvoice. “Just call me uncle.”“Very well， Uncle，” repliedCharlotte.“What is the date of your birth？ Are you a springpig？”“Sure I’m a spring pig，”replied Uncle.“What did youthink I was，a spring chicken？ Haw，haw—that’s a goodone，eh，Sister？”“Mildly funny，”said Charlotte.“I’ve heardfunnier ones，though. Glad to have met you，and now I mustbe going.”She ascended slowly and returned toWilbur’s pen.

“He claims he’s a spring pig，”reported Charlotte，“ andperhaps he is. One thing is certain，he has a most unattractivepersonality. He is too familiar，too noisy，and he cracks weakjokes. Also，he’s not anywhere near as clean as you are，nor aspleasant. I took quite a dislike to him in our brief interview. He’sgoing to be a hard pig to beat，though，Wilbur，on account ofhis size and weight. But with me helping you，it can be done.”“When are you going to spin a web？”askedWilbur.

“This afternoon，late，if I’m not too tired，”said Charlotte.“The least thing tires me these days. I don’t seem to have theenergy I once had. My age，I guess.”Wilbur looked at hisfriend. She looked rather swollen and she seemed listless.

“I’m awfully sorry to hear that you’re feeling poorly，Charlotte，”he said.“ Perhaps if you spin a web and catch acouple of flies you’ll feel better.”“Perhaps，”she said，wearily.“But I feel like the end of a long day.”Clingingupside down to the ceiling，she settled down for a nap，leavingWilbur very much worried.

All morning people wandered past Wilbur’s pen. Dozensand dozens of strangers stopped to star at him and to admirehis silky white coat，his curly tail，his kind and radiantexpression. Then they would move on to the next pen wherethe bigger pig lay. Wilbur heard several people makefavorable remarks about uncle’s great size. He couldn’t helpworrying.“And now，with Charlotte not feeling well...”hethought.“Oh，dear！”All morning Templeton slept quietlyunder the straw. The day grew fiercely hot. At noon theZuckermans and the Arables returned to the pigpen. Then，afew minutes later，Fern and Avery showed up. Fern had amonkey doll in her arms and was eating Cracker- jack. Averyhad a balloon tied to his ear and was chewing a candied apple.The children were hot and dirty.

“Isn’t it hot？”said Mrs. Zuckerman.

“It’s terribly hot，”said Mrs. Arable，fanning herselfwith an advertisement of a deep freeze.

One by one they climbed into the truck and opened lunchboxes. The sun beat down on everything. Nobody seemedhungry.

“When are the judges going to decide about Wilbur？”asked Mrs. Zuckerman.

“Not till tomorrow，”said Mr. Zuckerman.

Lurvy appeared，carrying an Indian blanket that he hadwon.

“That’s just what we need，”said Avery.“A blanket.”“Of course it is，”replied Lurvy. And he spread the blanketacross the sideboards of the truck so that it was like a littletent. The children sat in the shade，under the blanket，and feltbetter.

After lunch，they stretched out and fell asleep.

老羊點点头。“多满的一箱子货！”她说，“那些金字应该改成‘祖克曼家的名猪与两名偷渡客’才对。”“当心，人来——来——来了！”公鹅喊，“小心，小心，小心！”阿拉贝尔开着大卡车慢慢地倒进谷仓的空地。鲁维和祖克曼先生在边上跟着走。芬和埃弗里正站在卡车的后车厢里，手抓着护栏。

“听我说，”老羊对威伯耳语，“当他们打开箱子想把你装进去时，你要挣扎！不要不经过争斗就走。当猪被装进车里他们总是要反抗的。”“如果我挣扎会被弄脏的。”威伯说。

“别管那些——照我说的做！挣扎！如果你毫无反抗地走进箱子，祖克曼可能会以为你有毛病了，那时他就不敢送你去参加展览会了。”坦普尔曼从稻草里探出了头。“如果你要挣扎，”他说，“一定要好心肠地想到，那时我正在板条箱里躲着呢。我可不想被踩瘪，或者被踢花脸，或者被揍伤，或者被压坏任何地方，或者被挤扁，或者被打晕，或者被打青，或者被擦破皮，或者落个疤，或者受到别的什么重击。你挣扎时一定要看着点儿，闪光先生，当他们把你往箱子里推的时候！”

“安静，坦普尔曼！”老羊说，“把你的脑袋缩回去——他们正在走过来。看起来闪光点，威伯！往里躲，夏洛！大声地叫，鹅们！”卡车慢慢地倒进了猪圈，停了下来。阿拉贝尔先生关上发动机，下车走到卡车后面，放下尾板。

鹅们欢叫起来。阿拉贝尔太太下了卡车。芬和埃弗里跳到地面上。祖克曼太太正从房子里走过来。每个人都来到栅栏前，欣赏了一会儿威伯和那个美丽的绿板条箱。没人知道箱子里已经装进了一只老鼠和蜘蛛了。

“那真是头好猪！”阿拉贝尔太太说。

“他很棒。”鲁维说。

“他是闪光的。”芬说着，想起了他生下来的那天。

“是的，”祖克曼太太说，“怎么看他都非常干净。这都是酸奶的功效。”阿拉贝尔先生仔细观察着威伯。“是的，他是一头完美的猪，”他说，“很难相信他当初是那一窝里最瘦小的一头。你将能用它做特别好的火腿和腌肉，霍默，当那头猪被宰的时候。”听到这些话，威伯的心跳几乎都停住了。

“我想我要昏过去了。”他轻声对在一边看着的老羊说。

“跪下来！”老羊低叫，“让血液倒流到你的头上！”威伯跪下去，身上所有的闪光都消失了。他的眼睛阖上了。

“看呐！”芬尖叫，“他的光彩消失了！”“嘿，看我！”埃弗里叫罢，匍匐着爬进了板条箱。“我是一头猪！我是一头猪！”埃弗里的脚踩到了稻草下面的坦普尔曼。“真倒霉！”老鼠想，“男孩子是多么可怕的动物！我为什么要让自己到这里来受罪？”鹅们看到埃弗里进了箱子，都一起喝起彩来。

“埃弗里，你马上给我从箱子里出来！”他的母亲命令道，“你以为你是什么？”“我是一头猪！”埃弗里叫着，将满把的稻草扬向空中，“哼，哼，哼！”

“卡车开走了，爸。”芬说。

卡车突然间失去了控制，向坡下滑去。阿拉贝尔先生冲进驾驶室，去拉紧急制动闸。卡车停住了。鹅们欢呼。夏洛蜷起身子，使自己尽可能小地缩到那个孔里，这样才不会被埃弗里发现。

84 “马上出来！”阿拉贝尔太太喊。埃弗里手脚

“大家上车！”阿拉贝尔先生招呼道。他发动了卡车。女士们跟着他进了驾驶室里。祖克曼先生和鲁维还有芬、埃弗里上了后车厢，手抓着护栏。卡车开始往前开了。鹅们欢呼起来。

孩子们也一同欢呼着。所有的人都离开这里，往农业展览会场去。

当他们一到展览会场，就听到音乐声，看到在天空中的费里斯大转轮。他们能闻到洒水车喷出的道道水迹里散发出的尘土气息，闻到油煎三明治的香味，看到徐徐升起的大气球。他们还能听到绵羊们在圈里咩咩地叫。扩音器里有个很大的声音喊道：请注意！请车牌为H-2349 号的庞蒂亚克的车主把你的车从放焰火的地方開走！“能给我点儿钱吗？”芬问。

“也能给我点儿吗？”埃弗里问。

“我要去玩旋转轮，让它停到正确的数码上，好赢回一个小娃娃。”芬说。

“我要去开喷气式飞机，用它去撞别的飞机。”“我可以买个气球吗？”芬问。

“我能买一个牛奶果冻，一张干酪肉饼，一瓶树莓汽水吗？”埃弗里问。

“在那头猪被卸下来之前，让你的孩子们都闭嘴！”阿拉贝尔太太说。

“我说还是让孩子们自己去玩吧，”阿拉贝尔先生建议，“展览会一年可是只有一次。”阿拉贝尔先生给了芬两枚两毛五分的银币，两枚一角的银币。他又给了埃弗里五角银币和四枚五分钱的镍币。“现在玩去吧！”他说，“记住，这些钱是留给你们花一整天的！不要在几分钟内就轻易地花光。下午回到卡车这里来，那时我们要一起吃午饭了。不要吃太多的零食，不然开饭时你们就什么也吃不下了。”“如果你们去坐那大转轮，”阿拉贝尔太太说，“一定要抓紧！抓得非常紧。听到了吗？”“不要跑丢了！”祖克曼太太说。

86 “不要把身上弄脏了！”“不要玩得太疯！”他们的妈妈说。

“留心扒手！”他们的父亲警告。

“马跑过来时不要横穿赛道！”祖克曼太太叫。

孩子们手挽手蹦跳着向旋转木马那边跑去，跑向那充满迷人音乐、精彩冒险与神奇刺激的奇妙的游乐场。那里没有父母的阻拦和唠叨，可以尽情地玩个痛快。阿拉贝尔太太默默地看着他们的背影，轻叹了一声。接着，她又吁了一口气。

“你真的以为他们会没事吗？”她问。

“哎呀，他们早晚要长大的，”阿拉贝尔先生说，“展览会是一个很好的锻炼地方，我想。”当威伯被抬下车，从板条箱里带到他的新猪圈时，好多人都围过来看。他们看到了“祖克曼家的名猪”那行字。威伯回看着人们，试图让自己显得格外的出众。他对他的新家很满意。那里面有很多草，可以为他遮挡从棚顶上照过来的阳光。

夏洛找个机会溜出板条箱，爬到棚顶下的一根杆子上。没人注意到她。

坦普尔曼可不想在白天露面，就悄悄地在箱子里的稻草间躲着。祖克曼先生往威伯的食槽里倒了些脱脂奶，又往里添了些干净的稻草，然后和祖克曼太太，阿拉贝尔夫妇到牲口棚去看纯种奶牛，并四处观光去了。祖克曼先生特别想去看拖拉机。祖克曼太太想去看电冰箱。鲁维闲逛着，希望会遇到朋友，在游乐场里找点儿乐事。

人们刚一离开，夏洛便对威伯说起来。

“还好，你没看到我刚才看见的。”她说。

“你看到什么了？”威伯问。

“你旁边的猪圈里有一头特别大的猪，恐怕要比你大得多。”“可能他的年纪比我大，有更多的时间来往大里长吧。”威伯说着，泪水不禁涌上了眼眶。

“我要荡过去仔细看一下。”夏洛说。她顺着杆子往那个猪圈爬去。她拖着一条丝线往空中飘去，正好飘到了那头猪的鼻子上方。

“我可以问你的名字吗？”她礼貌地问。

那头猪看了看她。“我没名字，”他用很粗的嗓门说，“你就叫我伯伯吧。”“好的，伯伯，”

夏洛回答，“你是何时出生的？你是一头春猪吗？”“我就是春猪，”伯伯回答，“你以为我是什么，一只春天生的小鸡吗？呵，呵——这笑话不错吧，呃，小妹妹？”“有点儿意思，”夏洛说，“不过我还听过更有意思的笑话。很高兴认识你，现在我要走了。”她慢慢地收起丝线，往上退回去，不久就回到了威伯的猪圈。

“他说他是头春猪，”夏洛说，“可能他真的是。不过，他非常的不讨人喜欢。他也太冒失，太吵，而且他讲的粗俗笑话也一点都不可笑。还有，他并没有你这么干净，更没你这么有礼貌。经过刚才的简短交谈，我发现我非常讨厌他。不过，威伯，考虑到他的个头和体重，他可能会是一个很难击败的对手。但如果有我帮你，你就能赢他。”“那你要在什么时候织网呢？”威伯问。

“下午晚些时候吧，如果那时我不太累的话，”夏洛说，“这些天里，就是最轻的活儿也会使我疲倦的。我好像不再有以前那样的精力了。可能是我老了吧。”威伯看着他的朋友。

她看起来相当的憔悴，一脸倦容。

“听到你说感觉不好，我非常难过，夏洛，”

他说，“也许你织一张网，抓到几只苍蝇后就能感觉好一点儿。”“也许，”她无力地说，“但是我感觉那些漫长的日子快结束了。”她爬上猪圈的顶层睡着了，把忧心忡忡的威伯留在下面。

整个早上人们都从威伯的猪圈旁走过。

无数的陌生人在此驻足，羡慕地看着威伯那丝绸一样光滑的白皮肤，卷曲的尾巴，还有他那善意的表情，光彩照人的样子。然后他们去看下一个猪圈里的那头更大的猪。威伯听到好几个人在赞美那个伯伯的个头。他忍不住去偷听那些评论，并情不自禁地担心起来。“现在，夏洛的感觉又不好……”他想，“唉，天呐！”坦普尔曼一早上都在稻草里熟睡。天气像火一样热。下午祖克曼夫妇和阿拉贝尔夫妇回到了猪圈。几分钟后，芬和埃弗里也出现了。芬的胳膊下夹着一个玩具猴，嘴里嚼着琥珀爆米花。埃弗里的耳朵上系着一个气球，嘴里吃着苹果蜜饯。

孩子们的身上都是汗，看起来很脏。

“很热吧？”祖克曼太太问。

“热死了。”阿拉贝尔太太说着，用手里的那份冰箱广告当扇子扇起来。

他们一个又一个地走进卡车，打开午餐盒。到处都是热辣辣的阳光，晒得人都没有兴致吃饭了。

“裁判什么时候能宣布威伯的名次？”祖克曼太太问。

“明天吧。”祖克曼先生说。

鲁维走了过来，扛着刚才赢来的印第安毛毯。

“那正是我们需要的，”埃弗里说，“一条毛毯。”“当然了。”鲁维回答。他把毛毯围在卡车护栏的四周，使后车厢看起来就像个小帐篷。

孩子们坐在毛毯围出的阴影里，感觉舒服多了。

午餐后，他们都躺下来，睡了。