早饭前

E. B. White

作者简介：埃尔文·布鲁克斯·怀特（E. B. White）（1899—1985），美国当代著名散文家、评论家，以散文名世，其文风“冷峻清丽，辛辣幽默，自成一格”。他生于纽约蒙特弗农，毕业于康奈尔大学。他为孩子们写了三本书：《斯图尔特鼠小弟》（又译《精灵鼠小弟》）、《夏洛的网》与《吹小号的天鹅》。这些作品成为儿童与大人共同喜爱的文学经典。

作品简介：《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……作者用童话的叙事风格表现出一份对生命本身的赞美与眷恋，给了我们关于生命的深沉的思索。本文节选自《夏洛的网》第一章节，节选时有删改。

“Wheres Papa going with the ax？”

said Fern to her mother as they were set?ting the table for breakfast.

“Out to the hog house，” replied MrsArable.“ Some pigs were born last night.”“I dont see why he needs an ax，” conti?nued Fern， who was only eight.

“Well，” said her mother，“ one of thepigs is a runt. Its very small and weak， andit will never amount to anything. So your fa?ther has decided to do away with it.”“Doaway with it？” shrieked Fern.“ You meankill it？ Just because its smaller than theothers？” Mrs Arable put a pitcher of creamon the table.“ Dont yell， Fern！” she said.“Your father is right. The pig would pro?bably die anyway.” Fern pushed a chairout of the way and ran outdoors. The grasswas wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Ferns sneakers were sopping by thetime she caught up with her father.

“Please dont kill it！” she sobbed.“Its unfair.” Mr Arable stopped walking.

“Fern，” he said gently，“ you will haveto learn to control yourself.”“ Control my?self？” yelled Fern.“ This is a matter of lifeand death， and you talk about controllingmyself.” Tears ran down her cheeks andshe took hold of the ax and tried to pull itout of her fathers hand.

“Fern，” said Mr Arable， “I knowmore about raising a litter of pigs than youdo. A weakling makes trouble. Now runalong！”“ But its unfair，” cried Fern.“ Thepig couldnt help being born small， couldit？ If I had been very small at birth， wouldyou have killed me？”Mr Arable smiled.“Certainly not，” he said， looking down athis daughter with love.“ But this is differ?ent. A little girl is one thing， and a littlerunty pig is another.”“ I see no difference，”replied Fern， still hanging on to the ax.“This is the most terrible case of injustice Ihave ever heard of.” A strange look cameover John Arables face. He seemed almostready to cry himself.

“All right，” he said.“ You go back tothe house and I will bring the runt when Icome in. Ill let you start it on a bottle， likea baby. Then youll see what trouble a pigcan be.” When Mr Arable returned to thehouse half an hour later， he carried a carton（硬纸箱） under his arm. Fern was upstairschanging her sneakers. The kitchen tablewas set for breakfast， and the room smelledof coffee， bacon， damp plaster， and woodsmoke from the stove.

“Put it on her chair！” said Mrs Ar?able. Mr Arable set the carton down atFerns place. Then he walked to the sinkand washed his hands and dried them onthe roller towel.

Fern came slowlydown the stairs. Hereyes were red fromcrying.

As she approa?ched her chair， thecarton wobbled （摇晃），and there was a scratching noise. Fernlooked at her father. Then she lifted the lidof the carton. There， inside， looking up ather， was the newborn pig. It was a whiteone. The morning light shone through itsears，turning them pink.

“Hes yours，” said Mr Arable. “It issaved from an untimely death.” Ferncouldnt take her eyes off the tiny pig.“Oh，” she whispered. “Oh， look at him！Hes absolutely perfect.” She closed thecarton carefully. First she kissed her father，then she kissed her mother. Then sheopened the lid again， lifted the pig out， andheld it against her cheek.

At this moment her brother Averycame into the room. Avery was ten. He washeavily armed—an air rifle in one hand， awooden dagger in the other.

“Whats that？” he demanded.“ Whathas Fern got？” “She has got a guest forbreakfast，” said Mrs Arable. “Wash yourhands and face， Avery！” “Lets see it！”said Avery， setting his gun down. “Youcall that miserable thing a pig？ Thats afine specimen of a pig—its no bigger thana white rat.”“ Wash up and eat your break?fast， Avery！” said his mother.“ The schoolbus will be along in half an hour.”“ Can Ihave a pig， too， Pop？” asked Avery.

“No， I only distribute pigs to earlyrisers，” said Mr Arable. “Fern was up atdaylight， trying to rid world of injustice. Asa result， she now has a pig. A small one， tobe sure， but nevertheless a pig. It justshows what can happen if a person gets outof bed promptly. Lets eat！”But Ferncouldnt eat until her pig had had a drinkof milk.

Mrs Arable found a babys nursingbottle and a rubber nipple. She pouredwarm milk into the bottle， fitted the nippleover the top， and handed it to Fern.“ Givehim his breakfast！” she said.

A minute later， Fern was seated onthe floor in the corner of the kitchen withher infant between her knees， teaching it tosuck from the bottle. The pig， althoughtiny， had a good appetite and caught onquickly.

The school bus honked from the road.

“Run！” commanded Mrs Arable，taking the pig from Fern and slipping adoughnut into her hand. Avery grabbed hisgun and another doughnut.

The children ran out to the road andclimbed into the bus. Fern took no noticeof the others in the bus. She just sat andstared out of the window， thinking what ablissful world it was and how lucky she wasto have entire charge of a pig. By the timethe bus reached school， Fern had namedher pet， selecting the most beautiful nameshe could think of.“Its name is Wilbur，” she whispered to herself.

ReadingCheck

1. Why did Ferns father take an ax？

2. What happened to the small andweak pig？

3. What words can be used to de?scribe Fern？

4. What name did Fern select for thepig？