Charlotte’s Web（Ⅱ）

◎E.B.White

在农场中，时间一天天过去，威尔伯的日常生活也变得悠闲而惬意。然而，老羊的突然拜访，却让威尔伯和他的伙伴芬震惊不已，同时也让威尔伯陷入了恐惧和绝望之中。

Track 9

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’re1)fattening you up, don’t you?”

“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?”2)screamed Wilbur.Fern grew3)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’s a regular4)conspiracy around here to kill you at Christmas time.Everybody is in the plot—Lurvy, Zuckerman,even John Arable.”

1) fattenv.养肥；使充实

2) screamv.尖叫；高声喊

3) rigidadj.僵硬的

4) conspiracyn.阴谋；密谋

很多天过去了，威尔伯长了又长。他一天的食量相当于三头猪的食量了。他把时间都花在躺着、小睡和做美梦上。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尔伯。

“你好！”她说，“我看你好像正在变胖。”

“是的，我想是，”威尔伯回答，“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？”

“不知道。”威尔伯说。

“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？”威尔伯尖叫。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，“几乎所有年轻的小猪等到冬天来了的时候都会被农场主宰杀。这里有个尽人皆知的阴谋，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。”