Charlotte’s Web

E.B.Whitee

《夏洛的網(wǎng)》是一部描寫友情的童話。在朱克曼家的谷倉里，小豬威爾伯和蜘蛛夏洛建立了最真摯的友誼。威爾伯的生命有危險(xiǎn)時(shí)，看似渺小的夏洛用自己的力量救了威爾伯，但這時(shí)，蜘蛛夏洛的生命卻走到了盡頭……

《夏洛的網(wǎng)》是一部可以與《小王子》相媲美的世界名著，這部作品初版于1952年，已有20多種譯文，發(fā)行近千萬冊(cè)。

本文節(jié)選自《夏洛的網(wǎng)》第四章。

The night seemed long. Wilbur’s stomach was empty and his mind was full.And when your stomach is empty and your mind is full，it’s always hard to sleep.

A dozen times during the night Wilbur woke and stared into the blackness，listening to the sounds and trying to figure out what time it was. A barn is never perfectly quiet. Even at midnight there is usually something stirring.

The first time he woke，he heard Templeton gnawing a hole in the grain bin. Templeton’s teeth scraped loudly against the wood and made quite a racket.“That crazy rat！”thought Wilbur.“Why does he have to stay up all night，grinding his clashers and destroying people’s property？Why can’t he go to sleep，like any decent animal？”

The second time Wilbur woke，he heard the goose turning on her nest and chuckling to herself.

“What time is it？”whispered Wilbur to the goose.

“Probably-obably-obably about half-past eleven，”said the goose.“Why aren’t you asleep，Wilbur？”

“Too many things on my mind，”said Wilbur.

“Well，”said the goose，“that’s not my trouble. I have nothing at all on my mind，but I’ve too many things under my behind. Have you ever tried to sleep while sitting on eight eggs？”

“No，”replied Wilbur.“I suppose it is uncomfortable. How long does it take a goose egg to hatch？”

“Approximately—oximately thirty days，all told（on the whole），”answered the goose.“But I cheat a little. On warm afternoons，I just pull a little straw over the eggs and go out for a walk.”

Wilbur yawned and went back to sleep. In his dreams he heard again the voice saying，“I’ll be a friend to you. Go to sleep—you’ll see me in the morning.”

About half an hour before dawn，Wilbur woke and listened.

The barn was still dark. The sheep lay motionless. Even the goose was quiet. Overhead，on the main floor，nothing stirred：the cows were resting，the horses dozed. Templeton had quit work and gone off somewhere on an errand. The only sound was a slight scraping noise from the rooftop，where the weather- vane swung back and forth. Wilbur loved the barn when it was like this calm and quiet，waiting for light.

“Day is almost here，”he thought. Through a small window，a faint gleam appeared. One by one the stars went out. Wilbur could see the goose a few feet away. She sat with head tucked under awing. Then he could see the sheep and the lambs. The sky lightened.

“Oh，beautiful day，it is here at last！Today I shall find my friend.”

Wilbur looked everywhere. He searched his pen thoroughly. He examined the window ledge，stared up at the ceiling. But he saw nothing new. Finally he decided he would have to speak up. He hated to break the lovely stillness of day by using his voice，but he couldn’t think of any other way to locate the mysterious new friend who was nowhere to be seen. So Wilbur cleared his throat.

“Attention，please！”he said in a loud，firm voice.“Will the party who addressed me at bedtime last night kindly make himself or herself known by giving an appropriate sign or signal！”

Wilbur paused and listened. All the other animals lifted their heads and stared at him. Wilbur blushed. But he was determined to get in touch with his unknown friend.

“Attention，please！”he said.“I will repeat the message. Will the party who addressed me at bedtime last night kindly speak up. Please tell me where you are，if you are my friend！”

The sheep looked at each other in disgust.

“Stop your nonsense，Wilbur！”said the oldest sheep.“If you have a new friend here，you are probably disturbing his rest；and the quickest way to spoil a friendship is to wake somebody up in the morning before he is ready. How can you be sure your friend is an early riser？”

“I beg everyone’s pardon，”whispered Wilbur.“I didn’t mean to be objection able.”

He lay down meekly in the manure，facing the door. He did not know it，but his friend was very near. And the old sheep was right—the friend was still asleep.

Soon Lurvy appeared with slops for breakfast. Wilbur rushed out，ate everything in a hurry，and licked the trough. The sheep moved off down the lane，the gander waddled along behind them，pulling grass. And then，just as Wilbur was settling down for his morning nap，he heard again the thin voice that had addressed him the night before.

“Salutations！”said the voice.

Wilbur jumped to his feet.“Salu-what？”he cried.

“Salutations！”repeated the voice.

“What are they，and where are you？”screamed Wilbur.“Please，please，tell me where you are. And what are salutations？”

“Salutations are greetings，”said the voice.“When I say‘salutations’，it’s just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning. Actually，it’s a silly expression，and I am surprised that I used it at all. As for my whereabouts，that’s easy. Look up here in the corner of the doorway！Here I am. Look，I’m waving！”

At last Wilbur saw the creature that had spoken to him in such a kindly way. Stretched across the upper part of the doorway was a big spiderweb，and hanging from the top of the web，head down，was a large grey spider. She was about the size of a gumdrop. She had eight legs，and she was waving one of them at Wilbur in friendly greeting.“See me now？”she asked.

“Oh，yes indeed，”said Wilbur.“Yes indeed！How are you？Good morning！Salutations！Very pleased to meet you. What is your name，please？May I have your name？”

“My name，”said the spider，“is Charlotte.”

“Charlotte what？”asked Wilbur，eagerly.

“CharlotteA. Cavatica. But just call me Charlotte.”

“I think you’re beautiful，”said Wilbur.

“Well，I am pretty，”replied Charlotte.“There’s no denying that. Almost all spiders are rather nice-looking. I’m notas flashy as some，but I’ll do. I wish I could see you，Wilbur，as clearly as you can see me.”

“Why can’t you？”asked the pig.“I’m right here.”

“Yes，but I’m near-sighted，”replied Charlotte.“I’ve always been dreadfully near-sighted. It’s good in some ways，not so good in others. Watch me wrap up this fly.”

A fly that had been crawling along Wilbur’s trough had flown up and blundered into the lower part of Charlotte’s web and was tangled in the sticky threads. The fly was beating its wings furiously，trying to break loose and free itself.

“First，”said Charlotte，“I dive at him.”She plunged head first toward the fly. As she dropped，a tiny silken thread unwound from her rear end.

“Next，I wrap him up.”She grabbed the fly，threw a few jets of silk around it，and rolled it over and over，wrapping it so that it couldn’t move. Wilbur watched in horror. He could hardly believe what he was seeing，and although he detested flies，he was sorry for this one.

“There！”said Charlotte.“Now I knock him out，so he’ll be more comfortable.”She bit the fly.“He can’t feel a thing now，”she remarked.“He’ll make a perfect breakfast for me.”

“You mean you eat flies？”gasped Wilbur.

“Certainly. Flies，bugs，grasshoppers，choice beetles，moths，but terflies，tasty cock roaches，gnats，midges，daddy long legs（type of spider that has a tiny body and very long thin legs），centipedes，mosquitoes，crickets—anything that is careless enough to get caught in my web. I have to live，don’t I？”

“Why，yes，of course，”said Wilbur.“Do they taste good？”

“Delicious. Of course，I don’t really eat them. I drink them—drink their blood. I love blood，”said Charlotte，and her pleasant，thin voice grew even thinner and more pleasant.

“Don’t say that！”groaned Wilbur.“Please don’t say things like that！”

“Why not？It’s true，and I have to say what is true. I am not entirely happy about my diet of flies and bugs，but it’s the way I’m made. A spider has to pick up a living somehow or other，and I happen to be a trapper. I just naturally build a web and trap flies and other insects. My mother was a trapper before me. Her mother was a trapper before her. All our family have been trappers. Way back for thousands and thousands of years we spiders have been laying for flies and bugs.”

“It’s a miserable inheritance，”said Wilbur，gloomily. He was sad because his new friend was so blood thirsty.

“Yes，it is，”agreed Charlotte.“But I can’t help it. I don’t know how the first spider in the early days of the world happened to think up this fancy idea of spinning a web，but she did，and it was clever of her，too. And since then，all of us spiders have had to work the same trick. It’s not a bad pitch，on the whole.”

“It’s cruel，”replied Wilbur，who did not intend to be argued out of his position.

“Well，you can’t talk.”said Charlotte.“You have your meals brought to you in a pail. Nobody feeds me. I have to get in own living. I live by my wits. I have to be sharp and clever，lest I go hungry. I have to think things out，catch what I can，take what comes. And it just so happens，my friend，that what comes is flies and insects and bugs. And furthermore，”said Charlotte，shaking one of her legs，“do you realize that if I didn’t catch bugs and eat them，bugs would increase and multiply and get so numerous that they’d destroy the earth，wipe out everything？”

“Really？”said Wilbur.“I wouldn’t want that to happen. Perhaps your web is a good thing after all.”

The goose had been listening to this conversation and chuckling to herself.“There are a lot of things Wilbur doesn’t know about life，”she thought.“He’s really a very innocent little pig. He doesn’t even know what’s going to happen to him around Christmas time；he has no idea that Mr. Zuckerman and Lurvy are plotting to kill him.”And the goose raised herself a bit and poked her eggs a little further under her so that they would receivethefullheatfromherwarmbodyandsoftfeathers.

Charlotte stood quietly over the fly，preparing to eat it.

Wilbur lay down and closed his eyes. He was tired from his wakeful night and from the excitement of meeting someone for the first time. A breeze brought him the smell of clover—the sweet-smelling world beyond his fence.“Well，”he thought，”I’ve got a new friend，all right. But what a gamble friendship is！

Charlotte is fierce，brutal，scheming，bloodthirsty—everything I don’t like. How can I learn to like her，even though she is pretty and，of course，clever？”

Wilbur was merely suffering the doubts and fears that often go with finding a new friend. In good time he was to discover that he was mistaken about Charlotte. Underneath her rather bold and cruel exterior，she had a kind heart，and she was to prove loyal and true to the very end.

夜好像變長(zhǎng)了。威伯的肚子是空的，腦子里卻裝得滿滿的。當(dāng)你的肚子是空的，可腦子里卻滿是心事的時(shí)候，總是很難入睡的。

這一夜，威伯醒了很多次。醒時(shí)他就拼命朝黑暗中望著，聽著，想弄明白是幾點(diǎn)鐘了。谷倉從沒有完全安靜的時(shí)候，甚至在半夜里也還是老有響動(dòng)。

第一次醒來時(shí)，他聽到坦普爾曼在谷倉里打洞的聲音。坦普爾曼的牙使勁兒地嗑著木頭，弄出很大的動(dòng)靜?！澳侵化偤淖樱　蓖??！盀槭裁此沟脑谀抢锬パ?，破壞人們的財(cái)產(chǎn)？為什么他不去睡覺，像任何一只正常的動(dòng)物那樣？”

第二次醒來時(shí)，威伯聽到母鵝在她的窩里來回挪著，自顧自地傻笑。

“幾點(diǎn)了？”威伯低聲問母鵝。

“可能-能-能十一點(diǎn)半了吧，”母鵝說?！澳銥槭裁床凰?？”

“我腦子里的東西太多了，”威伯說。

“唔，”母鵝說?！拔覜]這樣的麻煩。我腦子里什么東西都沒有，不過我的屁股下面倒有很多東西。你試過坐在八個(gè)蛋上睡覺嗎？”

“沒有，”威伯回答?！拔也履且欢ê懿皇娣?，一個(gè)鵝蛋得孵多久？”

“他們說大約——約要三十天，”母鵝回答?！翱晌矣袝r(shí)會(huì)偷懶。在溫暖的午后，我常銜來一些稻草把蛋蓋上，一個(gè)人去散步?！?/p>

威伯打了個(gè)哈欠，進(jìn)入了夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)。夢(mèng)里他又仿佛聽到了那個(gè)聲音，“我將成為你的朋友。去睡吧——明早你會(huì)看見我?！?/p>

大約在天亮前的半小時(shí)，威伯醒了，開始傾聽。

谷倉里還是很黑。綿羊睡得很沉。甚至那只母鵝也很安靜。頭上的主樓那里也沒什么動(dòng)靜：牛正在休息，馬在打盹兒。坦普爾曼也不見了，可能到別處工作去了吧。只有谷倉頂上才有些輕微的響動(dòng)，那是風(fēng)向標(biāo)在風(fēng)里晃來晃去。威伯很喜歡這時(shí)的谷倉——一切都那么靜謐、安詳，只等曙光的來臨。

“白天就要來了?！彼搿Ｒ豢|微光從小窗子里透了進(jìn)來。星星們一個(gè)接一個(gè)地熄滅了。威伯現(xiàn)在能看清幾步遠(yuǎn)的母鵝了。她的頭藏到了翅膀的下面。接著，他也能看清綿羊和羊羔了。天亮了。

“哦，美麗的白天，它終于來了！今天我會(huì)找到朋友了?！?/p>

威伯四處搜尋著。他把家里查了個(gè)遍。他檢查了窗臺(tái)，又望了望天花板。但卻什么新變化都沒發(fā)現(xiàn)。最后他只好決定喊話了。盡管他不愿用自己的聲音來打破這可愛的黎明時(shí)分的寂靜，但他想不出還有什么別的辦法可以找出那位無處可見的，神秘的新朋友。因此威伯清了清嗓子。

“請(qǐng)注意！”他用特別洪亮的嗓門說，“請(qǐng)?jiān)谧蛲砭蛯嫊r(shí)友好的和我談話的那位先生或女士給我打一個(gè)手勢(shì)，或者發(fā)個(gè)信號(hào)！”

威伯停下來，聽了聽。別的動(dòng)物都抬起頭瞪向他。威伯臉紅了。但他還是決心找出這個(gè)陌生的朋友。

“請(qǐng)注意！”他說?！拔以僦貜?fù)一遍。請(qǐng)昨夜睡前和我親切談話的朋友出來說話。請(qǐng)告訴我你在哪里，如果你是我的朋友的話！”

綿羊們互相交流著厭惡的表情。

“別說胡話了，威伯！”最老的綿羊說?！叭绻阍谶@里有一個(gè)新朋友，你就是在妨礙他的休息；而且在他早晨準(zhǔn)備起床前把他吵醒，也是打破友誼的最快方法。你能確定你的朋友喜歡早起嗎？”

“各位，請(qǐng)?jiān)?，”威伯的聲音低了下來。“我并不想打擾別人?！?/p>

他臉朝門委屈地躺了下來。他并不知道，他的朋友就在附近。老羊說得對(duì)——這個(gè)朋友還沒睡醒呢。

不久魯維來送早飯了。威伯沖出去急忙把食物吃光，還把食槽舔了個(gè)遍。綿羊們向小路走去，后面跟著搖搖擺擺的公鵝。就在威伯準(zhǔn)備躺下來睡個(gè)早覺時(shí)，他又聽到了昨夜的那種聲音。

“致敬！”那個(gè)聲音說。

威伯跳了起來?！爸率裁?？”他問。

“致敬！”那聲音重復(fù)道。

“這個(gè)詞兒是什么意思，你又在哪兒？”威伯尖叫起來?！扒笄竽?，求求你，告訴我你在哪兒吧。還有，致敬是什么意思？”

“致敬是句問候用語，”那個(gè)聲音說道?！爱?dāng)我說‘致敬’，就等于對(duì)你說‘你好’或是‘早上好’。實(shí)際上，這是種愚蠢的表達(dá)方式，真奇怪我剛才怎么會(huì)用這么一個(gè)詞兒。你想知道我在哪兒?jiǎn)?？那很容易。往門框上角看！我在這兒。看，我在揮手哩！”

威伯終于找到了如此友善的和自己交談的動(dòng)物。門框的上方拉著一張大蜘蛛網(wǎng)，一只大灰蜘蛛正倒掛在網(wǎng)的高處。她只有一粒樹膠糖丸那么大。她長(zhǎng)著八條腿，正用其中的一條腿友好地對(duì)威伯致意呢。“現(xiàn)在看到我了？”她問。

“噢，確實(shí)看見了，”威伯說?！按_實(shí)看見了！你好！早上好！致敬！很高興認(rèn)識(shí)你。請(qǐng)問芳名？我可以問你的名字嗎？”

“我的名字，”蜘蛛說，“叫夏洛?！?/p>

“夏洛什么？”威伯渴切地問。

“夏洛·A·卡瓦蒂娜。你就叫我夏洛好了。”

“我覺得你很漂亮，”威伯說。

“謝謝，我是很漂亮，”夏洛回答。“那是毫無疑問的。幾乎所有的蜘蛛都長(zhǎng)得相當(dāng)好看。我不像別的蜘蛛那么艷麗，不過我也算可以了。我希望能看清你，威伯，就像你能看清我一樣?！?/p>

“你為什么看不清我？”小豬問。“我就在這兒呀。”

“是的，不過我近視，”夏洛回答?！拔业慕暿謬?yán)重。這對(duì)我既有好處，又有壞處。你看我來抓住這只蒼蠅。”

一只剛才在威伯的食槽邊上爬的蒼蠅飛了起來，卻愚蠢地碰上了夏洛的網(wǎng)，被那些粘粘的絲線纏住了。蒼蠅憤怒地拍打著翅膀，想要掙脫。

“首先，”夏洛說，“我要悄悄靠近他?！彼仡^朝下往蒼蠅那里爬去。在她往下蕩的時(shí)候，一根細(xì)絲線從她的尾部抽了出來。

“接著，我要把他包起來?！彼プ∩n蠅，往他身上纏了幾道黑絲線，絲線越繞越密，直到裹得蒼蠅一動(dòng)也不能動(dòng)。威伯驚恐地看著這一切。他幾乎不敢相信他所看到的場(chǎng)面，盡管他也憎恨蒼蠅，可還是為這只蒼蠅感到難過。

“看，”夏洛說?！艾F(xiàn)在我要把他弄暈，他就會(huì)覺得舒服點(diǎn)兒了?！彼Я松n蠅一口?！彼F(xiàn)在毫無知覺了，”她說?！八麑⑹俏业囊活D美味的早餐?！?/p>

“你是說你吃蒼蠅？”威伯喘了起來。

“當(dāng)然。蒼蠅、小蟲子、蚱蜢、漂亮的甲蟲、飛蛾、蝴蝶、可口的蟑螂、蚊子、小咬兒、長(zhǎng)腳蚊子、麻蚊子、蟋蟀——任何粗心地撞到我網(wǎng)上的小昆蟲我都吃。我總得吃飯吧，是不是？”

“為什么？哦，是的，當(dāng)然?！蓖f?！八麄兊奈兜烂绬?？”

“美妙極了。當(dāng)然，我不是真的吃掉他們。我喝他們——喝他們的血。我喜歡喝血，”夏洛說。她的聲音聽起來越來越清脆，越來越快活了。

“別再說下去了！”威伯呻吟?！罢?qǐng)不要講這件事兒了！”

“為什么不？真的，我說的是真的。雖然我也不愿意吃蒼蠅和小蟲子，但那是我的生存方式。一個(gè)蜘蛛必須要設(shè)法謀生，而我恰巧可以做一名捕獵者。我生來就會(huì)織網(wǎng)，用它來捕食蒼蠅和別的昆蟲。在我之前，我的媽媽是一個(gè)捕獵者；在她之前，她的媽媽也是。我們?nèi)叶际遣东C者。千百萬年以前，我們蜘蛛就靠捕食蒼蠅和蟲子為生了?！?/p>

“那是多么可悲的遺傳。”威伯幽幽地說。他真為新朋友的殘忍難過。

“是的，”夏洛表示同意?！暗乙矝]辦法改變這特性。我不知道世上最早的第一只蜘蛛是怎么想出織網(wǎng)這個(gè)奇妙的主意的，可是她卻想出來了，她可真聰明。從那時(shí)起，我們所有的蜘蛛都會(huì)這么做了。總的來說，這個(gè)發(fā)明不壞?！?/p>

“這是殘酷的發(fā)明?！蓖?jiǎn)捷地回答。他并不打算為此而爭(zhēng)論。

“噢，你不能這么說，”夏洛說?！澳阌袆e人給你送飯吃。可沒人喂我呀。我不得不獨(dú)力謀生。我只有靠我的智慧活著。為了避免挨餓，我只好變得又敏捷又聰明。我不得不想方設(shè)法，去抓住我能抓到的東西，享用他們的血。就是這么回事兒，我的朋友，我吃的就是我抓到的蒼蠅和別的小昆蟲。此外，”夏洛說著，揮起一條腿兒，“你明白如果我不抓小蟲子吃，小蟲子們就會(huì)增多，繁殖，直到多得足以破壞地球，毀滅一切嗎？”

“真的嗎？”威伯說?！拔铱刹幌氚l(fā)生這種事?？赡苣愕木W(wǎng)真是個(gè)好東西吧?！?/p>

一直聽著這場(chǎng)對(duì)話的母鵝嘎嘎自語?！皩?duì)于生活，威伯不懂的還多著呢?！彼搿！八媸且活^天真的小豬。他甚至都不知道圣誕節(jié)會(huì)發(fā)生什么事兒呢；他根本就不知道祖克曼先生和魯維正在密謀殺掉他呢。”母鵝稍稍抬抬身子，把她的蛋往身下推得更近些，以便他們能更好的接收到她溫暖的身體和柔軟的羽毛下面的熱量。

夏洛在蒼蠅的上方靜停了一會(huì)兒，準(zhǔn)備去吃它了。

威伯忙閉上雙眼，躺了下來。昨晚沒睡好，再加上首次遇到新朋友的激動(dòng)，使他感到分外的疲倦。微風(fēng)把苜蓿的香味給他送了過來——他的柵欄外的世界里充滿了甜香的氣息。“很好，”他想，“我有了一個(gè)新朋友，真不錯(cuò)。但這是多危險(xiǎn)的友誼呀！

夏洛兇猛、殘酷、狡詐、嗜血——這些我都不喜歡。雖然她是那么可愛，當(dāng)然，也很聰明，可我怎么能讓自己去試著喜歡她呢？”

威伯像那些初交新朋友的人一樣，被猜疑和恐懼困擾著。以后，他將發(fā)現(xiàn)自己誤解了夏洛。其實(shí)，在她那可怕冷漠的外表下，有著一顆善良的心，以后發(fā)生的事情將證明，她對(duì)朋友是忠實(shí)、真誠(chéng)的，每一刻都是如此。