本周“爱 读原版”俱乐部进度：夏洛的网 英文版 第二章
2014-03-18 22:31阅读：
Chapter 2 Wilbur
Fern loved Wilbur more than anything. She loved to stroke him, to
feed him, to put him to bed. Every morning, as soon as she got up,
she warmed his milk, tied his bib on, and held the bottle for him.
Every afternoon, when the school bus stopped in front of her house,
she jumped out and ran to the kitchen to fix another bottle for
him. She fed him again at suppertime, and again just before going
to bed. Mrs. Arable gave him a feeding around noontime each day,
when Fern was away in school. Wilbur loved his milk, and he was
never happier than when Fern was warming up a bottle for him. He
would stand and gaze up at her with adoring eyes.
For the first few days of his life, Wilbur was allowed to live in a
box near the stove in the kitchen. Then when Mrs. Arable
complained, he was moved to a bigger box in the woodshed. At two
weeks of age, he was moved outdoors. It was apple-blossom time, and
the days were getting warmer.
Mr. Arable fixed a sma
ll yard specially for Wilbur under an apple tree, and gave him a
large wooden box full of straw, with a doorway cut in it so he
could walk in and out as he pleased.
'Won't he be cold at night?' asked Fern.
'No,' said her father. 'Your watch and see what he does.'Carrying a
bottle of milk, Fern sat down under the apple tree inside the yard.
Wilbur ran to her and she held the bottle for him while he sucked.
When he had finished the last drop, he grunted and walked sleepily
into the box. Fern peered through the door. Wilbur was poking the
straw with his snout. In a short time he had dug a tunnel in the
straw. He crawled into the tunnel and disappeared from sight,
completely covered with straw. Fern was enchanted. It relieved her
mind to know that her baby would sleep covered up, and would stay
warm.
Every morning after breakfast, Wilbur walked out to the road with
Fern and waited with her till the bus came.
She would wave good-bye to him, and he would stand and watch the
bus until it vanished around a turn.
While Fern was in school, Wilbur was shut up inside his yard. But
as soon as she got home in the afternoon, she would take him out
and he would follow her around the place. If she went into the
house, Wilbur went, too. If she went upstairs, Wilbur would wait at
the bottom step until she came down again. If she took her doll for
a walk in the doll carriage, Wilbur followed along. Sometimes, on
these journeys, Wilbur would get tired, and Fern would pick him up
and put him in the carriage alongside the doll. He liked this. And
if he was very tired, he would close his eyes and go to sleep under
the doll's blanket. He looked cute when his eyes were closed,
because his lashes were so long. The doll would close her eyes,
too, and Fern would wheel the carriage very slowly and smoothly so
as not to wake her infants.
One warm afternoon, Fern and Avery put on bathing suits and went
down to the brook for a swim. Wilbur tagged along at Fern's heels.
When she waded into the brook, Wilbur waded in with her. He found
the water quite cold--too cold for his liking. So while the
children swam and played and splashed water at each other, Wilbur
amused himself in the mud along the edge of the brook, where it was
warm and moist and delightfully sticky and oozy.
Every day was a happy day, and every night was peaceful.
Wilbur was what farmers call a spring pig, which simply means that
he was born in springtime. When he was five weeks old, Mr. Arable
said he was now big enough to sell, and would have to be sold. Fern
broke down and wept. But her father was firm about it. Wilbur's
appetite had increased; he was beginning to eat scraps of food in
addition to milk. Mr. Arable was not willing to provide for him any
longer. He had already sold Wilbur's ten brothers and
sisters.
'He's got to go, Fern,' he said. 'You have had your fun raising a
baby pig, but Wilbur is not a baby any longer and he has got to be
sold.''Call up the Zuckermans,' suggested Mrs. Arable to Fern.
'Your Uncle Homer sometimes raises a pig. And if
Wilbur goes there to live, you can walk down the road and visit him
as often as you like.''How much money should I ask for him?' Fern
wanted to know.
'Well,' said her father, 'he's a runt. Tell your Uncle Homer you've
got a pig you'll sell for six dollars, and see what he says.'It was
soon arranged. Fern phoned and got her Aunt Edith, and her Aunt
Edith hollered for Uncle Homer, and Uncle Homer came in from the
barn and talked to Fern. When he heard that the price was only six
dollars, he said he would buy the pig. Next day Wilbur was taken
from his home under the apple tree and went to live in a manure
pile in the cellar of Zuchkerman's barn.
