夏洛的網(wǎng) Chapter 2：威伯

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.

芬愛威伯勝過了一切。她喜歡撫摩著他，喂他，抱他上床睡覺。每天早晨，只要她一起床，就親自給他熱牛奶，再為他系上圍嘴兒，為他拿著瓶子。每天下午，當(dāng)校車停到她家門前，她就會(huì)跳下車，跑到廚房為他準(zhǔn)備另一瓶牛奶。晚飯時(shí)她還要一遍遍地喂他，直到上床就寢前為止。每天下午，芬剛離開學(xué)校的時(shí)候，阿拉貝爾太太就替芬喂威伯。威伯雖然喜歡喝奶，但只有芬為他熱奶時(shí)，他才感到莫大的幸福，這時(shí)他會(huì)站起來，用充滿深情的眼睛注視著她。

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 small 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.

在威伯出生后的最初數(shù)天里，他被允許住在廚房火爐旁的盒子里。可后來，阿拉貝爾太太開始抱怨說，他該搬到柴棚那兒的大一點(diǎn)的房子里去住。因此在兩周大的時(shí)候，他被挪到了戶外。已經(jīng)快到蘋果樹開花的時(shí)候了，天氣正在變暖。阿拉貝爾先生在蘋果樹下為威伯特別圈了一座小院子，在里面給他搭了一個(gè)鋪滿稻草的大房子，房子底下還留出一個(gè)小門，如果他高興，他可以隨時(shí)從中進(jìn)出。

"Won't he be cold at night?" asked Fern.

“他在夜里不會(huì)冷嗎?”

"No," said her father. "Your watch and see what he does."

“不會(huì)的，”她的父親說，“你只要看他都在做什么就知道了。”

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.

芬拿了一瓶牛奶，坐到小院子里的蘋果樹下。威伯立刻朝她跑過來，她握住奶瓶喂他喝。吸吮完最后一滴后，威伯打著滿意的呼嚕，睡意朦朧地踱進(jìn)小房子里去了。芬趴在房門口往里窺視。見威伯正用他的鼻子拱那些稻草。只一小會(huì)兒，他就在稻草間掘出了一個(gè)坑。他爬進(jìn)坑里，完全被稻草蓋住了，就此從芬的視線里消失。芬簡直看入迷了。她這才放了心，因?yàn)樗浪膶殞毸眉仁娣峙汀?/p>

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.

每天早飯后，威伯都和芬一起走到路上，直到校車開來。等她揮手和他說完再見，他便站在那里望著汽車，直到車拐個(gè)彎兒開遠(yuǎn)。當(dāng)芬上學(xué)時(shí)，威伯就被關(guān)到他的院子里。但只要下午芬一回來，她就會(huì)把他領(lǐng)出來，他便跟著她到處溜達(dá)。如果她進(jìn)屋，威伯便也跟著往里走;如果她上了樓，威伯便在臺(tái)階上等著，直到她再次走下來;如果她用嬰兒車帶著自己的玩具娃娃去散步，威伯也會(huì)在后面跟著。有時(shí)，威伯有點(diǎn)兒走累了，芬就把他抱起來，放到車?yán)锏耐尥捱吷稀Ｋ芟矚g這樣。如果他非常的累，他就閉上眼睛，在娃娃身上蒙著的毯子下進(jìn)入夢鄉(xiāng)。他閉著眼的時(shí)候看起來格外的酷，因?yàn)樗难勖悄敲吹拈L。娃娃也會(huì)閉眼睛呢。這時(shí)芬就會(huì)慢慢的、穩(wěn)穩(wěn)的推著小車，以免把她的寶寶們從夢中搖醒。

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.

一個(gè)溫暖的下午，芬和埃弗里穿上他們的游泳衣去小河邊游泳。威伯也緊緊在芬的腳后跟著，和她一齊涉進(jìn)水里。可他感覺水很涼——涼得讓他非常不喜歡。所以當(dāng)孩子們開始游泳并互相撩水玩兒時(shí)，威伯就在河邊的泥地上玩，那里又暖又濕，讓他很開心。

Every day was a happy day, and every night was peaceful.

每日都是快樂的，每夜都是寧靜的。

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.

因?yàn)樯诖禾?，所以威伯是頭農(nóng)夫們所謂的“春豬”。當(dāng)他有五星期大時(shí)，阿拉貝爾先生說，他現(xiàn)在大得可以出賣了，因此應(yīng)該被賣掉。芬聽后，放聲大哭起來。但她的父親卻還是堅(jiān)持要賣威伯。威伯的食量變大了，除了牛奶他也開始吃散碎的食物了，阿拉貝爾先生不愿意再養(yǎng)他。他已經(jīng)賣掉了威伯的十個(gè)哥哥姐姐了。

"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."

“他必須得走，芬，”他說，“你已經(jīng)體驗(yàn)到了養(yǎng)小豬的樂趣了，可威伯不再是小豬了，得被賣掉才行。”

"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."

“給祖克曼舅舅打個(gè)電話，”阿拉貝爾太太對芬建議，“你霍默舅舅也養(yǎng)過豬。如果威伯賣到他那里，你就能順著小路去看威伯了——只要你愿意的話。”

"How much money should I ask for him?" Fern wanted to know.

“我該向他要多少錢呢?”芬很想知道這一點(diǎn)。

"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."

“該要多少呢，”她的父親說，“他長得這么瘦。告訴你霍默舅舅，你有一頭小豬，只賣他六美元，看他有什么意見。”

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.

這事一會(huì)兒就辦妥了。伊迪絲舅媽聽到芬打來的電話，便大聲的叫在谷倉干活的霍默舅舅來聽。當(dāng)他聽說小豬只賣六美元時(shí)，便說他決定買下了。第二天，威伯被從他在蘋果樹下的小房子里帶走，住進(jìn)了祖克曼先生的谷倉下面，地窖里的牛糞堆旁。