夏洛的網(wǎng) Chapter 11：神跡

The next day was foggy. Everything on the farm was dripping wet. The grass looked like a magic carpet. The asparagus patch looked like a silver forest.

第二天起霧了。農(nóng)場里的一切都被霧水打濕了。草地看起來像有魔力的地毯。龍須菜地看起來則像一片銀色的森林。

On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty. This morning each thin strand was decorated with dozens of tiny beads of water. The web glistened in the light and made a pattern of loveliness and mystery, like a delicate veil. Even Lurvy, who wasn't particularly interested in beauty, noticed the web when he came with the pig's breakfast. He noted how clearly it showed up and he noted how big and carefully built it was. And then he took another look and he saw something that made him set his pail down. There, in the center of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It said:

晨霧中，夏洛的網(wǎng)顯得異常的綺麗。每一縷細(xì)細(xì)的絲線上都綴滿無數(shù)的小珠子。這張在晨光中泛著瑩光的網(wǎng)，里面織著可愛而又神秘的圖案，看起來就如同一層纖美的面紗。即使從來對美麗不是很在意的魯維，在給威伯送早飯時也注意到了這張網(wǎng)。他注意到這網(wǎng)被編織得有多么大，多么的精致。當(dāng)他再看時，發(fā)現(xiàn)了某種使他吃驚的事，慌亂中不覺扔下了食桶。那兒，就在網(wǎng)的中心，織著兩排漂亮的大寫字母，好像是在傳達某種信息。那上面的字母是：

SOME PIG!

“好豬!”①

Lurvy felt weak. He brushed his hand across his eyes and stared harder at Charlotte's web. "I'm seeing things," he whispered. He dropped to his knees and uttered a short prayer. Then, forgetting all about Wilbur's breakfast, he walked back to the house and called Mr. Zuckerman.

魯維怔住了。他用手來回揉了揉眼睛，死死地盯向夏洛的網(wǎng)。“我看到什么了?”他喃喃說著，跌跪下去，急急地祈禱了一番。然后，他忙回到房子里去喊祖克曼先生，全沒想到威伯的早餐。

"I think you'd better come down to the pigpen, he said.

“我想你最好到豬圈去一下，”他說。

"What’s the trouble?” asked Mr. Zuckerman. “Anything wrong with the pig?"

“怎么了?”祖克曼先生問，“豬出什么毛病了嗎?”

"N-not exactly," said Lurvy. "Come and see for yourself."

“不-不是，”魯維說，“你自己去看吧。”

The two men walked silently down to Wilbur's yard. Lurvy pointed to the spider's web. "Do you see what I see?" he asked.

兩個男人悄悄來到威伯的院子里。魯維指向那蜘蛛網(wǎng)。“你看我看見了什么?”他說。

Zuckerman stared at the writing on the web. Then he murmured the words "Some Pig." Then he looked at Lurvy. Then they both began to tremble. Charlotte, sleepy after her night's exertions, smiled as she watched. Wilbur came and stood directly under the web.

祖克曼先生盯著網(wǎng)上的字母，念著上面的“好豬”這個詞。然后他看了看魯維。這時他們都開始哆嗦了。昨夜忙碌了一宿的夏洛，此刻已經(jīng)醒來，正微笑著看著這一切。威伯一直朝網(wǎng)這邊走過來。

"Some pig!" muttered Lurvy in a low voice.

“好豬!”魯維低聲嘟囔著。

"Some pig!" Whispered Mr. Zuckerman. They stared and stared for a long time at Wilbur. Then they stared at Charlotte.

“好豬!”祖克曼先生低語。接下來的很長一段時間里，他們只是把威伯看了又看，然后才朝夏洛看去。

"You don't suppose that that spider . . . " began Mr. Zuckerman--but he shook his head and didn't finish the sentence. Instead, he walked solemnly back up to the house and spoke to his wife. "Edith, something has happened," he said, in a weak voice. He went into the living room and sat down and Mrs. Zuckerman followed.

“你不是猜是那…那只蜘蛛……”祖克曼先生搖搖頭，沒再繼續(xù)說下去。他神色莊重地回到房子里，把這事情說給他的太太聽。“伊迪絲，某種事情發(fā)生了，”他囁嚅著，走進起居室坐下。祖克曼太太跟了過來。

"I've got something to tell you, Edith," he said. "You better sit down."

“我有些話要告訴你，伊迪絲，”他說，“你最好還是坐下來。”

Mrs. Zuckerman sank into a chair. She looked pale and frightened.

祖克曼太太陷到了椅子里。她嚇得臉都白了。

"Edith," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, "I think you had best be told that we have a very unusual pig." A look of complete bewilderment came over Mrs. Zuckerman's face.

“伊迪絲，”他試著讓他的聲音聽起來不那么激動，“我想你最好知道，我們有了一頭極不尋常的豬。”

"Homer Zuckerman, what in the world are you talking about?" she said.

祖克曼太太的臉上顯出一副迷惑不解的神情。“霍默·祖克曼，你到底想要說什么?”她說。

"This is a very serious thing, Edith," he replied.

“這是一件非常嚴(yán)肅的事情，伊迪絲，”他回答道，“我們的豬完全是出類拔萃的。”

"Our pig is completely out of the ordinary.""What’s unusual about the pig?” asked Mrs. Zuckerman, who was beginning to recover from her scare.

“這豬有什么特別的地方?”祖克曼太太問著，開始不那么害怕了。

"Well, I don't really know yet," said Mr. Zuckerman. "But we have received a sign, Edith--a mysterious sign. A miracle has happened on this farm. There is a large spider's web in the doorway of the barn cellar, right over the pigpen, and when Lurvy went to feed the pig this morning, he noticed the web because it was foggy, and you know how a spider's web looks very distinct in a fog. And right spang in the middle of the web there were the words 'Some Pig.' The words were woven right into the web. They were actually part of the web, Edith. I know, because I have been down there and seen them. It says, 'Some Pig,' just as clear as clear can be. There can be no mistake about it. A miracle has happened and a sign has occurred hereon earths right on our farm, and we have no ordinary pig."

“嗯，我也不知道該怎么說，”祖克曼先生說，“我們得到了一個暗示，伊迪絲——一個神秘的暗示。一個奇跡已經(jīng)在這個農(nóng)場上出現(xiàn)了。谷倉地窖門口有一個大蜘蛛網(wǎng)，它就在豬圈上邊。今早我和魯維去喂豬時，因為霧的關(guān)系他看到了那張網(wǎng)，你知道一張蜘蛛網(wǎng)在霧里顯得有些特別。就在網(wǎng)的中央，寫著‘好豬’這個詞。這個詞完全是由蜘蛛網(wǎng)織出來的。它們本身就是網(wǎng)的一部分，伊迪絲。我知道這點，因為我在那兒看到了它。那上面寫著的‘好豬’，看起來再清楚不過了。我絕不能看錯的。一個奇跡發(fā)生了，一個神示在地球上出現(xiàn)了，它就在我們的農(nóng)場，我們有了一頭不同凡響的豬。”

"Well," said Mrs. Zuckerman, "it seems to me you're a little off. It seems to me we have no ordinary spider."

“哦，”祖克曼太太說，“我覺得你好像弄擰了。我看我們是有了一頭不同凡響的蜘蛛才對。”

“Oh, no,” said Zuckerman. “It’s the pig that’s unusual. It says so, right there in the middle of the web.”

“噢，不!”祖克曼說，“是這豬不一般，那蜘蛛網(wǎng)的中間就這么說的。”

“Maybe so,” said Mrs. Zuckerman. “Just the same, I intend to have a look at that spider.”

“可能如此吧，”祖克曼太太說，“雖然如此，我還是打算去看看那只蜘蛛。”

“It’s just a common grey spider,” said Zuckerman.

“那只是一只很普通的灰蜘蛛。”祖克曼說。

They got up, and together they walked down to Wilbur’s yard. “You see, Edith? It’s just a common grey spider.”

他們站起來，一同往威伯的院子走。“你看到了嗎，伊迪絲?它是只很平常的灰蜘蛛。”

Wilbur was pleased to receive so much attention. Lurvy was still standing there, and Mr. And Mrs. Zuckerman, all three, stood for about an hour, reading the words on the web over and over, and watching Wilbur.

威伯很高興能如此引人注目。還在那兒站著的魯維，祖克曼先生和太太，三個人一起在那里站了大約一小時，一遍遍地讀著網(wǎng)里的詞，并觀察著威伯。

Charlotte was delighted with the way her trick was working. She sat without moving a muscle, and listened to the conversation of the people. When a small fly blundered into the web, just beyond the word “pig,” Charlotte dropped quickly down, rolled the fly up, and carried it out of the way.

夏洛為她成功地愚弄了這些人而開心。她一動不動地坐在那里，聽著人們的交談。一只小蒼蠅撞到網(wǎng)里，馬上就要朝“豬”這個字爬過來了。夏洛見了忙跑過去把蒼蠅纏住，拖遠(yuǎn)。

After a while the fog lifted. The web dried off and the words didn’t show up so plainly. The Zuckermans and Lurvy walked back to the house. Just before they left the pigpen, Mr. Zuckerman took one last look at Wilbur.

不久，霧散了。網(wǎng)也干了，這些字母看起來也不那么美了。祖克曼夫婦和魯維走回了房子。在離開豬圈前，祖克曼先生最后又看了威伯一眼。

“You know,” he said, in an important voice, “I’ve thought all along that that pig of ours was an extra good one. He’s a solid pig. That pig is as solid as they come. You notice how solid he is around the shoulders, Lurvy?”

“你知道，”他莊重地說，“我想從哪方面看我們的豬都格外的優(yōu)秀。他是頭很結(jié)實的豬，比別的豬都壯實。你注意到他的肩膀下有多么結(jié)實嗎，魯維?”

“Sure, Sure I do,” said Lurvy. “I’ve always noticed that pig. He’s quite a pig.”

“當(dāng)然，當(dāng)然，”魯維說，“我總是注意那頭豬。他是頭不一般的豬。”

“He’s long, and he’s smooth,” said Zuckerman.

“他是那么的長，身上那么的光滑。”祖克曼說。

“That’s right,” agreed Lurvy. “he’s as smooth as they come. He’s some pig.”

“的確，”魯維表示同意，“他比別的豬光滑得多。他是頭好豬。”

When Mr. Zuckerman got back to the house, he took off his work clothes and put on his best suit. Then he got into his car and drove to the minister’s house. He stayed for an hour and explained to the minister that a miracle had happened on the farm.

祖克曼先生回到了家，便脫下工作服，穿上了他最好的衣裳。然后他進了他的車，向牧師家駛?cè)?。他在牧師那里花了一小時，講述在他的農(nóng)場出現(xiàn)的奇跡。

“So far,” said Zuckerman, “only four people on earth know about this miracle—myself, my wife Edith, my hired man Lurvy, and you.”

“到現(xiàn)在為止，”祖克曼說，“這個地球上只有四個人知道這個奇跡——我，我妻子伊迪絲，我的雇工魯維，還有你。”

“Don’t tell anybody else,” said the minister. “We don’t know what it means yet, but perhaps if I give thought to it, I can explain it in my sermon next Sunday. There can be no doubt that you have a most unusual pig. I intend to speak about it in my sermon and point out the fact that this community has been visited with a wondrous animal. By the way, does the pig have a name?”

“先別對任何人說，”牧師說，“我們還不知道那預(yù)示著什么，但如果我思考一下，就能在下周的布道會上解釋這一切。無疑，你有了一頭最不尋常的豬。我打算在我的布道會上指出，這個社區(qū)出現(xiàn)了一種多么不尋常的動物。順便問一句，那豬有名字嗎?”

“Why, yes,” said Mr. Zuckerman. “My little niece calls him Wilbur. She’s rather queer child—full of notions. She raised the pig on a bottle and I bought him from her when he was a month old.”

“是的，有，”祖克曼先生說,“我的小外甥女叫他威伯。她是個相當(dāng)古怪的小孩——腦子里都是奇特的念頭。她用奶瓶給這頭豬喂奶，當(dāng)小豬一個月大時，我才把他從她那里買來的。”

He shook hands with the minister, and left.

他和牧師握了握手，然后離開了。

Secrets are hard to keep. Long before Sunday came, the news spread all over the county. Everybody knew that a sign had appeared in a spider’s web on the Zuckerman place. Everybody knew that the Zuckermans had a wondrous pig. People came from miles around to look at Wilbur and to read the words on Charlotte’s web. The Zuckermans’ driveway was full of cars and trucks from morning till night—Fords and Chevvies and Buick roadmasters and GMC pickups and Plymouths and Studebakers and Packards and De Sotos with gyromatic transmissions and Oldsmobiles with rocket engines and Jeep station wagons and Pontiacs. The news of the wonderful pig spread clear up into the hills, and farmers came rattling down in buggies and buckboards, to stand hour after hour at Wilbur’s pen admiring the miraculous animal. All said they had never seen such a pig before in their lives.

秘密是很難被保住的。遠(yuǎn)在星期日到來之前，這消息就傳遍了整個村子。每個人都知道一個神示在祖克曼先生家的蜘蛛網(wǎng)里出現(xiàn)了。每個人都知道祖克曼一家有了一頭奇異的豬。人們從四面八方趕來看威伯，讀著夏洛的網(wǎng)里的字。祖克曼家的車道上從早到晚都停滿了小車和大卡車——福特，雪佛萊，別克，通用皮卡、普利茅斯、斯塔德貝克、帕卡德、帶陀螺變速器的德索托、帶火箭引擎的奧茲莫比爾、旅行吉普和龐蒂亞克牌汽車等等都開過來了。②這頭神奇的小豬的消息也傳進了山里，那些農(nóng)場主們都趕著他們各式的馬車來了，一小時接一小時地在威伯的豬圈里艷羨地看著這頭神奇的動物。所有人都聲稱在一生中從沒見過這樣的豬。

When Fern told her mother that Avery had tried to hit the Zuckermans’ spider with a stick, Mrs. Arable was so shocked that she sent Avery to bed without any supper, as punishment.

當(dāng)芬把埃弗里曾想把祖克曼的蜘蛛用棍子打下來的事告訴了她的媽媽后，阿拉貝爾太太一怒之下沒讓埃弗里吃晚飯，就把他趕上了床，以示懲罰。

In the days that followed, Mr. Zuckerman was so busy entertaining visitors that he neglected his farm work. He wore his good clothes all the time now—got right into them when he got up in the morning. Mrs. Zuckerman prepared special meals for Wilbur. Lurvy shaved and got a haircut; and his principal farm duty was to feed the pig while people looked on.

接下去的幾天里，祖克曼先生由于整天忙著招待這些來訪者，竟然忘記了他的農(nóng)活。他時刻穿著他最好的衣服——早上一起床就往人群里走。祖克曼太太給威伯準(zhǔn)備了特別的飯菜。魯維刮了臉，也理了發(fā);他在農(nóng)場里最首要的任務(wù)就是在人們來參觀時喂那頭豬。

Mr. Zuckerman ordered Lurvy to increase Wilbur’s feedings from three meals a day to four meals a day. The Zuckermans were so busy with visitors they forgot about other things on the farm. The blackberries got ripe, and Mrs. Zuckerman failed to put up any blackberry jam. The corn needed hoeing, and Lurvy didn’t find time to hoe it.

祖克曼先生命令魯維把威伯的吃飯次數(shù)從一天三次增加到四次。祖克曼一家如此忙于應(yīng)付這些來訪的人眾，都忘了農(nóng)場里還有別的事情要做了。黑莓熟了，可祖克曼太太卻忘了把它們采摘，做成果醬。玉米地需要鋤草了，可魯維卻找不到時間去鋤草。

On Sunday the church was full. The minister explained the miracle. He said that the words on the spider’s web proved that human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders.

星期日，教堂擠滿了人。牧師對這奇跡解釋了一通。他說這蜘蛛網(wǎng)上的字說明，人類必須時刻準(zhǔn)備去觀察神跡的出現(xiàn)。

All in all, the Zuckermans’ pigpen was the center of attraction.

祖克曼家的豬圈成了眾人注意的焦點。

Fern was happy, for she felt that Charlotte’s trick was working and that Wilbur’s life would be saved. But she found that the barn was not nearly as pleasant—too many people. She liked it better when she could be all alone with her friends the animals.

芬很開心，因為她知道夏洛的把戲取得了成效，威伯的命也保住了。只是她覺得谷倉里現(xiàn)在不那么令她高興了——那里的人太多了。她更愿意能和她的動物朋友單獨在一起。注釋① 好豬：這個詞的原文是Some pig。