夏洛的網(wǎng) Chapter 15：蟋蟀

The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer's ending, a sad, monotonous song. "Summer is over and gone," they sang. "Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying."The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year--the days when summer is changing into fall--the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.

蟋蟀們在草叢中歌唱著。他們唱起了一曲悲傷而又單調(diào)的，夏天的挽歌。“夏天去了，”他們唱，“去了，去了。夏天正在死亡，死亡。”蟋蟀感到他們有責(zé)任警醒每一個人，夏日的好時光不會永遠的繼續(xù)下去。即使到了一年中最美麗的日子——夏即將被點染成秋的那一天——蟋蟀們也還是在傳唱著這些有關(guān)悲傷與變遷的讖言。

Everybody heard the song of the crickets. Avery and Fern Arable heard it as they walked the dusty road. They knew that school would soon begin again. The young geese heard it and knew that they would never be little goslings again. Charlotte heard it and knew that she hadn't much time left. Mrs. Zuckerman, at work in the kitchen, heard the crickets, and a sadness came over her, too. "Another summer gone," she sighed. Lurvy, at work building a crate for Wilbur, heard the song and knew it was time to dig potatoes.

所有人都聽到了蟋蟀的歌聲。在塵土飛揚的路上走著的埃弗里和芬聽到這歌聲，知道學(xué)校不久就要開學(xué)了;小鵝們聽到這歌聲，知道他們將不再是小鵝了;夏洛聽到這歌聲，知道她已經(jīng)沒有多少剩下來的時間了;在廚房工作的祖克曼太太聽到這歌聲，一種憂傷的情緒也立即從心頭襲過，“又一個夏天過去了，”她輕聲嘆息;給威伯做板條箱的魯維聽到這歌聲，知道到了去地里挖土豆的時候了。

"Summer is over and gone," repeated the crickets. "How many nights till frost?" sang the crickets. "good-bye, summer, good-bye, good-bye."The sheep heard the crickets, and they felt so uneasy they broke a hole in the pasture fence and wandered up into the field across the road. The gander discovered the hole and led his family through, and they walked to the orchard and ate the apples that were lying on the ground. A little maple tree in the swamp heard the cricket song and turned bright red with anxiety.

“夏天去了，”蟋蟀一遍遍地哀唱。“離下霜時還剩幾天?”蟋蟀凄吟。“再-見-了，夏天，再-見-了，再-見-了!”綿羊聽到蟋蟀的歌，感覺異常的煩躁，以至竟在草場上的籬笆里撞出了一個洞，就從那里穿過小路茫然地徘徊到田野里。公鵝發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個洞，就領(lǐng)著他的一家人由此而出，走到果園去吃熟落在地上的蘋果。濕地上的小楓樹聽到蟋蟀的歌，由于焦急使自己變得鮮紅。

Wilbur was now the center of attraction on the farm. good food and regular hours were showing results: Wilbur was a pig any man would be proud of . One day more than a hundred people came to stand at his yard and admire him. Charlotte had written the word RADIANT, and Wilbur really looked radiant as he stood in the golden sunlight. Ever since the spider had befriended him, he had done his best to live up to his reputation. When Charlotte's web said SOME PIG, Wilbur had tried hard to look like some pig. When Charlotte's web said TERRIFIC, Wilbur had tried to look terrific. And now that the web said RADIANT, he did everything possible to make himself glow.

威伯現(xiàn)在是農(nóng)場里最引人注目的。那些不斷送來的美餐和定期來參觀的人流足以表明這一點：威伯是一頭令任何人都足以驕傲的豬。每天都有超過一百人在他的院子里贊美他。夏洛已經(jīng)把寫有“閃光”字樣的網(wǎng)織好了。在金色的陽光下的威伯看起來也真的閃閃發(fā)光。自從這只蜘蛛幫助了他以后，他一直在盡力使自己做得更好。當夏洛的網(wǎng)里寫著“好豬”時，威伯努力使自己看上去像頭好豬;當夏洛的網(wǎng)里織著“很棒”時，威伯又勉力使自己看起來很棒;現(xiàn)在那網(wǎng)里說“閃光”，他便盡可能的去做每一件使自己閃光的事。

It is not easy to look radiant, but Wilbur threw himself into it with a will. He would turn his head slightly and blink his long eyelashes. Then he would breathe deeply. And when his audience grew bored, he would spring into the air and do a back flip with a half twist. At this the crowd would yell and cheer. "How's that for a pig?" Mr. Zuckerman would ask, well pleased with himself. "That pig is radiant."Some of Wilbur's friends in the barn worried for fear all this attention would go to his head and make him stuck up. But it never did. Wilbur was modest; fame did not spoil him. He still worried some about the future, as he could hardly believe that a mere spider would be able to save his life. Sometimes at night he would have a bad dream. He would dream that men were coming to get him with knives and guns. But that was only a dream. In the daytime, Wilbur usually felt happy and confident. No pig ever had truer friends and he realized that friendship is one of the most satisfying things in the world. Even the song of the crickets did not make Wilbur too sad. He knew it was almost time for the County Fair, and he was looking forward to the trip. If he distinguish himself at the Fair, and maybe win some prize money, he was sure Zuckerman would let him live.

看上去能閃光并不容易，但威伯還是愿意這樣去努力。他會輕輕地晃著腦袋，讓他長長的睫毛閃閃顫動起來。然后他再做一個深呼吸。當他的觀眾看膩了這些，他就會跳起來做一個后空翻。這時人群將會大聲喝起彩來。“那豬怎么樣?”祖克曼先生會滿心自豪地問別人。“那豬真是閃閃發(fā)光。”谷倉里的一些威伯的朋友擔心他會驕傲，但他不會的。威伯是最謙虛的，名氣不能毀了他。他還在為將來擔心，因為他幾乎不敢相信僅僅一只蜘蛛就能救他的命。有時夜里他還會做噩夢，夢見人們拿著刀子和槍來殺他。但那不過是個夢境罷了。白天時，威伯總是感到快樂而又自信。沒有一頭豬有過這么真誠的朋友，他意識到友誼是這世界上令人最幸福的東西之一。甚至連蟋蟀的歌也沒有讓威伯感到太悲傷。他知道他快去參加郡展覽會了，他渴望著這次旅行。如果他能在會上有卓越的表現(xiàn)，就可能贏得獎品，那時祖克曼更會善待他了。

Charlotte had worries of her own, but she kept quiet about them. One morning Wilbur asked her about the Fair.

夏洛則在為自己擔心，但卻沒對別人表露這一點。一天早上威伯問她有關(guān)展覽會的事。

"You're going with me, aren't you, charlotte?" he said.

“你會和我一起去嗎，夏洛?”他說。

"Well, I don't know," replied Charlotte. "The Fair comes at a bad time for me. I shall find it inconvenient to leave home, even for a few days.""Why?" asked Wilbur.

“哦，我不知道，”夏洛回答，“開會那天對我來說是個壞日子。那時我將很難有力氣離家，更別說離家數(shù)天了。”“為什么?”威伯問。

"Oh, I just don't feel like leaving my web. Too much going on around here.""Please come with me!" begged Wilbur. "I need you, Charlotte. I can't stand going to the Fair without you. You've just got to come.""No," said charlotte, "I believe I'd better stay home and see if I can't get some work done.""What kind of work?" asked Wilbur.

“噢，我只是不愿離開我的網(wǎng)。有太多事要做了。”“請跟我去吧!”威伯乞求，“我需要你，夏洛。去參加展覽會時沒你我會無法忍受的，你還是去吧。”“不，”夏洛說，“我相信我最好還是留在家里，我有工作要做。”“那是什么工作?”威伯問。

"Egg laying. It's time I made an egg sac and filled it with eggs.""I didn't know you could lay eggs," said Wilbur in amazement.

“產(chǎn)卵。那時我該造一個囊，往里產(chǎn)卵了。”“我不知道你還能產(chǎn)卵哩。”威伯驚奇地說。

"Oh, sure," said the spider. "I'm versatile.""What does 'versatile' mean--full of eggs?" asked Wilbur.

“哦，我當然會，”蜘蛛說，“我多才多藝。”“'多才多藝'是什么意思——身上都是卵嗎?”威伯問。

"Certainly not," said Charlotte. "'Versatile' means I can turn with ease from one thing to another. I can turn with ease from one thing to another. It means I don't have to limit my activities to spinning and trapping and stunts like that.""Why don't you come with me to the Fair Grounds and lay your eggs there?" pleaded Wilbur. "It would be wonderful fun."Charlotte gave her web a twitch and moodily watched it sway. "I'm afraid not," she said. "You don't know the first thing about egg laying, Wilbur. I can't arrange my family duties to suit the management of the County Fair. When I get ready to lay eggs, I have to lay eggs, Fair or no Fair. However, I don't want you to worry about it--you might lose weight. We'll leave it this way: I'll come to the Fair if I possibly can.""Oh, good!" said Wilbur. "I knew you wouldn't forsake me just when I need you most."All that day Wilbur stayed inside, taking life easy in the straw. Charlotte rested and ate a grasshopper. She knew that she couldn't help Wilbur much longer. In a few days she would have to drop everything and build the beautiful little sac that would hold her eggs.

“當然不是，”夏洛說。，“‘多才多藝’是說我能輕松地做很多事。那意味著我不僅僅只會織網(wǎng)和抓小蟲，還懂得產(chǎn)卵的絕技。”“你為什么不跟我到展覽會去產(chǎn)卵?”威伯懇求，“產(chǎn)卵一定有趣極了。”夏洛拉了拉她的網(wǎng)，憂郁地看著這些絲線輕輕晃動的樣子。“恐怕不那么有趣，”她說道，“你不了解產(chǎn)卵的重要性，威伯。我不能不顧我的家庭，跟你去展覽會。當我準備產(chǎn)卵時，我就得產(chǎn)卵，不管有沒有展覽會。無論如何，我不想你擔心——你會因此變瘦的。讓我們這么約定吧：如果有可能，我就去和你參加展覽會。”“噢，好吔!”威伯說，“我就知道你在我最需要的時候不會拋下我的。”那一整天，威伯都呆在谷倉里，享受著稻草堆里的舒適生活。夏洛休息了一會兒，吃了個螞蚱。她知道她以后不能再幫威伯了。幾天后她將停下手頭的一切，開始造一個用來盛放她的卵的美麗的小囊了。