夏洛的網(wǎng) Chapter 17：“叔叔”

When they pulled into the Fair Grounds, they could hear music and see the Ferris wheel turning in the sky. They could smell the dust of the race track where the sprinkling cart had moistened it; and they could smell hamburgers frying and see balloons aloft. They could hear sheep blatting in their pens. An enormous voice over the loudspeaker said:"Attention, please! Will the owner of a Pontiac car, license number H-2439, please move your car away from the fireworks shed!""Can I have some money?" asked Fern.

當(dāng)他們一到展覽會(huì)場(chǎng)，就聽(tīng)到音樂(lè)聲，看到在天空中的費(fèi)里斯大轉(zhuǎn)輪。他們能聞到灑水車噴出的道道水跡里散發(fā)出的塵土氣息，聞到油煎三明治的香味，看到徐徐升起的大汽球。他們還能聽(tīng)到綿羊們?cè)谌镞氵愕亟?。擴(kuò)音器里有個(gè)很大的聲音喊道：請(qǐng)注意!請(qǐng)車牌為H-2349號(hào)的龐蒂亞克的車主把你的車從放焰火的地方開(kāi)走!“能給我點(diǎn)兒錢(qián)嗎?”芬問(wèn)。

"Can I, too?" asked Avery.

“也能給我點(diǎn)兒?jiǎn)?”埃弗里問(wèn)。

"I'm going to win a doll by spinning a wheel and it will stop at the right number," said Fern.

“我要去玩旋轉(zhuǎn)輪，讓它停到正確的數(shù)碼上，好贏回一個(gè)小娃娃。”芬說(shuō)。

"I'm going to steer a jet plane and make it bump into another one.""Can I have a balloon?" asked Fern.

“我要去開(kāi)噴氣式飛機(jī)，用它去撞別的飛機(jī)。”“我可以買(mǎi)個(gè)汽球嗎?”芬問(wèn)。

"Can I have a frozen custard and a cheeseburger and some raspberry soda pop?" asked Avery.

“我能買(mǎi)一個(gè)牛奶果凍，一張干酪肉餅，一瓶蔗莓汽水嗎?”埃弗里問(wèn)。

"You children be quiet till we get the pig unloaded," said Mrs. Arable.

“在那頭豬被卸下來(lái)之前，讓你的孩子們都閉嘴!”阿拉貝爾太太說(shuō)。

"Let's let the children go off by themselves," suggested Mr. Arable. "The Fair only comes once a year." Mr. Arable gave Fern two quarters and tow dimes. He gave Avery five dimes and four nickels. "Now run along1" he said. "And remember, the money has to last all day. Don't spend it all the first few minutes. And be back here at the truck at noontime so we can all have lunch together. And don't eat a lot of stuff that's going to make you sick to your stomachs.""And if you go in those swings," said Mrs. Arable,"you hang on tight! You hang on very tight. Hear me?""And don't get lost!" said Mrs. Zuckerman.

“我說(shuō)還是讓孩子們自己去玩吧，”阿拉貝爾先生建議，“展覽會(huì)一年可是只有一次。”阿拉貝爾先生給了芬兩枚兩毛五分的銀幣，兩枚一角的銀幣①。他又給了埃弗里五角銀幣和四枚五分錢(qián)的鎳幣。“現(xiàn)在玩去吧!”他說(shuō)，“記住，這些錢(qián)是留給你們一整天花的!不要在幾分鐘內(nèi)就輕易的花光。下午回到卡車這里來(lái)，那時(shí)我們要一起吃午飯了。不要吃太多的零食，不然開(kāi)飯時(shí)你們就什么也吃不下了。”“如果你們?nèi)プ谴筠D(zhuǎn)輪，”阿拉貝爾太太說(shuō)，“一定要抓緊!抓得非常緊。聽(tīng)到了嗎?”“不要跑丟了!”祖克曼太太說(shuō)。

"And don't get dirty!""Don't get overheated!" said their mother.

“不要把身上弄臟了!”“不要玩得太瘋!”他們的媽媽說(shuō)。

"Watch out for pickpockets!" cautioned their father.

“留心扒手!”他們的父親警告。

"And don't cross the race track when the horses are coming!" cried Mrs. Zuckerman.

“馬跑過(guò)來(lái)時(shí)不要橫穿賽道!”祖克曼太太叫。

The children grabbed each other by the hand and danced off in the direction of the merry-go-round, toward the wonderful music and the wonderful adventure and the wonderful excitement, into the wonderful midway where there would be no parents to guard them and guide them, and where they could be happy and free and do as they pleased. Mrs. arable stood quietly and watched them go. Then she sighed. Then she blew her nose.

孩子們手挽手蹦跳著向旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬那邊跑去，跑向那充滿迷人音樂(lè)，精彩冒險(xiǎn)與神奇刺激的奇妙的游樂(lè)場(chǎng)。那里沒(méi)有父母的阻攔和嘮叨，可以盡情地玩?zhèn)€痛快。阿拉貝爾太太默默地看著他們的背影，輕嘆了一聲。接著，她又吁了一口氣。

"Do you really think it's all right?" she asked.

“你真的以為他們會(huì)沒(méi)事嗎?”她問(wèn)。

"Well, they've got to grow up some time," said Mr. Arable. "And a fair is a good place to start, I guess."While Wilbur was being unloaded and taken out of his crate and into his new pigpen, crowds gathered to watch. They stared at the sign ZUCKERMAN'S FAMOUS PIG. Wilbur stared back and tried to look extra good. He was pleased with his new home. The pen was grassy, and it was shaded from the sun by a shed roof.

“哎呀，他們?cè)缤硪L(zhǎng)大的，”阿拉貝爾先生說(shuō)，“展覽會(huì)里是一個(gè)很好的鍛煉地方，我想。”當(dāng)威伯被抬下車，從板條箱里帶到他的新豬圈時(shí)，好多人都圍過(guò)來(lái)看。他們看到了“祖克曼家的名豬”那行字。威伯回看著人們，試圖讓自己顯得格外的出眾。他對(duì)他的新家很滿意。那里面有很多草，可以為他遮擋從棚頂上照過(guò)來(lái)的陽(yáng)光。

Charlotte, watching her chance, scrambled out of the crate and climbed a post to the under side of the roof. Nobody noticed her.

夏洛找個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)溜出板條箱，爬到棚頂下的一根桿子上。沒(méi)人注意到她。

Templeton, not wishing to come out in broad daylight, stayed quietly under the straw at the bottom of the crate. Mr. Zuckerman poured some skim milk into Wilbur's trough, pitched clean straw into his pen, and then he and Mrs. Zuckerman and the Arables walked away toward the cattle barn to look at purebred cows and to see the sights. Mr. Zuckerman particularly wanted to look at tractors. Mrs. Zuckerman wanted to see a deep freeze. Lurvy wandered off by himself, hoping to meet friends and have some fun on the midway.

坦普爾曼可不想在白天露面，就悄悄地在箱子里的稻草間躲著。祖克曼先生往威伯的食槽里倒了些脫脂奶，又往里添了些干凈的稻草，然后和祖克曼太太，阿拉貝爾夫婦到牲口棚去看純種奶牛，并四處觀光去了。祖克曼先生特別想去看拖拉機(jī)。祖克曼太太想去看電冰箱。魯維閑逛著，希望會(huì)遇到朋友，在游樂(lè)場(chǎng)里找點(diǎn)兒樂(lè)事。

As soon as the people were gone, Charlotte spoke to Wilbur.

人們剛一離開(kāi)，夏洛便對(duì)威伯說(shuō)起來(lái)。

"It's a good thing you can't see what I see," she said.

“還好，你沒(méi)看到我剛才看見(jiàn)的。”她說(shuō)。

"What do you see?" asked Wilbur.

“你看到什么了?”威伯問(wèn)。

"There's a pig in the next pen and he's enormous. I'm afraid he's much bigger than you are.""Maybe he's older than I am, and has had more time to grow," suggested Wilbur. Tears began to come to his eyes.

“你旁邊的豬圈里有一頭特別大的豬，恐怕要比你大得多。”“可能他的年紀(jì)比我大，有更多的時(shí)間來(lái)往大里長(zhǎng)吧。”威伯說(shuō)著，淚水不禁涌上了眼眶。

"I'll drop down and have a closer look," Charlotte said. Then she crawled along a beam till she was directly over the next pen. She let herself down on a dragline until she hung in the air just in front of the big pig's snout.

“我要蕩過(guò)去仔細(xì)看一下。”夏洛說(shuō)。她順著桿子往那個(gè)豬圈爬去。她拖著一條絲線往空中飄去，正好飄到了那頭豬的鼻子上方。

"May I have your name?" she asked, politely.

“我可以問(wèn)你的名字嗎?”她禮貌地問(wèn)。

The pig stared at her. "No name," he said in a big, hearty voice. "Just call me uncle.""Very well, Uncle," replied Charlotte. "What is the date of your birth? Are you a spring pig?""Sure I'm a spring pig," replied Uncle. "What did you think I was, a spring chicken? Haw, haw--that's a good one, eh, Sister?""Mildly funny," said Charlotte. "I've heard funnier ones, though. Glad to have met you, and now I must be going."She ascended slowly and returned to Wilbur's pen.

那頭豬看了看她。“我沒(méi)名字，”他用很粗的嗓門(mén)說(shuō)，“你就叫我伯伯吧。”“好的，伯伯，”夏洛回答，“你是何時(shí)出生的?你是一頭春豬嗎?”“我就是春豬，”伯伯回答，“你以為我是什么，一只春天生的小雞嗎?呵，呵——這笑話不錯(cuò)吧，呃，小妹妹?”“有點(diǎn)兒意思，”夏洛說(shuō)，“不過(guò)我還聽(tīng)過(guò)更有意思的笑話。很高興認(rèn)識(shí)你，現(xiàn)在我要走了。”她慢慢地收起絲線，往上退回去，不久就回到了威伯的豬圈。

"He claims he's a spring pig," reported Charlotte," and perhaps he is. One thing is certain, he has a most unattractive personality. He is too familiar, too noisy, and he cracks weak jokes. Also, he's not anywhere near as clean as you are, nor as pleasant. I took quite a dislike to him in our brief interview. He's going to be a hard pig to beat, though, Wilbur, on account of his size and weight. But with me helping you, it can be done.""When are you going to spin a web?" asked Wilbur.

“他說(shuō)他是頭春豬，”夏洛說(shuō)，“可能他真的是。不過(guò)，他非常的不討人喜歡。他也太冒失，太吵，而且他講的粗俗笑話也一點(diǎn)都不可笑。還有，他并沒(méi)有你這么干凈，更沒(méi)你這么有禮貌。經(jīng)過(guò)剛才的簡(jiǎn)短交談，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我非常討厭他。不過(guò)，威伯，考慮到他的個(gè)頭和體重，他可能會(huì)是一個(gè)很難擊敗的對(duì)手。但如果有我?guī)湍悖憔湍苴A他。”“那你要在什么時(shí)候織網(wǎng)呢?”威伯問(wèn)。

"This afternoon, late, if I'm not too tired," said Charlotte. "The least thing tires me these days. I don't seem to have the energy I once had. My age, I guess."Wilbur looked at his friend. She looked rather swollen and she seemed listless.

“下午晚些時(shí)候吧，如果那時(shí)我不太累的話，”夏洛說(shuō)，“這些天里，就是最輕的活兒也會(huì)使我疲倦的。我好像不再有以前那樣的精力了?？赡苁俏依狭税?。”威伯看著他的朋友。她看起來(lái)相當(dāng)?shù)你俱玻荒樉肴荨?/p>

"I'm awfully sorry to hear that you're feeling poorly, Charlotte," he said." Perhaps if you spin a web and catch a couple of flies you'll feel better.""Perhaps," she said, wearily. "But I feel like the end of a long day." Clinging upside down to the ceiling, she settled down for a nap, leaving Wilbur very much worried.

“聽(tīng)到你說(shuō)感覺(jué)不好，我非常難過(guò)，夏洛，”他說(shuō)，“也許你織一張網(wǎng)，抓到幾只蒼蠅后就能感覺(jué)好一點(diǎn)兒。”“也許，”她無(wú)力地說(shuō)，“但是我感覺(jué)那些漫長(zhǎng)的日子快結(jié)束了。”她爬上豬圈的頂層睡著了，把憂心忡忡的威伯留在下面。

All morning people wandered past Wilbur's pen. Dozens and dozens of strangers stopped to star at him and to admire his silky white coat, his curly tail, his kind and radiant expression. Then they would move on to the next pen where the bigger pig lay. Wilbur heard several people make favorable remarks about uncle's great size. He couldn't help worrying. "And now, with Charlotte not feeling well..." he thought. "Oh, dear!"All morning Templeton slept quietly under the straw. The day grew fiercely hot. At noon the Zuckermans and the Arables returned to the pigpen. Then, a few minutes later, Fern and Avery showed up. Fern had a monkey doll in her arms and was eating Cracker-jack. Avery had a balloon tied to his ear and was chewing a candied apple. The children were hot and dirty.

整個(gè)早上人們都從威伯的豬圈旁走過(guò)。無(wú)數(shù)的陌生人在此駐足，羨慕地看著威伯那絲綢一樣光滑的白皮膚，卷曲的尾巴，還有他那善意的表情，光彩照人的樣子。然后他們?nèi)タ聪乱粋€(gè)豬圈里的那頭更大的豬。威伯聽(tīng)到好幾個(gè)人在贊美那個(gè)伯伯的個(gè)頭。他忍不住去偷聽(tīng)那些評(píng)論，并情不自禁地?fù)?dān)心起來(lái)。“現(xiàn)在，夏洛的感覺(jué)又不好……”他想，“唉，天吶!”坦普爾曼一早上都在稻草里熟睡。天氣像火一樣熱。下午祖克曼夫婦和阿拉貝爾夫婦回到了豬圈。幾分鐘后，芬和埃弗里也出現(xiàn)了。芬的胳膊下夾著一個(gè)玩具猴，嘴里嚼著琥珀爆米花②。埃弗里的耳朵上系著一個(gè)汽球，嘴里吃著蘋(píng)果蜜餞。孩子們的身上都是汗，看起來(lái)很臟。

"Isn't it hot?" said Mrs. Zuckerman.

“很熱吧?”祖克曼太太問(wèn)。

"It's terribly hot," said Mrs. Arable, fanning herself with an advertisement of a deep freeze.

“熱死了。”阿拉貝爾太太說(shuō)著，用手里的那份冰箱廣告當(dāng)扇子扇起來(lái)。

One by one they climbed into the truck and opened lunch boxes. The sun beat down on everything. Nobody seemed hungry.

他們一個(gè)又一個(gè)地走進(jìn)卡車，打開(kāi)午餐盒。到處都是熱辣辣的陽(yáng)光，曬得人都沒(méi)有興致吃飯了。

"When are the judges going to decide about Wilbur?" asked Mrs. Zuckerman.

“裁判什么時(shí)候能宣布威伯的名次?”祖克曼太太問(wèn)。

"Not till tomorrow," said Mr. Zuckerman.

“明天吧。”祖克曼先生說(shuō)。

Lurvy appeared, carrying an Indian blanket that he had won.

魯維走了過(guò)來(lái)，扛著剛才贏來(lái)的印第安毛毯。

"That's just what we need," said Avery. "A blanket.""Of course it is," replied Lurvy. And he spread the blanket across the sideboards of the truck so that it was like a little tent. The children sat in the shade, under the blanket, and felt better.

“那正是我們需要的，”埃弗里說(shuō)，“一條毛毯。”“當(dāng)然了。”魯維回答。他把毛毯圍在卡車護(hù)欄的四周，使后車廂看起來(lái)就像個(gè)小帳篷。孩子們坐在毛毯圍出的陰影里，感覺(jué)舒服多了。

After lunch, they stretched out and fell asleep.

午餐后，他們都躺下來(lái)，睡了。

注釋① 此處的原文是 two quarters and two dimes。這美國(guó)錢(qián)是什么模樣我哪里知道?中國(guó)錢(qián)我都沒(méi)見(jiàn)全呢。只好請(qǐng)教新語(yǔ)絲的朋友。虎子，筋斗云，亦歌等朋友告訴我說(shuō)，Quarters，是美國(guó)最常用的硬幣，是鎳幣，面值為二十五美分，是日常生活中使用最頻繁的硬幣，搭車洗衣服打公用電話都少不了它。如果到過(guò)LASVAGAS就會(huì)知道二十五美分的老虎機(jī)支撐了一半的賭城。Dime，是十美分的硬幣。據(jù)說(shuō)也是美國(guó)硬幣中唯一含銀的。

注釋②：這本書(shū)里提到很多吃的，但我都多數(shù)不知道是什么，除了這個(gè)琥珀爆米花，因?yàn)槲业呐笥?，尤其是暮紫給了我非常詳盡的介紹，讓我格外驚喜。他說(shuō)，琥珀爆米花(原文是Cracker-Jack)，是美國(guó)Frito-Lay食品公司的食品系列之一，這種零食在學(xué)校的小店，平常的市場(chǎng)市場(chǎng)里都有，在壘球賽場(chǎng)上也和花生、熱狗一樣常見(jiàn)。下面的話是我從他給我提供的一段英文中譯出來(lái)的：Cracker-Jack是用一種特別的，紅罌粟般顏色的玉米加工而成的，這種玉米最早由美國(guó)印地安人在公元800年左右雜交而成。某些新英格蘭的部族曾把這種玉米涂上一層楓糖漿，制成蜜餞。第一種具有獨(dú)特口味的Cracker-Jack，是F.W. Rueckheim在芝加哥舉辦的第一屆世界工業(yè)博覽會(huì)發(fā)明的。F.W. Rueckheim 與其兄弟Louis Rueckheim組建了一家F.W. Rueckheim兄弟公司。Louis Rueckheim 發(fā)現(xiàn)了防止蜜糖粘到爆米花上的辦法。這個(gè)秘方今天還在使用，而且至今仍是個(gè)秘密。Louis Rueckheim在1896年對(duì)推銷員推銷這產(chǎn)品時(shí)，推銷員喊道："那是Cracker Jack!”這就給他的產(chǎn)品說(shuō)出了一個(gè)不朽的商標(biāo)。Cracker-Jack這個(gè)商標(biāo)，被1908年的一首叫"帶我去參加棒球賽"流行歌唱成了不朽，因?yàn)槟歉枥镌磸?fù)唱道："給我買(mǎi)點(diǎn)兒花生和Cracker-Jack"。”每盒都有獎(jiǎng)品"的口號(hào)在1912年被提出，當(dāng)時(shí)每件玩具的包裝盒里都裝著Cracker-Jack。1918年，動(dòng)畫(huà)明星大力水手杰克和他的叫BINGO的狗的形象第一次出現(xiàn)在Cracker-Jack包裝盒上，只是杰克的臉被換成了F.W. Rueckheim的小孫子Robert的?？偛吭诿绹?guó)俄亥俄州首府的哥倫布的一家公司購(gòu)買(mǎi)了Cracker Jack公司，使它在1964年成了一家分公司。Frito-Lay在1997年購(gòu)買(mǎi)了Cracker-Jack的商標(biāo)權(quán)。