Charlotte’s Web（I）

◎E.B.White

Track 9

在朱克曼家的谷倉里，這是威爾伯與夏洛的第一次友好交流。這段對話揭示了兩個不同物種之間可能發展出深厚友誼的種子，為這個經典故事的展開奠定了基礎。

“1)Salutations are greetings,” said the voice.“When I say ‘salutations’, it’s just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning.Actually, it’s a silly2)expression,and I am surprised that I used it at all.As for my whereabouts, that’s easy.Look up here in the corner of the doorway! Here I am.Look, I’m waving!”

At last Wilbur saw the3)creature that had spoken to him in such a kindly way.Stretched across the upper part of the doorway was a big spiderweb, and hanging from the top of the web, head down, was a large grey spider.She was about the size of a gumdrop.She had eight legs, and she was waving one of them at Wilbur in friendly greeting.“See me now?” she asked.

“Oh, yes indeed,” said Wilbur.“Yes indeed!How are you? Good morning! Salutations! Very pleased to meet you.What is your name, please? May I have your name?”

“My name,” said the spider, “is Charlotte.”

“Charlotte what?” asked Wilbur, eagerly.

“Charlotte A.Cavatica.But just call me Charlotte.”

1) salutation n. 致敬 2) expression n. 表達 3) creature n. 生物；動物

“致敬是句問候用語，”那個聲音說道，“當我說‘致敬’，就等于對你說‘你好’或是‘早上好’。實際上，這是種愚蠢的表達方式，真奇怪我剛才怎么會用這么一個詞兒。你想知道我在哪兒嗎？那很容易。往門框上角看！我在這兒。看，我在揮手哩！”

威爾伯終于找到了如此友善地和自己交談的動物。門框的上方拉著一張大蜘蛛網，一只大灰蜘蛛正倒掛在網的高處。她只有一粒樹膠糖丸那么大。她長著八條腿，正用其中的一條腿友好地對威爾伯致意呢。“現在看到我了？”她問。

“噢，確實看見了，”威爾伯說，“確實看見了！你好！早上好！致敬！很高興認識你。請問芳名？我可以問你的名字嗎？”

“我的名字，”蜘蛛說，“叫夏洛。”

“夏洛什么？”威爾伯渴切地問。

“夏洛·A.卡瓦蒂娜。你就叫我夏洛好了。”

Know More

E.B.懷特是美國知名雜志《紐約客》的主要撰稿人，一生創作了數千篇散文。他修訂了英語文法指導手冊《風格的要素》，奠定了當代美式英語寫作規范的基石。然而，他最廣為人知的是三本為孩子們創作的“小書”：《精靈鼠小弟》《夏洛的網》與《吹小號的天鵝》。