Charlotte’s Web（I）

◎E.B.White

Track 9

在朱克曼家的谷仓里，这是威尔伯与夏洛的第一次友好交流。这段对话揭示了两个不同物种之间可能发展出深厚友谊的种子，为这个经典故事的展开奠定了基础。

“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. 表达 3) creature n. 生物；动物

“致敬是句问候用语，”那个声音说道，“当我说‘致敬’，就等于对你说‘你好’或是‘早上好’。实际上，这是种愚蠢的表达方式，真奇怪我刚才怎么会用这么一个词儿。你想知道我在哪儿吗？那很容易。往门框上角看！我在这儿。看，我在挥手哩！”

威尔伯终于找到了如此友善地和自己交谈的动物。门框的上方拉着一张大蜘蛛网，一只大灰蜘蛛正倒挂在网的高处。她只有一粒树胶糖丸那么大。她长着八条腿，正用其中的一条腿友好地对威尔伯致意呢。“现在看到我了？”她问。

“噢，确实看见了，”威尔伯说，“确实看见了！你好！早上好！致敬！很高兴认识你。请问芳名？我可以问你的名字吗？”

“我的名字，”蜘蛛说，“叫夏洛。”

“夏洛什么？”威尔伯渴切地问。

“夏洛·A.卡瓦蒂娜。你就叫我夏洛好了。”

Know More

E.B.怀特是美国知名杂志《纽约客》的主要撰稿人，一生创作了数千篇散文。他修订了英语文法指导手册《风格的要素》，奠定了当代美式英语写作规范的基石。然而，他最广为人知的是三本为孩子们创作的“小书”：《精灵鼠小弟》《夏洛的网》与《吹小号的天鹅》。