夏洛的網(wǎng) Chapter 12：一個(gè)會(huì)議

One evening, a few days after the writing had appeared in Charlotte's web, the spider called a meeting of all the animals in the barn cellar.

在夏洛的網(wǎng)里的字出現(xiàn)了幾天后的一個(gè)晚上，夏洛把谷倉地窖里的全體動(dòng)物招集到一起，開一個(gè)會(huì)。

"I shall begin by calling the roll. Wilbur?"

“下面我開始點(diǎn)名了。威伯?”

"Here!" said the pig.

“到!”威伯說。

"Gander?"

“公鵝?”

"Here, here, here!" said the gander.

“到，到，到!”公鵝說。

"You sound like three ganders," muttered Charlotte. "Why can't you just say 'here'? Why do you have to repeat everything?"

“你聽起來像三只公鵝，”夏洛嘟囔著，“你為什么不只喊一聲‘到’?為什么你喜歡重復(fù)一切?”

"It's my idio-idio-idiosyncrasy," replied the gander.

“這是我的習(xí)-習(xí)-習(xí)慣。”公鵝回答。

"Goose?" said Charlotte.

“母鵝?”夏洛說。

"Here, here, here!" said the goose. Charlotte glared at her.

“到，到，到!”母鵝說。夏洛瞪了她一眼。

"Goslings, one through seven?"

“七只小鵝?一個(gè)一個(gè)來!”

"Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" said the goslings.

“必-必-必!”“必-必-必!”“必-必-必!”“必-必-必!”“必-必-必!”“必-必-必!”“必-必-必!”小鵝們回答。

"This is getting to be quite a meeting," said Charlotte. "Any body would think we had three ganders, three geese, and twenty-one goslings. Sheep?"

“這個(gè)會(huì)可越開越有意思了，”夏洛說，“任何人都以為我們這里有三只公鵝，三只母鵝，二十一只小鵝呢。綿羊?”

"He-aa-aa!" answered the sheep all together.

“咩-咩-咩!”綿羊們一起回答。

"Lambs?"

“羊羔?”

"He-aa-aa!" answered the lambs all together.

“咩-咩-咩!”羊羔們一起回答。

"Templeton?"No answer.

“坦普爾曼?”沒人回答。

"Templeton?"No answer.

“坦普爾曼?”還是沒人回答。

"Well, we are all here except the rat," said Charlotte. "I guess we can proceed without him. Now, all of you must have noticed what's been going on around here the last few days. The message I wrote in my web, praising Wilbur, has been received. The Zuckermans have fallen for it, and so has everybody else. Zuckerman thinks Wilbur is an unusual pig, and therefore he won't want to kill him and eat him. I dare say my trick will work and Wilbur's life can be saved.

“好吧。除了老鼠我們都在這里，”夏洛說，“我想沒有他，會(huì)也可以開始?，F(xiàn)在，你們大家一定注意到了過去幾天里這兒發(fā)生了什么事情。我織在我網(wǎng)里的那句稱贊威伯的話，已經(jīng)收到了效果。祖克曼一家已經(jīng)上套了，每個(gè)人都是。祖克曼把威伯看作一只不尋常的豬，所以也不會(huì)想殺死他、吃掉他了。我敢說我的把戲取得了成功，威伯的生命也得救了。”

"Hurray!" cried everybody.

“萬歲!”全體歡呼。

"Thank you very much," said Charlotte. "Now I called this meeting in order to get suggestions. I need new ideas for the web. People are already getting sick of reading the words 'Some Pig!' If anybody can think of another message, or remark, I'll be glad to weave it into the web. Any suggestions for a new slogan?"

“非常感謝你們，”夏洛說，“現(xiàn)在我召開這個(gè)會(huì)議是為了聽取大家的意見。我需要織網(wǎng)的新構(gòu)思。人們已經(jīng)讀膩了‘好豬!’這個(gè)詞了。如果誰能想出另一句話，或是評語，我會(huì)很高興地把它織進(jìn)我的網(wǎng)里的。誰有什么關(guān)于新口號的建議?”

"How about 'Pig Supreme'?" asked one of the lambs.

“‘無比的豬’怎么樣?”一只羊羔問。

"No good," said Charlotte. "It sounds like a rich dessert."

“不好，”夏洛說，“這聽起來像一道油膩的餐后甜點(diǎn)的名字。”

"How about 'Terrific, terrific, terrific'?" asked the goose.

“‘很棒，很棒，很棒’怎么樣?”母鵝問。

"Cut that down to one 'terrific' and it will do very nicely," said Charlotte. "I think 'terrific' might impress Zuckerman."

“把后面的兩個(gè)'很棒'去掉還不錯(cuò)，”夏洛說，“我想‘很棒’這個(gè)詞可能會(huì)打動(dòng)祖克曼。”

"But Charlotte," said Wilbur, "I'm not terrific."

“可是夏洛，”威伯說，“我并不是很棒。”

"That doesn't make a particle of difference," replied Charlotte. " Not a particle. People believe almost anything they see in print. Does anybody here know how to spell 'terrific'?"

“那沒關(guān)系，”夏洛回答，“這沒多大影響。人們幾乎相信他們看到的每一個(gè)詞。這里有什么人知道‘很棒’這個(gè)單詞怎么拼嗎?”

"I think," said the gander," it's tee double ee double rr double rr double eye double ff double eye double see see see see see."

“我想，”公鵝說，“它是由一個(gè)字母T，兩個(gè)ee，兩個(gè)rr兩個(gè)rr，兩個(gè)眼睛兩個(gè)ff兩個(gè)眼睛，兩個(gè)看見看見看見看見看見組成。”①

"What kind of an acrobat do you think I am?" said Charlotte in disgust. "I would have to have St. Vitus's Dance to weave a word like that into my web."

“你以為我是個(gè)賣藝的嗎?”夏洛生氣地說，“除非我有圣威圖斯那樣的跳舞技巧(St.Vitus's Dance)②才能把這么多的字母織到我的網(wǎng)里。”

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," said the gander.

“對不起，對不起，對不起。”公鵝說。

Then the oldest sheep spoke up. "I agree that there should be something new written in the web if Wilbur's life is to be saved. And if Charlotte needs help in finding words, I think she can get it from our friend Templeton. The rat visits the dump regularly and has access to old magazines. He can tear out bits of advertisements and bring them up here to the barn cellar, so that Charlotte can have something to copy."

然后老羊開始說話了。“如果可以救威伯的命，我也同意在網(wǎng)里織進(jìn)新詞匯。如果夏洛需要誰來幫她找新詞兒，我想她能從我們的朋友坦普爾曼那里得到幫助。老鼠常去垃圾堆翻，能從那里找到舊雜志。他可以撕一點(diǎn)上面的廣告回來，帶到谷倉的地窖里，這樣夏洛就可以把有用的話抄下來了。”

"Good idea," said Charlotte. "But I'm not sure Templeton will be willing to help. You know how he is--always looking out for himself, never thinking of the other fellow."

“好主意，”夏洛說，“但我不知坦普爾曼是否肯幫我。你了解他是什么樣的——總是為自己打算，從不想到別人。”

"I be I can get him to help," said the old sheep. "I'll appeal to his baser instincts, of which he has plenty. Here he comes now. Everybody keep quiet while I put the matter up to him!"

“我打賭，我能讓他幫你，”老羊說，“我將利用他自私的天性，他可是非常自私的。現(xiàn)在他過來了，在我對他說話的時(shí)候大家要保持肅靜!”

The rat entered the barn the way he always did--creeping along close to the wall.

老鼠以他一貫的方式進(jìn)了谷倉——順著墻角匍匐前行。

"What's up?" he asked, seeing the animals assembled.

“發(fā)生了什么事兒?”他看著聚會(huì)的動(dòng)物問。

"We're holding a directors' meeting," replied the old sheep.

“我們正在開一個(gè)董事會(huì)。”老羊回答。

"Well, break it up!" said Templeton. "Meetings bore me." And the rat began to climb a rope that hung against the wall.

“好，散會(huì)!”坦普爾曼說，“我最受不了開會(huì)。”老鼠開始往懸在墻對面的繩子上爬去。

"Look," said the old sheep, "next time you go to the dump, Templeton, bring back a clipping from a magazine. Charlotte needs new ideas so she can write messages in her web and save Wilbur's life."

“嘿，”老羊說，“你下次去垃圾堆時(shí)，坦普爾曼，只要從雜志帶回一份剪報(bào)來就行。夏洛需要能織到網(wǎng)里的新詞兒，這可以用來救威伯的命。”

"Let him die," said the rat. "I should worry."

“讓他死好了，”老鼠說，“我不會(huì)想他的。”

"You'll worry all right when next winter comes," said the sheep. "You'll worry all right on a zero morning next January when Wilbur is dead and nobody comes down here with a nice pail of warm slops to pour into the trough. Wilbur's leftover food is your chief source of supply, Templeton. You know that. Wilbur's food is your food; therefore Wilbur's destiny and you destiny are closely linked. If Wilbur is killed and his trough stands empty day after day, you'll grow so thin we can look right through your stomach and see objects on the other side."

“冬天來時(shí)你就會(huì)完全想他的，”老羊說，“在一月份的冰冷的早晨，你完全會(huì)發(fā)愁的，那時(shí)威伯已經(jīng)死了，沒人再把溫暖的豬食倒進(jìn)豬食槽了。威伯的剩飯不是你最主要的食物來源嗎，坦普爾曼?你知道這一點(diǎn)。威伯的食物就是你的食物，因此威伯的命運(yùn)緊緊和你聯(lián)在一起。如果威伯被殺了，他的食槽每天就都會(huì)是空的，你就會(huì)餓得肚子空空的，那時(shí)我們將都能看透你的胃，知道那里面都有什么東西了。”

Templeton's whiskers quivered.

坦普爾曼的胡子都嚇抖了。

"Maybe you're right," he said gruffly. "I'm making a trip to the dump tomorrow afternoon. I'll bring back a magazine clipping if I can find one."

“可能你是對的，”他沙啞地說，“明天下午我會(huì)去垃圾堆看看。如果我能找到一本雜志，我會(huì)帶一份剪報(bào)回來。”

"Thanks," said Charlotte. "The meeting is now adjourned. I have a busy evening ahead of me. I've got to tear my web apart and write 'Terrific.'"

“謝謝，”夏洛說，“會(huì)議到此結(jié)束。我今晚還有事情要忙呢。我將要把我的網(wǎng)撕開一部分，在里面織上‘很棒’。”

Wilbur blushed. "But I'm not terrific, Charlotte. I'm just about average for a pig."

威伯臉紅了。“可是我真的不是很棒，夏洛。我不過和一般的豬差不多而已。”

"You're terrific as far as I'm concerned," replied Charlotte, sweetly, "and that's what counts. You're my best friend, and I think you're sensational. Now stop arguing and go get some sleep!"

“你比我看上去的樣子還棒，”夏洛甜甜地回答，“就是這樣。你是我最好的朋友，所以我想你就是很棒?，F(xiàn)在不許吵了，睡個(gè)好覺!”