E.B.White

The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled ofhay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspirationof tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patientcows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell -- as though nothingbad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled ofgrain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubberboots and of new rope. And whenever the cat was givena fish-head to eat， the barn would smell of fish. But mostlyit smelled of hay， for there was always hay in the great loftup overhead. And there was always hay being pitched downto the cows and the horses and the sheep.

The barn was pleasantly warm in winter when the animalsspent most of their time indoors， and it was pleasantlycool in summer when the big doors stood wide open to thebreeze. The barn had stalls on the main floor for the workhourses， tie-ups on the main floor for the cows， a sheepfolddown below for the sheep， a pigpen down below for Wilbur，and it was full of all sorts of things that you find in barns：ladders， grindsones， pitch forks， monkey wrenches， scythes，lawn mowers， snow shovels， ax handles， milk pails， waterbuckets， empty grain sacks， and rusty rat traps. It was thekind of barn that swallows like to build their nests in. It wasthe kind of barn that children like to play in. And the wholething was owned by Fern’s uncle， Mr. Homer L. Zuckerman.

Wilbur’s new home was in the lower part of the barndirectly underneath the cows. Mr. Zuckerman knew that amanure pile is a good place to keep a young pig. Pigs needwarmth， and it was warm and comfortable down there inthe barn cellar on the south side.

Fern came almost every day to visit him. She found anold milking stool that had been discarded， and she placedthe stool in the sheepfold next to Wilbur’s pen. Here she satquietly during the long afternoon， thinking and listeningand watching Wilbur. The sheep soon got to know her andtrust her. So did the geese， who lived with the sheep. All theanimals trusted her， she was so quiet and friendly. Mr. Zuckermandid not allow her to take Wilbur out， and he did notallow to git into the pigpen. But he told Fern that she couldsit on the stool and watch Wilbur as long as she wanted to.It made her happy just to be near the pig， and it made Wilburhappy to know that she was sitting there， right outsidehis pen. But he never had any fun—no walks， no redes， noswims.

One afternoon in June， when Wilbur was almost twomonths old， he wandered out into his smalll yard outsidethe barn. Fern had not arrived for her usual visit. Wilburstood in the sun feeling lonely and bored.

“There’s never anything to do around here，” hethought. He walked slowly to his food trough and sniffed tosee if anything had been overlooked at lunch. He found asmall strip of potato skin and ate it. His back itched， so heleaned against the fence and rubbed against the boards.When he tired of this， he walked indoors， climbed to the topof the manured pile ， and sat down. He didn’t feel like goingto sleep， he didn’t feel like digging， he was tired ofstanding still， tired of lying down.“I’m less than twomonths old and I’m tired of living，”he said. He walked outto the yard again.

“When I’m out here，”he said，“there’s no place to gobut in. When I’m indoors， there’s no place to go but out inthe yard.”

“That’s where you’re wrong， my friend， my friend，”said a voice.

Wilbur looked through the fence and saw the goosestanding there.

“You don’t have to stay in that dirty—little dirty—littledirty—little yard，”said the goose， who talked rather fast.“One of the boards is loose. Push on it， push—push—pushon it， and come on out！”

“What？”saidWilbur.“Say it slower！”

“At—at—at， at the risk of repeating myself，”said thegoose，“I suggest that you come on out. It’s wonderful outhere.”

“Did you say a board was loose？”

“That I did， that I did，”said the goose.

Wilbur walked up to the fence and saw that the goosewas right—one board was loose. He put his head sown，shut his eyes， and pushed. The board gave way. In a minutehe had squeezed through the fence and was standing in thelong grass outside his yard. The goose chuckled.

“How does it feel to be free？”she asked.

“I like it ，”saidWilbur.“That is， I guess I like it.”

Actually， Wilbur felt queer to be outside his fence，with nothing between him and the big world.

“Where do you think I’d better go？”

“Anywhere you like， anywhere you like，”said thegoose.“Go down through the orchard， root up the sod！ Godown through the garden， dig up the radishes！ Root up everything！Eat grass！ Look for corn！ Look for oats！ Run allover！ Skip and dance， jump and prance！ Go down throughthe orchard and stroll in the woods！ The world is a wonderfulplace when you’re young.”

“I can see that，”replied Wilbur. He gave a jump in theair， twirled， ran a few steps， stopped， looked all around，sniffed the smells of afternoon， and then set off walkingdown through the orchard. Pausing in the shade of an appletree， he put his strong snout into the ground and began pushing，digging， and rooting. He felt very happy. He hadplowed up quite a piece of ground before anyone noticedhim. Mrs. Zuckerman was the first to see him. She saw himfrom the kitchen window， and she immediately shouted forthe men.

“Ho- mer！”she cried.“Pig’s out！ Lurvy！ Pig’s out！Homer！ Lurvy！ Pig’s out. He’s down there under that appletree.”

“Now the trouble starts，”thought Wilbur.“ Now I’llcatch it.”

The goose heard the racket and she， too， started hollering.“Run—run—run downhill， make for the woods， thewoods！”she shouted to Wilbur.“They’ll never—never—never catch you in the woods.”

The cocker spaniel heard the commotion and he ranout from the barn to join the chase. Mr. Zuckerman heard，and he came out of the machine shed where he was mendinga tool. Lurvy， the hired man， heard the noise and cameup from the asparagus patch where he was pulling weeds.Everybody walked toward Wilbur and Wilbur didn’t knowwhat to do. The woods seemed a long way off， and anyway，he had never been down there in the woods and wasn’t surehe would like it.

“Get around behind him， Lurvy，”said Mr. Zuckerman，“and drive him toward the barn！ And take it easy—don’trush him！ I’ll go and get a bucket of slops.”

The news of Wilbur’s escape spread rapidly amongthe animals on the place. Whenever any creature brokeloose on Zuckerman’s farm， the event was of great interestto the others. The goose shouted to the nearest cow that Wil-bur was free， and soon all the cows knew. Then one of thecows told one of the sheep， and soon all the sheep knew.The lambs learned about it from their mothers. The horses，in their stalls in the barn， pricked up their ears when theyheard the goose hollering; and soon the horses had caughton to what was happening.“Wilbur’s out，”they said. Everyanimal stirred and lifted its head and became excited toknow that one of his friends had got free and was no longerpenned up or tied fast.

Wilbur didn’t know what to do or which way to run. Itseemed as through everybody was after him“. If this is whatit’s like to be free，”he thought，“ I believe I’d rather bepenned up in my own yard.”

The cocker spaniel was sneaking up on him from oneside. Lurvy the hired man was sneaking up on him from theother side. Mrs. Zuckerman stood ready to head him off ifhe started for the garden， and now Mr. Zuckerman was comingdown toward him carrying a pail“. This is really awful，”thoughtWilbur.“Why doesn’t Fern come？”He began to cry.

The goose took command and began to give orders.

“Don’t just stand there， Wilbur！ Dodge about， dodgeabout！”cried the goose. “ Skip around， run toward me， slipin and out， in and out， in and out！ Make for the woods！Twist and turn！”

The cocker spaniel sprang for Wilbur’s hind leg. Wilburjumped and ran. Lurvy reached out and grabbed. Mrs.Zuckerman screamed at Lurvy. The goose cheered for Wilbur.Wilbur dodged between Lurvy’s legs. Lurvy missedWilbur and grabbed the spaniel instead.“Nicely done， nicelydone！”cried the goose“. Try it again， try it again！”

“Run downhill！”suggested the cows.

“Run toward me！”yelled the gander.

“Run uphill！”cried the sheep.

“Turn and twist！”honked the goose.

“Jump and dance！”said the rooster.

“Look out for Lurvy！”called the cows.

“Look out for Zuckerman！”yelled the gander.

“Watch out for the dog！”cried the sheep.

“Listen to me， listen to me！”screamed the goose.

Poor Wilbur was dazed and frightened by this hullabaloo.He didn’t like being the center of all this fuss. He triedto follow the instructions his friends were giving him， buthe couldn’t run downhill and uphill at the same time， andhe couldn’t turn and twist when he was jumping and dancing，and he was crying so hard he could barely see anythingthat was happening. After all， Wilbur was a very youngpig—not much more than a baby， really. He wished Fernwere there to take him in his arms and comfort him. Whenhe looked up and saw Mr. Zuckerman standing quite closeto him， holding a pail of warm slops， he felt relieved. Helifted his nose and sniffed. The smell was delicious—warmmilk， potato skins， wheat middlings， Kellogg’s CornFlakes， and a popover left from the Zuckermans’breakfast.

“Come， pig！”said Mr. Zuckerman， tapping the pail.“Come pig！”

Wilbur took a step toward the pail.

“No—no—no！”said the goose.“It’s the old pail trick，Wilbur. Don’t fall for it， don’t fall for it ！ He’s trying to lureyou back into captivity. He’s appealing to your stomach.”

Wilbur didn’t care. The food smelled appetizing. Hetook another step toward the pail.

“Pig， pig！”said Mr. Zuckerman in a kind voice， andbegan walking slowly toward the barnyard， looking allabout him innocently， as if he didn’t know that a little whitepig was following along behind him.

“You’ll be sorry—sorry—sorry，”called the goose.

Wilbur didn’t care. He kept walking toward the pail ofslops.

“You’ll miss your freedom，”honked the goose.“Anhour of freedom is worth a barrel of slops.”

Wilbur didn’t care.

When Mr. Zuckerman reached the pigpen， he climbedover the fence and poured the slops into the trough. Then hepulled the loose board away from the fence， so that therewas a wide hole forWilbur to walk through.

“Reconsider， reconsider！”cried the goose.

Wilbur paid no attention. He stepped through the fenceinto his yard. He walked to the trough and took a long drinkof slops， sucking in the milk hungrily and chewing the popover.It was good to be home again.

While Wilbur ate， Lurvy fetched a hammer and some8- penny nails and nailed the board in place. Then he andMr. Zuckerman leaned lazily on the fence and Mr. ZuckermanscratchedWilbur’s back with a stick.

“He’s quite a pig，”said Lurvy.

“Yes， he’ll make a good pig，”said Mr. Zuckerman.

Wilbur heard the words of praise. He felt the warmmilk inside his stomach. He felt the pleasant rubbing of thestick along his itchy back. He felt peaceful and happy andsleepy. This had been a tiring afternoon. It was still onlyabout four o'clock butWilbur was ready for bed.

“I’m really too young to go out into the world alone，”he thought as he lay down.

谷倉(cāng)很大，也很舊。里面全是干草和糞肥的氣味。還有種跑累了的馬身上的汗味兒與好脾氣的母牛噴出的奇妙的香甜味道。空氣中常駐的，是一種和平的氣息——好像這個(gè)世界上再不會(huì)有壞事情發(fā)生了。這里偶爾還會(huì)有谷粒的香味，馬具上的草料味，車子上的潤(rùn)滑油味，橡膠靴子味，或是新扎的草繩味兒。如果貓兒叼著人們?nèi)咏o他的魚頭到這里來享受時(shí)，谷倉(cāng)里就會(huì)多了股魚腥味兒。不過，這里面最濃的味道卻是干草味兒，因?yàn)楣葌}(cāng)上面的大閣樓里總是堆滿了干草。這些干草被不斷地扔給下面的母牛、馬、綿羊們吃。

冬天，當(dāng)動(dòng)物們大部分時(shí)間呆在室內(nèi)時(shí)會(huì)覺得這個(gè)谷倉(cāng)格外的溫暖;而夏天呢，當(dāng)谷倉(cāng)的門大大敞開著，微風(fēng)吹進(jìn)來，這里又變得說不出的涼爽。谷倉(cāng)上層有馬廄、牛棚，下層的地窖里是羊圈、威伯住的豬圈;里面還堆著你能從谷倉(cāng)里找到的各類的器具：梯子，磨石，長(zhǎng)柄草叉，活手搬子，大號(hào)的鐮刀，割草機(jī)，清雪鏟，斧子柄兒，牛奶桶，水桶，空糧食袋子，生銹的捕鼠夾等等。這是燕子們喜歡來筑巢的谷倉(cāng)。這也是孩子們喜歡在里面玩耍的谷倉(cāng)。這里的一切都是屬于芬的舅舅，霍默·L·祖克曼先生的。

威伯的新家在谷倉(cāng)的下層，正好在牛棚底下祖克曼先生知道牛糞堆是養(yǎng)小豬的好地方。豬喜歡溫暖，而谷倉(cāng)下朝南的地窖正是溫暖而又舒適的地方。

芬差不多每天都來看威伯。她找到一張沒人要的擠奶凳，于是便把凳子搬到緊挨著威伯的豬圈的羊圈旁。整個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的下午，她就這么靜靜地坐在那里，望著威伯，想著，聽著。綿羊不久便認(rèn)識(shí)了她，并信任她了。和羊住在一起的母鵝也是。所有的動(dòng)物都信任她，因?yàn)樗悄敲吹奈撵o、和善。祖克曼先生不讓她把威伯帶出去，也不讓她進(jìn)豬圈。不過，他告訴芬，如果她愿意，她坐在凳子上看威伯多久都行。能靠近威伯她就感到很幸福了;知道芬就坐在他家的外面，威伯也感到無比的快活。只是他卻再不能做從前的樂事了——不能再散步，不能再坐嬰兒車，也不能再去游泳了。

六月的一個(gè)下午，差不多兩個(gè)月大的威伯游蕩到他在谷倉(cāng)外的小院子里。那天芬還沒像往常一樣來看他。站在陽光下的威伯，覺得孤單而又無聊。

“在這里從來沒任何事兒可做，”他想。他慢慢地走到食槽前，用鼻子搜尋著，想找找是否有忘了吃的午餐。他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一小截土豆皮，就把它吃了下去。他感到背有點(diǎn)兒癢，就斜靠到柵欄上，在木板上使勁地蹭著。當(dāng)他蹭膩了，便走回他的家門口，爬到牛糞堆頂上，坐了下來。他不想睡，也不想再亂拱了，他厭倦了再這么靜靜地傻站著，也厭倦了睡覺?！拔也呕盍瞬坏絻蓚€(gè)月，就對(duì)生活厭煩了，”他說。他又往院子里去了。

“當(dāng)我來到這兒，”他說，“除了回家沒別的地方可去。當(dāng)我進(jìn)了家，除了院子也沒別的地方可逛。”

“你錯(cuò)了，我的朋友，我的朋友?！币粋€(gè)聲音說。

威伯往柵欄那邊看去，發(fā)現(xiàn)一只母鵝就站在那里。

“你不用老呆在那個(gè)骯臟的——小骯臟的——小骯臟的——小院子里，”母鵝說得相當(dāng)?shù)目??！斑@兒有一塊木板松了。推開它，推——推——推開它，就能夠出去！”

“什么？”威伯說?！罢f慢一點(diǎn)兒！”

“讓——讓——讓，讓我冒險(xiǎn)重復(fù)一遍，”母鵝說，“我的意思是，建議你跑出去。這外面的世界精彩極了?！?/p>

“你是說有塊木板松了？”

“那就是我要說的，那就是?！蹦根Z說。

威伯走到柵欄旁，發(fā)現(xiàn)母鵝說得對(duì)——真的有一塊木板松了。他低下頭，閉起眼，用力撞過去。木板松開了。沒用一分鐘，他就擠過了柵欄，來到院子外的長(zhǎng)草叢中了。母鵝嘎嘎大笑起來。

“自由的滋味如何？”她問。

“我喜歡，”威伯說?！拔业囊馑际钦f，我想我喜歡這感覺?！?/p>

實(shí)際上，當(dāng)威伯站在柵欄外，望著這個(gè)與自己毫無阻隔的大大的世界的時(shí)候，他只有種夢(mèng)幻般的，說不清的感覺。

“你說我去哪兒比較好？”

“你喜歡的任何地方，你喜歡的任何地方，”母鵝說。“到果園那里去，把路上的草皮翻出來！到花園去，把蘿卜拱出來！拱開一切！吃草！找玉米粒兒！尋找燕麥！把一切都?jí)旱?！蹦高和跳舞，后腳立地跳起來！走過果園，去樹林里漫步！在你年輕時(shí)世界是多么美妙?！?/p>

“我明白你的意思，”威伯回答。他在空氣中跳躍著，轉(zhuǎn)了幾個(gè)圈兒，又跑了幾步，才停了下來，四處搜尋著，嗅著午后的氣息，不久，他向果園走去。他停在一棵蘋果樹蔭下，把他強(qiáng)壯的鼻子插進(jìn)土里，開始盡情地拱、挖、掘。他感到非常的快活。在有人注意到他之前，他已經(jīng)掘起很多土了。祖克曼太太是第一個(gè)看見他的。她從廚房的窗子里望見了他，便開始喊人。

“霍——默！”她喊。“豬跑出來了！魯維！豬跑了！霍默！魯維！豬跑了。他在那棵蘋果樹下面呢?！?/p>

“現(xiàn)在麻煩來了，”威伯想?！艾F(xiàn)在我要被抓住了。”

母鵝也聽見了她的吵嚷，便對(duì)威伯大喊。“跑——跑——跑到下坡去，往樹林里跑，樹林！”她拼命地嚷?！八麄?cè)跇淞掷镉肋h(yuǎn)——永遠(yuǎn)——永遠(yuǎn)抓不住你?！?/p>

聽到這場(chǎng)騷動(dòng)的長(zhǎng)毛狗從谷倉(cāng)里跑出去追。祖克曼先生聽到喊聲，忙從工作間里跑出來，放下了手中正在修理的農(nóng)具。在龍須菜地里拔草的雇工魯維，聽到喊聲，也趕緊跑了出來。每個(gè)人都在朝威伯逼近！威伯不知所措了。到樹林的路似乎是那么遠(yuǎn)，而且，他還從沒進(jìn)過樹林，也不知道是否會(huì)喜歡呆在樹林里呢。

“繞到他身后去，魯維，”祖克曼先生說，“把他朝谷倉(cāng)這邊趕！小心點(diǎn)兒——?jiǎng)e嚇壞他！我去拿一桶豬食來?！?/p>

威伯逃跑的消息在這里的動(dòng)物中間迅速傳開了。以前從沒有任何一只動(dòng)物能逃離祖克曼先生的農(nóng)場(chǎng)呢，因此這事情引起了大家極大的興趣。母鵝對(duì)離她最近的母牛嚷道，威伯自由了，不久所有的母牛都知道了這個(gè)新聞。然后一頭母牛把這消息告訴了一只綿羊，不久所有的綿羊也知道了。羊羔們又從他們的母親那里了解了一切。谷倉(cāng)的馬廄里的馬們，豎起的耳朵也聽到了母鵝的喊叫，因此不久所有的馬也明白發(fā)生了什么事兒。“威伯逃了，”他們說。每一個(gè)動(dòng)物都興奮地抬起頭，變得分外的激動(dòng)，因?yàn)樗麄冎浪麄兊囊粋€(gè)朋友已經(jīng)獲得了自由，再不用被緊緊地關(guān)在圈里了。

威伯不知該怎么做，往哪里跑。看起來好像每個(gè)人都在追他。“如果這就是美好的自由，”他想，“我還不如被關(guān)在我自己的院子里呢?！?/p>

長(zhǎng)毛狗從一邊悄悄地靠過來，雇工魯維也正從另一邊漸漸逼近。祖克曼太太擺出了一副準(zhǔn)備攔截的架勢(shì)——如果威伯要往花園里跑的話。現(xiàn)在，祖克曼先生拎著桶正朝威伯走過來?！斑@真太可怕了，”威伯想?！盀槭裁捶疫€不來？”他開始哭了。

母鵝給威伯發(fā)出一個(gè)又一個(gè)指令。

“別傻站著，威伯！快逃，快逃！”母鵝大叫?！稗D(zhuǎn)圈跳，往我這邊兒跳，溜過來沖出去，過來出去，過來出去！往樹林跑！迂回前進(jìn)！”

長(zhǎng)毛狗猛地躥起來咬向威伯的后腿。威伯蹦著高兒跑開。魯維沖上前去抓威伯。祖克曼太太對(duì)魯維尖叫起來。母鵝還在為威伯加油。威伯從魯維的雙腿間逃了出去，魯維沒有抓到威伯，反一把摟住了長(zhǎng)毛狗?！案傻煤?，干得好！”母鵝叫道?！霸賮硪粋€(gè)，再來一個(gè)！”

“往坡下跑！”母牛們出主意。

“向我這里跑！”公鵝尖叫。

“往上坡跑！”綿羊大喊。

“迂回前進(jìn)！”母鵝嘎嘎地叫著。

“跳，蹦高兒！”公雞叫。

“小心魯維！”母牛提醒。

“小心祖克曼！”公鵝扯著嗓子喊。

“小心那條狗！”綿羊大叫。

“聽我的，聽我的！”母鵝尖叫。

可憐的威伯被他們的亂叫弄得又暈又怕。他可不喜歡成為這些噪聲的焦點(diǎn)。他本想試著聽從朋友們給他的建議，可他不能同時(shí)既往上坡跑，又往下坡跑，而且，他也不能一邊蹦起來一邊迂回前進(jìn)，更何況他哭喊得這么厲害，幾乎弄不清周圍都發(fā)生了什么事。真的，威伯畢竟只不過是一頭比嬰兒大不了多少的小豬罷了。他只希望芬此刻在場(chǎng)，能把自己抱起來安慰一番。當(dāng)他抬頭看到祖克曼先生就靜靜地站在身旁，手里拎著盛滿熱乎乎的稀飯的食桶時(shí)，才稍稍寬了心。他聳起鼻子使勁兒聞著。那些味道多鮮美呀——有熱牛奶，土豆皮，粗麥粉，凱洛格牌玉米片，還有祖克曼先生早餐吃剩的酥餅?zāi)亍?/p>

“來呀，小豬！”祖克曼先生說著，敲了敲食桶。“來呀，小豬！”

威伯朝那只桶走了一步。

“不——不——不！”母鵝說?！斑@桶是個(gè)并不新鮮的騙局，威伯。別上套兒！別上套兒！他是想以此誘捕你。他正在用好吃的誘惑你的肚子。”

威伯不在乎。這食物聞起來太開胃了。他又朝食桶走了一步。

“小豬，小豬！”祖克曼先生和善地叫著，開始慢慢地往谷倉(cāng)方向走，同時(shí)弄出一副純真的表情回頭92 看著，好像他不知道這頭小白豬正跟在他后面走一樣。

“你會(huì)后悔——后悔——后悔的?！蹦根Z叫道。

威伯不在乎。他還在朝食桶走。

“你會(huì)失去你的自由的，”母鵝大喊?！耙恍r(shí)的自由要比一大桶豬食更可貴！”

威伯還是不在乎。

祖克曼先生走到豬圈附近，便爬過柵欄，把豬食倒進(jìn)了豬食槽。然后他把那塊松動(dòng)的木板從柵欄上全拽下來，好讓威伯能很容易的進(jìn)去。

“再想想，再想想！”母鵝提醒道。

威伯什么別的也沒想。他一步步走進(jìn)柵欄，到了他的院子里。他走向食槽，吸食了半天，大口大口地喝著牛奶，嚼著酥餅。能再回家真是太好了。

就在威伯飽餐之際，魯維取了把錘子和一些八分長(zhǎng)的釘子來，把那塊板子釘了回去。然后，他和祖克曼先生懶洋洋地倚在柵欄旁。祖克曼先生用一根柴枝搔著威伯的后背。

“他真是一頭豬，”魯維說。

“是的，他會(huì)成為一頭好豬的，”祖克曼先生說。

威伯聽到了對(duì)他的贊揚(yáng)。他感到肚子里的牛奶暖暖的。他也很愿意在那根柴枝上蹭癢。他既幸福又滿足，想去睡一覺了。這真是一個(gè)令人疲倦的下午。雖然此刻只不過才四點(diǎn)鐘，威伯卻準(zhǔn)備上床就寢了。

“我真的太年輕，還不適合一個(gè)人在這世上闖，”躺下時(shí)他這么想。

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