"I can see that," replied Wilbur. He gave a jump in the air, twirled, ran a few steps, stopped, looked all around, sniffed¹ the smells of afternoon, and then set off walking down through the orchard². Pausing in the shade of an apple tree, he put his strong snout into the ground and began pushing, digging, and rooting. He felt very happy. He had plowed³ up quite a piece of ground before anyone noticed him. Mrs. Zuckerman was the first to see him. She saw him from the kitchen window, and she immediately shouted for the men.

 

"Ho-mer!" she cried. "Pig's out! Lurvy! Pig's out! Homer! Lurvy! Pig's out. He's down there under that apple tree."

 

"Now the trouble starts," thought Wilbur. "Now I'll catch it."

 

The goose heard the racket and she, too, started hollering. "Run-run-run downhill, make for the woods, the woods!" she shouted to Wilbur. "They'll never-never-never catch you in the woods."

 

The cocker spaniel heard the commotion⁴ and he ran out from the barn to join the chase. Mr. Zuckerman heard, and he came out of the machine shed where he was mending a tool. Lurvy, the hired man, heard the noise and came up from the asparagus patch where he was pulling weeds. Everybody walked toward Wilbur and Wilbur didn't know what to do. The woods seemed a long way off, and anyway, he had never been down there in the woods and wasn't sure he would like it.

 

"Get around behind him, Lurvy," said Mr. Zuckerman, "and drive him toward the barn! And take it easy-don't rush him! I'll go and get a bucket of slops."

 

The news of Wilbur's escape spread rapidly among the animals on the place. Whenever any creature broke loose on Zuckerman's farm, the event was of great interest to the others. The goose shouted to the nearest cow that Wilbur was free, and soon all the cows knew. Then one of the cows 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, pricked⁶ up their ears when they heard the goose hollering; and soon the horses had caught on to what was happening. "Wilbur's out," they said. Every animal stirred and lifted its head and became excited to know that one of his friends had got free and was no longer penned up or tied fast.

 

Wilbur didn't know what to do or which way to run. It seemed as through everybody was after him. "If this is what it's like to be free," he thought, "I believe I'd rather be penned up in my own yard." The cocker spaniel was sneaking⁷ up on him from one side. Lurvy the hired man was sneaking up on him from the other side. Mrs. Zuckerman stood ready to head him off if he started for the garden, and now Mr. Zuckerman was coming down toward him carrying a pail." This is really awful," thought Wilbur. "Why doesn't Fern come?" He began to cry.

 

The goose took command and began to give orders.

 

"Don't just stand there, Wilbur! Dodge⁸ about, dodge about!" cried the goose." Skip around, run toward me, slip in and out, in and out, in and out! Make for the woods! Twist and turn!"

 

The cocker spaniel sprang for Wilbur's hind⁵ leg. Wilbur jumped and ran. Lurvy reached out and grabbed. Mrs. Zuckerman screamed at Lurvy. The goose cheered for Wilbur. Wilbur dodged⁹ between Lurvy's legs. Lurvy missed Wilbur and grabbed the spaniel instead. "Nicely done, nicely done!" 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!" honked¹⁰ 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 tried to follow the instructions his friends were giving him, but he couldn't run downhill and uphill at the same time, and he couldn't turn and twist when he was jumping and dancing, and he was crying so hard he could barely see anything that was happening. After all, Wilbur was a very young pig-not much more than a baby, really. He wished Fern were there to take him in his arms and comfort him. When he looked up and saw Mr. Zuckerman standing¹¹ quite close to him, holding a pail of warm slops, he felt relieved. He lifted his nose and sniffed. The smell was delicious-warm milk, potato skins, wheat middlings, Kellogg's Corn Flakes¹², and a popover left from the Zuckermans' breakfast.#p#分页标题#e#

 

"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 lure¹³ you back into captivity-ivity. He's appealing to your stomach."

 

Wilbur didn't care. The food smelled appetizing. He took another step toward the pail.

 

"Pig, pig!" said Mr. Zuckerman in a kind voice, and began walking slowly toward the barnyard, looking all about him innocently, as if he didn't know that a little white pig was following along behind him.

 

"You'll be sorry-sorry-sorry," called the goose.

 

Wilbur didn't care. He kept walking toward the pail of slops.

 

"You'll miss your freedom," honked the goose. "An hour of freedom is worth a barrel of slops."

 

Wilbur didn't care.

 

When Mr. Zuckerman reached the pigpen, he climbed over the fence and poured the slops into the trough. Then he pulled the loose board away from the fence, so that there was a wide hole for Wilbur to walk through.

 

"Reconsider, reconsider!" cried the goose.

 

Wilbur paid no attention. He stepped through the fence into his yard. He walked to the trough and took a long drink of 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 some 8-penny nails and nailed the board in place. Then he and Mr. Zuckerman leaned lazily on the fence and Mr. Zuckerman scratched Wilbur'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 warm milk inside his stomach. He felt the pleasant rubbing of the stick along his itchy back. He felt peaceful and happy and sleepy. This had been a tiring afternoon. It was still only about four o'clock but Wilbur was ready for bed.

 

"I'm really too young to go out into the world alone," he thought as he lay down.

 

“我明白你的意思，”威伯回答。他在空气中跳跃着，转了几个圈儿，又跑了几步，才停了下来，四处搜寻着，嗅着午后的气息，不久，他向果园走去。他停到一棵苹果树荫下，把他强壮的鼻子插进土里，开始尽情地拱、挖、掘。他感到非常的快活。在有人注意到他之前，他已经掘起很多土了。祖克曼太太是第一个看见他的。她从厨房的窗子里望见了他，便开始喊人。

 

“霍——默！”她喊。“猪跑出来了！鲁维！猪跑了！霍默！鲁维！猪跑了。他在那棵苹果树下面呢。”

 

“现在麻烦来了，”威伯想。“现在我要被抓住了。”

 

母鹅也听见了她的吵嚷，便对威伯大喊。“跑-跑-跑到下坡去，往树林里跑，树林！”她拼命地嚷。“他们在树林里永远-永远-永远抓不住你。”

 

听到这场骚动的长毛狗从谷仓里跑出去追。祖克曼先生听到喊声，忙从工作间里跑出来，放下了手中正在修理的农具。在龙须菜地里拔草的雇工鲁维，听到喊声，也赶紧跑了出来。每个人都在朝威伯逼近！威伯不知所措了。到树林的路似乎是那么远，而且，他还从没进过树林，也不知道是否会喜欢呆在树林里呢。

 

“绕到他身后去，鲁维，”祖克曼先生说，“把他朝谷仓这边赶！小心点儿——别吓坏他！我去拿一桶猪食来。”

 

威伯逃跑的消息在这里的动物中间迅速传开了。以前从没有任何一只动物能逃离祖克曼先生的农场呢，因此这事情引起了大家极大的兴趣。母鹅对离她最近的母牛嚷道，威伯自由了，不久所有的母牛都知道了这个新闻。然后一头母牛把这消息告诉了一只绵羊，不久所有的绵羊也知道了。羊羔们又从他们的母亲那里了解了一切。谷仓的马厩里的马们，竖起的耳朵也听到了母鹅的喊叫，因此不久所有的马也明白发生了什么事儿。“威伯逃了，”他们说。每一个动物都兴奋地抬起头，变得分外的激动，因为他们知道他们的一个朋友已经获得了自由，再不用被紧紧的关在圈里了。

 

威伯不知该怎么做，往哪里跑。看起来好像每个人都在追他。“如果这就是美好的自由，”他想，“我还不如被关在我自己的院子里呢。”长毛狗从一边悄悄地靠过来，雇工鲁维也正从另一边渐渐逼近。祖克曼太太摆出了一副准备拦截的架势——如果威伯要往花园里跑的话。现在，祖克曼先生拎着桶正朝威伯走过来。“这真太可怕了，”威伯想。“为什么芬还不来？”他开始哭了。

 

母鹅给威伯发出一个又一个指令。

 

“别傻站着，威伯！快逃，快逃！”母鹅大叫。“转圈跳，往我这边儿跳，溜过来冲出去，过来出去，过来出去！往树林跑！迂回前进！”#p#分页标题#e#

 

长毛狗猛地蹿起来咬向威伯的后腿。威伯蹦着高儿跑开。鲁维冲上前去抓威伯。祖克曼太太对鲁维尖叫起来。母鹅还在为威伯加油。威伯从鲁维的双腿间逃了出去，鲁维没有抓到威伯，反一把搂住了长毛狗。“干得好，干得好！”母鹅叫道。“再来一个，再来一个！”

 

“往下坡跑！”母牛们出主意。

 

“向我这里跑！”公鹅尖叫。

 

“往上坡跑！”绵羊大喊。

 

“迂回前进！”母鹅嘎嘎地叫着。

 

“跳，蹦高儿！”公鸡叫。

 

“小心鲁维！”母牛提醒。

 

“小心祖克曼！”公鹅扯着嗓子喊。

 

“小心那条狗！”绵羊大叫。

 

“听我的，听我的！”母鹅尖叫。

 

可怜的威伯被他们的乱叫弄得又晕又怕。他可不喜欢成为这些乱子的焦点。他本想试着听从朋友们给他的建议，可他不能同时既往上坡跑，又往下坡跑，而且，他也不能一边蹦起来一边迂回前进，更何况他哭喊得这么厉害，几乎弄不清周围都发生了什么事。真的，威伯毕竟只不过是一头比婴儿大不多少的小猪罢了。他只希望芬此刻在场，能把自己抱起来安慰一番。当他抬头看到祖克曼先生就静静地站在身旁，手里拎着盛满热乎乎的稀饭的食桶时，才稍稍宽了心。他耸起鼻子使劲儿闻着。那些味道多鲜美呀——有热牛奶，土豆皮，粗麦粉，凯洛格牌玉米片，还有祖克曼先生早餐吃剩的酥饼呢。

 

“来呀，小猪！”祖克曼先生说着，敲了敲食桶。“来呀，小猪！”威伯朝那只桶走了一步。

 

“不——不——不！”母鹅说。“这桶是个并不新鲜的骗局，威伯。别上套儿！别上套儿！他是想以此诱捕你。他正在用好吃的诱惑你的肚子。”

 

威伯不在乎。这食物闻起来太开胃了。他又朝食桶走了一步。

 

“小猪，小猪！”祖克曼先生甜蜜地叫着，开始慢慢地往谷仓方向走，同时弄出一副纯真的表情回头看着，好像他不知道这头小白猪正跟在他后面走一样。

 

“你会后悔-后悔-后悔的。”母鹅叫道。

 

威伯不在乎。他还在朝食桶走。

 

“你会失去你的自由的，”母鹅大喊。“一小时的自由要比一大桶猪食更可贵！”

 

威伯还是不在乎。

 

祖克曼先生走到猪圈附近，便爬过栅栏，把猪食倒进了猪食槽。然后他把那块松动的木板从栅栏上全拽下来，好让威伯能很容易的进去。

 

“再想想，再想想！”母鹅提醒道。

 

威伯什么别的也没想。他一步步走进栅栏，到了他的院子里。他走向食槽，吸食了半天，大口大口地喝着牛奶，嚼着酥饼。能再回家真是太好了。

 

就在威伯饱餐之际，鲁维取了把锤子和一些八分长的钉子来，把那块板子钉了回去。然后，他和祖克曼先生懒洋洋地倚在栅栏旁。祖克曼先生用一根柴枝搔着威伯的后背。

 

“他真是一头猪，”鲁维说。

 

“是的，他会成为一头好猪的，”祖克曼先生说。

 

威伯听到了对他的赞扬。他感到肚子里的牛奶暖暖的。他也很愿意在那根柴枝上蹭痒。他既幸福又满足，想去睡一觉了。这真是一个令人疲倦的下午。虽然此刻只不过才四点钟，威伯却准备上床就寝了。

 

“我真的太年轻，还不适合一个人在这世上闯，”躺下时他这么想。

点击收听单词发音