《夏洛特的网》(节选)...arm.fernwasupstairschanginghersneaker
Chapter One Before Breakfast
“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
“Out to the hog house,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.”
“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.
“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”
“Do away with it?” shrieked Fern. “You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?”
Mrs. Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table. “Don’t yell, Fern!” she said. “Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.”
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with her father.
“Please don’t kill it!” she sobbed. “It’s unfair.”
Mr. Arable stopped walking.
“Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”
“Control myself?” yelled Fern. “This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.” Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.
“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!”
“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?”
Mr. Arable smiled. “Certainly not,” he said, looking down at his daughter with love. “But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.”
第一章 早饭前
“爸爸拿着那把斧子去哪儿呀？”摆放餐具准备吃早饭时，弗恩问她妈妈。
“去猪圈，”阿拉布尔太太答道。“昨晚几只小猪出生了。”
“我不明白，他为什么需要一把斧子，”只有八岁的弗恩又说。
“这个嘛”，她妈妈说，“有一只小猪是个小个子。它又小又弱，没什么用处。所以你爸爸决定去消灭它。”
“消灭它？”弗恩尖叫道。“你是说杀掉它吗？就因为它比别的猪长得小？”
阿拉布尔太太把一罐奶油放到桌上。“别嚷嚷，弗恩！”她说。“你爸是对的。反正那只小猪不管怎样都有可能死掉的。”
弗恩推开挡路的椅子，跑了出去。草地湿漉漉的，泥土散发着春天的气息。等到追上爸爸时，弗恩的运动鞋都湿透了。
“请不要杀它！”她呜咽道。“这不公平。”
阿拉布尔先生停下了脚步。
“弗恩”，他温和地说，“你应该学会控制自己。”
“控制自己？”弗恩叫道，“这可是一件生死攸关的大事，你还说什么控制自己。”泪水顺着弗恩的面颊流下来。她一把抓住了斧子，想把它从爸爸手里抢下来。
“弗恩”，阿拉布尔先生说，“养一窝小猪的事我比你懂得多。小弱猪麻烦大着呢。快走开吧！”
“可是这不公平，”弗恩哭喊道。“这头猪生下来就小，它自己也没办法，它愿意吗？如果我生下来时也很小，你也会杀我吗？”
阿拉布尔先生笑了。“当然不会啦，”他说着，低下头疼爱地看着女儿。“但这是两码事。小女孩是一码事儿，小弱猪是另一码事。”
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