Charlotte’s Web（Ⅱ）夏洛的网（ 二）

在农场中，时间一天天过去，威尔伯的日常生活也变得悠闲而惬意。然而，老羊的突然拜访，却让威尔伯和他的伙伴芬震惊不已，同时也让威尔伯陷入了恐惧和绝望之中。

As the days went by， Wilbur grewand grew. He ate three big meals a day.He spent long hours lying on his side， halfasleep， dreaming pleasant dreams. Heenjoyed good health and he gained a lot ofweight. One afternoon， when Fern was sittingon her stool， the oldest sheep walked into thebarn， and stopped to pay a call on Wilbur.

“Hello！” she said. “Seems to me you’re putting on weight.”

“Yes， I guess I am，” replied Wilbur. “At my age it’s a good idea to keep gaining.”

“Just the same， I don’t envy you，” said theold sheep. “You know why they’re 1）fatteningyou up， don’t you？”

“No，” said Wilbur.

“Well， I don’t like to spread bad news，”said the sheep， “but they’re fattening you upbecause they’re going to kill you. That’s why.”

“They’re going to what？” 2）screamedWilbur. Fern grew 3）rigid on her stool.

“Kill you. Turn you into smoked baconand ham，” continued the old sheep.

“Almost all young pigs get murdered by the farmer as soonas the real cold weather sets in.There’s a regular 4）conspiracyaround here to kill you atChristmas time. Everybody isin the plot—Lurvy， Zuckerman，even John Arable.”

1） fatten v. 养肥；使充实

2） scream v. 尖叫；高声喊

3） rigid adj. 僵硬的

4） conspiracy n. 阴谋；密谋

很多天过去了，威尔伯长了又长。（剩余352字）