The next day was rainy and dark. Rain fell on the roof of the barn and dripped steadily from the eaves. Rain fell in the barnyard and ran in crooked courses down into the lane where thistles and pigweed grew. Rain spattered against Mrs. Zuckerman's kitchen windows and came gushing out of the downspouts. Rain fell on the backs of the sheep as they grazed in the meadow. When the sheep tired of standing in the rain, they walked slowly up the lane and into the fold.
第二天是個(gè)陰沉的雨天。雨珠兒落到谷倉(cāng)上面，又一滴滴地從屋檐上滑了下來(lái)。雨珠兒落到谷倉(cāng)旁邊的地上，一路濺跳到長(zhǎng)滿(mǎn)刺兒菜和灰菜的小路里面。雨珠兒輕輕拍打著祖克曼太太廚房的窗子，順著玻璃汩汩地往下淌。雨珠兒也落到正在草地吃草的綿羊們的背上。當(dāng)綿羊們?cè)谟曛谐阅伭耍懵掏痰匮刂÷坊氐搅搜蛉铩?/p>

Rain upset Wilbur's plans. Wilbur had planned to go out, this day, and dig a new hole in his yard. He had other plans, too. His plans for the day went something like this:
雨打亂了威伯的所有計(jì)劃。今天威伯本打算出去散個(gè)步，在他的院子里掘一個(gè)新坑呢。而且他還有其他的計(jì)劃。他今天的所有計(jì)劃大致如下：

Breakfast at six-thirty. Skim milk, crusts, middlings, bits of doughnuts, wheat cakes with drops of maple syrup sticking to them, potato skins, leftover custard pudding with raisins, and bits of Shredded Wheat.
六點(diǎn)半吃早飯。早飯包括脫脂奶，面包渣兒，粗麥粉，一小塊油煎圈餅，上面沾著楓蜜的麥糕，土豆皮，綴著葡萄干的小塊布丁，零碎的麥片。

Breakfast would be finished at seven.
早餐將在七點(diǎn)結(jié)束。

From seven to eight, Wilbur planned to have a talk with Templeton, the rat that lived under his trough. Talking with Templeton was not the most interesting occupation in the world but it was better than nothing.
從七點(diǎn)到八點(diǎn)，威伯打算和住在他的食槽下面的耗子坦普爾曼談天兒。雖然和坦普爾曼談天不是這世上最有趣的事情，但至少比什么都不做要好。

From eight to nine, Wilbur planned to take a nap outdoors in the sun.
八點(diǎn)到九點(diǎn)，威伯想在外面的太陽(yáng)下打一個(gè)盹兒。

From nine to eleven he planned to dig a hole, or trench, and possibly find something good to eat buried in the dirt.
九點(diǎn)到十一點(diǎn)，他打算挖一個(gè)洞，或者一條小溝也行，沒(méi)準(zhǔn)兒還能從臟土里翻出什么好吃的呢。

From eleven to twelve he planned to stand still and watch flies on the boards, watch bees in the clover, and watch swallows in the air.
十一點(diǎn)到十二點(diǎn)，他只想默默地站著，瞧瞧落在木板上的蒼蠅，瞅瞅在苜?；ㄩg的蜜蜂，望望天空里的燕子。

Twelve o'clock-lunchtime. Middlings, warm water, apple parings, meat gravy, carrot scrapings, meat scraps, stale hominy, and the wrapper off a package of cheese. Lunch would be over at one.
十二點(diǎn)鐘——該吃午餐了。午飯有粗麥粉，溫水，蘋(píng)果皮，肉汁，尖尖的胡蘿卜，肉末兒，陳玉米粒兒，去皮的干酪。用餐將在下午一點(diǎn)結(jié)束。

From one to two, Wilbur planned to sleep.
從一點(diǎn)到兩點(diǎn)，威伯打算睡覺(jué)。

From two to three, he planned to scratch itchy places by rubbing against the fence.
兩點(diǎn)到三點(diǎn)，他準(zhǔn)備在柵欄上蹭癢。

From three to four, he planned to stand perfectly still and think of what it was like to be alive, and to wait for Fern.
三點(diǎn)到四點(diǎn)，他打算靜默而又完美地站在地上，想想生活的樂(lè)趣到底是什么，并且等芬來(lái)看他。

At four would come supper. Skim milk, provender, leftover sandwich from Lurvy's lunchbox, prune skins, a morsel of this, a bit of that, fried potatoes, marmalade drippings, a little more of this, a little more of that, a piece of baked apple, a scrap of upside down cake.
四點(diǎn)鐘吃晚飯。晚飯有脫脂奶，剩飯，魯維的午餐盒里剩下的三明治，干梅皮，一小片這個(gè)，一小塊那個(gè)，還有炸薯片，稀稀的果醬，一點(diǎn)兒蘋(píng)果干，一塊蛋糕等等這些那些東西。

Wilbur had gone to sleep thinking about these plans. He awoke at six and saw the rain, and it seemed as though he couldn't bear it.
昨晚睡覺(jué)時(shí)，威伯還一直想著這些計(jì)劃?？墒墙裨缌c(diǎn)睜開(kāi)眼，卻看到外面正在下雨，這可真讓他無(wú)法忍受。

"I get every thing all beautifully planned out and it has to go and rain," he said.
“我把計(jì)劃訂得多么完美呀，可天卻下起了雨，”他說(shuō)。

For a while he stood gloomily indoors. Then he walked to the door and looked out. Drops of rain struck his face. His yard was cold and wet. his trough had and inch of rainwater in it. Templeton was nowhere to be seen.
他憂郁地在屋里站了一會(huì)兒。然后他走到門(mén)口往外看。雨滴撞到了他的臉。他的院子里又冷又濕。他的食槽里足有一英寸厚的雨水。不知道坦普爾曼躲到哪兒去了。

"Are you out there, Templeton?" called Wilbur. There was no answer. Suddenly Wilbur felt lonely and friendless.
“你在嗎，坦普爾曼？”威伯喊道。沒(méi)有誰(shuí)回答他。陡然間，威伯覺(jué)得自己是那么的孤獨(dú)，無(wú)助。

"One day just like another," he groaned. "I'm very young, I have no real friend here in the barn, it's going to rain all morning and all afternoon, and Fern won't come in such bad weather. Oh, honestly!" And Wilbur was crying again, for the second time in two days.
“今天就像昨天一樣沒(méi)勁，”他嘆息?！拔液苣贻p，我在谷倉(cāng)里沒(méi)有真正的朋友，雨會(huì)下一早晨，甚至整個(gè)下午，這樣的壞天氣，芬可能也不會(huì)出來(lái)。唉，她準(zhǔn)不會(huì)來(lái)！”威伯又難過(guò)得哭起來(lái)，這兩天里，他已經(jīng)哭了兩次了。

At six-thirty Wilbur heard the banging of a pail. Lurvy was standing outside in the rain, stirring up breakfast.
六點(diǎn)半，威伯聽(tīng)到了食桶晃動(dòng)的聲音。魯維正在外面的雨里給自己準(zhǔn)備早飯呢。

"C'mon, pig!" said Lurvy.
“來(lái)吃吧，小豬！”魯維說(shuō)。

Wilbur did not budge. Lurvy dumped the slops, scraped the pail and walked away. He noticed that something was wrong with the pig.
威伯動(dòng)都懶得動(dòng)。魯維把飼料倒進(jìn)食槽，又刮了刮桶壁，才走開(kāi)了。他注意到小豬好像有毛病了。

Wilbur didn't want food, he wanted love. He wanted a friend--someone who would play with him. He mentioned this to the goose, who was sitting quietly in a corner of the sheepfold.
威伯想要的不是食物，而是關(guān)愛(ài)。他想有一個(gè)朋友——某個(gè)能和他一起玩兒的人。他把這心思對(duì)在羊圈角落里靜靜坐著的母鵝講了出來(lái)。

"Will you come over and play with me?" he asked.
“你愿意來(lái)和我一起玩兒?jiǎn)?？”他?wèn)。

"Sorry, sonny, sorry," said the goose. "I'm sitting-sitting on my eggs. Eight of them. Got to keep them toasty-oasty-oasty warm. I have to stay right here, I'm no flibberty-ibberty-gibbet. I do not play when there are eggs to hatch. I'm expecting goslings."
“抱歉，寶貝兒，抱歉，”母鵝說(shuō)?！蔽艺诜跷业牡澳?。他們共有八個(gè)，得時(shí)刻讓他們又干-干-干又暖。因此我只好呆在這兒，不能走-走-走開(kāi)。我孵蛋時(shí)不能玩兒。我盼著能早點(diǎn)孵出小鵝來(lái)?！?/p>

"Well, I didn't think you were expecting wood-peckers," said Wilbur, bitterly.
“當(dāng)然，我想你一定不愿孵出一群啄木鳥(niǎo)來(lái)，”威伯酸溜溜地說(shuō)。

Wilbur next tried one of the lambs.
威伯又試著去問(wèn)羊羔。

"Will you please play with me?" he asked.
“你能來(lái)和我一起玩兒?jiǎn)?？”他?qǐng)求。

"Certainly not," said the lamb. "In the first place, I cannot get into your pen, as I am not old enough to jump over the fence. In the second place, I am not interested in pigs. Pigs mean less than nothing to me."
“當(dāng)然不能了，”一只羊羔說(shuō)?！笆紫?，我無(wú)法進(jìn)到你的院子里，因?yàn)槲疫€太小，跳不過(guò)這籬笆。其次，我對(duì)豬一點(diǎn)兒也不感興趣。照我看，豬比啥都不是還不是?！?/p>

"What do you mean, less than nothing?" replied Wilbur. "I don't think there is any such thing as less than nothing. Nothing is absolutely the limit of nothingness. It's the lowest you can go. It's the end of the line. How can something be less than nothing? If there were something that was less than nothing, then nothing would not be nothing, it would be something--even though it's just a very little bit of something. But if nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is."
“什么叫比啥都不是還不是？”威伯回答?！拔也徽J(rèn)為有什么東西會(huì)比啥都不是還不是。'啥都不是'已經(jīng)不是到了頂了，那絕對(duì)是天地的頂端，世界的盡頭了。怎么可能還會(huì)有比啥都不是還不是的東西呢？要是你說(shuō)得對(duì)，那'啥都不是'就該是點(diǎn)啥，哪怕只是那么一丁點(diǎn)兒。但是如果'啥都不是'就是'啥都不是'，那么你就找不到會(huì)比啥都不是還不是的東西?！?/p>

"Oh, be quiet!" said the lamb. "Go play by yourself! I don't play with pigs.
“哎呀，吵死了！”羊羔說(shuō)?！白约荷弦贿厓和嫒?！我就是不和豬一起玩兒。”

Sadly, Wilbur lay down and listened to the rain. Soon he saw the rat climbing down a slanting board that he used as a stairway.
威伯悲傷地躺下來(lái)，去聽(tīng)雨的聲音。不久，他看見(jiàn)耗子正在順著一塊他自稱(chēng)為樓梯的，斜放在那里的木板往下爬。

"Will you play with me, Templeton?" asked Wilbur.
“你愿意和我玩兒?jiǎn)?，坦普爾曼？”威伯懇求?/p>

"Play?" said Templeton, twirling his whiskers. "Play? I hardly know the meaning of the word."
“玩兒？”坦普爾曼說(shuō)著，捻了捻他的胡子。“玩兒？我都不懂這詞兒是什么意思。”

"Well," said Wilbur, "it means to have fun, to frolic, to run and skip and make merry."
“哦，”威伯說(shuō)，“玩就是做游戲，嬉耍，跑跳，找樂(lè)子?！?/p>

"I never do those things if I can avoid them, " replied the rat, sourly. "I prefer to spend my time eating, gnawing, spying, and hiding. I am a glutton but not a merry-maker. Right now I am on my way to your trough to eat your breakfast, since you haven't got sense enough to eat it yourself." And Templeton, the rat, crept stealthily along the wall and disappeared into a private tunnel that he had dug between the door and the trough in Wilbur's yard. Templeton was a crafty rat, and he had things pretty much his own way. The tunnel was an example of his skill and cunning. The tunnel enabled him to get from the barn to his hiding place under the pig trough without coming out into the open. He had tunnels and runways all over Mr. Zuckerman's farm and could get from one place to another without being seen. Usually he slept during the daytime and was abroad only after dark.
“我從不愿意在這些事兒上浪費(fèi)時(shí)間?！焙淖永淅涞鼗卮稹！拔覍幵赴盐业臅r(shí)間用在吃，咬，偷，藏上面。我是一個(gè)貪吃的老鼠，不是游戲主義者。我要去吃你食槽里的早餐了，反正現(xiàn)在你也不想去吃?！崩鲜筇蛊諣柭f(shuō)完，便沿著墻縫爬進(jìn)他開(kāi)鑿的那條貫穿門(mén)和食槽的秘密通道里去了。坦普爾曼是只非常狡猾的耗子，也很有些高明的手段。這條通道不過(guò)是他的狡猾與挖洞技巧的一個(gè)證明而已。這條通道能令他不用在谷倉(cāng)的明處露面，就能在谷倉(cāng)和自己在豬食槽下的藏身處來(lái)回。他在祖克曼先生的農(nóng)場(chǎng)里挖了很多條地道，這樣就可以不被發(fā)現(xiàn)的任意來(lái)去了。通常他都在白天睡覺(jué)，夜深才出來(lái)活動(dòng)。

Wilbur watched him disappear into his tunnel. In a moment he saw the rat's sharp nose poke out from underneath the wooden trough. Cautiously Templeton pulled himself up over the edge of the trough. This was almost more than Wilbur could stand: on this dreary, rainy day to see his breakfast being eaten by somebody else. He knew Templeton was getting soaked, out there in the pouring rain, but even that didn't comfort him. Friendless, dejected, and hungry, he threw himself down in the manure and sobbed.
威伯看著他爬進(jìn)了通道。瞬間來(lái)歷，他就看見(jiàn)耗子的尖鼻頭從木頭食槽下面探出來(lái)。坦普爾曼小心地順著食槽邊爬了進(jìn)去。威伯幾乎再也不能忍受了：誰(shuí)愿意在一個(gè)憂傷的下雨天，看到自己的早餐被別人吃掉呢？他知道外面的雨水正澆著在那里大嚼的坦普爾曼，可這也不會(huì)使他感到有所安慰。無(wú)助，失意，饑餓……他趴在牛糞堆里啜泣起來(lái)。

Late that afternoon, Lurvy went to Mr. Zuckerman. "I think there's something wrong with that pig of yours. He hasn't touched his food."
傍晚，魯維去見(jiàn)祖克曼先生?！拔蚁肽愕呢i有毛病了。他沒(méi)吃食?！?/p>

"Give him two spoonfuls of sulphur and a little molasses," said Mr. Zuckerman.
“給他喝兩勺硫磺，里面和點(diǎn)兒糖水?！弊婵寺壬f(shuō)。

Wilbur couldn't believe what happening to him when Lurvy caught him and forced the medicine down his throat. This was certainly the worst day of his life. He didn't know whether he could endure the awful loneliness any more.
當(dāng)魯維抓住威伯，強(qiáng)行把藥水灌到他喉嚨里時(shí)，威伯還不能相信這些發(fā)生在自己身上的事。這是他一生中最糟糕的一天。他不知道自己是否還能再忍受這可怕的孤獨(dú)了。

Darkness settled over everything. Soon there were only shadows and the noises of the sheep chewing their cuds, and occasionally the rattle of a cow-chain up overhead. You can imagine Wilbur's surprise when, out of the darkness, came a small voice he had never heard before. It sounded rather thin, but pleasant. "Do you want a friend, Wilbur?" it said. "I'll be a friend to you. I've watched you all day and I like you."
黑暗朦朧了一切。不久，除了影子和綿羊咀嚼的聲音，還有頭頂?shù)呐縿?dòng)鏈子發(fā)出的嘩啦聲外，什么也感覺(jué)不到了。所以你一定能想象得出，當(dāng)一個(gè)從未聽(tīng)見(jiàn)過(guò)的纖細(xì)的聲音從黑夜中傳出來(lái)時(shí)，威伯是多么的驚奇。這聲音相當(dāng)?shù)奈⑷?，但?tīng)來(lái)卻那么使人愉快?！澳阆胍粋€(gè)朋友嗎，威伯？”那個(gè)聲音說(shuō)?！拔覍⒊蔀槟愕呐笥选Ｎ乙呀?jīng)觀察你好多天了，我喜歡你?！?/p>

"But I can't see you," said Wilbur, jumping to his feet. "Where are you? And who are you?"
“可我看不見(jiàn)你呀，”威伯說(shuō)著，踮起腳來(lái)尋找。“你在哪兒，你是誰(shuí)？”

"I'm right up here," said the voice. "Go to sleep. You'll see me in the morning."
“我就在這兒，”那個(gè)聲音說(shuō)?！澳阆人伞Ｃ髟缒憔蜁?huì)看到我了?！?/p>

（來(lái)源：愛(ài)思英語(yǔ) 編輯：丹妮）