Charlotte’s Web and other classic animal stories: Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little

‘Why, yes,’ said Mr Zuckerman. ‘My little niece calls him Wilbur. She’s a rather queer child – full of notions. She raised the pig on a bottle and I bought him from her when he was a month old.’

He shook hands with the minister, and left.

Secrets are hard to keep. Long before Sunday came, the news spread all over the county. Everybody knew that a sign had appeared in a spider’s web on the Zuckerman place. Everybody knew that the Zuckermans had a wondrous pig. People came from miles around to look at Wilbur and to read the words on Charlotte’s web. The Zuckermans’ driveway was full of cars and trucks from morning till night – Fords and Chevvies and Buick roadmasters and GMC pickups and Plymouths and Studebakers and Packards and De Sotos with gyromatic transmissions and Oldsmobiles with rocket engines and Jeep station wagons and Pontiacs. The news of the wonderful pig spread clear up into the hills, and farmers came rattling down in buggies and buckboards, to stand hour after hour at Wilbur’s pen admiring the miraculous animal. All said they had never seen such a pig before in their lives.

When Fern told her mother that Avery had tried to hit the Zuckermans’ spider with a stick, Mrs Arable was so shocked that she sent Avery to bed without any supper, as punishment.

In the days that followed, Mr Zuckerman was so busy entertaining visitors that he neglected his farm work. He wore his good clothes all the time now – got right into them when he got up in the morning. Mrs Zuckerman prepared special meals for Wilbur. Lurvy shaved and got a haircut; and his principal farm duty was to feed the pig while people looked on.

Mr Zuckerman ordered Lurvy to increase Wilbur’s feedings from three meals a day to four meals a day. The Zuckermans were so busy with visitors they forgot about other things on the farm. The blackberries got ripe, and Mrs Zuckerman never put up any blackberry jam. The corn needed hoeing and Lurvy didn’t find time to hoe it.

On Sunday the church was full. The minister explained the miracle. He said that the words on the spider’s web proved that human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders.

All in all, the Zuckermans’ pigpen was the centre of attraction. Fern was happy, for she felt that Charlotte’s trick was working and that Wilbur’s life would be saved. But she found that the barn was not nearly so pleasant – too many people. She liked it better when she could be all alone with her friends the animals.

12. A Meeting (#ulink_f8f4c5fb-43cc-5eb0-8cdd-d33b5951e999)

ONE EVENING, a few days after the writing had appeared in Charlotte’s web, the spider called a meeting of all the animals in the barn cellar.

‘I shall begin by calling the roll. Wilbur?’

‘Here!’ said the pig.

‘Gander?’

‘Here, here, here!’ said the gander.

‘You sound like three ganders,’ muttered Charlotte. ‘Why can’t you just say “here”? Why do you have to repeat everything?’

‘It’s my idio-idio-idiosyncrasy,’ replied the gander.

‘Goose?’ said Charlotte.

‘Here, here, here!’ said the goose. Charlotte glared at her.

‘Goslings, one through seven?’

‘Bee-bee-bee!’ ‘Bee-bee-bee!’ ‘Bee-bee-bee!’ ‘Bee-bee-bee!’ ‘Bee-bee-bee!’ ‘Bee-bee-bee!’ ‘Bee-bee-bee!’ said the goslings.

‘This is getting to be quite a meeting,’ said Charlotte. ‘Anybody would think we had three ganders, three geese, and twenty-one goslings. Sheep?’

‘He-aa-aa!’ answered the sheep all together.

‘Lambs?’

‘He-aa-aa!’ answered the lambs all together.

‘Templeton?’

No answer.

‘Templeton?’

No answer.

‘Well, we are all here except the rat,’ said Charlotte. ‘I guess we can proceed without him. Now, all of you must have noticed what’s been going on around here the last few days. The message I wrote in my web, praising Wilbur, has been received. The Zuckermans have fallen for it, and so has everybody else. Zuckerman thinks Wilbur is an unusual pig, and therefore he won’t want to kill him and eat him. I dare say my trick will work and Wilbur’s life can be saved.’

‘Hurray!’ cried everybody.

‘Thank you very much,’ said Charlotte. ‘Now I called this meeting in order to get suggestions. I need new ideas for the web. People are already getting sick of reading the words “SOME PIG”. If anybody can think of another message, or remark, I’ll be glad to weave it into the web. Any suggestions for a new slogan?’

‘How about “Pig Supreme”?’ asked one of the lambs.

‘No good,’ said Charlotte. ‘It sounds like a rich dessert.’

‘How about “Terrific, terrific, terrific”?’ asked the goose.

‘Cut that down to one “terrific” and it will do very nicely,’ said Charlotte. ‘I think “terrific” might impress Zuckerman.’

‘But Charlotte,’ said Wilbur, ‘I’m not terrific.’

‘That doesn’t make a particle of difference,’ replied Charlotte. ‘Not a particle. People believe almost anything they see in print. Does anybody here know how to spell “terrific”?’

‘I think,’ said the gander, ‘it’s tee double ee double rr double rr double eye double ff double eye double see see see see see.’

‘What kind of an acrobat do you think I am?’ said Charlotte in disgust. ‘I would have to have St Vitus’s Dance to weave a word like that into my web.’

‘Sorry, sorry, sorry,’ said the gander.

Then the oldest sheep spoke up. ‘I agree that there should be something new written in the web if Wilbur’s life is to be saved. And if Charlotte needs help in finding words, I think she can get it from our friend Templeton. The rat visits the dump regularly and has access to old magazines. He can tear out bits of advertisements and bring them up here to the barn cellar, so that Charlotte can have something to copy.’

‘Good idea,’ said Charlotte. ‘But I’m not sure Templeton will be willing to help. You know how he is – always looking out for himself, never thinking of the other fellow.’

‘I bet I can get him to help,’ said the old sheep. ‘I’ll appeal to his baser instincts, of which he has plenty. Here he comes now. Everybody keep quiet while I put the matter up to him!’

The rat entered the barn the way he always did – creeping along close to the wall.

‘What’s up?’ he asked, seeing the animals assembled.

‘We’re holding a directors’ meeting,’ replied the old sheep.

‘Well, break it up!’ said Templeton. ‘Meetings bore me.’ And the rat began to climb a rope that hung against the wall.

‘Look,’ said the old sheep, ‘next time you go to the dump, Templeton, bring back a clipping from a magazine. Charlotte needs new ideas so she can write messages in her web and save Wilbur’s life.’

‘Let him die,’ said the rat. ‘I should worry.’

‘You’ll worry all right when next winter comes,’ said the sheep. ‘You’ll worry all right on a zero morning next January when Wilbur is dead and nobody comes down here with a nice pail of warm slops to pour into the trough. Wilbur’s left-over food is your chief source of supply, Templeton. You know that. Wilbur’s food is your food; therefore Wilbur’s destiny and your destiny are closely linked. If Wilbur is killed and his trough stands empty day after day, you’ll grow so thin we can look right through your stomach and see objects on the other side.’