【正文】 it seemed as though he couldn39。t bear it.I get everything all beautifully planned out and it has to go andrain, he said.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 an inch of rainwater in it. Templeton was nowhere to be seen.Are you out there, Templeton? called Wilbur. There was no answer. Suddenly Wilbur felt lonely and friendless.One day just like another, he groaned. I39。m very young, I have noreal friend here in the barn, it39。s going to rain all morning and all afternoon, and Fern won39。t e in such bad weather. Oh, honestly! And Wilbur was crying again, for the second time in two days.At sixthirty Wilbur heard the banging of a pail. Lurvy was standingoutside in the rain, stirring up breakfast.C39。mon, pig! said Lurvy.Wilbur did not budge. Lurvy dumped the slops, scraped the pail, and walked away. He noticed that something was wrong with the pig.Wilbur didn39。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.Will you e over and play with me? he asked.Sorry, sonny, sorry, said the goose. I39。m sittingsitting on my eggs. Eight of them. Got to keep them toastyoastyoasty warm. I have to stay right here, I39。m no flibbertyibbertygibbet. I do not play whenthere are eggs to hatch. I39。m expecting goslings (baby goose).Well, I didn39。t think you were expecting woodpeckers, said Wilbur,bitterly.Wilbur next tried one of the lambs.Will you please play with me? he asked.Certainly not, said the lamb. In the first place, I cannot get intoyour 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.What do you mean, less than nothing? replied Wilbur. I don39。t think there is any such thing as less than nothing. Nothing is absolutely the limit of nothingness. It39。s the lowest you can go. It39。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 it39。s just a very little bit of something. But if nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is.Oh, be quiet! said the lamb. Go play by yourself! I don39。t playwith pigs.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.Will you play with me, Templeton? asked Wilbur.Play? said Templeton, twirling his whiskers. Play? I hardly know the meaning of the word.Well, said Wilbur, it means to have fun, to frolic, to run and skipand make merry.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 merrymaker. Right now I am on my way to your trough to eat your breakfast, since you haven39。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 Wilbur39。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 ing out into the open. He had tunnels and runways all over Mr. Zuckerman39。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.Wilbur watched him disappear into his tunnel. In a moment he saw the rat39。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 didn39。t fort him. Friendless, dejected, and hungry, he threw himself down in the manure and sobbed.Late that afternoon, Lurvy went to Mr. Zuckerman. I think there39。ssomething wrong with that pig of yours. He hasn39。t touched his food.Give him two spoonfuls of sulphur硫磺 and a little molasses (dark thick syrup produced during the refining of sugar糖蜜), said Mr. Zuckerman.Wilbur couldn39。t believe what was happening to him when Lurvy caught him and forced the medicine down his throat. This was certainly the worst day of his life. He didn39。t know whether he could endure the awful loneliness any more.Darkness settled over ever thing. Soon there were only shadows and the noises of the sheep chewing their cuds, and occasionally the rattle of a cowchain up overhead. You can imagine Wilbur39。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. I39。ll be a friend to you. I39。ve watched you all day and I like you.But I can39。t see you, said Wilbur, jumping to his feet. Where are you? And who are you?I39。m right up here, said the voice. Go to sleep. You39。ll see me inthe morning.CHAPTER 5CharlotteThe night seemed long. Wilbur39。s stomach was empty and his mind was full. And when your stomach is empty and your mind is full, it39。s always hard to sleep.A dozen times during the night Wilbur woke and stared into the blackness, listening to the sounds and trying to figure out what time it was. A barn is never perfectly quiet. Even at midnight there isusually something stirring.The first time he woke, he heard Templeton gnawing a hole in the grain bin. Templeton39。s teeth scraped loudly against the wood and made quite a racket.