Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

Author:E. B. White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

“Once upon a time,” she began, “I had a beautiful cousin who managed to build her web across a small stream. One day a tiny fish leaped into the air and got tangled in the web. My cousin was very much surprised, of course. The fish was thrashing wildly. My cousin hardly dared tackle it. But she did. She swooped down and threw great masses of wrapping material around the fish and fought bravely to capture it.”

“Did she succeed?” asked Wilbur.

“It was a never-to-be-forgotten battle,” said Charlotte. “There was the fish, caught only by one fin, and its tail wildly thrashing and shining in the sun. There was the web, sagging dangerously under the weight of the fish.”

“How much did the fish weigh?” asked Wilbur eagerly.

“I don’t know,” said Charlotte. “There was my cousin, slipping in, dodging out, beaten mercilessly over the head by the wildly thrashing fish, dancing in, dancing out, throwing her threads and fighting hard. First she threw a left around the tail. The fish lashed back. Then a left to the tail and a right to the midsection. The fish lashed back. Then she dodged to one side and threw a right, and another right to the fin. Then a hard left to the head, while the web swayed and stretched.”

“Then what happened?” asked Wilbur.

“Nothing,” said Charlotte. “The fish lost the fight. My cousin wrapped it up so tight it couldn’t budge.”

“Then what happened?” asked Wilbur.

“Nothing,” said Charlotte. “My cousin kept the fish for a while, and then, when she got good and ready, she ate it.”

“Tell me another story!” begged Wilbur.

So Charlotte told him about another cousin of hers who was an aeronaut.

“What is an aeronaut?” asked Wilbur.

“A balloonist,” said Charlotte. “My cousin used to stand on her head and let out enough thread to form a balloon. Then she’d let go and be lifted into the air and carried upward on the warm wind.”

“Is that true?” asked Wilbur. “Or are you just making it up?”

“It’s true,” replied Charlotte. “I have some very remarkable cousins. And now, Wilbur, it’s time you went to sleep.”

“Sing something!” begged Wilbur, closing his eyes.

So Charlotte sang a lullaby, while crickets chirped in the grass and the barn grew dark. This was the song she sang.

“Sleep, sleep, my love, my only,

Deep, deep, in the dung and the dark;

Be not afraid and be not lonely!

This is the hour when frogs and thrushes

Praise the world from the woods and the rushes.

Rest from care, my one and only,

Deep in the dung and the dark!”

But Wilbur was already asleep. When the song ended, Fern got up and went home.

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