Chapter 4 3.run away

The barn is large and old.It smelled of hay and manure.And the sweat of tired horses and the wonderfully sweet smell of good-natured cows.There is always a sense of peace in the air -- as if nothing bad will happen in this world anymore.Here and there there was the smell of grain, hay on harness, lubricating oil from carts, rubber boots, or fresh hay rope.If the cat comes here to enjoy the fish heads that people throw to him, the barn will smell more fishy.But the strongest smell in it was hay, for the great loft above the barn was always full of hay.The hay is constantly thrown to the cows, horses, and sheep below to eat.

In winter, when the animals stay outside for a long time, they will feel that the barn is extraordinarily warm when they come back; in summer, when the barn door is wide open and the breeze blows in, it becomes indescribably cool again.There are stables and cowsheds on the upper level of the barn, and the sheepfold and the pigsty where Wilbur lives in the cellar on the lower level; there are also all kinds of utensils that you can find in the barn: ladders, millstones, long handles Forks, forks, big scythes, lawn mowers, snow shovels, ax handles, milk pails, water pails, empty grain sacks, rusty mouse traps, etc.This is the barn where swallows like to nest.Everything here belonged to Fern's uncle, Mr. Homer L. Zuckerman.

Wilbur's new home was in the lower barn, right under the cowshed.Mr. Zuckerman knew that a manure pile was a good place to raise piglets.Pigs like warmth, and the south-facing cellar under the barn is just the place to be. Fern came to see Wilbur almost every day.She found a milking stool that no one wanted and moved it to the sheepfold next to Wilbur's pigsty.All the long afternoon, she just sat there quietly, watching Wilbur, thinking and listening.The sheep soon knew her and trusted her.So does the goose who lives with the sheep.All the animals trust her because she is so quiet and kind.Mr. Zuckerman wouldn't let her take Wilbur out or into the pigsty.He told Fern, though, that she could sit on the stool and watch Wilbur as long as she wanted.She was happy to be near Wilbur; and it made Wilbur extraordinarily happy to know Fern was sitting just outside his house.It's just that he can no longer do the things he used to enjoy -- no more walks, no more rides in the stroller, no more swimming.

One afternoon in June, almost two-month-old Wilbur wandered into his yard outside the barn.Fern didn't come to see him that day as usual.Standing in the sun, Wilbur felt lonely and bored. "There's never anything to do here," he thought.He walked slowly to the trough, sniffing around for any forgotten lunch.He found a small piece of potato skin and ate it.He felt a little itchy on his back, so he leaned against the fence and rubbed hard on the wooden board.When he got tired of rubbing, he walked back to his door, climbed to the top of the manure pile, and sat down.He didn't want to sleep, and he didn't want to arch around anymore. He was tired of standing still and stupidly, and he was tired of sleeping. "I've lived less than two months and I'm tired of life," he said.He went out into the yard again.

"When I come here," he said, "there's nowhere else to go but home. When I'm inside, there's nowhere else to go but the yard." "You are wrong, my friend, my friend," said a voice. Wilbur looked over the fence and saw a goose standing there. "You don't have to stay in that dirty-little dirty-little dirty-little yard," said the goose quite quickly. "There's a plank loose here. Push it, push-push-push it, and you can get out!" "What?" said Wilbur. "Speak slowly!" "Jean-jean-jean, let me risk repeating," said the goose, "I mean, I suggest you run away. It's a wonderful world out there."

"You mean one of the boards is loose?" "That's what I'm going to say, that's it," said the goose. Wilbur went to the fence and found that the goose was right—a plank was indeed loose.He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and bumped hard.The planks came loose.In less than a minute, he squeezed through the fence and came to the long grass outside the yard.The mother goose laughed loudly. "How does it feel to be free?" she asked. "I like it," said Wilbur. "I mean, I guess I like the feeling." In fact, when Wilbur stood outside the fence, looking at the big world without barriers from himself, he only had a dreamlike, inexplicable feeling.

"Where do you think I should go?" "Wherever you like, wherever you like," said the goose. "Go to the orchard and turn the sod out of the way! Go to the garden and push the turnips out! Bump everything! Grass! Find the corn! Find the oats! Bring it all down! Jump and dance, hop on hind legs Arise! Walk through the orchard, and walk in the woods! What a wonderful world it was when you were young." "I see what you mean," replied Wilbur.He jumped in the air, turned around a few times, and ran a few steps before stopping, searching around, smelling the scent of the afternoon, and soon he walked towards the orchard.He stopped in the shade of an apple tree, stuck his strong nose into the soil, and began digging, digging, digging to his heart's content.He felt very happy.He had dug up a lot of dirt before anyone noticed him.Mrs. Zuckerman was the first to see him.She saw him from the kitchen window and started calling.

"Homer!" she called. "The pig is out! Luvy! The pig is gone! Homer! Luvy! The pig is gone. He's under that apple tree." "Now here comes the trouble," thought Wilbur. "Now I'm going to be caught." The goose heard her uproar too, and called out to Wilbur. "Run-run-run downhill, into the woods, the woods!" she cried desperately. "They'll never-never-never catch you in the woods." Shaggy dogs who heard the commotion ran out of the barn in pursuit.When Mr. Zukerman heard the shout, he hurriedly ran out of the workshop and put down the farm tools he was repairing.Lu Wei, the hired worker who was pulling weeds in the asparagus field, also ran out quickly when he heard the shout.Everyone is closing in on Wilbur!Wilbur was at a loss.It seemed such a long way to the woods, and besides, he had never been in the woods before, and he didn't know if he would like to be in the woods.

"Get around behind him, Lurvy," said Mr. Zuckerman, "and drive him toward the barn! Be careful—don't frighten him! I'll get a pail of hog food." Word of Wilbur's escape spread quickly among the animals here.No animal had ever escaped from Mr. Zuckerman's farm before, and the matter aroused great interest.The goose yelled to the cow closest to her that Wilbur was free, and soon all the cows got the news.Then a cow told the news to a sheep, and soon all the sheep knew it too.The lambs again learned everything from their mother.The horses in the stables of the barn, with their ears pricked up, heard the cry of the goose, so that soon all the horses understood what had happened. "Wilbur has escaped," they said.Each of the animals looked up excitedly and became extraordinarily excited to know that one of their friends had been freed from being so tightly shut in the pen.

Wilbur didn't know what to do or where to run.It seemed like everyone was after him. "If this is good freedom," he thought, "I might as well be shut up in my own yard." The long-haired dog approached quietly from one side, and the hired worker Lu Wei was gradually approaching from the other side.Mrs. Zuckerman was ready to intercept if Wilbur was going to run into the garden.Now Mr. Zuckerman was walking towards Wilbur with the pail. "This is really terrible," thought Wilbur. "Why isn't Fern coming?" he began to cry. The goose gave Wilbur command after command.

"Don't just stand there, Wilbur! Run, run!" cried the goose. "Jump in a circle, jump my way, slip over and out, over and out, over and out! Run to the woods! Weave!" The long-haired dog jumped up and bit Wilbur's hind legs.Wilbur hopped away.Lurvy rushes forward to grab Wilbur.Mrs. Zuckerman screamed at Lurvy.The goose was still cheering for Wilbur.Wilbur escaped from between Lurvy's legs, and Lurvy missed Wilbur, but instead grabbed the long-haired dog. "Well done, well done!" cried the goose. "One more, one more!" "Run downhill!" suggested the cows. "Run to me!" screamed the gander. "Run uphill!" shouted the sheep. "Turn around!" the mother goose quacked. "Jump, jump high!" the rooster crowed. "Be careful Lurvy!" the cow reminded. "Beware of Zuckerman!" the gander yelled. "Watch out for that dog!" cried the sheep. "Listen to me, listen to me!" screamed the goose. Poor Wilbur was dazed and frightened by their yelling.He doesn't like being the focus of these messes.He wanted to try to follow the advice his friends gave him, but he couldn't run uphill and downhill at the same time, and he couldn't weave while jumping up and down, not to mention he was crying so hard that he almost Can't figure out what's going on around me.Really, Wilbur was, after all, just a little pig not much bigger than a baby.He only wished that Fern was there to hug him and comfort him.When he looked up and saw Mr. Zuckerman standing quietly beside him, holding a bucket full of hot porridge in his hand, he felt a little relieved.He sniffed hard.How delicious those were--hot milk, potato skins, couscous, Kellogg's cornflakes, and leftover shortbread from Mr. Zuckerman's breakfast. "Come on, piggy!" said Mr. Zuckerman, tapping the bucket. "Come on, piggy!" Wilbur took a step toward the bucket. "No-no-no!" said the goose. "The barrel is a stale deception, Wilbur. Don't get caught! Don't get caught! He's trying to trap you. He's tempting your stomach with good food." Wilbur didn't care.This food smells so appetizing.He took another step towards the bucket. "Pig, pig!" cried Mr. Zuckerman sweetly, and began to walk slowly towards the barn, looking back with an innocent expression, as if he didn't know that the little white pig was following him He walked behind the same. "You'll regret-regret-regret," cried the goose. Wilbur didn't care.He was still walking towards the bucket. "You will lose your freedom," cried the goose. "An hour of freedom is worth more than a bucket of pig food!" Wilbur still didn't care. When Mr. Zuckerman came near the pigsty, he climbed over the fence and dumped the pig food into the pig trough.Then he yanked the loose plank all the way off the fence so Wilbur could get in easily. "Think again, think again!" the mother goose reminded. Wilbur thought of nothing else.Step by step he walked through the fence and into his yard.He went to the trough and smoked for a long time, gulping milk and chewing shortbread.It's great to be home again. While Wilbur was eating, Lurvy got a hammer and some eight-quarter nails, and nailed the board back.Then he and Mr. Zuckerman lolled by the fence.Mr. Zuckerman scratched Wilbur's back with a stick. "He's such a pig," Rubi said. "Yes, he'll make a good pig," said Mr. Zuckerman. Wilbur heard the compliments being paid for him.He felt the warmth of the milk in his stomach.He would also love to scratch the itch on that stick.He was so happy and satisfied that he wanted to go to sleep.It's been a tiring afternoon.Although it was only four o'clock, Wilbur was getting ready for bed. "I'm really too young to be alone in this world," he thought as he lay down.