Chapter 17 16.go to the fair

On the eve of the fair, everyone went to bed early.Fern and Avery go to bed at eight.Avery dreamed that he was sitting high up in the highest seat on the Ferris wheel at the fair.Fern dreamed that he was spinning on the big wheel and got confused. Rubi was in bed at half past eight.He dreamed that he was playing basketball "at a cloth cat" and won a real Navarre and rug.Mr. and Mrs. Zuckerman go to bed at nine o'clock.Mrs. Zuckerman dreamed of a bank of refrigerators.Mr. Zuckerman dreamed of Wilbur.He dreamed that Wilbur was 116 feet long and 92 feet tall and won all the prizes at the fair.It is covered with blue ribbons, and even has a blue ribbon on the tip of its tail.

The animals in the cellar under the barn also went to bed early, except Charlotte.Tomorrow was the fair, and every animal was planning to get up early to see Wilbur off on this great adventure. The next day, everyone was up at dawn.It was a hot day.In the Arabel family's house up the path, Fern carried a bucket of hot water to the bedroom and took a brief shower with a towel.Then she put on her best dress because she knew she would see the boys at the fair.Mrs. Arable rubbed and rubbed the back of Avery's neck and dusted his head with water and brushed his hair back on the sides.She combed very vigorously until the hair was brushed dry and stood up--and all but six of the hairs stood up straight.Avery puts on clean underwear, jeans, and a clean shirt.Mr. Arable was dressed, had breakfast, and went out to polish his truck.He was going to drive everyone to the fair, including Wilbur.

At dawn, Lurvy spread clean straw in Wilbur's big crate, and carried the crate to the pigsty.The box was green with the words Zuckerman's Famous Pig written in large gold letters on it. Charlotte had her web trimmed beautifully for the exhibition.Wilbur was eating his breakfast slowly.He tried to keep the food from getting on his ears, just to make his look more shiny. Suddenly Mrs. Zuckerman yelled from the kitchen. "Homer," she said to her husband, "I'm going to give the pig a yogurt bath." "A what?" said Mr. Zuckerman. "A yogurt bath. My grandmother used to give pigs a yogurt bath when they got dirty - I just remembered."

"Wilbur's not dirty," said Mr. Zuckerman proudly. "He's dirty behind his ears," said Mrs. Zuckerman. "When Lurvy feeds him, pig food splatters around his ears. When they dry, they form hard lumps. He's used to lying on the dung There is also a place to bury the body on the other side of the pile." "He's lying on clean straw," Mr. Zuckerman corrected. "Forget it, he's dirty, he needs a bath." Mr. Zuckerman had to sit down resignedly and eat donuts.His wife went to the woodshed.When she came back, she had water boots on her feet, an old raincoat on her body, a bucket of yogurt in one hand, and a small wooden brush in the other.

"Edith, you're crazy," Zuckerman whispered. But she ignored him.They walked to the pigsty together.Mrs. Zuckerman wasted no time, she climbed into the pigsty next to Wilbur and got to work.She brushed Wilbur all over with a brush dipped in yogurt.All the goose family came to see this interesting scene, and so did the sheep and lambs.Even Templeton poked his head out of curiosity to see Wilbur take a yoghurt bath.Charlotte was also very interested, and slowly swung down from the net with a long silk thread so that she could see better.Wilbur stood there quietly with his eyes closed.He could feel the yogurt running all over his body.He opened his mouth and some yogurt dripped in.It tastes so good.He felt that he was shining, and he was extremely happy.When Mrs. Zuckerman washed and dried him, he was the cleanest, prettiest pig you ever saw.He was all white, with pink ears and nose, and fur as smooth as satin.

The Zuckermans went back and put on their best clothes.Lurvy went to shave and put on his plaid shirt and purple tie.The animals left their homes and poured into the barn. The seven little goslings whirled around their mother. "Please, please, please take us to the fair!" a gosling begged.Then all seven little geese begged. "Please, please, please, please, please..." They made a loud noise. "Children!" screamed the goose. "We're going to be quiet-quiet at home. Only Wilbur-bur-bur goes to the fair." Just then, Charlotte interrupted the goose.

"Me too," she said softly. "I have decided to go with Wilbur. He may need me. We don't know what accidents may happen at the fair. Who knows how to write can go with me. I think Templeton had better go too--I may Someone needs to run errands and do complicated work." "I'll just stay here," said the Mouse disapprovingly. "I have no interest in the fair at all." "That's because you've never been to a fair," the old sheep reminded. "Fairs are a rat's paradise. People at fairs litter their food. A rat can sneak out at night to a feast. In a stable you'll find oats left over from horses, and in a man-traveled meadow you'll Find lunchboxes that people throw away with peanut sandwiches, boiled eggs, bread crumbs, bits of donuts, and cottage cheese. When the lights go out and people go home to sleep, you'll still be everywhere in the playground True treasures are found in the middle of yes garbage bags: crushed popcorn, dripping jelly, candied fruit dropped by tired children, crystal glistening sugar balls, salted almonds, popsicles, a bitten off ice cream, Lollipops with sticks. A rat can loot everywhere -- tents, beds, haystacks -- why not? There's so much delicious food at a fair, enough for a An army of rats eats."

Templeton's eyes lit up. "Is it true?" he asked. "Are you greedy for me? I like super value enjoyment, and what you said completely moved me." "Really," said the old sheep. "Go to the fair, Templeton. You'll find far more goodies at the fair than you could have imagined in your wildest dreams. Barrels full of goodies, leftover cans of tuna, Rotten in greasy grocery bags..." "Enough!" cried Templeton. "Stop talking to me. I'll go." "Very well," said Charlotte, winking at the old sheep. "Then now—not much time to waste. Wilbur will be crated in no time. Templeton and I will have to get in the crate and hide."

The mouse didn't lose a minute.He quickly got into the crate, crawled between the slats, and pulled some straw over himself so that no one could see him. "Okay," said Charlotte, "it's my turn." She plucked up a long silk thread, swung it up in the air, and dropped it lightly onto the box.Then she crawled in and hid in the knothole of the topmost plank of the box. The old sheep nodded. "What a full box!" she said. "Those gold letters should be changed to Zuckerman's famous pig and two stowaways." "Beware, people are coming-coming-coming!" cried the gander. "Watch out, watch out, watch out!"

Arabelle drove the big truck slowly back into the barn lot.Lurvy and Mr. Zuckerman followed along.Fin and Avery were standing in the back of the truck, holding on to the guardrail. "Listen to me," whispered the old sheep to Wilbur. "When they open the box and try to put you in it, you struggle! Don't leave without a fight. Pigs always fight when they're loaded into a car." "If I struggle I'll get dirty," Wilbur said. "Never mind that -- do as I say! Struggle! If you walk into the box without a fight, Zuckerman might think there's something wrong with you, and he won't dare send you to the fair then."

Templeton stuck his head out of the straw. "If you're going to struggle," he said, "be kind to me, I'm hiding in a crate. I don't want to be trampled, or kicked in the face, or beaten, or crushed or get crushed, or knocked out, or bruised, or scraped, or scarred, or some other blow. Be sure to watch when you struggle, Mr. Flash, when When they push you into the box!" "Quiet, Templeton!" said the old sheep. "Put your head back--they're coming. Look bright, Wilbur! Get in, Charlotte! Hoot, geese!" The truck slowly backed into the pigsty and stopped.Mr. Arable turned off the engine, got out, walked to the back of the truck, and lowered the tailgate.The geese hooted.Mrs. Arable got out of the truck.Fern and Avery jumped to the ground.Mrs. Zuckerman was coming from the house.Everyone came to the fence and admired Wilbur and the beautiful green crate for a while.No one knew that a mouse and a spider had been packed into the box. "That's a fine pig!" said Mrs. Arable. "He's great," Rubi said. "He was shining," said Fern, thinking of the day he was born. "Yes," said Mrs. Zuckerman, "he looks very clean anyway. It's the yogurt." Mr. Arable watched Wilbur carefully. "Yes, he's a perfect pig," he said. "It's hard to believe he was the smallest pig of the litter. You'll make excellent ham and bacon out of it, Homer, when that pig is slaughtered." Hearing these words, Wilbur's heart almost stopped beating. "I think I'm going to pass out," he whispered to the old sheep who was watching. "Kneel down!" the old sheep whispered. "Let the blood flow back on your head!" Wilbur dropped to his knees, and all the light on him disappeared.His eyes closed. "Look!" screamed Fern. "His splendor is gone!" "Hey, look at me!" Avery yelled, crawling into the crate. "I'm a pig! I'm a pig!" Avery's foot caught Templeton under the straw. "What luck!" thought the Mouse. "What horrible creatures boys are! Why should I bring myself here to suffer?" The geese cheered when they saw Avery enter the box. "Avery, get out of the box right now!" his mother ordered. "What do you think you are?" "I'm a pig!" cried Avery, throwing handfuls of straw into the air. "Hum hum!" "The truck's gone, Dad," said Fern. The truck suddenly lost control and skidded downhill.Mr. Arable rushed into the cab to pull on the emergency brake.The truck stopped.The geese cheered.Charlotte curled up to get as small as possible into the knothole so Avery wouldn't notice. "Come out at once!" cried Mrs. Arable.Avery climbed out of the crate on all fours and made a face at Wilbur.Wilbur had passed out. "The pig passed out," said Mrs. Zuckerman. "Pour some water on him!" "Splash yogurt!" suggests Avery. The geese hooted again. Rubi ran to the bucket.Fern climbed into the pigsty and knelt beside Wilbur to watch. "He's got heat stroke," Zuckerman said. "He can't stand the heat." "He's probably dead," Avery said. "Get out of the pigsty at once!" cried Mrs. Arable.Avery obeyed his mother and climbed into the back of the truck.Lurvy came back with cold water and poured it on Wilbur. "Gimme some water, too!" Avery called. "I'm hot too." "Oh, be quiet!" cried Fern. "An-jing!" Tears welled up in her eyes. With a shock of cold water, Wilbur regained consciousness.Amidst the cries of the geese, he stood up slowly. "He's up!" said Mr. Arable. "I guess there's nothing wrong with him." "I'm hungry," Avery said. "I want candied apples." "Wilbur's all right now," said Fern. "We're good to go, I'm going to ride the Ferris wheel." Mr. Zuckerman and Mr. Arable and Lurvy grabbed the pig and pushed him headfirst into the crate.Wilbur began to struggle.The harder the men pushed, the harder he pushed back.Avery also jumped over to help.Wilbur grunted and kicked and kicked. "There's nothing wrong with the pig," said Mr. Zuckerman cheerfully, putting his knee on the back of Wilbur's body. "Now, push hard, boys, push!" With a whoop, they finally stuffed Wilbur into the crate.The geese hooted again.Lurvy hammered some nails into the box so Wilbur couldn't get out.Then the men used all their strength to lift the box onto the truck.They didn't know that there was a mouse hiding in the straw in the box, and a big gray spider crawling in a knothole in the plank.All they saw was a pig. "Get in!" Mr. Arable called.He started the truck.The ladies followed him into the cab.Mr. Zuckerman and Lurvy and Fern and Avery climbed into the trunk, holding on to the guardrail.The truck started moving forward.The geese cheered.The children also cheered together.All the people left here and went to the County Agricultural Fairgrounds. Notes ① The Ferris Wheel, also translated as the Fushi Wheel, is a large vertical wheel for games, that is, a large ferris wheel.The rim is equipped with a seat for people to turn around. Note ②a cloth cat: It is suspected to be the name of the American basketball team, but the details are unknown. Note ③Navajo, a major Indian race living in the reservations of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah states in the United States.