Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.
Francis Bacon
ePub
A4Chapter 15: The Crickets
T
he crickets sang in the grasses.They sang the song of summer's ending, a
sad, monotonous song. "Summer is over
and gone," they sang. "Over and gone,
over and gone. Summer is dying, dying."
The crickets felt it was their duty to
warn everybody that summertime cannot
last forever. Even on the most beautiful
days in the whole year - the days when
summer is changing into fall the crickets
spread the rumor of sadness and change.
Everybody heard the song of the
crickets. Avery and Fern Arable heard it
as they walked the dusty road. They
knew that school would soon begin
again. The young geese heard it and
knew that they would never be little
goslings again. Charlotte heard it and
knew that she hadn't much time left. Mrs.
Zuckerman, at work in the kitchen, heard
the crickets, and a sadness came over
her, too. "Another summer gone," she
sighed.
Lurvy, at work building a crate for
Wilbur, heard the song and knew it was
time to dig potatoes.
"Summer is over and gone,"
repeated the crickets. "How many nights
till frost?" sang the crickets. "Good-bye,
summer, good-bye, good-bye!"
The sheep heard the crickets, and
they felt so uneasy they broke a hole in
the pasture fence and wandered up into
the field across the road. The gander
discovered the hole and led his family
through, and they walked to the orchard
and ate the apples that were lying on the
ground. A little maple tree in the swamp
heard the cricket song and turned bright
red with anxiety.
Wilbur was now the center of
attraction on the farm. Good food and
regular hours were showing results:
Wilbur was a pig any man would be
proud of. One day more than a hundred
people came to stand at his yard and
admire him. Charlotte had written the
word RADIANT, and Wilbur really
looked radiant as he stood in the golden
sunlight. Ever since the spider had
befriended him, he had done his best to
live up to his reputation. When
Charlotte's web said SOME PIG, Wilbur
had tried hard to look like some pig.
When Charlotte's web said TERRIFIC,
Wilbur had tried to look terrific. And
now that the web said RADIANT, he did
everything possible to make himself
glow.
It is not easy to look radiant, but
Wilbur threw himself into it with a will.
He would turn his head slightly and
blink his long eye-lashes.
Then he would breathe deeply. And
when his audience grew bored, he
would spring into the air and do a back
flip with a half twist. At this the crowd
would yell and cheer.
"How's that for a pig?" Mr.
Zuckerman would ask, well pleased
with himself. "That pig is radiant."
Some of Wilbur's friends in the
barn worried for fear all this attention
would go to his head and make him stuck
up. But it never did. Wilbur was modest;
fame did not spoil him. He still worried
some about the future, as he could hardly
believe that a mere spider would be able
to save his life. Sometimes at night he
would have a bad dream. He would
dream that men were coming to get him
with knives and guns. But that was only
a dream. In the daytime, Wilbur usually
felt happy and confident. No pig ever
had truer friends, and he realized that
friendship is one of the most satisfying
things in the world. Even the song of the
crickets did not make Wilbur too sad. He
knew it was almost time for the County
Fair, and he was looking forward to the
trip.
If he could distinguish himself at
the Fair, and maybe win some prize
money, he was sure Zuckerman would
let him live.
Charlotte had worries of her own,
but she kept quiet about them. One
morning Wilbur asked her about the Fair.
"You're going with me, aren't you,,
Charlotte?" he said
"Well, I don't know," replied
Charlotte. "The Fair comes at a bad time
for me. I shall find it inconvenient to
leave home, even for a few days."
"Why?" asked Wilbur.
"Oh, I just don't feel like leaving
my web. Too much going on around
here."
"Please come with me!" begged
Wilbur. "I need you, Charlotte. I can't
stand going to the Fair without you.
You've just got to come."
"No," said Charlotte, "I believe I'd
better stay home and see if I can't get
some work done."
"What kind of work?" asked
Wilbur.
"Egg laying. It's time I made an egg
sac and filled it with eggs."
"I didn't know you could lay eggs,"
said Wilbur in amazement.
"Oh, sure," said the spider. "I'm
versatile."
"What does 'versatile' mean - full
of eggs?" asked Wilbur.
"Certainly not," said Charlotte.
"'Versatile' means I can turn with ease
from one thing to another. It means I
don't have to limit my activities to
spinning and trapping and stunts like
that."
"Why don't you come with me to the
Fair Grounds and lay your eggs there?"
pleaded Wilbur. "It would be wonderful
fun."
Charlotte gave her web a twitch
and moodily watched it sway.
"I'm afraid not," she said. "You
don't know the first thing about egg
laying, Wilbur. I can't arrange my family
duties to suit the management of the
County Fair. When I get ready to lay
eggs, I have to lay eggs, Fair or no Fair.
However, I don't want you to worry
about it - you might lose weight. We'll
leave it this way: I'll come to the Fair if
I possibly can."
"Oh, good! " said Wilbur. "I knew
you wouldn't forsake me just when I
need you most."
All that day Wilbur stayed inside,
taking life easy in the straw. Charlotte
rested and ate a grasshopper. She knew
that she couldn't help Wilbur much
longer. In a few days she would have to
drop everything and build the beautiful
little sac that would hold her eggs.
