"I can see that," replied Wilbur. He gave a jump in the air, twirled, ran a few steps, stopped, looked all around, sniffed the smells of afternoon, and then set off walking down through the orchard. Pausing in the shade of an apple tree, he put his strong snout into the ground and began pushing, digging, and rooting. He felt very happy. He had plowed up quite a piece of ground before anyone noticed him. Mrs. Zuckerman was the first to see him. She saw him from the kitchen window, and she immediately shouted for the men.
“我明白你的意思，”威伯回答。他在空氣中跳躍著，轉了幾個圈兒，又跑了幾步，才停了下來，四處搜尋著，嗅著午后的氣息，不久，他向果園走去。他停到一棵蘋果樹蔭下，把他強壯的鼻子插進土里，開始盡情地拱、挖、掘。他感到非常的快活。在有人注意到他之前，他已經掘起很多土了。祖克曼太太是第一個看見他的。她從廚房的窗子里望見了他，便開始喊人。

"Ho-mer!" she cried. "Pig's out! Lurvy! Pig's out! Homer! Lurvy! Pig's out. He's down there under that apple tree."
“霍——默！”她喊。“豬跑出來了！魯維！豬跑了！霍默！魯維！豬跑了。他在那棵蘋果樹下面呢。”

"Now the trouble starts," thought Wilbur. "Now I'll catch it."
“現在麻煩來了，”威伯想。“現在我要被抓住了。”

The goose heard the racket and she, too, started hollering. "Run-run-run downhill, make for the woods, the woods!" she shouted to Wilbur. "They'll never-never-never catch you in the woods."
母鵝也聽見了她的吵嚷，便對威伯大喊。“跑-跑-跑到下坡去，往樹林里跑，樹林！”她拼命地嚷。“他們在樹林里永遠-永遠-永遠抓不住你。”

The cocker spaniel heard the commotion and he ran out from the barn to join the chase. Mr. Zuckerman heard, and he came out of the machine shed where he was mending a tool. Lurvy, the hired man, heard the noise and came up from the asparagus patch where he was pulling weeds. Everybody walked toward Wilbur and Wilbur didn't know what to do. The woods seemed a long way off, and anyway, he had never been down there in the woods and wasn't sure he would like it.
聽到這場騷動的長毛狗從谷倉里跑出去追。祖克曼先生聽到喊聲，忙從工作間里跑出來，放下了手中正在修理的農具。在龍須菜地里拔草的雇工魯維，聽到喊聲，也趕緊跑了出來。每個人都在朝威伯逼近！威伯不知所措了。到樹林的路似乎是那么遠，而且，他還從沒進過樹林，也不知道是否會喜歡呆在樹林里呢。

"Get around behind him, Lurvy," said Mr. Zuckerman, "and drive him toward the barn! And take it easy-don't rush him! I'll go and get a bucket of slops."
“繞到他身后去，魯維，”祖克曼先生說，“把他朝谷倉這邊趕！小心點兒——別嚇壞他！我去拿一桶豬食來。”

The news of Wilbur's escape spread rapidly among the animals on the place. Whenever any creature broke loose on Zuckerman's farm, the event was of great interest to the others. The goose shouted to the nearest cow that Wilbur was free, and soon all the cows knew. Then one of the cows told one of the sheep, and soon all the sheep knew. The lambs learned about it from their mothers. The horses, in their stalls in the barn, pricked up their ears when they heard the goose hollering; and soon the horses had caught on to what was happening. "Wilbur's out," they said. Every animal stirred and lifted its head and became excited to know that one of his friends had got free and was no longer penned up or tied fast.
威伯逃跑的消息在這里的動物中間迅速傳開了。以前從沒有任何一只動物能逃離祖克曼先生的農場呢，因此這事情引起了大家極大的興趣。母鵝對離她最近的母牛嚷道，威伯自由了，不久所有的母牛都知道了這個新聞。然后一頭母牛把這消息告訴了一只綿羊，不久所有的綿羊也知道了。羊羔們又從他們的母親那里了解了一切。谷倉的馬廄里的馬們，豎起的耳朵也聽到了母鵝的喊叫，因此不久所有的馬也明白發生了什么事兒。“威伯逃了，”他們說。每一個動物都興奮地抬起頭，變得分外的激動，因為他們知道他們的一個朋友已經獲得了自由，再不用被緊緊的關在圈里了。

Wilbur didn't know what to do or which way to run. It seemed as through everybody was after him. "If this is what it's like to be free," he thought, "I believe I'd rather be penned up in my own yard." The cocker spaniel was sneaking up on him from one side. Lurvy the hired man was sneaking up on him from the other side. Mrs. Zuckerman stood ready to head him off if he started for the garden, and now Mr. Zuckerman was coming down toward him carrying a pail." This is really awful," thought Wilbur. "Why doesn't Fern come?" He began to cry.
威伯不知該怎么做，往哪里跑。看起來好像每個人都在追他。“如果這就是美好的自由，”他想，“我還不如被關在我自己的院子里呢。”長毛狗從一邊悄悄地靠過來，雇工魯維也正從另一邊漸漸逼近。祖克曼太太擺出了一副準備攔截的架勢——如果威伯要往花園里跑的話。現在，祖克曼先生拎著桶正朝威伯走過來。“這真太可怕了，”威伯想。“為什么芬還不來？”他開始哭了。

The goose took command and began to give orders.
母鵝給威伯發出一個又一個指令。

"Don't just stand there, Wilbur! Dodge about, dodge about!" cried the goose." Skip around, run toward me, slip in and out, in and out, in and out! Make for the woods! Twist and turn!"
“別傻站著，威伯！快逃，快逃！”母鵝大叫。“轉圈跳，往我這邊兒跳，溜過來沖出去，過來出去，過來出去！往樹林跑！迂回前進！”

The cocker spaniel sprang for Wilbur's hind leg. Wilbur jumped and ran. Lurvy reached out and grabbed. Mrs. Zuckerman screamed at Lurvy. The goose cheered for Wilbur. Wilbur dodged between Lurvy's legs. Lurvy missed Wilbur and grabbed the spaniel instead. "Nicely done, nicely done!" cried the goose. "Try it again, try it again!"
長毛狗猛地躥起來咬向威伯的后腿。威伯蹦著高兒跑開。魯維沖上前去抓威伯。祖克曼太太對魯維尖叫起來。母鵝還在為威伯加油。威伯從魯維的雙腿間逃了出去，魯維沒有抓到威伯，反一把摟住了長毛狗。“干得好，干得好！”母鵝叫道。“再來一個，再來一個！”

"Run downhill!" suggested the cows.
“往下坡跑！”母牛們出主意。

"Run toward me!" yelled the gander.
“向我這里跑！”公鵝尖叫。

"Run uphill!" cried the sheep.
“往上坡跑！”綿羊大喊。

"Turn and twist!" honked the goose.
“迂回前進！”母鵝嘎嘎地叫著。

"Jump and dance!" said the rooster.
“跳，蹦高兒！”公雞叫。

"Look out for Lurvy!" called the cows.
“小心魯維！”母牛提醒。

"Look out for Zuckerman!" yelled the gander.
“小心祖克曼！”公鵝扯著嗓子喊。

"Watch out for the dog!" cried the sheep.
“小心那條狗！”綿羊大叫。

"Listen to me, listen to me!" screamed the goose.
“聽我的，聽我的！”母鵝尖叫。

Poor Wilbur was dazed and frightened by this hullabaloo. He didn't like being the center of all this fuss. He tried to follow the instructions his friends were giving him, but he couldn't run downhill and uphill at the same time, and he couldn't turn and twist when he was jumping and dancing, and he was crying so hard he could barely see anything that was happening. After all, Wilbur was a very young pig-not much more than a baby, really. He wished Fern were there to take him in his arms and comfort him. When he looked up and saw Mr. Zuckerman standing quite close to him, holding a pail of warm slops, he felt relieved. He lifted his nose and sniffed. The smell was delicious-warm milk, potato skins, wheat middlings, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, and a popover left from the Zuckermans' breakfast.
可憐的威伯被他們的亂叫弄得又暈又怕。他可不喜歡成為這些亂子的焦點。他本想試著聽從朋友們給他的建議，可他不能同時既往上坡跑，又往下坡跑，而且，他也不能一邊蹦起來一邊迂回前進，更何況他哭喊得這么厲害，幾乎弄不清周圍都發生了什么事。真的，威伯畢竟只不過是一頭比嬰兒大不多少的小豬罷了。他只希望芬此刻在場，能把自己抱起來安慰一番。當他抬頭看到祖克曼先生就靜靜地站在身旁，手里拎著盛滿熱乎乎的稀飯的食桶時，才稍稍寬了心。他聳起鼻子使勁兒聞著。那些味道多鮮美呀——有熱牛奶，土豆皮，粗麥粉，凱洛格牌玉米片，還有祖克曼先生早餐吃剩的酥餅呢。

"Come, pig!" said Mr. Zuckerman, tapping the pail. "Come pig!" Wilbur took a step toward the pail.
“來呀，小豬！”祖克曼先生說著，敲了敲食桶。“來呀，小豬！”威伯朝那只桶走了一步。

"No-no-no!" said the goose. "It's the old pail trick, Wilbur. Don't fall for it, don't fall for it! He's trying to lure you back into captivity-ivity. He's appealing to your stomach."
“不——不——不！”母鵝說。“這桶是個并不新鮮的騙局，威伯。別上套兒！別上套兒！他是想以此誘捕你。他正在用好吃的誘惑你的肚子。”

Wilbur didn't care. The food smelled appetizing. He took another step toward the pail.
威伯不在乎。這食物聞起來太開胃了。他又朝食桶走了一步。

"Pig, pig!" said Mr. Zuckerman in a kind voice, and began walking slowly toward the barnyard, looking all about him innocently, as if he didn't know that a little white pig was following along behind him.
“小豬，小豬！”祖克曼先生甜蜜地叫著，開始慢慢地往谷倉方向走，同時弄出一副純真的表情回頭看著，好像他不知道這頭小白豬正跟在他后面走一樣。

"You'll be sorry-sorry-sorry," called the goose.
“你會后悔-后悔-后悔的。”母鵝叫道。

Wilbur didn't care. He kept walking toward the pail of slops.
威伯不在乎。他還在朝食桶走。

"You'll miss your freedom," honked the goose. "An hour of freedom is worth a barrel of slops."
“你會失去你的自由的，”母鵝大喊。“一小時的自由要比一大桶豬食更可貴！”

Wilbur didn't care.
威伯還是不在乎。

When Mr. Zuckerman reached the pigpen, he climbed over the fence and poured the slops into the trough. Then he pulled the loose board away from the fence, so that there was a wide hole for Wilbur to walk through.
祖克曼先生走到豬圈附近，便爬過柵欄，把豬食倒進了豬食槽。然后他把那塊松動的木板從柵欄上全拽下來，好讓威伯能很容易的進去。

"Reconsider, reconsider!" cried the goose.
“再想想，再想想！”母鵝提醒道。

Wilbur paid no attention. He stepped through the fence into his yard. He walked to the trough and took a long drink of slops, sucking in the milk hungrily and chewing the popover. It was good to be home again.
威伯什么別的也沒想。他一步步走進柵欄，到了他的院子里。他走向食槽，吸食了半天，大口大口地喝著牛奶，嚼著酥餅。能再回家真是太好了。

While Wilbur ate, Lurvy fetched a hammer and some 8-penny nails and nailed the board in place. Then he and Mr. Zuckerman leaned lazily on the fence and Mr. Zuckerman scratched Wilbur's back with a stick.
就在威伯飽餐之際，魯維取了把錘子和一些八分長的釘子來，把那塊板子釘了回去。然后，他和祖克曼先生懶洋洋地倚在柵欄旁。祖克曼先生用一根柴枝搔著威伯的后背。

"He's quite a pig," said Lurvy.
“他真是一頭豬，”魯維說。

"Yes, he'll make a good pig," said Mr. Zuckerman.
“是的，他會成為一頭好豬的，”祖克曼先生說。

Wilbur heard the words of praise. He felt the warm milk inside his stomach. He felt the pleasant rubbing of the stick along his itchy back. He felt peaceful and happy and sleepy. This had been a tiring afternoon. It was still only about four o'clock but Wilbur was ready for bed.
威伯聽到了對他的贊揚。他感到肚子里的牛奶暖暖的。他也很愿意在那根柴枝上蹭癢。他既幸福又滿足，想去睡一覺了。這真是一個令人疲倦的下午。雖然此刻只不過才四點鐘，威伯卻準備上床就寢了。

"I'm really too young to go out into the world alone," he thought as he lay down.
“我真的太年輕，還不適合一個人在這世上闖，”躺下時他這么想。

（來源：愛思英語 編輯：丹妮）