Паутина Шарлотты

           "

           "Charlotte,"saidWilburdreamily,"areyoureallygoingtohavefivehundredandfourteenchildren?"

           "Ifnothinghappens,yes,"shesaid."Ofcourse,theywon’tshowuptillnextspring."WilburnoticedthatCharlotte’svoicesoundedsad.

           "Whatmakesyousoundsodown-hearted?Ishouldthinkyou’dbeterriblyhappyaboutthis."

           "Oh,don’tpayanyattentiontome,"saidCharlotte."Ijustdon’thavemuchpepanymore.IguessIfeelsadbecauseIwon’teverseemychildren."

           "Whatdoyoumeanyouwon’tseeyourchildren!Ofcourseyouwill.We’llallseethem.It’sgoingtobesimplywonderfulnextspringinthebarncellarwithfivehundredandfourteenbabyspidersrunningaroundallovertheplace.Andthegeesewillhaveanewsetofgoslings,andthesheepwillhavetheirnewlambs…"

           "Maybe,"saidCharlottequietly."However,IhaveafeelingI’mnotgoingtoseetheresultsoflastnight’sefforts.Idon’tfeelgoodatall.IthinkI’mlanguishing,totellyouthetruth."

           Wilburdidn’tunderstandtheword"languish"andhehatedtobotherCharlottebyaskinghertoexplain.Buthewassoworriedhefelthehadtoask.

           "Whatdoes’languishing’mean?"

           "ItmeansI’mslowingup,feelingmyage.I’mnotyounganymore,Wilbur.ButIdon’twantyoutoworryaboutme.Thisisyourbigdaytoday.Lookatmyweb-doesn’titshowupwellwiththedewonit?"

           Charlotte’swebneverlookedmorebeautifulthanitlookedthismorning.Eachstrandhelddozensofbrightdropsofearlymorningdew.Thelightfromtheeaststruckitandmadeitallplainandclear.