E.B. White, an American writer, published his novel Charlotte's Web in 1952. Generations of American children have grown up reading this book. This novel is listed alongside nine books, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, as one of the 10 greatest children's literature works in the United States.
Now, let's take a look at what kind of story this book tells us.
The little girl Fen's sows gave birth, and one of them was particularly weak and difficult to survive, and Fen's father planned to dispose of it. Finn insisted that it be left to be raised on his own, and that he take the name Wilbur. Wilbur grew up healthy under Finn's care.
Wilbur grew up and was sold to Finn's uncle, Mr. Zuckerman. Finn went to see Wilbur every day after school.
Wilbur lived on the first floor of the barn, which was home to cows, horses, sheep, geese and many other farm animals, and even a mouse. Frightened by the unfamiliar environment, Wilbur escaped under the guidance of a goose by breaking a plank, but was lured back by a bucket of pig food.
Wilbur felt very lonely and mentally exhausted. The host felt it was sick and gave it medicine. In the darkness, it heard a voice asking if it needed a friend. But Wilbur couldn't see her clearly.
The next day, Wilbur finally saw the animal that was going to be his friend: Charlotte the Spider. Charlotte lived on the door frame, ate flies, and drank the blood of other insects, which Wilbur found cruel.
Summer is here, everywhere is full of life, and the geese are hatching. But one of the eggs broke, and the goose couple gave it to the mouse.
Wilbur began to like Charlotte. The old sheep told Wilbur that at Christmas it would be killed to make cured meat and ham. Wilbur was terrified.
Finn tells her mother that she can understand the barn animals, and the mother is very worried, thinking that her daughter has a problem.
Charlotte the Spider promised Wilbur a way to save his life.
Finn's brothers found Charlotte and wanted to catch her, and the stinky goose eggs collected by the rats exploded, smelled bad, and the boy ran away. This saved Charlotte's life.
Charlotte had a good idea: She woven a net on the door frame with two words: Good Pig. The host family thought it was a miracle and ran to inform the priest. People flocked to see the miracle.
The animals in the barn discussed what word Charlotte should weave next time, for they knew that man was an animal who would forget, and they would soon forget the miracle.
Charlotte weaves another word online: Great. Interest is rising again. The owner, Zuckerman's family, decided to take Wilbur to the County Farm Show.
Finn told her mother about what the animals were talking about, and the mother was very upset, and went to see the doctor, and the doctor did not think so, thinking that it was no surprise that the child could understand the animal's conversation.
Wilbur and Charlotte's friendship grew, and it hoped that Charlotte would go to the agricultural fair with him. But Charlotte didn't want to go because she had to lay eggs. But for the sake of friendship, Charlotte finally decided to go with Wilbur, and they brought the mouse, because the mouse can help find the right word from the book and newspaper for Charlotte to weave on the Internet to tell people that Wilbur is a god-protected pig.
At the agricultural fair, Wilbur failed to win the championship, and the winner was the pig next door. The pig was not smart, but it was big. Then the rats found a very suitable word for them: humility.
So Charlotte weaved the word into a spider's web, and the whole agricultural show was amazed. For this miracle, Wilbur received a special prize.
Charlotte laid 514 eggs in the makeshift abode of the agricultural fair, but her life was at the end of her life, and she did not even have the strength to accompany Wilbur back to the barn.
Wilbur was devastated, but there was nothing he could do about it. It said goodbye to Charlotte with the rat and brought back Charlotte's eggs.
Winter came, and Wilbur lived to see the snow.
Spring came and Charlotte's child was born. Most of the little spiders went with the wind to make their homes, and only three remained, continuing Wilbur's friendship with their mother.
Although "Charlotte's Web" is often labeled as children's literature, after reading it, you will find that it is actually a book for adults. Questions we often ponder, such as the value of life, such as the connotation of friendship, are presented to us with an extremely simple way of thinking and discourse.
For Wilbur, the value of its life seems to be to escape death as much as possible, to enjoy the pig food provided by its master, and to be accompanied by friends; for rats, the value of life is to eat, and everything else is just a passing cloud; and on this question, the spider Charlotte gives us a more complete picture.
Before parting, she said to Wilbur, "But what is the value of life, and what should we say?" We are born, we live briefly, we die. It is pointless for a spider to be busy in its life only catching and devouring small flying insects. By helping you, I can try to find a little value in my life. God knows, everyone has to do something meaningful when they're alive. "What a humble and simple outlook on life.
Friendship is probably the most memorable part of the book. There is no such ups and downs as in our common story that leads to the beginning of friendship, in which Wilbur and Charlotte's friendship begins without drama. When all the animals in the barn refused to play with Wilbur, it was deeply desperate.
By this time it was twilight. But suddenly a voice came from the darkness, 'This sound is quite faint, but it sounds so pleasant.' "Do you want a friend, Wilbur?" The voice said. "I will be your friend. I've been watching you for days and I like you. ”
Now please stop for a second, let's look back at the journey of life, have you ever experienced such a moment, have you ever thought that in fact, this most plain and simple beginning may be the most real way of friendship.
In the days that followed, their interactions seemed to be inconspicuous, such as Charlotte telling Wilbur stories, singing to him, comforting him not to be afraid, and doing everything in his power to keep him away from the butcher's knife.
Charlotte knew very well that her life would end with the end of the summer, far before Wilbur came to the end of her life, but she had been unconsciously worrying about the safety of Wilbur's life all summer.
Finally, she decided she was going to do something for herself to lay her eggs in a safe barn. But then the conflict arose: Wilbur's trip to the agricultural fair needed Charlotte's companions.
Charlotte thought twice and decided to go along, because she felt it was more important to keep her friend alive.
In the end, Charlotte did not have time to return to the barn, and had to lay her eggs in the field of the agricultural fair. Wilbur did not live up to this friendship, and he spared no expense to bring Charlotte's eggs safely back to the barn, waiting for the birth of the baby spiders.
In this way, two unrelated beings who come to this world meet somewhere, and then have a period of time, stay together, know each other, and then be willing to do their best for each other.
In the stumbling trek of our lives, this friendship is enough to make people move just thinking about it!
Almost all of the different characters in this book feel warm. The animals in the barn began to hate Wilbur, but later became an integral part of each other's lives. Even the most selfish rats did not stand idly by at the most critical moments. It accompanied Wilbur to the agricultural fair and helped Wilbur bring back charlotte's children. Without its help, things can't have a good ending.
In fact, our lives are not like this. In our world, there are always people with us, and there are always people who pass by consciously or unconsciously. Perhaps it is the warmth brought by these people that allows us not to despair when we encounter setbacks!
Let's end our reading time today with a simple text from a story:
All winter Wilbur looked after Charlotte's egg sac as if he were caring for his own children. He made a special place for the egg sacs by the cow dung pile not far from the fence. Every cold night, he lay there, letting his breath warm it. For Wilbur, there was nothing more important in his life than this little ball. He waited patiently for the end of winter and the arrival of the little spiders. When you're waiting for something to happen or be hatched, life always becomes long and monotonous. But winter is finally over.