Garth Williams - Charlotte’s Web

This ebook edition first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2015

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk

Charlotte’s Web

Text copyright © E.B. White, 1952

Text copyright © renewed 1980 by E.B. White

Illustration copyright © renewed 1980 by the Estate of Garth Williams

Colourisations copyright © 1999 by the Estate of Garth Williams

E.B. White and Garth Williams assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2015 ISBN: 9780008139414

Version: 2015-03-05

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright 1. Before Breakfast 2. Wilbur 3. Escape 4. Loneliness 5. Charlotte 6. Summer Days 7. Bad News 8. A Talk at Home 9. Wilbur’s Boast 10. An Explosion 11. The Miracle 12. A Meeting 13. Good Progress 14. Dr Dorian 15. The Crickets 16. Off to the Fair 17. Uncle 18. The Cool of the Evening 19. The Egg Sac 20. The Hour of Triumph 21. Last Day 22. A Warm Wind Keep Reading About the Author About the Illustrator Other Books By About the Publisher This ebook edition first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2015 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk Charlotte’s Web Text copyright © E.B. White, 1952 Text copyright © renewed 1980 by E.B. White Illustration copyright © renewed 1980 by the Estate of Garth Williams Colourisations copyright © 1999 by the Estate of Garth Williams E.B. White and Garth Williams assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Ebook Edition © MARCH 2015 ISBN: 9780008139414 Version: 2015-03-05

1. Before Breakfast

2. Wilbur

3. Escape

4. Loneliness

5. Charlotte

6. Summer Days

7. Bad News

8. A Talk at Home

9. Wilbur’s Boast

10. An Explosion

11. The Miracle

12. A Meeting

13. Good Progress

14. Dr Dorian

15. The Crickets

16. Off to the Fair

17. Uncle

18. The Cool of the Evening

19. The Egg Sac

20. The Hour of Triumph

21. Last Day

22. A Warm Wind

Keep Reading

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Other Books By

About the Publisher

‘WHERE’S Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

‘Out to the hoghouse,’ replied Mrs Arable. ‘Some pigs were born last night.’

‘I don’t see why he needs an axe,’ continued Fern, who was only eight.

‘Well,’ said her mother, ‘one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.’

‘Do away with it?’ shrieked Fern. ‘You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?’

Mrs Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table. ‘Don’t yell, Fern!’ she said. ‘Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.’

Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with her father.

‘Please don’t kill it!’ she sobbed. ‘It’s unfair.’

Mr Arable stopped walking.

‘Fern,’ he said gently, ‘you will have to learn to control yourself.’

‘Control myself?’ yelled Fern. ‘This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.’ Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the axe and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.

‘Fern,’ said Mr Arable, ‘I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!’

‘But it’s unfair,’ cried Fern. ‘The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me ?’

Mr Arable smiled. ‘Certainly not,’ he said, looking down at his daughter with love. ‘But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.’

‘I see no difference,’ replied Fern, still hanging on to the axe. ‘This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.’

A queer look came over John Arable’s face. He seemed almost ready to cry himself.

‘All right,’ he said. ‘You go back to the house and I will bring the runt when I come in. I’ll let you raise it on a bottle, like a baby. Then you’ll see what trouble a pig can be.’

When Mr Arable returned to the house half an hour later, he carried a carton under his arm. Fern was upstairs changing her sneakers. The kitchen table was set for breakfast, and the room smelt of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood smoke from the stove.

‘Put it on her chair!’ said Mrs Arable. Mr Arable set the carton down at Fern’s place. Then he walked to the sink and washed his hands and dried them on the roller towel.

Fern came slowly down the stairs. Her eyes were red from crying. As she approached her chair, the carton wobbled, and there was a scratching noise. Fern looked at her father. Then she lifted the lid of the carton. There, inside, looking up at her, was the newborn pig. It was a white one. The morning light shone through its ears, turning them pink.