скачать книгу бесплатно
Charlotte’s Web and other classic animal stories: Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little
Garth Williams
Fred Marcellino
E. B. White
Three beautiful, timeless stories by beloved author E.B.White - available together in ebook for the first time!CHARLOTTE’S WEB‘Some Pig’. ‘Humble’. ‘Radiant’. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur,who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.STUART LITTLEStuart Little is no ordinary mouse. Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. Though he's shy and thoughtful, he's also a true lover of adventure.Stuart's greatest adventure comes when his best friend, a beautiful little bird named Margalo, disappears from her nest. Determined to track her down, Stuart ventures awayfrom home for the very first time in his life. He finds adventure aplenty. But will he find his friend?THE TRUMPET OF THE SWANLike the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since hecan't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him.Louis tries everything he can think of to win Serena's affection;he even goes to school to learn to read and write. But nothing seems to work. Then his father steals him a real brasstrumpet. Is a musical instrument the key to winning Louis his love?
E. B. WHITE
Charlotte’s Web and Other Classic Animal Stories
3-Book Collection
Copyright (#ulink_469635af-d63e-5b8f-8672-e144ad18acdc)
This ebook collection first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2015
HarperCollins Children’s Books A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Charlotte’s Web and other classic animal stories
Charlotte’s Web, first published as an ebook in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2015.
Text copyright © E.B. White, 1952
Text copyright renewed © E.B. White, 1980
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.
Stuart Little, first published as an ebook in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2015
Text copyright © E.B. White, 1945
Text copyright renewed © E.B. White, 1973
Illustration copyright renewed © Garth Williams, 1978
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.
The Trumpet of the Swan, first published as an ebook in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2015
Text copyright © E.B. White, 1970
Illustration copyright © Fred Marcellino, 2000
E.B. White and Fred Marcellino 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.
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.
Source ISBNs:
Charlotte’s Web: 9780008139414 Stuart Little: 9780008139421 The Trumpet of the Swan: 9780008139438 Ebook Edition © JULY 2015 ISBN: 9780008154530 Version: 2015-06-25
Contents
Cover (#u1aed8b4b-5dda-5f45-bf9e-87e21772c919)
Title Page (#u90372dc1-be33-5ce3-b139-6457d1e1ca48)
Copyright (#ulink_1d906ec3-f98e-536e-95d7-87093b17608b)
Charlotte's Web (#u2b46f36e-2dca-5a6c-ac48-59bf8cd9aaa2)
Stuart Little (#u40c63511-613e-5f92-acf5-e026b56733a9)
The Trumpet of the Swan (#uf43ad2d3-465f-5103-9525-463990d43e0d)
About the Author (#ulink_2dff6a05-3535-592f-a06f-c9e2be16fec6)
About the Illustrators (#u2b7a4056-2762-5c1d-bc14-03ed81d4ad1a)
About the Publisher
Contents
1. Before Breakfast (#ulink_d9307964-cf7a-5d3b-bc22-b53fdd7cca06)
2. Wilbur (#ulink_235588f1-c90f-5f0f-b4dd-7cf09e3453aa)
3. Escape (#ulink_1b8a8f45-c8b5-545e-b118-28efaf063f17)
4. Loneliness (#ulink_772512ba-9970-5932-ae81-2e492fcb06b6)
5. Charlotte (#ulink_4cfddd3d-6755-596e-a35f-68c3034dc0f6)
6. Summer Days (#ulink_b31f5c83-64ac-590c-9afc-78044b1f1fc5)
7. Bad News (#ulink_fa8a7a47-a8d5-536c-b4e7-70218e8023b8)
8. A Talk at Home (#ulink_47a70b3b-bce3-5708-b78f-ad4b43199f6a)
9. Wilbur’s Boast (#ulink_39d44f5a-f552-59ca-9554-473da7d84035)
10. An Explosion (#ulink_a121c495-9ccf-5254-821a-eb6b3ce049e0)
11. The Miracle (#ulink_ff560fbb-8e7c-51e1-8f9a-e26615cb0bab)
12. A Meeting (#ulink_829338d6-b04b-53eb-97fd-868f6a7e6b69)
13. Good Progress (#ulink_9590f3ca-db33-54e5-b3c6-7ef0383192d6)
14. Dr Dorian (#ulink_45f198ef-3f7e-55cd-8e01-7f4ca5ba826c)
15. The Crickets (#ulink_5beb6819-6778-59d8-87ca-c43a845fc8b6)
16. Off to the Fair (#ulink_1461c423-94df-5011-9624-2e0573ff254b)
17. Uncle (#ulink_db64e2c8-893f-530b-a2c2-233b91dd0a61)
18. The Cool of the Evening (#ulink_c1b5df58-d10d-53be-a40c-7fc399d3aed8)
19. The Egg Sac (#ulink_e7d800c8-4a6d-5864-a6df-623809157aa1)
20. The Hour of Triumph (#ulink_9b15a23a-48dd-53a0-8ebf-cc481d19b555)
21. Last Day (#ulink_f3ebc24a-1b79-562e-90fd-a36424afd50a)
22. A Warm Wind (#ulink_d8791234-7a64-5374-a5d8-481dddd2f0ac)
1. Before Breakfast (#ulink_8cad7067-0f01-5e0e-80dd-6f5235615aca)
‘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.
‘He’s yours,’ said Mr Arable. ‘Saved from an untimely death. And may the good Lord forgive me for this foolishness.’
Fern couldn’t take her eyes off the tiny pig. ‘Oh,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, look at him! He’s absolutely perfect.’
She closed the carton carefully. First she kissed her father, then she kissed her mother. Then she opened the lid again, lifted the pig out, and held it against her cheek. At this moment her brother Avery came into the room. Avery was ten. He was heavily armed – an air rifle in one hand, a wooden dagger in the other.
‘What’s that?’ he demanded. ‘What’s Fern got?’
‘She’s got a guest for breakfast,’ said Mrs Arable. ‘Wash your hands and face, Avery!’
‘Let’s see it!’ said Avery, setting his gun down. ‘You call that miserable thing a pig? That’s a fine specimen of a pig – it’s no bigger than a white rat.’
‘Wash up and eat your breakfast, Avery!’ said his mother. ‘The school bus will be along in half an hour.’
‘Can I have a pig too, Pop?’ asked Avery.
‘No, I only distribute pigs to early risers,’ said Mr Arable. ‘Fern was up at daylight, trying to rid the world of injustice. As a result, she now has a pig. A small one, to be sure, but nevertheless a pig. It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly. Let’s eat!’
But Fern couldn’t eat until her pig had had a drink of milk. Mrs Arable found a baby’s nursing bottle and a rubber nipple. She poured warm milk into the bottle, fitted the nipple over the top, and handed it to Fern. ‘Give him his breakfast!’ she said.
A minute later, Fern was seated on the floor in the corner of the kitchen with her infant between her knees, teaching it to suck from the bottle. The pig, although tiny, had a good appetite and caught on quickly.
The school bus honked from the road.
‘Run!’ commanded Mrs Arable, taking the pig from Fern and slipping a doughnut into her hand. Avery grabbed his gun and another doughnut.
