31.夏洛的网-20

Sadly, Wilbur lay down and listened to the rain.
Soon he saw the rat climbing down a slanting board that he used as a stairway.
"Will you play with me, Templeton?" asked Wilbutr.
"Play?" said Templeton, twirling his whiskers.
"Play?" I hardly konw the meaning of the word."
"Well," said Wilbur, "it means to have fun, to frolic, to run and skip and make merry."
"I never do those things if I can avoid them," replied the rat, sourly.
"I perfer to spend my time eating, gnawing, spying, and hiding. I am a glutton but not a merry-maker.
Right now I am on my way to your trough to eay your breakfast, since you haven't got sense enough to eat it yourself."
And Templeton, the rat, crept stealthily along the wall and disappered into a private tunnel that he had dug between the door and the trough in Wilbur's yard.
Templeton was a crafty rat, and he had things pretty much his own way.
The tunnel was an example of his skill and cunning.
The tunnel enabled him to get from the barn to his hiding place under the pig trough without coming out into the open.
He had tunnels and runways all over Mr. Zuckerman's farm and could get from one place to another without being seen.
Usually he slept during the daytime and was abroad only after dark.
Wilbur watched him disapper into his tunnel.
In a moment he saw the rat's sharp nose poke out from underneath the wooden trough.
Cautiously Templeton pulled himself up over the edge of the trough.
This was almost more than Wilbur could stand:
on this dreary, rainy day to see his breakfast being eaten by somebody else.
He knew Templeton was getting soaked, out there in the pouring rain, but even that didn't comfort him.
Friendless, dejected, and hungry, he threw himself down in the manure and sobbed.
Late that afternoon, Lurvy went to Mr. Zuckerman.
"I think there's something wrong with that pig of yours. He hasn't touched his food."
"Give him two spoonful of sulphur and a little molasses," said Mr. Zuckerman.
Wilbur couldn't believe what was happening to him when Lurvy caough him and forced the medicine down his throat.
This was certainly the worst day of his life.
He didn't konw whether he could endure the awful loneliness any more.