XII. A Meeting
One evening, a few days after the writing had appeared in Charlotte's web, the spider called a meeting of all the animals in the barn cellar.
"I shall begin by calling the roll. Wilbur?"
"Here!" said the pig.
"Gander?"
"Here, here, here!" said the gander.
"You sound like three ganders," muttered Charlotte. "Why can't you just say 'here'? Why do you have to repeat everything?"
"It's my idio-idio-idiosyncrasy," replied the gander.
"Goose?" said Charlotte.
"Here, here, here!" said the goose. Charlotte glared at her.
"Goslings, one through seven?"
"Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" "Bee-bee-bee!" said the goslings.
"This is getting to be quite a meeting," said Charlotte. "Any body would think we had three ganders, three geese, and twenty-one goslings. Sheep?"
"He-aa-aa!" answered the sheep all together.
"Lambs?"
"He-aa-aa!" answered the lambs all together.
"Templeton?"
No answer.
"Templeton?"
No answer.
"Well, we are all here except the rat," said Charlotte. "I guess we can proceed without him. Now, all of you must have noticed what's been going on around here the last few days. The message I wrote in my web, praising Wilbur, has been received. The Zuckermans have fallen for it, and so has everybody else. Zuckerman thinks Wilbur is an unusual pig, and therefore he won't want to kill him and eat him. I dare say my trick will work and Wilbur's life can be saved.
"Hurray!" cried everybody.
"Thank you very much," said Charlotte. "Now I called this meeting in order to get suggestions. I need new ideas for the web. People are already getting sick of reading the words 'Some Pig!' If anybody can think of another message, or remark, I'll be glad to weave it into the web. Any suggestions for a new slogan?"
"How about 'Pig Supreme'?" asked one of the lambs.
"No good," said Charlotte. "It sounds like a rich dessert."
"How about 'Terrific, terrific, terrific'?" asked the goose.
"Cut that down to one 'terrific' and it will do very nicely," said Charlotte. "I think 'terrific' might impress Zuckerman."
"But Charlotte," said Wilbur, "I'm not terrific."
"that doesn't make a particle of difference," replied Charlotte. "Not a particle. People believe almost anything they see in print. Does anybody here know how to spell 'terrific'?"
"I think," said the gander," it's tee double ee double rr double rr double eye double ff double eye double see see see see see."
"What kind of an acrobat do you think I am?" said Charlotte in disgust. "I would have to have St. Vitus's Dance to weave a word like that into my web."
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," said the gander.
Then the oldest sheep spoke up. "I agree that there should be something new written in the web if Wilbur's life is to be saved. And if Charlotte needs help in finding words, I think she can get it from our friend Templeton. The rat visits the dump regularly and has access to old magazines. He can tear out bits of advertisements and bring them up here to the barn cellar, so that Charlotte can have something to copy."
"Good idea," said Charlotte. "But I'm not sure Templeton will be willing to help. You know how he is--always looking out for himself, never thinking of the other fellow."
"I be I can get him to help," said the old sheep. "I'll appeal to his baser instincts, of which he has plenty. Here he comes now. Everybody keep quiet while I put the matter up to him!"
The rat entered the barn the way he always did--creeping along close to the wall.
"What's up?" he asked, seeing the animals assembled.
"We're holding a directors' meeting," replied the old sheep.
"Well, break it up!" said Templeton. "Meetings bore me." And the rat began to climb a rope that hung against the wall.
"Look," said the old sheep, "next time you go to the dump, Templeton, bring back a clipping from a magazine. Charlotte needs new ideas so she can write messages in her web and save Wilbur's life."
"Let him die," said the rat. "I should worry."
"You'll worry all right when next winter comes," said the sheep. "You'll worry all right on a zero morning next January when Wilbur is dead and nobody comes down here with a nice pail of warm slops to pour into the trough. Wilbur's leftover food is your chief source of supply, Templeton. You know that. Wilbur's food is your food; therefore Wilbur's destiny and you destiny are closely linked. If Wilbur is killed and his trough stands empty day after day, you'll grow so thin we can look right through your stomach and see objects on the other side."
Templeton's whiskers quivered.
"Maybe you're right," he said gruffly. "I'm making a trip to the dump tomorrow afternoon. I'll bring back a magazine clipping if I can find one."
"Thanks," said Charlotte. "The meeting is now adjourned. I have a busy evening ahead of me. I've got to tear my web apart and write 'Terrific.'"
Wilbur blushed. "But I'm not terrific, Charlotte. I'm just about average for a pig."
"You're terrific as far as I'm concerned," replied Charlotte, sweetly, "and that's what counts. You're my best friend, and I think you're sensational. Now stop arguing and go get some sleep!"
评论 (7)
前几天进不了你的博客了，万幸今天又能够进来，高兴！
由 铲断 | 2, 2004 04:34
发表于 02, 2004 16:34
我自己的感觉：那些彩色插图并没有黑白色的好看。
由 铲断 | 6, 2004 03:02
发表于 06, 2004 15:02
你的感觉太灵了，图是黑白的，染色是后来一个女的爱出版社请另外染的
由 小小风也 | 6, 2004 03:44
发表于 06, 2004 15:44
两种原文版“夏洛”的装帧及插图
一
8月14日，收到朋友自国外寄来的几本书。其一为《夏洛的网》（Charlotte's Web），1999年全彩版（Full Color Editon），给插图涂色的不是原绘者Garth Williams先生，而是“迷迭香女士”——Rosemary Wells。
这是朝朋友强行索要的，实在不该，可我忍不住，因为我想真切地体会一下彩图的美，更想让1980年黑白版的“夏洛”不再孤单。
二
两种书都是184页。全彩版变做大32开，用纸也又白又硬。黑白版使用的是报纸般的薄纸，但轻盈、暗灰，更有韧性，内蕴温情，有如夏洛。
彩色版的封底拿掉了那些书评广告，换成一幅芬坐看坦普尔曼搬蛋的彩图（见原书第46页）。色彩涂得很好，一些细节都被凸显出来了。
彩色版第46页的插图印得比封底这幅小，这很自然；但颜色涂得极差，或者说印刷极劣，反而不如黑白版第46页插图干净、有味。
黑白版封底上的那些书评广告很好，彩色版为什么将其删除了呢？《纽约时报》上的那段书评，是所有夏洛书评中最精彩的，怎么也该保留呀。
三
彩色版封面图画同黑白版基本相同，然而：
第一、彩色版封面颜色淡而失真，有一种冷酷的电子味道，远不及黑白版封面颜色醇美，能给人温馨感。
第二、彩色版封面将“纽伯瑞奖牌”缩小后挪到下方，上面显得干净了；但把它与那些英文字母一起安排到下面，看起来却有些凌乱，缺乏章法。黑白版封面下部，英文字母却设计得灵活飞动而不失章法。
第三、彩色版封面图画的四围用细红线框成“□”形，又在其外涂上一圈0.8cm宽的绿色，色彩艳丽许多，整个画面也趋于严整，却变得死板了。黑白版封面却不然。画面外只用一个红色的直角线“┓”围住，直角线外缘留白，内部的画面全部填满，向书脊延伸，这不但拓宽了读者的视觉空间，更容易把读者的视线引向书脊。
四
彩色版书脊的设计有所变化，是打算与封面相呼应的，但那“□”的红线与0.8cm宽的“绿鸿沟”已将封面画面锁定，所以，彩色版书脊上绘出的那片延伸出来的木板、半只小羊的耳朵，就都显得空荡无依，甚至有点滑稽了。比起来，黑白版的书脊虽是独立的，但色彩、构图均与封面暗合，彼此的呼应效果反而“不求自来”——黑白版设计者的匠心，就体现在这里。
再来看扉页。原来印在黑白版封底书评上方的那幅“威伯亮相图”（见原书第100页），被彩色版挪到了扉页上，色彩涂得很棒，连地上的两株小草，都那样有生气。
彩色版扉页上的书名设计还同黑白版一样，但“Charlotte's Web”及悬在字母“C”下的夏洛变成了暗蓝色，这却不对头：夏洛明明是灰色的！（见原文第37页：a large grey spider）
彩色版封面上的夏洛，还是灰黑色的呢。
五
现在比较一下两种插图。除扉页题图、封面画外，Garth Williams共为《夏洛的网》创作了46幅黑白插图（有几幅是连页式的）。
有朋友曾说我统计的数字少，当时，我以为彩色版的插图更多，或者由绘者另外绘制了一些，得到这本彩色版后才知道，插图还是46幅，我没统计错，而且，这些插图还是Garth Williams以前绘制的黑白画，只不过Rosemary Wells在得到原绘者授权后，重新将它们涂了色而已。
46幅插图，具体分布如下：
2，5，6，9，11，14，15，20，21，29，31，36，38，46，50，58，59，66，71，73，78，83，88，92，95，98，100，102，108，109，118，121，128，132，135，139，141，145，147，152，160，161，169，175，179，181
这些数字，表示原文的页码，彩色版、黑白版的都是如此，因为两种书的页数完全相同。
在彩色版的封三，新增了一段对涂色者Rosemary Wells女士的介绍。从中可知，Rosemary Wells曾是近八十种图书的作者和插图者。她认为，在现代技术的帮助下，凭着一个简单的、适合故事情调的“调色板”（a very simple palette befitting the story's setting），就能够给这些黑白插图变成彩色。我想，她指的这种“调色板”（palette），大概是Photoshop之类的绘图软件中独有的那一种。“Wells女士希望”，那段介绍的最后一句说，“她的努力能够使Garth Williams感到满意。”
Garth Williams的感觉如何，我们当然不得而知。作为一个中国读者，我对其中的这32幅彩图感到比较满意：
2，6，9，38，50，59，66，71，73，78，83，92，95，98，100，102，108，109，118，121，128，132，139，141，145，147，152，160，161，169，175，179
这些彩图，有些足可以成为新的经典，如第6页的那一幅：芬把威伯抱在怀里，给他喝牛奶。所有的颜色都那么和谐，令人感到温暖、惬意。
其余的彩图，要么失去或者说淡化了一些细节，要么颜色搭配不和谐，电子味浓，人性感少，反不如黑白版的有韵味。
六
有了彩色版，黑白版仍不可废——朋友的馈赠，都值得珍藏。
两种《夏洛的网》，都是我的所爱。
如果可能，出一种“Super Charlotte”——
两种插图不妨印到同一本书里，一种附印于正文，一种单独印在最后，也不过多占十几页。这样，插图的两种美就可并集于一书。
用纸要轻灵，颜色偏灰，以适应夏洛的性格，类似黑白版的用纸。生活已经够惨淡、沉重的了，不要使用那种沉重、惨白而冷的硬纸吧。“夏洛”虽能在你眼前凝出云雾，当这幸福的云雾被风吹入心中，成为不散的情怀，你终究还是会感到轻松而非沉重。那么，“夏洛”的用纸也该符合这种心境。
七
“Super Charlotte”，目前还找不到，至少在国内如此。
不过，能同时拥有黑白版、彩色版的原文版“夏洛”，已经算万幸了。在中国，这样的书却只能找到半本，即康馨先生的译本。
康译本的封面设计，远不如两种美国原文版，却算是国内最好的“夏洛”封面；其插图的印刷质量，颇不及两种美国原文版，却算是国内印刷最好的“夏洛”插图了。
八
不知道“夏洛”究竟会讲几种语言。
要是能将每种译本都搜集到一种，哪怕书影也好，把它们复印出来，贴满家中的两面墙，另一面全贴“夏洛”插图——末一面早被书柜夺去——那将是全世界最美好、最珍贵的墙纸。
八骏图之类，我全都不爱。
生命的精髓，竟在静里面。
13:24 04-9-6肖毛
由 肖毛 | 12, 2004 10:56
发表于 12, 2004 10:56
谢谢肖毛，我在原贴处已经看了，非常惊讶黑白本比彩色本的更出色，虽然心里已经隐约觉得，可是只买了彩版的，看到你这一说，难免有点阴暗地希望不是这样。
你那个墙纸的创意，我先预订下来。希望有人做了，应该可以卖得巨贵。
由 小小风也 | 12, 2004 06:13
发表于 12, 2004 18:13
难得看见有人推荐这本书,问声好。
由 rha | 7, 2004 02:48
发表于 07, 2004 14:48
无意中闯进来的陌生人，一下子被好猪吸引。前天把这里已经发表的全部收集了，昨天跑去图书馆借到康版的。今天冒失的问一声，小风打算什么时候继续连载？
由 bonnie | 3, 2004 05:19
发表于 03, 2004 17:19