Charlotte’s Web
This is the story of how Charlotte—a kind, clever spider—lived in the corner of the barn, busy spinning delicate webs and taking care of creatures to be found on the farm.
On one sunny morning, there was a piglet born on the farm. He happened to be the littlest, and he seemed quite weak compared to the rest of the litter. A farmer’s daughter, Fern, thought it was a good idea to take care of the little pig, called Piglet Wilbur.
And in a few days, Wilbur and Fern were the best of friends. For she used to visit him every day, sometimes she even sang to her pig, and naturally, he could not eat without being fed. And how happy he was. However, he had an idea that not all was assured for his future since he was a pig.
One day, while Wilbur was growing up, Fern heard her father tell her mother that he guessed they’d have to sell the pig. He said it would probably be killed and turned into smoked bacon or ham. She went to her father in tears, asking if he would let Wilbur live.
Fern’s father was always certain that Wilbur could always stay with them, given a certain demonstration of his need for the farm. Surely, Wilbur needed a chance to stay, but he was begging his new friend, Charlotte, for help.
So it was that Charlotte, through her extraordinary powers of being able to write messages in her delicate web, decided to help save Wilbur’s life. Quick as a flash, she had written “Some Pig” and “Terrific” in her web, and by acting this out, she had the whole town talking about the wonderful pig.
People thought Wilbur was some pig, and he did become famous. Fern was happy, and Wilbur was very special and happy.
But, with the coming days, there was one thing to observe: Charlotte kept getting weaker and weaker. The messages seemed to suck all life from her, and she must have realized that she did not have much time left. She outlined her plan to Wilbur, instructing him to tend to the egg sack when she released it to the ground.
Finally, on a sad day, Charlotte died; but she left a lot of herself. Wilbur started to look after the eggs of Charlotte with sincerity, and soon, after several little spiders appeared from the shell, hundreds of them continued with this gift to write messages on their webs.
Through Charlotte, he had learned what a friend was and how to be one. He lived merrily all his days back on the farm, amidst the friends and family that he had left earlier, but never quite forgetting the little spider that had been such a good friend to him.
And so, Charlotte’s Web remains a timeless story of friendship, love, and the power of words to show everyone how even the smallest and most seemingly inconsequential things may make all the difference in the world.
