Charlotte's Web (1973)
Pamelyn Ferdin: Fern Arable
Photos
Quotes
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Fern Arable : [John Arable lifts runt from the newborn litter of piglets] Papa! Papa, stop! Don't kill it! It's unfair.
Arable : Fern! You will have learn to control yourself!
Fern Arable : [crying] Control myself? This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself?
Arable : Now Fern, I know a lot more about raising pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble, now run along.
Fern Arable : But it's unfair! If I had been very small, would you have killed me?
Arable : No, certainly not! A little girl is one thing, a... runty pig is another.
Fern Arable : [Sobbing] I don't see any difference! This is the most terrible case of injustice that I ever heard of!
Arable : Oh? Now I've got a good mind to let you raise this pig, then you'll see what trouble a pig can be.
Fern Arable : Oh Papa, would you - please?
Arable : [Hands the runt to Fern, then she kisses it] All right. He's yours, saved from an untimely death.
Fern Arable : Oh, look at him; he's absolutely perfect! His name is... Wilbur.
[kisses him again]
Arable : A pig doesn't grow fat on kisses and hugs, Fern. Now take him inside and feed him.
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Henry Fussy : When I heard Zuckerman's famous pig was here, I came looking for you.
Fern Arable : Well, I'm *not* Zuckerman's famous pig!
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Narrator : [Six weeks later] Wilbur was what the farmers call a "spring pig", which means he was born in springtime. By the time he was six weeks old, he'd grown so, you'd never have known he started life as a runt. Wilbur had gotten so big, in fact, that John Arable decided that it was time he stopped being a pet, and start being a pig.
Arable : [At the Arable house] He's got to go, Fern.
Fern Arable : Papa, no!
Arable : You've had your fun raising a baby pig, but Wilbur's got to be sold. He's not a baby anymore and his brothers and sisters are already sold.
Fern Arable : [Fern starts crying and runs outside] Oh Papa!
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Fern Arable : Oh Wilbur!
[crying]
Narrator : The next day was the saddest one Fern and Wilbur had ever known, for the young pig was taken from his home under the apple tree, and sold down the road to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman.
[truck moves]
Fern Arable : [crying] Goodbye, Wilbur... goodbye Wilbur... goodbye...
[sobs]
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Fern Arable : [Enters kitchen and puts eggs on the kitchen counter] Here are the eggs, Mama.
Mrs. Arable : [Flipping pancakes] Thank you, Fern.
Fern Arable : What's Papa gonna do with that axe?
Mrs. Arable : [Poors more batter on pancake griddle] Some pigs were born last night.
Fern Arable : What does he need an axe for?
Mrs. Arable : One of the pigs was a runt, so your father has to do away with it.
Fern Arable : Do away with it? You, you mean, kill it?
Mrs. Arable : Well, yes.
Fern Arable : [shocked] Just because it's smaller than the others?
Mrs. Arable : Don't yell, Fern. The pig'll probably die, anyway.
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Fern Arable : [Templeton's rotten egg has been squashed under Wilbur's trough] What did you DO, Avery? Ewwww!
Avery Arable : [running away] Good night! What a STINK!
Templeton : [Templeton emerges from his burrow sniffing the air and reacts with disgust when he sees the source. He walks over towards Charlotte] It's a good thing for you I saved that egg, Charlotte.
Charlotte : It certainly is, and I'm grateful to you, Templeton.
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[first lines]
Narrator : This old world is filled with wonders, but to me there is no place more wonderful than a farm in springtime, when the sun is just lifting from the sky line. The air is so sweet and everywhere you look, little miracles are happening. Buds swell into blossoms, eggs hatch, young are born. Everything's off to a fresh start, and life is good and busy and brand new... Around the barnyard, big families are a blessing. The more the merrier. Root and grunt, push and shove, room for everyone. Well, everybody except the runt... John Arable had been up since daybreak. He'd seen the size of the pig, but he wasn't looking forward to what had to be done.
[John Arable picks up the axe]
Fern Arable : [carrying a bowl of eggs] Good morning, Papa.
Arable : [looks at Fern] Morning, Fern.
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Mrs. Fussy : Henry, I told you you could visit, not spend the day.
Henry Fussy : I'm sorry, mother. We were having fun.
Mrs. Fussy : Well, you've kept your music teacher waiting twenty minutes; run along home.
[Henry does so, then Mrs. Fussy looks up at the words "Some Pig" in the web, now looking torn from damage from a hornet]
Mrs. Fussy : Those words in the web, was that some trick of *yours*, Fern?
[she leaves]
Fern Arable : [turns and runs after her] No, ma'am, it was a *miracle*!
Mrs. Fussy : Hmm, it doesn't look very miraculous anymore.
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Fern Arable : It's Wilbur's birthday, Papa. He's two weeks old.
Arable : Ah. Then it's time for him to start behaving like a pig. Tonight he starts sleeping outside.
Fern Arable : But-but Papa...
Arable : Don't "but Papa" me. Now take that pig outside where it belongs.
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Fern Arable : You know, Henry, you ought to have a dog or something.
Henry Fussy : Well, mother says pets are unsanitary.
Fern Arable : Wilbur's not. He's as clean as a whistle.
Mrs. Fussy : Henry Fussy! You put that thing down!
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Fern Arable : Papa, did you know that Uncle Homer's goslings have hatched?
Arable : No, how many?
Fern Arable : 7. There were 8 eggs, but 1 egg didn't hatch. And the goose told Templeton that he could have it.
Mrs. Arable : The goose did what?
Fern Arable : Told Templeton that she didn't want the egg anymore.
Mrs. Arable : Who's Templeton?
Fern Arable : He's a rat. None of us like him much.
Mrs. Arable : Who's "us"?
Fern Arable : Oh, everybody in the barn cellar. Wilbur, and the sheep, and the lambs, and goose, and Charlotte, and me.
Mrs. Arable : Charlotte? Who's Charlotte?
Fern Arable : Wilbur's friend. Oh, she's terribly clever.
Mrs. Arable : What does she look like?
Fern Arable : Well, she has 8 legs, and catches flies so she can drink their blood. Wilbur adores her.
Mrs. Arable : Fern, stop inventing these wild tales.
Fern Arable : Oh, I'm not inventing. I'm just telling the facts.
