How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Your future is assured. You will live, secure and safe, Wilbur. Nothing can harm you now. These autumn days will shorten and grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees and fall. Christmas will come, then the snows of winter. You will live to enjoy the beauty of the frozen world, for you mean a great deal to Zuckerman and he will not harm you, ever. Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur—this lovely world, these precious days…" (21.5)
Charlotte has a good forecast for Wilbur's future: he's going to live! This means he'll get to see the changing seasons. He was worried he'd never see winter turn into spring, and now he has lots of seasonal changes to look forward to. But (sorry to bring you down), not so for Charlotte.
Quote #8
One evening, just before Christmas, snow began falling. It covered house and barn and fields and woods. Wilbur had never seen snow before. (22.6)
Once Wilbur is back at the Zuckerman farm, he gets to enjoy the passing time instead of dreading it. Before, he was worried he'd be Christmas dinner. Now, he gets to enjoy his first winter and his first snow.
Quote #9
For Wilbur, nothing in life was so important as this small round object—nothing else mattered. Patiently he awaited the end of winter and the coming of the little spiders. Life is always a rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch. The winter ended at last. (22.16)
Waiting can be tough, but Wilbur is excited to wait for the spiders to hatch. We have to admit we're pretty impressed at Wilbur's patience, and we love the way White says that "Life is always a rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen."