8.Bruce and the Spider布鲁斯国王和蜘蛛-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《西方老故事50篇Fifty Famous Stories Retold》

Fifty Famous Stories Retold 8.Bruce and the Spider There was once a king of Scotland whose name was Robert Bruce.He had need to be both brave and wise,for the times in which he lived were wild and rude.The King of England was at war with him,and had led a great army into Scotland to drive him out of the land. Battle after battle had been fought.Six times had Bruce led his brave little army against his foes;and six times had his men been beaten,and driven into flight.At last his army was scattered,and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the mountains. One rainy day,Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed,listening to the patter of the drops on the roof above him.He was tired and sick at heart,and ready to give up all hope.It seemed to him that there was no use for him to try to do anything more. As he lay thinking,he saw a spider over his head,making ready to weave her web.He watched her as she toiled slowly and with great care.Six times she tried to throw her frail thread from one beam to another,and six times it fell short. Poor thing!"”said Bruce::“you,too,know what it is to fail..” But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure.With still more care, ·050· 西方老故事50篇 8.布鲁斯国王和蜘蛛 从前，有一位苏格兰国王名叫罗伯特·布鲁斯。身 处当时那个既蛮荒又残酷的时代，国王必须要智勇双 全。当时，英格兰国王正率领大军攻打苏格兰，企图将 布鲁斯国王赶出国门。 战争打了一场又一场，布鲁斯带领自己的精锐部队 与敌人展开了六次激战，结果都被打得落荒而逃。最后 他的人马都被打散了，自己也被迫躲进荒凉的山林之中。 一个下雨天，布鲁斯藏身于一个简陋的小棚子里， 躺在地上听着屋顶上滴滴答答的雨声。当时他感到身心 ①patter[pet句n嗒嗒声 疲惫，已经准备好要放弃一切希望，因为对他而言，似 乎所有的努力都是徒劳无益的。 就在布鲁斯躺在那里寻思的时候，正好发现头顶上 ②weave[wivg编织 ③toil[oi训v辛勤劳动 有一只蜘蛛准备吐丝织网，他目不转睛地注视着这个小 ④frail[freil]a.脆弱的 家伙，看着它缓慢而小心地忙碌着。整整六次，蜘蛛想 ⑤thread[Ored]n.线 要把脆弱的蛛丝从这边的横梁结到那边的横梁上，可是 ⑥beam[bim]n.横梁 每次都失败了。 “可怜的家伙！”布鲁斯说，“你也品尝到失败的 滋味了吧！” 然而蜘蛛并没有放弃希望，依然小心翼翼地准备进 ·051· Fifty Famous Stories Retold she made ready to try for the seventh time.Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the slender line.Would she fail again? No!The thread was carried safely to the beam,and fastened there. "I,too,will try a seventh time!"cried Bruce. He arose and called his men together.He told them of his plans,and sent them out with messages of cheer to his disheartened people.Soon there was an army of brave Scotch-men around him.Another battle was fought,and the King of England was glad to go back into his own country. I have heard it said,that,after that day,no one by the name of Bruce would ever hurt a spider.The lesson which the little creature had taught the king was never forgotten. ·052· 西方老故事50篇 行第七次的努力。布鲁斯注视着蜘蛛在纤细的蛛丝上摇 ①slender['slendo]a.细长 晃着身躯，几乎把自己所有的烦恼忘到了九霄云外。这 的 次它还会失败吗？不！蛛丝终于稳稳地结到了横梁上， 固定在那里。 “我也要做第七次努力！”布鲁斯大叫了起来。 他一跃而起，重新召集起自己的人马。布鲁斯把自 己的计划讲给手下听，还把这个鼓舞人心的故事告诉那 些已经失去信心的人们。很快，他的身边又聚集起一群 勇敢的苏格兰人。战争再一次打响了，他们终于把英格 兰国王赶回了老家。 听人们说从那以后，凡是名字叫布鲁斯的人都不 会伤害蜘蛛。人们将永远铭记这个小东西给国王上的 那一课。 ·053·