雙語故事:羅伯特•布魯斯與蜘蛛
【英文原文】
Robert Bruce was king of Scotland in the early 14th century. He fought in many battles with the English to make them allow Scotland to be independent. Sometimes he won, but at other times the English won and he had to hide. On one of these times, according to an old story, he was hiding in Ireland and had almost given up hope of beating the English. He had tried and failed six times. Then he happened to notice a spider over his bed trying to fix its web on a beam in the ceiling. Six times the spider tried and failed. But the spider tried a seventh time and succeeded. Bruce decided that he too should try a seventh time. He went back to Scotland and led another army against the English. This time he was successful, and the English had to recognize Scottish independence.【中文譯文】
羅伯特•布魯斯是14世紀初的蘇格蘭國王。爲贏得蘇格蘭的獨立，他與英格蘭人的軍隊多次交鋒，有時獲勝，有時戰敗，不得不東躲西藏。據說有一次他在愛爾蘭藏身，幾乎放棄了打敗英格蘭人的希望。他已經嘗試過六次，但六次都失敗了。這時他注意到牀的上方有一隻蜘蛛在織網。這隻蜘蛛試圖把網掛在屋樑上，但嘗試過六次，都沒有成功。蜘蛛嘗試了第七次，結果把網織好了。布魯斯以此爲榜樣，決心再戰。他返回蘇格蘭，率領另一支軍隊攻打英格蘭人。這次他終於打了個勝仗，迫使英格蘭承認蘇格蘭獨立。
題外話：據蘇格蘭小說家司各特說，在蘇格蘭，凡是叫布魯斯的人若傷害了蜘蛛，都被視爲犯了忘恩負義的大罪。
