LESSON 1

PERSEVERANCE

坚持不懈

1. “Will you give my kite a lift?” said my little nephew to his sister, after trying in vain to make it fly by dragging it along the ground. Lucy very kindly took it up and threw it into the air, but, her brother neglecting to run off at the same moment, the kite fell down again.

2. “Ah! now, how awkward you are!” said the little fellow. “It was your fault entirely,” answered his sister. “Try again, children,” said I.

3. Lucy once more took up the kite. But now John was in too great a hurry; he ran off so suddenly that he twitched the kite out of her hand, andit fell flat as before. “Well, who is to blame now?” asked Lucy. “Try again,”said I.

4. They did, and with more care; but a side wind coming suddenly, as Lucy let go the kite, it was blown against some shrubs, and the tail became entangled in a moment, leaving the poor kite hanging with its head downward.

5. “There, there!” exclaimed John, “that comes of your throwing it all to one side.” “As if I could make the wind blow straight,” said Lucy. In the meantime, I went to the kite’s assistance 23 ; and having disengaged the long tail, I rolled it up, saying, “Come, children, there are too manytrees here; let us find a more open space, and then try again.”

6. We presently found a nice grassplot , at one side of which I took my stand; and all things being prepared, I tossed the kite up just as little John ran off. It rose with all the dignity of a balloon, and promised a lofty flight;but John, delighted to find it pulling so hard at the string, stopped short to look upward and admire. The string slackened, the kite wavered, and, the wind not being very favorable, down came the kite to the grass. “O John, you should not have stopped,” said I. “However, try again.”

7. “I won’t try any more,” replied he, rather sullenly. “It is of no use, yousee. The kite won’t fly, and I don’t want to be plagued with it any longer.” “Oh,fie, my little man! would you give up the sport, after all the pains we havetaken both to make and to fly the kite? A few disappointment ought not to discourage us. Come, I have wound up your string, and now try again.”

8. And he did try, and succeeded, for the kite was carried upward on the breeze as lightly as a feather; and when the string was all out, John stood in great delight, holding fast the stick and gazing on the kite, which now seemed like a little white speck in the blue sky. “Look, look, aunt, how high it flies! and it pulls like a team of horses, so that I can hardly hold it. I wish I had a mile of string: I am sure it would go to the end of it.”

9. After enjoying the sight as long as he pleased, little John proceeded to roll up the string slowly; and when the kite fell, he took it up with great glee , saying that it was not at all hurt, and that it had behaved very well. “Shall we come out to-morrow, aunt, after lessons, and try again?”

10. “I have no objection, my dear, if the weather is fine. And now, as we

walk home, tell me what you have learned from your morning’s sport.” “I

have learned to fly my kite properly.” “You may thank aunt for it, brother,”

said Lucy, “for you would have given it up long ago, if she had not persuaded you to try again.”

11. “Yes, dear children, I wish to teach you the value of perseverance, even when nothing more depends upon it than the flying of a kite. Whenever you fail in your attempts to do any good thing, let your motto be,—try again.”

EXERCISES.—What is the subject of this lesson? Why was John discouraged in his attempts to fly his kite? What did his aunt say to him? What may we learn from this? What should be our motto if we expect to be successful?

【中文阅读】

1. “能不能给我的风筝助个力？”我的小侄子对他妹妹说。之前他在地上拖着风筝，试着让它飞起来，但是失败了。他的妹妹露西热心地举起风筝，将它抛向空中，可是哥哥没有在同时起跑，于是风筝又摔了下来。

2. “哎呀！你怎么这么笨手笨脚的！”小家伙说。“这全都是你的错。”他妹妹反驳道。我说：“孩子们，再试一次。”

3. 露西再一次把风筝拿了起来。但这回约翰太心急了，他起跑得过于突然，把露西拿着的风筝扯得脱了手，结果像之前一样以失败告终。“现在是谁的错了？”露西问道。“再试试。”我说。

4. 他们又试了一次，这次更加小心了。但忽然从侧面来了一阵大风，当露西松手放飞风筝的时候，它被吹到了一片灌木丛中，尾部一时间缠绕在了一起，可怜的风筝就头向下挂在了树丛中。

5. “看吧，看吧！”约翰叫道，“这就是你把它抛向一边的结果。”“好像我能让风直着吹似的。” 露西说。与此同时，我过去帮忙捡风筝。解开了风筝的长尾巴，我一边把它收起来一边说：“来吧，孩子们，这里树丛太多，我们去找个更开阔的地方，然后再试一次吧。”

6. 不一会儿，我们找到了一片非常不错的草地，我在草地一边站定。一切都准备就绪，我将风筝高高地向上抛起，约翰开始起跑。风筝像气球一样稳稳

地飞了起来，似乎有希望可以飞得很高。但是当约翰发现它在用力地扯动风筝线时，他大喜过望，顿时停下脚步抬头欣赏起来。线一松，风筝开始摇摆，加上风势不太理想，它一下子掉在了草地上。“噢，约翰，刚才你不应该停下，”我说道，“不管怎么说，再来一次吧。”

7. “我不想再试了”，他回答道，“你看到了，这根本没用。风筝飞不起来，我可再也不想让它折磨我了。”“得了，我的小男子汉！之前我们费了那么大劲做风筝、放风筝，难道你想放弃了？我们不应该被一点小小的挫折弄得灰心丧气。来吧，我给你绕好风筝线，现在再来试一次。”

8. 他的确又试了一次，这一次成功了，风筝像一片羽毛一样轻盈地被风吹着飞上了天空。当线都用完了，约翰站在那儿兴高采烈地凝望着风筝，手里紧紧攥着风筝杆。这时，风筝在蔚蓝的天空下看上去就像一张小小的白纸片。“姨妈，快看，快看，它飞得多高啊！感觉像有一群马在拉绳子，我都快拽不住了。我多希望绳子有一英里那么长啊，我相信即使那么长，我的风筝也能飞到头。”

9. 直到他欣赏够了，小约翰才开始慢慢地收回风筝线。风筝一落地，他就满心欢喜地捡了起来，说它毫发未损，刚才的表现棒极了。“姨妈，我们明天下课后还可以出来玩儿吗？还可以再来一次吗？”

10. “亲爱的，只要天气好，我没有任何意见。现在我们回家。边走边告诉我，你从上午的户外活动中学到些什么。”“我学会了用正确的方法放风筝。”“弟弟，你可得感谢姨妈，”露西说道，“要不是姨妈一再劝你再试一次，你肯定早就放弃了。”

11. “没错，孩子们，尽管还有很多事比放风筝更需要坚持不懈的精神，但我希望能够通过这件事教给你们这种精神的意义所在。以后每当你在遇到挫折时，给自己的座右铭应该是——再试一次。”