41　THE GARDEN SPIDER
园蛛

I

Alfred likes to watch spiders. He has learned how they make their webs and catch flies. One day he was walking with his cousin Frank. They saw a spider just beginning to make its web, and they stopped to watch it.

“Why does a spider make a web?” asked Frank.

“So that flies may be caught in it,” said Alfred. “The spider wants them for food.”

“Where do spiders get the thread to make their webs?” asked Frank.

“They have little bags at the end of their bodies. These bags are full of something that looks like water, but is thicker. The spiders squeeze it out.

“As soon as it comes out into the air, it hardens and makes a little thread. The spiders put many of these threads together to make one strong line.”

II

While the boys were talking, they watched the spider. It was busy making its web.

First, it stretched some long threads from bough to bough. These were for the outside of its web.

Next, it made a number of other threads which were joined to the outside threads. They met in the middle like the spokes of a wheel.

Then it went round and round the web, spinning all the time. It made a long thread which looked like many circles, one within another.

As it went, it fastened this thread to each of the spoke-like threads.

“It looks as if it were making the thread with its legs,” said Frank.

“It uses its legs to put the thread in place,” said Alfred. “Now the web is finished. The spider will hide and wait for a fly. Let us watch it.”

III

Soon a fly came buzzing by and was caught in the web. The spider darted out and began to wrap fine threads around it.

These held it fast, so that it could not get away. Then the spider went away and waited for another fly.

“Why does it not eat the fly?” asked Frank.

“It is not hungry now,” said Alfred.

Then Alfred told Frank more about spiders.

“The mother spider is larger than the father,” he said. “The mother spider lays eggs in a little bag which she makes for them. She hides it away in a safe place.

“This spider which we have just been watching is called the garden spider. It likes to make its web in gardens. It will not harm us, but there are some spiders which would hurt us very much if they should bite us.”

一

阿尔弗雷德喜欢观察蜘蛛，已经知道了它们是怎么结网捉飞虫的。一天，他正和表弟富兰克一起玩，突然看到一只蜘蛛正打算结网，于是就停下来观察它。

“蜘蛛为什么要结网？”富兰克问。

“因为要抓飞虫，”阿尔弗雷德说，“蜘蛛吃虫子。”

“蜘蛛从哪里得到蛛丝？”富兰克问道。

“它的尾部有一个小袋子，里面装满了像水一样的东西，不过比水黏稠。蜘蛛会把它挤出来。”

“这种东西一碰到空气就会变硬，成为一缕丝线。蜘蛛会把这些丝线结成一股更结实的线。”

二

两个男孩一边说话一边观察蜘蛛。它正忙着结网。

首先，它在两个树枝间牵起好几条长线，这就是蛛网的框架。

然后，它再用几条线把框架连接起来。这些线集结在蛛网中心，仿佛是轮子的辐条。

接下来，它从外往里绕着这个中心吐丝，长长的蛛丝连成一个个大圆圈。

在这个过程中，所有辐条般的蛛丝被牢固地结在了一起。

“看起来好像它是用腿在吐丝。”富兰克说。

“它用腿把丝放在合适的地方，”阿尔弗雷德说，“蛛网织好了。现在蜘蛛会躲起来等飞虫来。我们看看吧。”

三

不一会，一只小虫嗡嗡飞来，被蛛网抓住了。蜘蛛连忙冲出来，在虫子身上绕了更多蛛丝。

小虫被死死缠住，再也飞不走了。然后蜘蛛走开，继续等着另一只小虫找上门来。

“它为什么不把小虫吃了？”富兰克问。

“因为它现在不饿。”阿尔弗雷德说。

后来，阿尔弗雷德还给富兰克介绍了更多有关蜘蛛的事。

“蜘蛛妈妈比蜘蛛爸爸大，”他说，“蜘蛛妈妈会织一个小袋子，把卵产在里面，然后藏在安全的地方。”

“我们刚看见的蜘蛛叫作园蛛，因为它喜欢在花园里结网。它对我们是无害的，不过如果有些蜘蛛咬了我们，可能会造成很大的伤害。”