Informational.ca| Informational.ca | Privacy |
| Home - Collection of Stories - Famous Stories - Short Stories - Wales Poetry |
Famous StoriesKing Alfred And The CakesMany years ago there lived in Eng-land a wise and good ... Cornelia's Jewels It was a bright morning in the old city of Rome many hundre... Grace Darling It was a dark Sep-tem-ber morning. There was a storm at sea... George Washington And His Hatchet When George Wash-ing-ton was quite a little boy, his father... King Canute On The Seashore A hundred years or more after the time of Alfred the Great ... The Story Of William Tell The people of Swit-zer-land were not always free and happy ... Pocahontas There was once a very brave man whose name was John Smith. ... A Laconic Answer Many miles beyond Rome there was a famous country which we ... The Barmecide Feast There was once a rich old man who was called the Bar-me-cid... The Bell Of Atri A-tri is the name of a little town in It-a-ly. It is a very... Horatius At The Bridge Once there was a war between the Roman people and the E-tru... Socrates And His House There once lived in Greece a very wise man whose name was S... Picciola Many years ago there was a poor gentleman shut up in one of... The White Ship King Henry, the Handsome Scholar, had one son, named Willia... Mignon Here is the story of Mignon as I remember having read it in... The Kingdoms There was once a king of Prussia whose name was Frederick W... Arnold Winkelried A great army was marching into Swit-zer-land. If it should ... The Story Of Cincinnatus There was a man named Cin-cin-na'tus who lived on a little ... The Black Douglas In Scotland, in the time of King Robert Bruce, there lived ... The Ungrateful Soldier Here is another story of the bat-tle-field, and it is much ... |
BRUCE AND THE SPIDERThere was once a king of Scot-land 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 scat-tered, and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the moun-tains. One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed, lis-ten-ing 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, 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 fas-tened 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 mes-sa-ges of cheer to his dis-heart-ened 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 crea-ture had taught the king was never for-got-ten. Next: THE BLACK DOUGLAS Previous: A STORY OF ROBIN HOOD
Viewed 477 |
||||||||||||||||||||
