LESSON 1 THE SPIDER
第一课 大蜘蛛
Do you see the spider in the picture?
看到图中的蜘蛛了吗？
He has just got his web done; and there he sits in the very middle of it, ready to pounce upon a fly.
它刚刚织好了网，正坐在中央，等着随时袭击扑上来的飞蝇。
The spider loves work. He begins to work as soon as he begins to live. Every spider is born a weaver. Eventhe youngest spider knows how to weave his web just as well as the oldest.
蜘蛛热爱工作，几乎从它出生的那一刻起就已开始工作了。每一只蜘蛛都是天生的编织能手。无论是小蜘蛛还是老蜘蛛都能把网织得很好。
The spider never has to go to school to learn his task. So, the little duck can swim as soon as it is hatched. And the little bird can build its nest, and the bee can make the honey-comb, without any teaching.
蜘蛛从来都不用上学校去学习织网的本领。同样，小鸭子一出生就会游泳，小鸟会筑巢，蜜蜂会做蜂巢。这些都是不需要学习就会的。
God has given these creatures the power to do their work. And that is why they never make any blunders. Not all the weavers and spinners in the world could beat the spider in the work that he does.
上帝赐予这些动物做好自己工作的力量，所以它们从不会犯错。在织网方面，有些编织者或纺纱者甚至还胜不过蜘蛛。
The spider is never in a hurry. He always takes care to make every thread fast. He takes a pride in doing his work well.
蜘蛛从来都是不慌不忙的。蜘蛛总是能将每一根线织好，并以此为傲。
All spiders have not the same kind of work to do. But they all do it in the very best way.
不同蜘蛛的工作不尽相同，相同的是它们都能做得很好。
Some spiders are masons. These build houses, the size of a big thimble. They make doors to them, which they shut when they go in. It is even said that they are able to fasten the door of the house inside, so thatno robber can get in.
有些蜘蛛像泥瓦匠一样。它们做的房子像管道一样大，里面还有门，当蜘蛛进了房子后就会把门关上。据说，蜘蛛甚至能在房子里面把门关紧，所以没有人能够闯进来。
The garden spider lets its threads float in the air till they happen to take hold of plants or branches of trees. It then uses these threads as the roads or bridges by which it crosses from place to place.
花园蜘蛛的丝线一直漂浮在空中，直到它找到能依附的植物或树枝。然后，这些丝线就像路或桥梁一样，让蜘蛛得以从一个地方走到另一个地方。
A strange story is told of a spider saving his life by this means. He was put upon the end of a stick which stood a foot or two out of water. He was on a little island in the midst of a little sea.
有一则奇怪的故事讲述了蜘蛛是如何用它自己的方式来救活自己。它被放在一根棍子的底端，这根棍子离水面只有一两英尺。它置身孤岛，底下是一片汪洋。
What did he do? He walked down the stick to the edge of the water. He went round and round it; but he could find no way to get off.
这只蜘蛛打算怎么做呢？它沿着棍子走，走到离水面很近的一端，绕着来回了好几次，但都没有找到出路。
He then went once more to the top of the stick, and kept still for a while. He seemed to say to himself, "Well, I am in a nice fix now; what am I to do?"
然后它走到棍子的顶端，呆呆地一动不动。它好像在跟自己说，完了，我被困在这里呢。我还能怎么办呢？
He soon made up his mind. For he at once began to spin a long thread. He made one end of it fast to the top of the stick; and let the thread float away in the wind till it caught a tree on the shore. He then slid along the line, and got safely to dry land at last!
很快，它作出了决定。它立即开始织一根长长的线，线的一端与棍子顶端相连，整根线在风中飘着，直到这根线粘在岸边的某棵树上。然后，它沿着线爬，最终顺利地回到了陆地！
QUESTIONS
问题
What is every spider, when he is born? Who has taught him? What do the mason-spiders build? How does the garden-spider cross from place to place? What did the spider do when he was put on a stick in the water?
每一只蜘蛛出生后都会做什么？有谁教它吗？那些想泥瓦匠一样的蜘蛛会建什么？花园蜘蛛是怎样从一个地方去到另一个地方的？当蜘蛛被放到离水面很近的棍子底端时，它会怎样自救？
