_In which the King of Scotland learns a lesson in perseverance._
Once upon a time there was a king of Scotland named Robert Bruce.
He was a brave king, and had many brave soldiers, but he and
his men had suffered defeat from the English, who had come into
Scotland with a great army, and were driving Robert Bruce and his
men out of their cities and towns.
Six battles had been fought, and each time Bruce led his brave
little army into battle but each time he was defeated. At last
Bruce was so badly beaten, that his army was put to flight, and he
himself had to flee through the woods to escape capture.
Bruce went in hiding in the mountains, and lived as best he could
from hut to hut, while he was gathering a new army. One day he
found refuge in a shed that was very old, and lay down on some
straw to rest. He was very tired, and weary, and was glad to find
anything to lie down on for awhile.
As he lay there he began to think of the six battles he had lost,
and of his scattered army, and of Scotland and her enemies.
Overhead a spider had begun to weave a web. The spider was trying
to fasten a long thread to a beam to hold his web, and was having a
lot of trouble.
Bruce saw him swing for the beam the first time and miss it; then
the spider tried the second time and missed it; then the third
time and missed it again. The spider rested awhile, and swung out
bravely for the fourth time, but he was not far enough and back he
came. Then he made a strong effort for the fifth time and came a
little nearer, but still he fell back. Bruce began to hope that the
spider would succeed, and when he swung out the sixth time he rose
up to watch him. But the spider missed it by a little bit and down
he fell again. This was six failures.
“I wonder if he will give up,” said Bruce to himself. But the
spider had no idea of giving it up, for he gathered his thread
together, and swung to the beam and fastened his thread.
“If a spider fails six times and succeeds the seventh, then surely
the king of Scotland can,” said Bruce thinking of the battles he
had lost.
So Bruce went out and gathered his men and told them about the
spider and said, “Now, for one more brave effort; for Scotland, and
for freedom.” The men cheered as they went into battle and they
fought so bravely that the English were defeated and were glad to
get back to England with their lives.
And from that day to this, no Scotchman by the name of Bruce will
ever hurt a spider.