第3章 THE SNAIL ON THE WALL 墙上的蜗牛

“What ails you, lad?” said Dame Bell to a little boy, who sat near a wall at the back of her house. He had a book in his hand, and tears were in his eyes.

“We have all got a poem called Little Jim to learn,”said the boy, whose name was Tom Blair; “and the one who says it best is to get a prize from the master. But I don't think I can learn it.”

“Why not?” said the dame.

“The boys say that I can't, and that I need not try,” said Tom in a sad tone.

“Don't mind what the boys say. Let them see that you can learn it,” said his friend.

“But I don't think I can,” said Tom; “it is so long, and some of the words are so hard. I know I need not try for the prize. But I should like to learn the poem as well as I can; for the boys laugh at me, and call me ‘Slow Tom.’”

“Well, dear,” said the dame, in a kind voice, “if you are slow, and can't help it, try to be ‘slow and sure, ' as they say. Look at that snail on the wall; how slow it is! And yet, if you watch it, you will see it will get to the top in time. So just try to learn a few lines each day, and you may gain the prize in the end. And when you are like to lose heart, think of the snail on the wall.”

When Dame Bell had said this, she went on her way. And Tom thought that (though he could not keep up with the boys) he might run a race with the snail. So he resolved to try to learn his task, by the time the snail got to the top of the wall.

At last, the day came on which the master was to give the prize, and he called up the boys to repeat the poem.

When five or six had recited,it came to Tom's turn. There was a laugh when he got up; for most of the boys thought he would fail. But he did not miss a word; and his heart was full of joy when the master said, “Well done. Tom Blair!”

When the rest of the class had tried, the master said Tom had done best; and he gave him the prize.

“And now tell me,” said the master, “how you learned the poem so well.”

“Please, sir, it was the snail on the wall that taught me how to do it,” said Tom.

There was a loud laugh when Tom said this. But the master said, “You need not laugh, boys; for we may learn much from such things as snails.—How did the snail teach you, Tom?”

“Please, sir, I saw it crawl up the wall bit by bit. It did not stop, nor turn back, but went on, and on. And I thought I would do the same with my task. So I learned it bit by bit, and did not give up. And by the time the snail had got to the top of the wall, I had learned it all.”

“Well done, Tom!” said the master.—“Now, boys, let us give a good cheer for Tom Blair and the snail on the wall.” And the old house rang with a loud, long cheer. For all were glad that “Slow Tom” had got a prize at last.

Questions

Why did Tom cry? What did the other boys call him? What did Dame Bell tell him to watch? What did Tom then make up his mind to do? Who got the prize? When was there a loud laugh? Why did the boys at last give a loud cheer?

Pronunciation

lit'-tle po'-em mas'-ter laugh re-peat' crawl

eyes friend thought prize please learned

Write

eyes prize crawl

“你怎么了，小伙子？”贝尔太太问一个坐在她家房子后墙边上的小男孩。小男孩手里拿着一本书，眼里噙着泪水。

“我们要学习一首叫《小吉姆》的诗”，这个名叫汤姆·布莱尔的小男孩说，“老师说，这首诗谁背得最好，谁就会有奖品。但是我觉得我肯定背不好。”

“为什么呢？”老太太问道。

“那些男孩们说我就是背不好，还说我连试都不用试了。”汤姆伤心地回答道。

“不要在意那些男孩的话，让他们看看你可以背得很好。”汤姆的这位大朋友说。

“但是我觉得我不行，”汤姆说，“这首诗太长了，有些词也太难了。我知道我不一定非要去争奖品，但是我应该尽自己最大的努力去学这首诗，因为男孩们笑话我，管我叫‘迟钝的汤姆’。”

“咳，汤姆，”老太太用和蔼的语气说，“如果你学得慢，而且也没有办法变得快些，那就试着像人们说的那样，‘慢且稳’吧。你看看墙上的蜗牛，它爬得多慢啊！但是你观察一下它，就会发现它迟早会爬上墙顶。所以你只需每天试着学习几句诗，你就有可能最终赢得奖品哦。当你灰心丧气的时候，就想想墙上的蜗牛吧。”

贝尔太太说完这些就走了。汤姆想到（即使他比不上其他男孩）他也可以和蜗牛赛赛跑呢。所以他决心待蜗牛爬到墙顶的时候，努力去学好这一课。

最后，到颁奖的那天，老师把男孩们召集起来背诵这首诗。

五六个男孩背完之后，轮到了汤姆。当汤姆站起来的时候，男孩中爆发出了一阵笑声，因为他们觉得汤姆肯定会失败。但是汤姆一个字都没漏。当听到老师说“做得好，汤姆·布莱尔”的时候，汤姆满心欢喜。

班里其他的同学都背完之后，老师说，汤姆是背得最好的，并且把奖品给了他。

“那么现在告诉我吧，”老师说，“你怎么把这首诗背得这么好的呢？”

“老师，是墙上的蜗牛教会我的。”

汤姆说完这句话之后，男孩们一阵大笑。但是老师说：“不要笑，孩子们，因为我们能从蜗牛身上学到很多东西。那么，蜗牛是怎么教会你的呢，汤姆？”

“老师，请听我说。我看到蜗牛在墙上一点儿一点儿地爬行。它没有停下来，也没有往回走，而是不断地前进、前进。我觉得我也要这样对待自己的功课。所以我也一点儿一点儿地学，不放弃。等到蜗牛最终爬到墙顶了，我也学会了。”

“太棒了，汤姆！”老师说，“现在，孩子们，让我们为汤姆·布莱尔和墙上的蜗牛喝彩。”这座老房子里回荡着长久而热烈的欢呼声。“迟钝的汤姆”最终赢得了奖品，大家都为他开心不已。