【英文原文】

Robert Bruce was king of Scotland in the early 14th century. He fought in many battles with the English to make them allow Scotland to be independent. Sometimes he won, but at other times the English won and he had to hide. On one of these times, according to an old story, he was hiding in Ireland and had almost given up hope of beating the English. He had tried and failed six times. Then he happened to notice a spider over his bed trying to fix its web on a beam in the ceiling. Six times the spider tried and failed. But the spider tried a seventh time and succeeded. Bruce decided that he too should try a seventh time. He went back to Scotland and led another army against the English. This time he was successful, and the English had to recognize Scottish independence.

【中文译文】

罗伯特•布鲁斯是14世纪初的苏格兰国王。为赢得苏格兰的独立，他与英格兰人的军队多次交锋，有时获胜，有时战败，不得不东躲西藏。据说有一次他在爱尔兰藏身，几乎放弃了打败英格兰人的希望。他已经尝试过六次，但六次都失败了。这时他注意到床的上方有一只蜘蛛在织网。这只蜘蛛试图把网挂在屋梁上，但尝试过六次，都没有成功。蜘蛛尝试了第七次，结果把网织好了。布鲁斯以此为榜样，决心再战。他返回苏格兰，率领另一支军队攻打英格兰人。这次他终于打了个胜仗，迫使英格兰承认苏格兰独立。

题外话：据苏格兰小说家司各特说，在苏格兰，凡是叫布鲁斯的人若伤害了蜘蛛，都被视为犯了忘恩负义的大罪。