第3章 Perseverance 坚持不懈

"Will you give my kite a lift?" said my little nephew to his sister, after trying in vain to make it fly by dragging it along the ground. Lucy very kindly took it up and threw it into the air, but, her brother neglecting to run off at the same moment, the kite fell down again.

"Ah! now, how awkward you are!" said the little fellow. "It was your fault entirely, "answered his sister. "Try again, children," said I.

Lucy once more took up the kite. But now John was in too great a hurry; he ran off so suddenly that he twitched the kite out of her hand, and it fell flat as before. "Well, who is to blame now?" asked Lucy. "Try again," said I.

They did, and with more care; but a side wind coming suddenly, as Lucy let go the kite, it was blown against some shrubs, and the tail became entangled in a moment, leaving the poor kite hanging with its head downward.

"There, there!" exclaimed John, "that comes of your throwing it all to one side." "As if I could make the wind blow straight," said Lucy. In the meantime, I went to the kite's assistance; and having disengaged the long tail, I rolled it up, saying, "Come, children, there are too many trees here; let us find a more open space, and then try again."

We presently found a nice grassplot, at one side of which I took my stand; and all things being prepared, I tossed the kite up just as little John ran off. It rose with all the dignity of a balloon, and promised a lofty flight; but John, delighted to find it pulling so hard at the string, stopped short to look upward and admire. The string slackened, the kite wavered, and, the wind not being very favorable, down came the kite to the grass. "O John, you should not have stopped," said I. "However, try again."

"I won't try any more," replied he, rather sullenly. "It is of no use, you see. The kite won't fly, and I don't want to be plagued with it any longer." "Oh, fie, my little man! would you give up the sport, after all the pains we have taken both to make and to fly the kite? A few disappointments ought not to discourage us. Come, I have wound up your string, and now try again."

And he did try, and succeeded, for the kite was carried upward on the breeze as lightly as a feather; and when the string was all out, John stood in great delight, holding fast the stick and gazing on the kite, which now seemed like a little white speck in the blue sky."Look, look, aunt, how high it flies! and it pulls like a team of horses, so that I can hardly hold it. I wish I had a mile of string: I am sure it would go to the end of it."

After enjoying the sight as long as he pleased, little John proceeded to roll up the string slowly; and when the kite fell, he took it up with great glee, saying that it was not at all hurt, and that it had behaved very well. "Shall we come out to-morrow, aunt, after lessons, and try again? "

"I have no objection, my dear, if the weather is fine. And now, as we walk home, tell me what you have learned from your morning's sport." "I have learned to fly my kite properly.""You may thank aunt for it, brother," said Lucy, "for you would have given it up long ago, if she had not persuaded you to try again."

"Yes, dear children, I wish to teach you the value of perseverance, even when nothing more depends upon it than the flying of a kite. Whenever you fail in your attempts to do any good thing, let your motto be, —try again."

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“你能帮我放风筝吗？”我的小侄子对他姐姐说，他在之前把风筝拖在地上，试过好几次，可每一次都失败了。好心的露西把掉在地上的风筝捡起来，把它抛向空中，但是她的弟弟配合得不好，他并没有跟风筝同时跑出去，结果风筝又掉了下来。

“哎呀！你真笨！”小家伙说。“这完全是你的错。”他姐姐反驳道。我说：“孩子们，再试一次。”

于是，露西再一次捡起掉在地上的风筝。但是，约翰太急了，他跑得太突然，结果风筝还是和刚才一样，一头栽在了地上。“看看吧！这到底是谁的错？”露西说。“再试一次。”我说。

他们又试了一次，而且更谨慎了。但是，就在露西抛出风筝的时候，刮来一阵大风，把风筝吹到灌木丛中去了，风筝的尾巴缠在一起，可怜的风筝头朝下挂在了那里。

“哎呀！哎呀！”约翰大叫道，“你到底会不会放啊！”“我又不能决定风的方向！”露西说。与此同时，我决定帮助他们，我把缠在风筝上的线解掉，对他们说：“孩子们，这里的树太多了，我们不妨找一个空旷的地方，然后再试一次。”

我们来到一片广阔的草地，我手里拿着风筝。一切准备就绪，当小约翰跑出去之后，我迅速抛起风筝。只见风筝像气球一样飞上了天，似乎能飞成功。但是，当约翰高兴地发现他拉紧了风筝线时，就停下来抬头朝天上看。风筝线松了，风筝在摇晃，由于风速不够，所以风筝又掉到了草地上。“啊！约翰，你不应该停下来。”我说。“我们再试一次！”

“我不想再试了，”约翰耷拉着脸说，“再怎么试也没用，你都看见了，无论怎么试，风筝就是飞不起来。况且我累了，不想再试了。”“噢！我的好孩子，我们克服重重困难，为的就是把风筝放上天，你要在这个关头放弃吗？我们不能因为几次小小的失败就垂头丧气。快过来，我帮你把风筝线绑上，现在再试一次。”

他再试了一次，这回成功了，风筝飞在天上，看起来就像羽毛一样轻。当风筝线完全放完之后，约翰高兴地站在那儿，紧握线柄，看着风筝，风筝已经成为蓝天中的一个小白点。“看呀！看呀！姑妈，看它飞得多高啊！它拉风筝线的劲头可真足，我快拽不住了，我希望有一英里（1英里约合1.609千米）的风筝线，我保证也能用完。”

约翰玩得尽兴之后，开始缓慢地往回收风筝线。当风筝落到地上时，他欢快地把风筝捡起来，说风筝没有受伤害，而且风筝刚才飞得棒极了。约翰说：“姑妈，明天放学之后，我们还能出来放风筝吗？”

“亲爱的孩子，我不反对，只要天气好就行。现在，我们该回家了。告诉我，你从今天早上的运动中学到了什么？”“我学会了如何放风筝。”约翰说。“你应该感谢姑妈，”露西说，“要不是姑妈劝你再试一次，你早就放弃了。”

“对，孩子们，我希望教会你们坚持不懈的价值，尽管有些事情不需要像放风筝这样的坚持。任何时候，尝试做任何事情失败了，都不要气馁，只需记住一句座右铭——再试一次！”