“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

poem friend please

little master learned

“你怎么了，小伙子？”貝爾太太問一個坐在她家房子后墻邊上的小男孩。小男孩手里拿著一本書，眼里噙著淚水。

“我們要學習一首叫《小吉姆》的詩”，這個名叫湯姆·布萊爾的小男孩說。“老師說，這首詩誰背得最好，就會有獎品。但是我覺得我肯定背不好。”

“為什么呢？”老太太問道。

“那些男孩們說我就是背不好，還說我連試都不用試了。”湯姆傷心地回答道。

“不要在意那些男孩的話，讓他們看看你可以背得很好的。”湯姆的這位大朋友說。

“但是我覺得我不行，”湯姆說，“這首詩太長了，有些詞也太難了。我知道我不一定非要去爭獎品，但是我應該盡自己最大的努力去學這首詩；因為男孩們笑話我，管我叫‘遲鈍的湯姆’。”

“咳，湯姆，”老太太用和藹的語氣說，“如果你學得慢，而且也沒有辦法變得快些，那就試著像人們說的那樣，‘慢且穩’吧。你看看墻上的蝸牛，它爬得多慢啊！但是你觀察一下它，就會發現它遲早會爬上墻頂。所以你只需每天試著學習幾句詩，你就有可能最終贏得獎品哦。當你灰心喪氣的時候，就想想墻上的蝸牛吧。”

貝爾太太說完這些就走了。湯姆想到（即使他比不上其他男孩）他也可以和蝸牛賽賽跑呢。所以他決心到蝸牛爬到墻頂的時候，他能努力學好這一課。

最后，到頒獎的那天，老師把男孩們召集起來背誦這首詩。

五六個男孩背完之后，輪到了湯姆。當湯姆站起來的時候，男孩中爆發出了一陣笑聲，因為他們覺得湯姆肯定會失敗的。但是湯姆一個字都沒漏。當聽到老師說“做得好，湯姆·布萊爾！”的時候，湯姆滿心歡喜。

班里其他的同學都背完之后，老師說，湯姆是背得最好的，并且把獎品給了他。

“那么現在告訴我吧，”老師說，“你怎么把這首詩背得這么好的呢？”

“老師，是墻上的蝸牛教會我的。”

湯姆說完這句話之后，男孩們一陣大笑。但是老師說：“不要笑，孩子們。因為我們能從蝸牛身上學到很多東西。那么，蝸牛是怎么教會你的呢，湯姆？”

“老師，請聽我說。我看到蝸牛在墻上一點兒一點兒地爬行。它沒有停下來，也沒有往回走，而是不斷地前進、前進。我覺得我也要這樣對待自己的功課。所以我也一點兒一點兒地學，不放棄。等到蝸牛最終爬到墻頂了，我也學會了。”

“太棒了，湯姆！”老師說，“現在，孩子們，讓我們為湯姆·布萊爾和墻上的蝸牛喝彩。”這座老房子里回蕩著長久而熱烈的歡呼聲。“遲鈍的湯姆”最終贏得了獎品，大家都為他開心不已。