"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."

堅持不懈

“你能幫我放風箏嗎？”我的小侄子對他姐姐說，他在之前把風箏拖在地上，試過好幾次，可每一次都失敗了。好心的露西把掉在地上的風箏撿起來，把它拋向空中，但是她的弟弟配合得不好，他并沒有跟風箏同時跑出去，結果風箏又掉了下來。

“哎呀！你真笨！”小家伙說。“這完全是你的錯?！彼憬惴瘩g道。我說：“孩子們，再試一次。”

于是，露西再一次撿起掉在地上的風箏。但是，約翰太急了，他跑得太突然，結果風箏還是和剛才一樣，一頭栽在了地上?！翱纯窗桑∵@到底是誰的錯？”露西說。“再試一次。”我說。

他們又試了一次，而且更謹慎了，但是，就在露西拋出風箏的時候，刮來一陣大風，把風箏吹到灌木叢中去了，風箏的尾巴纏在一起，可憐的風箏頭朝下掛在了那里。

“哎呀！哎呀！”約翰大叫道，“你到底會不會放啊！”“我又不能決定風的方向！”露西說。與此同時，我決定幫助他們。我把纏在風箏上的線解掉，對他們說：“孩子們，這里的樹太多了，我們不妨找一個空曠的地方，然后再試一次。”

我們來到一片廣闊的草地，我手里拿著風箏，一切準備就緒，當小約翰跑出去之后，我迅速拋起風箏。只見風箏像氣球一樣飛上了天，似乎能飛成功。但是，當約翰高興地發現他拉緊了風箏線時，他停下來抬頭朝天上看。風箏線松了，風箏在搖晃，由于風速不夠，風箏又掉到了草地上?！鞍?！約翰，你不應該停下來。”我說，“我們再試一次！”

“我不想再試了，”約翰耷拉著臉說，“再怎么試也沒用，你都看見了，無論怎么試，風箏就是飛不起來，況且我累了，不想再試了。”“噢！我的好孩子，我們克服重重困難，為的就是把風箏放上天，你要在這個關頭放棄嗎？我們不能因為幾次小小的失敗就垂頭喪氣。快過來，我幫你把風箏線綁上，現在再試一次?！?

他再試了一次，這回成功了，風箏飛在天上，看起來就像羽毛一樣輕。當風箏線完全放完之后，約翰高興地站在那兒，緊握線柄，看著風箏，風箏已經成為藍天中的一個小白點。“看呀！看呀！姑媽，看它飛得多高啊！它拉風箏線的勁頭可真足，我快拽不住了，我希望有一英里（1英里約合1.6千米）的風箏線，我保證也能用完。”

約翰玩得盡興之后，開始緩慢地往回收風箏線。當風箏落到地上時，他歡快地把風箏撿起來，說風箏沒有破損，而且風箏剛才飛得棒極了。約翰說：“姑媽，明天放學之后，我們還能出來放風箏嗎？”

“親愛的孩子，我不反對，只要天氣好就行?，F在，我們該回家了。告訴我，你從今天早上的運動中學到了什么？”“我學會了如何放風箏?！奔s翰說?！澳銘摳兄x姑媽，”露西說，“要不是姑媽勸你再試一次，你早就放棄了。”

“對，孩子們，我希望教會你們做事情堅持不懈，盡管有些事情不需要像放風箏這樣的堅持。任何時候，嘗試做任何事情失敗了，都不要氣餒，只需記住一句座右銘——再試一次！”