Mitos Scotland: Robert the Bruce dan sarang labah-labah

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Kisah Robert the Bruce dan sarang labah-labah

Robert the Bruce terkenal di Scotland dan di seluruh dunia kerana peranan yang dimainkannya dalam perang kemerdekaan Scotland dan filem-filem seperti Outlaw King. Dia dilahirkan pada tahun 1274 di istana Lochmaben di mana dia ialah Knight dan Overlord of Annandale. Pada tahun 1306 dia dinobatkan sebagai Raja Scotland dan kemudian berusaha membebaskan Scotland dari musuh Inggeris.

Setelah dikalahkan dalam pertempuran pada tahun 1306 oleh Earl of Pembroke di Methven, Robert the Bruce bersembunyi, kononnya di Kepulauan Barat. Dia tinggal di sebuah gua selama tiga bulan, pada titik terendah dalam hidupnya dan berjuang untuk membuat rancangan tentang apa yang harus dilakukan selanjutnya, dengan mempertimbangkan untuk meninggalkan negara agar tidak kembali.


Namun, sementara Robert the Bruce sedang menunggu, legenda mengatakan bahawa dia menyaksikan seekor labah-labah membina jaring di pintu masuk gua. Cuaca Scotland yang biasanya ribut menjadikan tugas labah-labah menjadi sukar kerana titisan demi titisan menghancurkan usahanya untuk membina sarang. Akhirnya, labah-labah tersebut mengatasi segala kemungkinan dan berjaya membina sarangnya.


Robert the Bruce terinspirasi oleh usaha labah-labah itu, jadi memutuskan untuk bangun dan menghadapi pertarungan lain. Dia dikatakan telah mengatakan kepada anak buahnya: "Jika pada mulanya anda tidak berjaya, cuba dan cuba lagi," yang merupakan ungkapan yang masih digunakan sehingga hari ini.

Tinot7

BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

by: Bernard Barton (1784-1849)

OR Scotland's and for freedom's right
The Bruce his part has played;--
In five successive fields of fight
Been conquered and dismayed:
Once more against the English host
His band he led, and once more lost
The meed for which he fought;
And now from battle, faint and worn,
The homeless fugitive, forlorn,
A hut's lone shelter sought.

And cheerless was that resting-place
For him who claimed a throne;--
His canopy, devoid of grace,
The rude, rough beams alone;
The heather couch his only bed--
Yet well I ween had slumber fled
From couch of eider down!
Through darksome night till dawn of day,
Absorbed in wakeful thought he lay
Of Scotland and her crown.

The sun rose brightly, and its gleam
Fell on that hapless bed,
And tinged with light each shapeless beam
Which roofed the lowly shed;
When, looking up with wistful eye,
The Bruce beheld a spider try
His filmy thread to fling
From beam to beam of that rude cot--
And well the insect's toilsome lot
Taught Scotland's future king.

Six times the gossamery thread
The wary spider threw;--
In vain the filmy line was sped,
For powerless or untrue
Each aim appeared, and back recoiled
The patient insect, six times foiled,
And yet unconquered still;
And soon the Bruce, with eager eye,
Saw him prepare once more to try
His courage, strength, and skill.

One effort more, his seventh and last!--
The hero hailed the sign!--
And on the wished-for beam hung fast
That slender silken line!
Slight as it was, his spirit caught
The more than omen; for his thought
The lesson well could trace,
Which even "he who runs may read,"
That Perseverance gains its meed,
And Patience wins the race.

"Bruce and the Spider" is reprinted from Historic Ballads and Poems. Ed. Rupert S. Holland. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1912.