26、Try, Try Again

   There was a king whose name was Tamerlane．He wanted to become the king of the whole world．So he started wars against other countries．He got many cities, but at last his army was beaten．Tamerlane left his own country．

   For a long time he moved from place to place．His enemies（敵人）were looking for him．He was about to lose all hope．

   One day he was lying under a tree, thinking about his life．Suddenly he saw a small thing climbing up the tree．He looked more closely and saw that it was an ant．The ant was carrying a grain（一粒）of wheat as large as itself．

   As Tamerlane looked, he saw that there was a hole in the tree．That was the home for the ant．

“You are brave, Mr. Ant,” he said, “but you have a heavy thing to carry．”

   Just as he spoke, the ant couldn’t hold onto the tree and fell to the ground．A second time it still tried to carry its food up the tree, and a second time it failed．

   Tamerlane watched the brave little ant．It tried three times, four times, a dozen times, twenty times—but always with the same result．

   Then it tried the twenty—first time．Slowly, one little step at a time, it climbed up safely into its home with its food．

   “Well done!” said Tamerlane． “You have taught me a lesson．I, too, will try and try again until I succeed．”

根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容，回答下列問題。

1．Why did Tamerlane start wars against other countries?

2．What did Tamerlane find when he was lying under a tree one day?

3．How big was the grain?

4．How many times did the ant try?

5．What did you learn from the story?