
The Spider and the Fly
The Spider and the Fly is a classic children's story by Charles Garvice. It tells the story of a spider who tries to lure a fly into his web. The spider uses flattery and sweet words to try to convince the fly to come closer, but the fly is wise to the spider's tricks and refuses to be fooled. In the end, the fly escapes and the spider is left alone in his web. The story is a cautionary tale about being careful of whom you trust and not being taken in by sweet words.
By Charles Garvice · First published 1920 · Genre: Fiction, Children's Literature, Fable · 32 chapters · 107,177 words
First lines
It is sunset; a dusky red is spreading out from the horizon and throwing a duskier reflection upon the sullen sea and its more sullen shore. A weird, awful shore it is, encumbered with huge rocks and strangely hewn stone.
A grim, shuddering waste, made grimmer and more terrible by strange, stray specks of humanity, that, seen in the falling sunlight seemed rather distorted creations of fancy than actual human beings; from stone to stone they pace, stepping with a peculiar, halting, laborious gait, and looking sullenly earthward as if their eyes were chained to the hateful, barren shore and the looking upward were death.
What this Textopian page supports
The Spider and the Fly is listed on Textopian as a novel by Charles Garvice, dated 1920 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novel
- Author: Charles Garvice
- Date: 1920 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Fiction, Children's Literature, Fable, Romance
- Length: 107,177 words
- Structure: 32 chapters, 4,595 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Spider and the Fly by Charles Garvice
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Discussion starters
- What should a reader notice first when entering The Spider and the Fly?
- How does this novel by Charles Garvice fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
- Where does Fiction first become important in the reading?
Similar titles
Genres
- Fiction — The Spider and the Fly is a work of fiction, as it is a story with characters and events that are not real.
- Children's Literature — The Spider and the Fly is a children's book, as it is written in a simple language and contains moral lessons.
- Fable — The Spider and the Fly is a fable, as it is a short story with a moral lesson.
- Romance — The Spider and the Fly contains elements of romance, as it is a story of a love between two characters.
Tags
Fiction · Romance · bertie · captain · dockett · dodson · door · earl · english literature · ethel · eyes · fitz
Contents
- A Swim for Life
- The Wolf and the Lamb
- The Returned Captive
- Strange Tackle
- In Difficulties
- "Love Me, Love My Dog"
- Impressions
- Sympathy or Antipathy?
- The Path of the Ghost
- A Disquieting Rumor
- The Little Old Man
- Under the Evil Eye
- "When Rogues Lie Awake"
- A Summer Storm
- The Serpent's Sting
- The Part of a Flirt
- The Locket
- The Smugglers
- A Bitter Parting
- Lured to His Doom
- Willful Murder
- The Faded Parchment
- The Earl's Secret
- A Trying Interview
- "Man Overboard"
- A Pardonable Treachery
- In the Web
- An Ex-convict's Story
- The Coming Wedding
- Under Arrest
- Closing In
- The Plot Fails
More by Charles Garvice