One weekend in July, Jane and her husband, Tom, had driven three hours to camp overnight by a lake in the forest. Unfortunately, on the way an unpleasant subject came up and they started to quarrel. By the time they reached the lake, Jane was so angry that she said to Tom, “I'm going to find a better spot for us to camp” and walked away.

With no path to follow, Jane just walked on for quite a long time. After she had climbed to a high place, she turned around, hoping to see the lake. To her surprise, she saw nothing but forest and, far beyond, a snowcapped mountain top. She suddenly realized that she was lost.

“Tom!” she cried. “Help!”

No reply. If only she had not left her mobile phone in that bag with Tom. Jane kept moving, but the farther she walked, the more confused she became. As night was beginning to fall, Jane was so tired that she had to stop for the night. Lying awake in the dark, Jane wanted very much to be with Tom and her family. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she loved him.

Jane rose at the break of day, hungry and thirsty. She could hear water trickling (滴落) somewhere at a distance. Quickly she followed the sound to a stream. To her great joy, she also saw some berry bushes. She drank and ate a few berries. Never in her life had she tasted anything better.

As she picked her way carefully along the stream, Jane heard a helicopter. Is that for me? Unfortunately,the trees made it impossible for people to see her from above. A few minutes later, another helicopter flew overhead. Jane took off her yellow blouse, thinking that she should go to an open area and flag them if they came back again.

A light knock on the door brought me from my kitchen. Because we had just moved into the neighborhood, I couldn’t imagine who it would be. Opening the door, an old man stood there, who was dressed in dirty clothing and wearing dirty rubber boots. His hand hung a plastic bag.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Would you like to buy some fresh garden vegetables?” His blue eyes were hopeful.

“Are they from your garden?” I looked inside his plastic bag and saw some carrots with soil.

My heart softened, and I wondered if he was badly in need of money. With a sigh, I said, “Please step inside and I’ll get my money.”

The next day, he knocked at our door again. This time, my little four-year-old daughter got there first. “Oh, hello. Would you like to come in for some tea?” Without a second thought, the old man stepped inside and held out a broken basket with several apples. “From my tree,” he said, removing a worn cap. “You might like to make a pie.”

The three of us sat at the kitchen table and drank our tea. It was obvious that my daughter liked hosting a visitor in her never-ending questions. “What is your name? Where do you live? Why are your clothes so dirty?”

When he finished the tea, he said he had to go home and promised to return the next day.

Several years later, a small envelope was delivered to our home—a letter from the old man’s daughter.

Boys like to be considered to be brave, but what kind of things can be considered to be brave? It is not a question that can be answered by words, but by the actual deed. A boy with the name Henry gave us a good example. Ronny and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day as Ronny and Henry were going home after school, they saw some people fighting in the street corner. Ronny said excitedly, “Some people are fighting! Let’s go and have a look!” But Henry refused, “It’s none of our business. We’d better go home and don’t get close to them. Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together at home and I don’t want them to worry about me.”

“You are a coward, and afraid to go,” said Ronny, and off he ran to the spot with some other boys. Henry had to go home alone and didn't think about it anymore.

But Ronny thought Henry was a coward and told all the boys that. They laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down upon Henry and didn’t want to play with him.

Henry was sad but he wasn’t angry with Ronny for his rude behavior, because he had learned that true courage was shown most in bearing misunderstanding when it was not deserved, and that he ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys’ laughter and continued to stick to his thought and go to school and study as well. However, Ronny didn’t invite Henry to go home with him anymore. Instead, he had his new friends who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn't go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had lots of fun.

Boys like to be considered to be brave, but what kind of things can be considered to be brave? It is not a question that can be answered by words, but by the actual deed. A boy with the name Henry gave us a good example. Ronny and Henry were two friends in the same class. They and together and went home together. One day as Ronny and Henry were going home after school, they saw some people fighting in the street comer. Ronny said excitedly, “Some people are fighting! Let's go and have a look!” But Henry refused, “It's none of our business. We'd better go home and don't get close to them. Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together at home and I don't want them to worry about me.

“You are a coward, and afraid to go,” said Ronny, and off he ran to the spot with some other boys. Henry had to go home alone and didn't think about it anymore. But Ronny thought Henry was a coward and told all the boys that. They laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down upon Henry and didn't want to play with him. Henry was sad but he wasn't angry with Ronny for his rude behavior, because he had learned that true courage was shown most in bearing misunderstanding when it was not deserved, and that he ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys laughter and continued to stick to his thought and go to school and study as well. However, Ronny didn't invite Henry to go home with him anymore. Instead, he had his new friends who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn’t go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had lots of fun.

A few days later, something terrible happened to Ronny.

At that moment, Henry happened to pass by.

“If mum finds out that I'm going to the beach, I'll be in big trouble.” I said to myself softly in a low voice.

I went downstairs slowly and tried to walk casually into the kitchen. As I was walking towards the back door, mum asked without looking up from her dish-washing, “Where are you going?” I answered back without hesitation, “I am going to the garden to play.” After I got out of the kitchen, I breathed a sign of relief. My plan had worked out fine so far. I climbed the fence and jumped onto the muddy field next to my house and started running towards the bus stop at top speed.

After half an hour I was at the beach scanning the crowd for my friends, Jimmy and Bobby. Two young men were racing in the canoes (独木舟). After a while, I saw them near a coconut tree. I ran towards them and got into my swimming trunk (游泳裤). For about an hour, we played volleyball happily.

Suddenly, Bobby hit the ball too hard and the ball fell into the sea. Just as Bobby was going to pick up the ball, the tide came in and carried the ball further and further away from the shore. I wanted to show off my swimming skills so I declared to help get the ball for him.

I dived into the water and started swimming at a steady pace. After swimming for about ten minutes, I became tired but when I saw that the ball was only a few feet away from me, I put in an extra burst of speed. However, just as I was going to get the ball, a very strong current swept the ball further away from me. At that moment, a string of weed (海草) tangled (缠绕) up with my feet and I could not swim properly.

I struggled to keep afloat but it was no use. “If I had listened to my parents, this would never have happened,” I thought silently.

Finally, after struggling for a minute or two, I still got pulled underwater.

When I woke up, I was in an empty room lying on a bed.

When I was a child, I lived in a house with a beautiful garden full of different flowers, and roses were the most beautiful of them. There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting in the garden with my mother, reading stories to me. When I was in primary school and old enough to read, I enjoyed reading stories aloud to her.

I will never forget one day when I had been picked to be the princess in the school play. For weeks my mother had practised my lines so hard with me. But however easily I acted at home, as soon as I stepped, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s (叙述者) part to the play, and asked me to change my role. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn’t tell my mother what had happened that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to take a walk in the garden.

It was May and roses were blossoming and, under the trees, we could also see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass, as if a painter had painted our garden with red, yellow and green. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion.

“I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.”

“But I like dandelions,” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions.”

My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower is beautiful in its own way, isn’t it?” she asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over.

“And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.”

Realizing that she had guessed my pain, I started crying as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled reassuringly.