勇敢的“懦夫”.docVIP

勇敢的“懦夫” 　　Sometimes， patience can be much more useful than action， even if it means you require the bravery to accept people treating you like a coward. （有时，耐心比行动更加有效，尽管这意味着你需要勇气去接受别人把你当成懦夫。） 　　When young Nerino was made chief of the tribe， everyone expected that—as was the custom on the island—he would direct his attention to fighting the great fiery1）-eyed beast， a horrible creature that had terrorized the tribespeople for centuries. Nerino had promised to kill the beast and， though he was a good fighter， he seemed no better than the others who had previously perished2） in the attempt. The tribe believed that， as chief， he wouldnt last much more than a year. This was about the amount of time needed to train and prepare a band of warriors， prior to going up to the volcanos summit， where their frightening enemy lived. And once they got there， no matter how strong or brave they were， all the warriors would be destroyed completely within a couple of hours. 　　However， nothing was done. Nerino didnt train any fighters. Nothing out of the ordinary was done， and no new attack tactics3） were devised4）. When summer came—the time the monster attacked most frequently， engulfing5） all in flames from his fiery eye—all the tribe did was move their village. 　　Everyone looked worryingly at Nerino. They demanded that he fight， that he do something， that he should be brave and fulfill the destiny of a chief. But Nerino simply said， I shall defeat the beast， but now is not the time. And so the years passed by， and Nerino became an old man. Though they respected him as their chief， and his strategy of moving their village around the island had saved many lives， all the people believed he was a coward. 　　Yet， just when no one expected it， Nerino finally assembled a squad6） of fighters on a cold winter night. Snow was rare on the island， but now it blanketed the ground， and the warriors had to march out barefoot with frozen feet. They hurriedly went up the volcano and at the summit