A father was worried about his son, who was sixteen years old but had no courage at all. So the father decided to call on a Buddhist monk to train his boy.
The Buddhist monk said to the boy's father, “You should leave your son alone here. I'll make him into a real man within three months. However, you can't come to see him during this period.”
Three months later, the boy's father returned. The Buddhist monk arranged a boxing match between the boy and an experienced boxer. Each time the fighter struck the boy, he fell down, but at once the boy stood up; and each time a punch knocked him down, the boy stood up again. Several times later, the Buddhist monk asked, “What do you think of your child?”
“What a shame!” the boy's father said, “I never thought he would be so easily knocked down. I needn't have him left here any longer.”
“I'm sorry that that's all you see. Don't you see that each time he falls down; he stands up again instead of crying? That's the kind of courage you wanted him to have.”
一位父亲对儿子忧心忡忡，因为孩子都十六岁了，可是却不够勇敢。父亲决定拜访佛家高僧，求他训练儿子的胆识。
高僧对孩子父亲说：“你得把孩子单独留在我这儿。不出三个月，我保证他成为一个真正的男子汉。但是，其间您不能来探望。”
三个月期满，孩子父亲又来了。高僧安排了一场拳击比赛，比赛双方分别是这个孩子和一位有经验的拳击手。每次拳击手向孩子出击，他跌倒之后都立马站起来；每次被拳头击倒，孩子都重新站起来。几次之后，高僧问：“您觉得孩子现在怎么样啊？”
“真丢人！”孩子父亲说，“我没想到他这么轻易就被击倒了。没必要让他再在这儿待下去了。”
“真遗憾啊，您眼里只看得到失败。您怎么就没有看见他每次被击倒，非但不哭，反而能重新站起来呢？这就是您想让他具备的勇气啊。”
-punch [pʌntʃ] n. 用拳猛击
匈牙利诗人裴多菲曾经说过：“你要像一棵桷树，大风将树吹折，然而巨大的树干却永远挺直。”