One midnight, a little girl woke up to pass water. She got up and down her bed by herself, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the hall that she feared.
Her mother said, “Don't be afraid, honey. Take courage!”
“What's courage?” she asked, running to her mother's bed.
“Courage is the brave breath,” her mother answered.
“Mom, do you have courage?”
“Certainly.”
The girl held out her little hands, saying. “Mum, blow some of your breath of courage to me.”
After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold palms, the little girl clenched her fists nervously, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she strode out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.
Her mother said to herself, “It will be nice if someone can blow some kind of ‘breath' to me, which I can grip in my hands too when I feel frightened, lost or depressed.”
午夜时分，小女孩醒来想要小便。她坐起来，自己爬下床，走向卧室门边。她打开门往外一看，又撤了回来，因为客厅里太黑了，她害怕。
妈妈说：“别怕，宝贝。拿出胆量来！”
“什么是胆量呀？”她一面跑向妈妈的床，一面问道。
“胆量就是勇敢的气儿。”妈妈回答。
“妈妈，你有胆量吗？”
“当然有啦。”
小女孩伸出小手，说：“妈妈，那你吹给我一口勇敢的气儿吧。”
妈妈往她冰凉的手心儿里吹了两大口气儿，小女孩急忙握住了拳头，生怕“勇敢的气儿”给跑了。之后，她大步流星出了卧室，朝洗手间走去，一点儿都不害怕了。
妈妈自言自语道：“要是能有人给我也吹口什么‘气儿'就好了，在我感到害怕、找不到方向、沮丧失落的时候，我也会把它紧紧地握在手里。”
-stride [straɪd] v. 大步走
-grip [ɡrɪp] v. 握紧
其实我们害怕的不是别的，是内心凭空产生的恐惧。我们要战胜的也不是别人，正是自己。