"So you think I'm courageous?" she asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Perhaps I am. But that's because I've had some inspiring teachers. I'll tell you about one of them. Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Lisa who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, 'Yes, I'll do it if it will save Lisa.'

"As the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away?'

"Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all his blood.

"Yes, I've learned courage," she added, "because I've had inspiring teacher."

“你覺得我很勇敢，是嗎?”她問到。

“是的。”

“也許吧，那是因為我有許多精神導師。我來講給你他們其中的一位吧。多年以前，我在斯坦福德醫(yī)院做義工的時候，認識了一個叫麗莎的小姑娘，她患了一種罕見的，極其嚴重的病。她唯一可能康復的機會就是從她五歲的弟弟那里移注血液。他曾奇跡般地從這種可怕的病魔手中逃脫，并產(chǎn)生了可以抵抗這種疾病的抗體。醫(yī)生把姐姐的處境告訴了她的小弟弟，問他是否愿意給他姐姐輸血。我看到他僅僅猶豫了片刻，便深深吸了一口氣說：“ 如果這樣可以救麗莎的話，我愿意。”

在輸血的時候， 他躺在姐姐旁邊的一張床上，看到她的面頰漸漸紅潤，他就跟我們一起微笑著。隨后，他自己的臉色卻變得蒼白，笑容也漸漸消失了。他抬頭看著醫(yī)生顫聲問到：“我是不是馬上就要死了?”這個孩子太天真了，他誤解了醫(yī)生的話，以為要把他的血全部都輸給姐姐。

她又說到：“是的，我知道了什么是勇氣，因為我有許多精神導師。”