True Friends

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A pretty young girl sat solemnly under some big tree,
alone with melancholic ambiance around her.
A hunchbacked lady with traces of ages in her face,
watched her for a while,
then came to her and sat beside her...

"A pretty girl with joyless look in her face,
is truly an unwholesome thing to see," she said
"What is wrong with you, young girl?"

The girl looked at her and answered, "It's just...
I have lots of friends, grandma...
But I cannot seem to know which of them are
my real friends and which are...
willing to stab my back when I'm not looking..."

"You brood here all the time just for that?
It is not a difficult thing at all, silly girl.
Just be a true friend to others,
and others will be your true friends in return."

"I wish the world is so simple, grandma.
But it is not... Evil hides himself well among us.
It wears the mask of smiling helpful friends
most of the time, and suddenly...
at the time we trust it completely,
it suddenly throws away its loathsome mask,
and betrays us without second thought."

The old woman sighed,
"The world is not that gloomy, little girl.
But if you really concern yourself with this true friend
you seek, here is simple advice
of a simple village woman like me...

Take your friends to the top of a mountain,
and they'll reveal what they are deep within.

Ask your friends to follow rough traces,
and they'll show you their real faces,

Show your friends hard work to finish,
and you'll know they are truly generous or simply selfish...

Give your friends a simple secret just to gamble,
to know whether they are trustworthy or unreliable.

Finally,
Never forget to do like what you want others to do,
for your friends also have an absolute right...
to test your character just like what you are about to do."

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by: Ituth
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