horror gripped the heart of the world war i soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. caught in a trench1 with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant2 if he might go out into the "no man's land" between the trenches3 to bring his fallen comrade back.
"you can go," said the lieutenant, "but i don't think it will be worth it. your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away." the lieutenant's words didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway.
*aculously4 he ma*d to reach his friend, hoisted5（升起） him onto his shoulder, and brought him back to their company's trench. as the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, then looked kindly6 at his friend. "i told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "your friend is dead, and you are mortally wounded."
"it was worth it, though, sir," the soldier said.
"how do you mean 'worth it'?" responded the lieutenant. "your friend is dead!"
"yes sir," the private answered. "but it was worth it because when i got to him, he was still alive, and i had the sati*action of hearing him say, 'jim, i knew you'd come.'"
many a time in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it.
take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in life.
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