We might know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature, because it’s easy to know a man’s face while it’s difficult to know his heart. This is what I learned from the story Treasure Island.

It tells that the leading character Jim took possession of a treasure map when an old pirate died. So he set sail to find the treasure. Silver, an experienced sailor, joined the crew. At first, it appears that Silver was intelligent, honest and kind. However, one day he was discovered of leading the crew mutiny for the treasure. Although Jim outwitted them, before they returned home with their share of the treasure, the slippery Silver took four hundred guineas with him.

As it turns out, we can’t relax vigilance against the evils. But we shouldn’t trust others too easily. We must know how it would take a long time before we know someone completely.

But does it mean that we should treat others in a callous way?

Definitely not. Recently, there is a crisis of trust in China because some old people who fell over extorted those who helped them out. Well, although those who take the advantage of others’ trust to extort are immoral, i don’t think we should be unconcerned with anyone in need of help. We should never be doubtful when we are giving others a helping hand. Only then will our society be warm and harmonious.

In the story Treasure Island, there is a detail which impressed me very much. During the battle against the mutinous crew, the leading character Jim and his companions held a log-house as a fortification and the crew attacked it with the cannons on the ship, aiming at the Union Jack that Captain Smollet, one of Jim’s companions had hoisted. When the others suggested taking it down, the captain sternly said,”Never! We’ll pretend we are not afraid of them.

When the cannon balls rained down around the delicate log-house with thunderous roars and shrill whistles, ratting the ground, everyone was terrified but the captain. Although he knew that the loghouse was too weak to face the cannon, he still refused to give in by taking down the Union Jack. As a result, none of the cannon ball could hit the log-house.

How brave and persistent the captain was! Although there’s no bloody battle in our daily lives, we still might get into many troubles. So it is necessary for us to keep up our courage and confidence today and never give in then.

Indeed, there are many problems that seem to be impossible to go through, but we must hold the conviction that there is no real desperate situation in life, hold on to our dreams and confidence, keep active and positive, as long as we are alive, we still have the future and chance to success whatever we lost.

An ancient tale in China supports the same truth in an opposite way. An oversensitive man once saw a little snake in his goblet when he was about to drink. After drinking the wine, he was so terrified that he got a serious stomachache which almost sent him to death. Fortunately, he was confirmed in time that the little snake was just the image that a bow produced, then the illness was gone miraculously. The tale told us that the scary things are actually produced by our fear----to stop us advancing. On the contrary, if we forget the fear and keep going with courage, there will be nothing that can stop us.