Cowards are incapable of true friendship.
Two friends set out together on a journey through a dangerous desert, promising to assist each other if they were attacked. Soon, they saw a bear approaching with great rage. With no hope of escape, one of them, being very agile, climbed a tree. The other, throwing himself flat on the ground, held his breath and pretended to be dead, remembering that bears do not prey on lifeless carcasses. The bear came up, sniffed him for a while, then left him and went on. When the bear was out of sight and hearing, the friend in the tree called down, “Well, my friend, what did the bear say to you? He seemed to whisper to you closely.”
“He did,” replied the other. “He advised me never to associate with someone who would desert his friend in the hour of danger.”
