A soldier fell in love with a beautiful princess, but the princess did not reciprocate his feelings. In an attempt to prove his sincerity to the princess, the soldier decided to silently guard outside her window for a hundred days. Thus, the soldier began this reckless vigil. Under the scorching sun, as if the earth was about to melt, the soldier only gazed at the princess’s window, which remained tightly closed; amidst fierce winds and torrential rains, as if the world was shaking, the soldier still only gazed at the princess’s window, which remained tightly closed. Every night, the soldier would watch as the light inside the window was lit, and he stood firmly in the darkness; when the light in the window disappeared, he still stood firmly in the darkness. Time is the most meaningless during waiting, because waiting itself is the greatest significance. Ninety-nine days of waiting slowly passed, with the soldier showing no intention of giving up, and the princess’s window showing no sign of opening.
On the evening of the hundredth day, the tightly closed window suddenly opened, and the princess leaned out, happily waving to the soldier. The princess was moved; she fell in love with this soldier who had sincerely guarded her for a hundred days. But the soldier was no longer happy, no longer steadfast; he turned around and strode away. The princess hurriedly ran downstairs, rushed to the soldier’s face, and asked him why he was leaving. The soldier said, “I guarded you for a hundred days to prove my true love for you, and I decided to leave you to uphold a man’s dignity.”
The story ends like this, and most people might agree with the soldier’s actions and his final explanation. But in my opinion, dignity was just his excuse, a lie that is easily accepted by the world. When a man falls in love, the intense emotion makes him forget everything; she becomes his sole focus, and who would care about dignity then?