Once upon a time there was a boy named Dima. One day he was travelling in distant lands and became lost. After wandering for a long time, Dima finally came upon a road.
But which way should he go — left or right?
The left road led downhill all the way. Dima didn't know that it was called the Road of Lies and led people to shame and oblivion. The other — the right one — led uphill, towards glory, and was called the Road of Honour.
"Which path should I take?" Dima pondered for a long time, and then decided: "Why should I make things difficult for myself? I'll choose the easier road."
And so he began to descend down the hill. The road turned out to be very easy and smooth. But there was one problem: the lower the descent went, the darker and more frightening it became around him. Sinister shadows began to appear on either side of the road, and an unpleasant cold wind blew from somewhere.
The boy's mood became quite joyless and gloomy, but he didn't want to turn back. After all, that would be difficult: having to climb uphill all the time. So he decided to continue his journey to the end to see where this road would lead.
He often stumbled and fell, which made him increasingly angry and mean. Soon it became completely dark, and Dima could barely see the road. Now he walked slowly, and before taking each step, he cautiously felt the ground ahead with his foot. And suddenly his foot felt emptiness. There was nothing solid ahead to step on.
Dima crouched down, felt around behind him for a stone and threw it forward, but he heard no sound of it hitting the ground. He threw another, larger stone, but again there was silence. It seemed as though the stone was falling into some infinite black abyss. Only now did Dima realise with horror that he was standing on the very edge of a bottomless chasm.
And it was called the Abyss of Oblivion. Everyone who fell into it disappeared forever.
Dima was distressed, turned around and hurried back. It was hard to climb uphill, but now Dima knew: he had no other choice. It gradually began to get lighter, and he could see the road clearly again.
"How many careless people chose the easy path and perished in this abyss," thought the boy as he returned. "How lucky I was to stop in time and not take that final step in my life."
After walking for a long time, Dima returned to the place where he had started his descent. Now, without hesitation or stopping, he continued on the road that led uphill.
The higher Dima climbed, the brighter the light became. Waterfalls sparkled in the sun, birds sang joyfully, and Dima had never seen such a rich variety of flowers anywhere before. It seemed as though everything around was reaching towards the sun and rejoicing in its warm rays.
Yes, the uphill road was harder, and climbing it was exhausting. But the surrounding unique beauty helped Dima forget about the difficulties. And the steeper and harder the road became, the more beautiful everything around him became.
Even the sky and clouds began to change their ordinary colours to marvellous rainbow hues. From the surrounding beauty, Dima's heart filled more and more with joy and happiness.
And the higher Dima climbed, the better, stronger and kinder he became.
On the difficult and steep climbs, he constantly had to overcome fear and perform feats of courage. The Road of Honour is difficult. But it leads to glory.
How wonderful it would be if this difficult path never ended!" the boy exclaimed loudly and joyfully.
Never, never, never!" the echo answered him.
Will it really never end?" Dima called out loudly.
It will never end, it will never end, it will never end!" the echo repeated.
