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There was once a boy who was afraid of the dark. He thought that when it was dark his bedroom filled up with monsters.But there came a time when he was too old to be allowed to keep sleeping with the light on.
That first night he was paralysed with fear, his mind was full of monsters. So much so, that he went over to his wardrobe to get a torch.But when he opened the wardrobe door he came face to face with a monster, and he let out the loudest scream in the world.
The monster took a step backwards, grabbed its multicoloured hair with its tentacles and……started crying！The monster cried for so long that the boy's shock and fear subsided.He calmed the monster as much as he could, and started talking to him, asking him why he was crying, and what he was doing there.
The monster told him he lived in the wardrobe, but almost never went out, because he was afraid of the boy. When the boy asked him why, the monster told him the boy's face seemed to him the most horrible thing he'd ever seen with eyes, ears and a nose.The boy felt exactly the same way about the monster, who had an enormous head full of mouths and hair.
The two of them talked so much that they became quite friendly, and they realised that both of them had been afraid of the same thing：the unknown. To lose their fear all they had to do was get to know each other.Together they travelled the world, seeing lions，tigers, crocodiles, dragons……It was the first time either of them had seen such creatures, but they made the effort to get to know them, and ended up dispelling their fear, and becoming friends.
And, although his parents weren't too happy, because they thought he was too old to still believe in monsters, the truth of it was that all kinds of creatures visited the boy's bedroom each night.And, instead of fearing them he had learned to get to know them and befriend them.
从前有个男孩特别怕黑。他认为一到天黑他的卧室就会充满怪物。可是他慢慢长大了，直到有一天，爸爸妈妈再也不允许他开着灯睡觉了。
关灯睡觉的第一晚，他害怕得不得了，满脑子都是怪物。他太害怕了，就走到衣柜去拿手电筒。但当他打开衣柜门的时候，却和一个怪物面对面碰个正着，他发出了世界上最响亮的尖叫。
怪物向后退了一步，用触角抓着它那各种颜色的毛发，然后……哭起来！怪物哭了很长时间，男孩没有那么震惊和害怕了。他尽力让怪物平静下来，开始和他交谈，问他为什么哭，问他在衣柜干什么。
怪物告诉男孩他住在衣柜里，但几乎不出来，因为他害怕男孩。当男孩问他为什么时，怪物说男孩的脸对他来说是最恐怖的东西，他从没见过长着眼睛、耳朵和鼻子的脸。男孩也一样害怕着怪物，这个怪物长着一个巨大的脑袋，脑袋上长满了嘴巴和毛发。
他们俩交谈了很久，变得非常友善，他们意识到他们两个都害怕着同一件事情，那就是未知事物。要克服恐惧，他们要做的就是了解彼此。他们一起周游世界，一起看狮子、老虎、鳄鱼和龙……他们两个都是第一次看见这么多的生物，但他们努力地了解他们，最后驱走了恐惧，成了朋友。
尽管男孩的父母不太高兴，因为他们认为男孩已经长大了，不该再相信有什么怪物。但事实上，每天晚上都有各种各样的生物来到男孩的卧室。男孩不但不怕它们，反而学习去了解它们，和它们做朋友。
Moral of the Story：
Most fear is without foundation, and plays on what is unknown or different.
故事寓意：
大部分的恐惧都是没有根据的，往往依靠未知和不同起作用。
词海拾贝：
let out 发出（声音）
tentacles[ˈtentəklz]n.[动]触手
subsided[səbˈsaid]vi.平息；减弱
enormous[iˈnɔːməs]adj.庞大的，巨大的
crocodile[ˈkrɔkədail]n.鳄鱼
befriend[biˈfrend]vt.待人如友；扶助
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