The Cowardly Hunter
A cowardly hunter walking in the forest with his spear boasted to every creature he met that he was looking for a lion. The hunter asked a woodcutter he met on the road "Brother, have you come across any lion tracks around here? Do you know where the lion is?" Sensing the hunter's cowardice, the woodcutter said "If you want, I can show you not just his track, but the lion himself directly, he is lying in that cave." When the hunter heard this offer from the woodcutter, he turned pale with fear and fled without looking back, trembling "I was looking not for the lion himself, but only his track."
Those who put on a show of courage from afar and act like heroes quickly back down when coming face to face with real danger. Fake courage remains in words; in moments of difficulty and danger, hollow boastings give way to fear. True bravery lies not in speech, but in action and the dignified stance displayed in the face of danger. Those who dazzle with empty talk become disgraced in the first serious test.
Those who are brave in words flee when encountering real danger. Fake courage dies out in danger. A ship of cheese does not run on words. The true brave is revealed in danger.
The coward becomes a hero with words. The boaster becomes disgraced in the test. Courage appears in action.