一個想法突然如閃電般閃過他的腦海—他需要茱莉亞和克斯的愛，是因為他不愛自己。事實上，他需要所有被他從恐龍魔爪裡救出的公主的愛，以及所有他上戰場去保衛的人的愛，因為他不愛自己。
武士越發痛哭起來，因為他了解到，如果他不愛自己，他也不能真正愛別人，他對別人的需要會變成障礙。
當武士承認了這點之後，一圈美麗、明亮的光線籠罩在四周，照亮了黑暗。他感到有一隻溫柔的手放在肩膀上，淚眼模糊地往上看，他看到梅林正朝他微笑著。
「你剛剛發現了偉大的真理，」法師告訴武士：「你愛自己多少，就只能愛別人多少。」
「我要怎麼開始愛自己？」武士問。
「了解自己知道什麼，你就已經開始愛自己了。」
「我知道我是個傻瓜。」武士哽咽地說。
「不，你了解了真理，真理就是愛。」
梅林的說法讓武士覺得受到慰藉，也就停止了哭聲。眼淚乾了以後，他看到房間裡瀰漫的光線，這和他以前所看過的光都不同，這股光線似乎沒有光源，卻又無處不在。
梅林說出武士的想法：「沒有比自知之光更美的東西了。」
武士看著他四周的光，再看看頭頂上的暗影。「這個城堡對你來說一點也不暗，對不對？」
「沒錯，」梅林回答：「一點也不暗。」
受到了鼓勵，武士站起身，準備繼續向前走。他謝謝梅林在他還沒有呼喚之前就現身。
「沒關係，」法師說：「人不一定知道什麼時候該開口求救。」這麼說著，他消失了。
A thought came to the knight in a blinding flash: He’d needed the love of Juliet and Christopher because he didn’t love himself! In fact, he had needed the love of all the damsels he’d rescued from dragons and all the people for whom he’d fought in crusades because he didn’t love himself.
The knight cried harder as he realized that if he didn’t love himself, he couldn’t really love others. His need for them would get in the way.
As he admitted this, a beautiful, bright light shone around the knight where there once had been darkness. A gentle hand touched his shoulder. Looking up through his tears, he saw Merlin smiling down.
“You have discovered a great truth,” the magician told the knight. “You can love others only to the extent that you love yourself.”
“How do I begin to love myself?” asked the knight.
“You already have just by knowing what you know,” said Merlin.
“I know I’m a fool,” sobbed the knight.
“No, you know truth, and truth is love.”
This comforted the knight, and he stopped crying. As his eyes dried, he noticed the light around him. It was unlike any light that he’d seen before. It seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere.
Merlin echoed the knight’s thought. “There is nothing more beautiful than the light of self – knowledge.”
The knight looked at the light around him then into the gloom ahead. “There’s no darkness in this castle for you, is there?”
“No,” replied Merlin. “Not anymore.”
Encouraged, the knight got to his feet, ready to go on. He thanked Merlin for showing up even when he hadn’t called him.
“That is all right,” said the magician. “One does not always know when to ask for help.” And so saying, he vanished.
本文節錄自：《為自己出征》一書，羅伯．費雪（Robert Fisher）著，王石珍譯，方智出版。
