The Bundle of Sticks

Once upon a time, in a cozy little house with a bright red roof, lived a dad. He loved his three boys very much, but oh, were they noisy! They were always running, jumping, and arguing.

“Mine!” “No, mine!” “You took my toy!” The house was never quiet.

These boys, they just couldn’t stop bickering. They argued about who got the biggest cookie, who got to sit in the front seat of the wagon, and even who could make the loudest silly face. Poor Dad! He got such big headaches, they felt like bumpy balloons inside his head.

Dad tried everything. He said,

“Please, boys, be nice!”

Also see the story: The Shepherd Boy and Wolf

He tried giving them extra hugs and even made their favorite pancakes. But nothing worked! The boys just kept arguing. Dad sat in his big chair, rubbing his head, and thought,

“What can I do?”

One sunny afternoon, the boys were having a super-duper, extra-loud argument about a shiny blue marble. Dad’s headache was so big, it felt like a giant drum beating inside his head!

“That’s it!” he said. “I need to teach them a lesson.”

He asked the oldest boy,

“Please bring me some sticks from the garden.”

The boy brought back a bunch of thin, dry sticks. Dad took three of the smallest sticks and gave one to each boy. “Try to break this,” he said.

The oldest boy went,

“Pfft! That’s easy!” and snapped his stick in two. The middle boy said,

“Like breaking a twiggy cookie!” and broke his. The youngest boy smiled and said,

“Poof! It’s gone!” and broke his stick too.

Dad smiled a little. Then, he took a big bunch of thick, strong sticks, tied them together with a piece of string, and gave them to the boys. “Now,” he said, “try to break this.”

The boys looked at the big bundle of sticks. They tried to bend it. They tried to stomp on it. They even tried to push it under the door and slam it! But the bundle of sticks wouldn’t break! It was too strong.

Dad chuckled and said,

“See, my little ones? When you are all together, helping each other and being friends, you are strong like this bundle of sticks. But when you fight and argue, you are weak, like those little sticks that break so easily.”

The boys looked at each other. They finally understood. They didn’t want to be weak little sticks! They wanted to be strong, like the big bundle.

From that day on, the boys tried their best to play together nicely. They shared their toys, helped each other build tall towers, and even sang silly songs together. And guess what? Dad’s headaches went away! The house was filled with happy laughter, and everyone lived happily ever after.

Moral: Unity is strength.