The Wind and the Sun
- 2 minute read
- Ages 5-9
- Aesop's Fables
The North Wind and the Sun had an argument about which of them was stronger.
The Wind said it was obviously him. He could bend trees. He could push clouds across the whole sky. He could raise waves taller than houses.
The Sun listened and said nothing much.
The traveller
Then they saw a man walking along the road below, wrapped in a heavy brown cloak.
"There," said the Sun. "Whichever of us can make him take off that cloak is the stronger. You go first."
The Wind was pleased with this.
He gathered himself up and blew.
He blew cold and hard straight down the road. Dust flew up. The trees on the roadside bent double. The man's hat went into the field.
And the man took hold of his cloak with both hands and pulled it tighter round himself.
So the Wind blew harder. He howled. He drove the cold straight through the cloth. He pulled at the hem and the collar and the sleeves.
And the man wrapped the cloak tighter still, and put his head down, and kept walking.
At last the Wind ran out of breath and stopped.
The Sun's turn
The Sun came out quietly from behind a cloud.
He did nothing sudden. He simply shone, warm and steady, on the road and the fields and the man walking.
The man stopped holding the cloak so tightly.
The Sun shone a little warmer. The man loosened the collar.
Warmer still. The man unfastened the front of it.
And a mile down the road, in the full heat of the afternoon, the traveller stopped under a tree, took the cloak off altogether and folded it over his arm.
Moral of the story
Gentleness gets what force cannot. Push people and they resist; give them a reason and they choose it themselves.
Questions and answers
- What were the Wind and the Sun arguing about?
They were arguing about which of them was stronger.
- What test did they agree on?
Whichever of them could make the traveller take off his cloak would be declared the stronger.
- What happened when the Wind blew?
The harder he blew, the more tightly the man held his cloak around himself. Cold made the man cling to it.
- How did the Sun succeed?
He shone warmly and steadily until the man grew hot and chose to take the cloak off himself.
- What is the difference between the Wind's method and the Sun's?
The Wind tried to force the cloak off from outside. The Sun changed the situation so the man wanted to remove it.
Word meanings
- cloak
- A long loose piece of clothing worn over the shoulders.
- hem
- The bottom edge of a piece of clothing.
- howled
- Made a long loud crying sound, as wind does.
- gentleness
- Being kind and mild rather than rough or forceful.
Questions about The Wind and the Sun
What is the moral of The Wind and the Sun?
The moral is that persuasion works better than force. You can make someone do something by pressure, or you can make them want to do it.
Why did the man hold his cloak tighter in the wind?
Because he was cold. The Wind's attack gave him a stronger reason to keep the cloak on than to take it off.
Who won the contest?
The Sun won. The traveller removed his cloak entirely and folded it over his arm.
How can children use this lesson?
When trying to change someone's mind, asking and explaining usually works better than arguing or forcing.