The Bundle of Sticks
- 3 minute read
- Ages 5-9
- Moral Stories
An old farmer had four sons, and they argued about everything.
They argued about the land and the animals and who had done more work, and they argued in the morning and were still arguing at night, and the neighbours had stopped commenting on it years ago.
The farmer knew he did not have long left, and he knew what would happen to the farm when he was gone. Four brothers who could not agree would lose it in a year.
He had talked to them about it many times. It had never made any difference.
The bundle
So one evening he called all four of them into the yard and told them to sit down.
He had a bundle of thin sticks beside him, tied with a cord.
He gave the bundle to his eldest son.
"Break it."
The son took it in both hands and pushed. Nothing happened. He put it across his knee and leaned on it with all his weight and it bent slightly and sprang back.
He handed it to the second brother, who tried and failed, and then to the third, and then to the youngest, who was the strongest of the four and could not break it either.
They gave it back to their father.
"It can't be done," said the eldest.
One at a time
The farmer untied the cord and let the sticks fall loose on the ground.
He picked one up and handed it to his eldest son.
"Break that."
The son snapped it between two fingers.
The farmer gave one to the second son, and one to the third, and one to the youngest, and each of them broke his in a second without any effort at all.
The farmer looked at the four of them sitting in a circle with a broken stick each.
"That is all I wanted to say," he said. "Together you cannot be broken by anyone. Apart, anyone at all can break you, one at a time, and you will not even see it happening."
And he went inside and left them sitting there.
Moral of the story
Unity is strength. Alone you can be broken easily; together you cannot be broken at all.
Questions and answers
- Why was the farmer worried about his sons?
They argued constantly, and he knew four brothers who could not agree would lose the farm within a year of his death.
- What did the farmer ask his sons to do first?
He asked each of them to break a whole bundle of sticks tied together with a cord.
- What happened when they tried to break the bundle?
None of them could break it, not even the youngest and strongest son.
- What happened when the sticks were untied?
Each son broke a single stick instantly and effortlessly between his fingers.
- What lesson was the farmer teaching?
That as long as they stayed united nobody could harm them, but if they stayed divided they could be defeated one at a time.
Word meanings
- bundle
- A group of things tied or wrapped together.
- cord
- A thin rope or thick string.
- snapped
- Broke suddenly with a sharp sound.
- unity
- Being joined together and acting as one.
Questions about The Bundle of Sticks
What is the moral of The Bundle of Sticks?
The moral is that unity is strength. A group that stays together is far harder to defeat than the same people acting alone.
Who wrote The Bundle of Sticks?
It is an Aesop's fable, sometimes called 'The Old Man and His Sons', and versions of it appear in many cultures.
Why does the farmer show them instead of telling them?
He had told them many times without effect. The demonstration works because they experience the lesson themselves rather than hearing it.
How can children use this lesson?
In a family, a team or a class, working together makes problems easier and protects everyone in the group.