The three men and the bundle of sticks

Unity is strength.

1. Three Sons and a Bundle of Sticks

2. argue = to give reasons or against each other

3. Once upon a time, an old man lived with his three sons in a village. The three sons were hard workers.

4. Still, they argue all the time. The old man tried a lot to unite them, but he failed.

5. Though the villagers appreciated their hard work and efforts, they made fun of them on their fights.

6. Months passed by and the old man fell sick. He told his sons to stay united, but they didn’t listen to him.

7. So, he decided to teach them a practical lesson so that they would forget their differences and stay united .

8. The old man called his sons. He told them, “I will give you a bundle of sticks.

9. Separate each stick and you will have to break each stick into two. The one who breaks the sticks quickly will be rewarded more.” The sons agreed.

10. The old man gave a bundle of 10 sticks to each of them and asked them to break each stick into pieces. They broke the sticks into pieces in minutes.

11. And again, they started to argue among themselves as to who came first.

12. The old man said, “Dear sons, the game is not over. Now I will give another bundle of sticks to each of you. You will have to break the sticks as a bundle, not as separate sticks.”

13. The sons agreed and tried to break the bundle of sticks.

14. Though they tried their best, they could not break the bundle. They failed to complete the task.

15. The three sons reported their failure to their father.

16. The old man replied, “Dear sons, See! You could easily break the single sticks into pieces, but you were not able to break the bundle!

17. So, if you stay united, nobody can do any harm to you. If you argue every time with your brothers, anyone can easily defeat you. I request you to stay united.”

18. The three sons understood the power of unity and promised their father that whatever be the situation, they would all stay together.

19. Moral: Unity is Strength!

20. Let’s answer some questions.

21. 1.  The old man had three ______ sons.  2.  To teach them a lesson, the old man handed each son a ______.  3.  The sons could easily ______ the single sticks. 4.  The old man then tied several sticks into a ______.  5.  The eldest son tried but couldn't ______ the bundle. 6.  The old man explained that alone, the sticks were ______.  7.  Together, the sticks were ______.  8.  The lesson taught the sons the importance of ______.  9.  The brothers resolved to work ______ from that day on.  10.  They never forgot their father's wise ______. 

22. Question:1. How many sons did the old man have? Answer:  Question:2. What did the old man give to each of his sons initially? Answer:  Question:3. Were the sons able to break the single sticks? Answer:   Question:4. What did the old man do with several sticks to teach his sons a lesson? Answer:  Question:5. Could the eldest son break the bundle of sticks?

23. Question:6. What was the old man's message about single sticks? Question:7. What did the bundle of sticks represent? Question:8. What lesson did the sons learn from the bundle of sticks? Question:9. What did the brothers decide to do after learning the lesson? Question:10. Did the brothers remember their father's lesson?