Quarrelsome Children

There once was a man who had quarrelsome children. Even on his dying day they bickered.

"My last wish," he said, "is for you to bring me a bundle of sticks."

When this was done, he gave each child one and said, "Take your solitary twig in hand and break it."

Crack! Crack! went the dry, old wood as each child broke a solitary twig.

"Now," he said, "bind them together. Tie them, and you'll see how much stronger your brittle twig can be."

The old man passed away. His children never forgot that day. Though they each lived separate, distant lives, each sister, each brother, in times of trouble they bonded together like a bundle of sticks, giving strength to one another.

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