A Fable from my Youth

 

I was a child when I heard

the Aesop Fable about the Sun

and the Wind.

 

As far as I remember it,

The Wind saw a cloaked man walking

along a long and winding dirt road;

as a gag, the Wind said to the Sun,

“I bet I can make that man lose

his cloak. I’m clearly more powerful

than you, Sun.”

 

The Sun looked down at the man and

said it was a bet. So, the Wind began

to blow and howl right into the poor man,

who was just walking by.

 

The Wind blew and blew, swirled and

spun, tossed dust in the breeze and

pelted the man with debris.

The Wind called upon the rain to

spit and splatter on the man.

 

The man, chilled by the Wind, cold from the rain,

pulled his cloak tighter around himself and

kept trudging forward.

 

The Wind, out of breath, collapsed.

“How did that not work,” the Wind cried,

“I’ve blown over cities, towns and bridges,

and none can resist. That cloak should have

flown from his shoulders. I was cheated!”

 

The Sun, seeing this said, “I’m sure that I might

be able to make the man take off his cloak.”

The Wind scoffed, “You are just the Sun, so far away,

what can you do?”

 

The Sun smiled and started gently beaming

on the road on which the man was walking.

The bright sunshine filling the scenery.

The clouds in they sky parted.

The rain dried; the flowers perked up.

 

The man in the cloak on the road,

pulled his hat off his head,

he dabbed at the sweat beading on his

brow.  He untied the cloak from around his

neck and pulled it off his shoulders.

 

The Sun, now satisfied, had proven the more powerful.

The Wind was breathless. The Wind frowned.

The man kept walking, smiling, with his cloak

slung over his arm.

 

I remember this fable,

this story, because it always

made me think that bullies

never get their way, and simple

kindness will usually lead to the

desired result.  Force and Bluster

are less effective than kind persuasion.

 

This Fable is always with me, ingrained.

 

- Thank you Aesop.