The Wind And The Sun
A long time ago, the Sun and the Wind were having a conversation on a pleasant day.
Suddenly, the Wind said something strange.
“You do know that I am more powerful than you, right?” said the Wind.
The Sun replied calmly, “Why are you suddenly saying this, my friend? Both of us have our share of weaknesses and strengths, so it is not possible to decide who is more powerful.”
“Are you trying to say that I am not powerful?” asked the Wind angrily.
“No, my friend. Calm down. I did not say anything like that”, replied the Sun. “All I am saying is it’s not good to be arrogant”.
However, the Wind got offended.
“Very well!” the Wind said. “Let’s have a competition right now to decide who is stronger”.
As the Wind said this, its eyes went on a traveller passing by. The traveller had a scarf and a coat on, walking pleasantly.
“Look there! Let’s see who will be able to make the man take off his scarf and coat faster”, said the Wind.
“Okay, my friend. Let’s have a competition”, the Sun agreed half-heartedly, as it did not want to compete with its friend.
The Wind blew a little. It made the man’s scarf and his coat move a little.
“See what I can do with this little effort!” said the Wind boastfully. “Now, let me show you some more of my power.”
The Wind started blowing fiercely, which made the scarf and the coat flap in the air. The more force the Wind would put, the more it made the scarf and the coat flap in the air.
At one time, it even made the scarf almost leave the man’s neck, but he caught it and tied it around his neck. The fiercer the Wind blew, the tightly the man would tuck his coat.
He started feeling so cold with all the Wind blowing around him that he wrapped his scarf and coat around him and sat by the road.
The Wind knew it had failed to take the man’s scarf and the coat off.
“Okay, now it’s your turn, and I would like to see how you perform”, the Wind said, turning towards the Sun.
The Sun did not say anything and smiled a little with warmth at the man.
The man immediately felt a little comfortable and stood up. He started walking his way again.
“Is that it? Is that all you can do? Just smile at the man?” questioned the Wind.
The Sun looked at the Wind and smiled gently.
He started shining a little brightly. He was not putting in so much effort as the Wind did.
The man started feeling warmer and warmer when finally, he could not take it any longer. He started sweating.
He felt so hot that he removed his scarf and took off his coat.
The Wind was surprised to see this. The Sun won the competition!
“Wow, my friend!” he said. “I think I underestimated the effect of gentleness. I thought only power could make things happen in this world, but I was so wrong.”
“Now that you have understood that, let’s come together and make the man feel a little better”, said the Sun. “the poor man had to suffer so much because of our competition.”
After that, the Sun shone brightly, and the Wind also started blowing, making the weather pleasant. The man became delighted and carried on with his journey with a smile on his face.
Moral of The Story
The story concludes that “soft persuasion can sometimes win over the mightiest power.”
In the story, the Sun was able to gently and warmly remove the man’s scarf and coat, whereas the Wind could not do it even after using all of its power.
Sometimes, in life, it’s simpler to get things done with kindness rather than force. If we want someone to do something for us, we have a better chance of getting it done if we ask them with compassion and remain calm and patient with them rather than attempting to demonstrate our power.
