The North Wind and the Sun
One morning, the North Wind swept over the hills, making the tall grass bow. He rattled a gate, spun a fallen leaf and sent the clouds rolling across the sky.
“Did you see that?” he called to the Sun. “Nothing can stand against me!”
The Sun looked down at a little tree. Its branches were bending, but its roots held firm.
“You certainly make yourself noticed,” she said.
“I am the strongest thing in the sky,” declared the North Wind.
The Sun said nothing. Far below, a traveler was walking along a narrow road. He wore a blue cloak fastened at his neck and carried a small bag over his shoulder.
A traveler on the road
“There is a way to settle this,” said the Sun. “Let us each have a turn. We will see which of us can get that traveler to take off his cloak.”
The North Wind puffed himself into a great gray cloud.
“A cloak? That will be easy!”
The Sun slipped behind a cloud and waited.
Down on the road, the traveler stopped beside a patch of daisies. He was on his way to visit a friend in the next village. It had been a pleasant morning, and he was humming a little tune.
Then the grass began to whisper.
The traveler looked up.
“A change in the weather,” he said, pulling his cloak closer.
The harder the Wind blew
The North Wind blew across the road.
Whoosh!
The loose edge of the blue cloak fluttered behind the traveler like a flag. The North Wind grinned.
“Almost!”
But the traveler caught the cloth and tucked it firmly beneath his arm.
The Wind tried again. He blew from the left, then from the right. He rushed around the traveler in a chilly swirl.
The traveler lowered his head and held the cloak with both hands.
“I am glad I brought this,” he said. “What a cold morning it has become.”
The North Wind could hardly believe it. He could chase clouds over mountains. He could make a whole field ripple. Why would one ordinary cloak not move?
He gathered one last gust.
Whoooosh!
Leaves skittered across the lane. The traveler stepped behind the shelter of a stone wall and wrapped the cloak around himself.
The harder the Wind blew, the more the traveler needed it.
At last, the North Wind ran out of breath.
“That cloak is impossible,” he muttered.
“May I try now?” asked the Sun.
A different kind of strength
The Sun came out slowly.
She did not shout or tug. She spread a little warmth over the wall, the daisies and the road.
The traveler lifted his head.
“That is better.”
He left the wall and continued toward the village. Soon he loosened his grip on the cloak.
The Sun shone a little more warmly.
A bee wandered among the flowers. The traveler stopped humming long enough to listen to its quiet buzz. Then he unfastened the cloak at his neck.
The North Wind watched without a word.
By the time the traveler reached a broad shade tree, the morning felt warm and comfortable.
“I do not need this now,” he said.
He took off the cloak, folded it over his arm and sat beneath the tree for a short rest.
The Sun had finished her turn.
What the Wind learned
“You hardly did anything,” said the North Wind.
“I warmed the road,” the Sun replied.
“But I used all my strength.”
“And he held on tighter.”
The North Wind looked at the traveler resting in the shade. For the first time, he thought about how cold the man must have felt.
“I was thinking only about winning,” he admitted.
The Sun let a small cloud drift across her face.
After a while, the traveler stood up and continued his journey, carrying his cloak neatly over his arm. The North Wind sent a light breeze along the road.
This time, it was just enough to stir the daisies.
The moral of the story
A gentle approach can succeed where force fails. The traveler kept his cloak when he was cold and removed it when he felt warm enough: paying attention to another person’s needs matters.
For another tale about strength taking an unexpected form, read The Lion and the Mouse. Or meet a bird who changes his approach in The Crow and the Pitcher.