The Father And His Sons - a Fable by Aesop, Greece

A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarrelling among themselves. Every day, something small would set one of them off and they ended up fighting over the issue all day. The more the father tried to calm his sons down, the stronger their fight became. So, they lived in a constant state of screaming and yelling and it drove the father crazy.

One day, when again the sons were in a vicious argument, the father chose a new approach. Since he had failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of their dis-union. And for this purpose he told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. The eldest son collected a bundle of sticks and brought it to his father. In return, the father placed the bundle into the hands of the youngest son and ordered him to break it in pieces. He did so with every son. Each son - eager to be stronger than his brother – tried to break the bundle with all their might, but none were able to. After the last son had failed, the father took the bundle, untied it, took the sticks apart and one by one broke them easily. The boys fell silent.

Then the father said: "My dear sons, if you are all of one mind and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle; uninjured by all the attempts of danger. But if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks.".

Sticking together does make us strong. Even though we cannot do so physically - right now - we can travel through the World of Stories and meet each other there.