fables folktales · Ages 9-12

The Bundle of Sticks That One Hand Could Not Break

Siblings who quarrel over small things understand unity when their parent shows how separate sticks snap while a bundle holds.

The whole story

1. On a bright afternoon, Mara carried apples from the orchard while Eli raked the path. They had promised to finish before supper, but the promise did not last long.

2. “You left the gate open,” Mara said. “The goats ate the lettuce.” “You left the basket in the path,” Eli replied. “I tripped over it.”

3. The quarrel grew larger than the spilled apples and the trampled lettuce. Mara folded her arms. Eli turned his back. Neither sibling noticed their mother quietly gather three fallen sticks from beneath the wall.

4. Their mother held out one stick. “Mara, break this.” Mara snatched it, bent it across her knee, and snapped it in two.

5. Eli broke the second stick even faster. Mara broke the third. Each piece fell lightly into the grass.

6. Then their mother gathered the sticks into a bundle and tied them tightly with a strip of blue cloth. She placed the bundle in Mara’s hands.

7. Mara pressed the bundle against her knee. She pushed harder, then held her breath and tried again. The sticks stayed together.

8. Eli took his turn. He braced one boot against the wall and pulled with both hands. The bundle only creaked.

9. Their mother loosened the blue cloth. “One stick is easy to break,” she said. “A bundle is harder because every stick is held by the others.”

10. Mara looked at the open gate. Eli looked at the basket. Neither one apologized yet, but Mara handed him an apple, and Eli took it.

11. Mara latched the gate while Eli gathered the apples. Then they planted fresh lettuce together, passing each seedling from one pair of hands to the other.

12. By supper, the path was clear, the apples were safe, and the lettuce stood upright. Mara and Eli carried the bundle between them. Neither hand could break it, because neither hand held it alone.

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