The North Wind and the Sun

The North Wind and the Sun argued over who was stronger. They agreed to test their power on a traveller: whoever could strip the cloak from his shoulders first would win.

The North Wind went first. He rushed down in a furious blast and tugged at the cloak as if to rip it away in one pull. The harder he blew, the tighter the man wrapped the cloth around himself.

Then the Sun took a turn. First he shone gently; the traveller loosened the cloak and let it hang. Then the Sun poured out full heat. Before many steps the man was glad to throw the cloak off altogether and walk more lightly.

About this fable

“The North Wind and the Sun” is an Aesop fable from ancient Greece, not an Indian tale. It is retold here from V. S. Vernon Jones’s 1912 translation, where the moral at the end reads “Persuasion is better than force.”

In Joseph Jacobs’s 1894 version, called “The Wind and the Sun”, it is the Sun who spots the traveller and suggests the contest, then hides behind a cloud while the Wind blows. Jacobs gives the lesson as “Kindness effects more than severity.”

Read the original: V. S. Vernon Jones, Aesop’s Fables (Project Gutenberg #11339, The North Wind and the Sun)

Best for ages 3–5: a gentle contest story that children can act out with big puffs of wind and warm sunshine.

Strength depends on the response

The Wind measures effort by how hard he blows. The traveller measures the same event by how much protection he needs, so stronger gusts produce the opposite result from the one the Wind wants. The Sun changes those conditions until the traveller chooses to remove the cloak himself. The scene works because the traveller responds to both contestants; he is not simply an object they can move by applying more power.

Follow the traveller’s decisions

Make two columns, “Weather” and “What the traveller does”. Add the fierce gust, gentle sunshine and stronger heat. For each row, finish “He does this because…”. Explain why the Wind’s increased effort makes his task harder.

Talk about it

• What did the North Wind and the Sun argue about?
• Why did the traveller hold his cloak tighter when the wind blew?
• When is being gentle better than being rough? Can you think of a time at home or school?

Related stories

• The Oak and the Reed — a stubborn oak fights the wind while the reeds bend and survive
• The Crow and the Pitcher — a clever crow solves her problem with patience instead of force
• The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing — a wolf tries a sneaky disguise, and it goes badly wrong for him