An old man was distressed because his sons always quarreled with one another. One day he called them to him and showed them a bundle of sticks tied together. He asked if anyone of them was strong enough to break them. First one and then another tried, but they all failed. He then untied the bundle, and told them to break each stick separately. This they did easily and all the sticks were soon broken into pieces. Thus he taught them that untied they would be strong, but disunited they would always be weak.