The North Wind and the Sun

4-6 min read
13 pages

The north wind and the sun, Aesop's fable to read aloud. They argue about who is stronger, and a man in a coat has to settle it.

The north wind and the sun fell into an argument one afternoon about which of the two of them was stronger, and it went on for some time, because each of them was quite sure.

«I move ships,» said the wind. «I take roofs off houses. I have bent trees so far that they never stood straight again.»

«Yes,» said the sun, who was in no hurry about any of it. «And what is it that you do?» said the wind. «You sit up there. Nothing has ever had to get out of your way.»

They were still at it when a man came along the road below, walking towards the town with a heavy brown coat buttoned up to his chin.

«There,» said the sun. «Whoever can get that coat off him is the stronger. You go first.»

The wind was glad to go first. He gathered himself up from the far side of the hills and came down the road in one long cold rush, and the dust went up, and the hedges laid over flat.

So the wind blew harder. He got in at the sleeves and under the collar and round the back of the man's knees, and he blew until the trees on both sides of the road were roaring and the birds had given up and gone to ground.

So the wind blew harder. He got in at the sleeves and under the collar and round the back of the man's knees, and he blew until the trees on both sides of the road were roaring.

The man crouched down with his shoulder into it and did up the top button that he never usually bothered with, and pulled the collar across his face, and stayed exactly where he was until it was over.

«Your turn,» said the wind at last, out of breath and rather cross about it.

The sun did not do anything sudden. The air went quiet, and then it went warm, and the man stood up and looked about him and started walking again. After a hundred yards he undid the top button. After another hundred he undid the rest.

By the time he reached the bridge he had the coat over his arm, and he was whistling, and he had not noticed that anything had been decided at all.

The wind, who had gone to sit on the hills and watch, did not say anything about it, and neither did the sun, because there was no longer anything left to argue over.

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Text source: Fable by Aesop (6th century BC), public domain. The text was written anew for Marytale — it is not a reprint of anyone else's version.

Where «The North Wind and the Sun» comes from and who wrote it down

The North Wind and the Sun

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