The North Wind and the Sun | Aesop's Fables

The Greek fabulist and storyteller, Aesop is the brainchild behind the fable of the North Wind and the Sun. This is a story where the north wind and the sun are personified by the storyteller to have human qualities such as being able to quarrel and argue over who is stronger than the other. Aesop uses this narrative to bring out the aspect of significance of both of these features. As expected of a good fable, multiple versions have been developed, each of them tracing its root to Aesop’s version but his remains the most authentic.

The North Wind and the Sun

It once happened that the North Wind and the Sun began to argue with each other. The basis of the argument was strength. Each of them was insisting that he was stronger than the other was. Their quarrel resulted into a lot of heat from the sun and lots of bluster from the wind. While they were still arguing, there was a traveler passing by having wrapped himself in a cloak and had a cap on, and so the two rivals decided to use the traveler as the determinant of who was stronger. The agreement between the North Wind and the sun was that whoever managed to remove the cloak from the traveler, would be the stronger one among the two.

The North Wind sent a cold wind towards the traveler. The cold wind was so strong that it actually howled as it blasted against the traveler. The North Wind sent a series of cold raging winds towards the traveler with the first series making the edges of the cloak to whip about the body of the traveler shaking him vigorously. The strength of the blows due to the wind grew stronger and stronger with every series and gust of the wind that was sent by the North Wind. As this happened, the travelled clung more tightly to the cloak so that it would not leave him and be blown away by the North Wind. This angered the North wind, making it send even stronger gusts of cold wind and the traveler, in response, clung stronger and wrapped himself more tightly into the cloak. The North wind failed.

It was now the turn of the sun to make passes at the traveler who was still wrapped in the cloak. The sun first sent gentle rays towards the traveler. This provided a soothing effect on the traveler, making him relax because he was stressed out after the vigorous gusts of the cold wind. In relaxation, the traveler then released the tight bound of the cloak and put in such a way that it just hanged loosely around his neck. The sun then made the rays grow stronger into beams and soon, it was warmer than it had been previously. This made the traveler to remove the cap that he was wearing. 

The traveler also mopped his brow because he was accumulating a bit of sweat on his brow. As the sun grew stronger, the traveler could not take it anymore and so he decided to take off the cloak if only to reduce the amount of heat his body was experiencing. This went on until the traveler came by a tree by the side of the road. This tree provided a very good shade beneath it. The traveler quickly ran for the shade and rested underneath it. 

Analysis of the Fable

In the fable of the North wind and the sun, it was evident that the north wind employed brute force in his efforts to make the traveler get rid of his cloak. His brute force only led to the traveler fastening the cloak around his body tighter with every series of blows that were leveled against him. The North wind therefore failed.

At the same, the sun employed a gentle approach in such a way that it appeared as if the sun was persuading the traveler to remove the cloak. The sun would give the traveler gradual increases of warmth in such a way that the traveler would become open to removing the cloak by himself. In the end, the heat was too much to take; the traveler loosened the cloak and eventually removed it. The sun therefore won the argument.

Lessons to be Learned

The first lesson that can be drawn from this fable is that being gentle and using a kind approach towards persuading people to do what you want is a more effective approach to getting things done. The sun was able to make the traveler remove the cloak because it employed this gentle approach.

In addition, brute force is sometimes not effective in getting things done. By forcing things to happen the way you want them to, sometimes all you achieve is that you make matters deteriorate. This escalation due to bluster and force makes the outcome contrary to your expectations or desires.

The fable also teaches us that the best way to get people to do what you want them to do is to make them think it is their own idea and resolve. This life skill can help you get your intended outcome as it skillfully convinces the mind that that is the right thing to do.

Conclusion

Life is full of situations like this, where we desire to have a particular outcome but then all we can do is convince the people who hold the final say to come up with our intended decision. Knowing how to bridge the gap between the convincing and our desired outcome requires a tactical approach. The fable “The North Wind and the Sun” teaches us that we should sometimes consider the gentle approach because a kind persuasion achieves much.