Food for Thought

There was once a little boy with a bad temper. He often had fights with his friends. One day his father gave him a hag of nails and told him to hammer a nail in the back fence every time he lost his temper. The boy listened to his father and did what his father had told him.

The first day the boy had driven 17 nails into the fence. Then the number of nails became less and less in the following days. The boy discovered that it was easier to keep his temper than to drive the nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and his father asked him to pull out one nail for each time that he was able to keep his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like the hole. You can put a knife into a man and draw it out. Even if you say you're sorry, the wound is still there. If you hurt a person with words, the wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and feel happy. So never hurt your friends."

Since then the boy had never fought with his friends. He learned how to get on with others and he never lost his temper again.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the father ask his son to do each time he lost his temper?
2. How many nails did the hoy hammer into the fence the first day?
3. Why did the boy stop driving the nails into the fence later?
4. What did the father ask his son to do each time he was able to keep his temper?
5. What does the story tell us?

(Keys.)