北风和太阳
The North Wind and the Sun were arguing about which of them was stronger. Just then, a traveller came walking along the road, wrapped in a warm coat.
"Let's settle this," said the Sun. "Whoever can make that man take off his coat is the stronger of us."
"Easy," said the North Wind. He took a deep breath and blew as hard as he could. A cold, fierce wind swept down the road. But the harder he blew, the more tightly the traveller pulled his coat around him. The North Wind blew until he was exhausted, but the coat stayed on.
Then it was the Sun's turn. He came out from behind a cloud and shone gently on the traveller. Soon the man began to feel warm, and he unbuttoned his coat. The Sun shone a little brighter. Before long, the traveller was so hot that he took off his coat, sat down in the shade of a tree and fanned himself with his hat.
Gentle persuasion often works better than force.
北风和太阳正在争论谁的本事更大。就在这时，一个旅人沿着大路走了过来，身上裹着一件暖和的大衣。
“咱们比一比吧，”太阳说，“谁能让那个人把大衣脱下来，谁的本事就更大。”
“这还不容易。”北风说。它深深吸了一口气，使出全身力气吹了起来。一阵又冷又猛的风沿着大路呼啸而过。可是北风吹得越猛，旅人就把大衣裹得越紧。北风一直吹到筋疲力尽，大衣还是好好地穿在旅人身上。
接下来轮到太阳了。它从云后面钻出来，暖暖地照着旅人。没过多久，那人就觉得暖和起来，解开了大衣的扣子。太阳又照得亮了一些。很快，旅人热得受不了，干脆把大衣脱了下来，坐到树荫下，拿帽子扇起风来。
温和的劝说，往往比强硬的手段更管用。