Week 2 Storytelling: Important Lessons from a Dying Man's Bedside

Once there was a wealthy merchant who was growing quite old. Besides having a large amount of money, he also had a grand house full of children, five boys and one girl. The children, while they loved each other as much as other brothers and sisters do, were always quarreling over one thing or another and their father worried what might happen to his family if he were not there to make peace during their many disagreements. Their mother had died a few years prior of pneumonia and the merchant's health was beginning to fade; eventually, they would only have each other rely upon.

Being of a great age, the merchant spent much of his time thinking and one thing he thought about particularly was how to get his children to understand how important it was that they always stick together. Children are not the wisest of creatures; lessons taught to them in a direct manner often go in one ear and out the other. With the young, it is usually best to show them what you mean. But how could the merchant show his sons and daughter the importance of unity? And what about his youngest child, his only daughter? Growing up without a father and a mother from such a young age would surely be a difficult thing. What knowledge could he give to her that might ease the difficult journey ahead?

Months passed and soon the old merchant could hardly leave his bed. By this time, the older children knew their father was not long for this world. Distressed from the impending loss of their last parent, tensions were high in the big house and the children were prone to fighting even more than usual. This worried the old man dearly, so one night he called for all his children to assemble in his bed chamber.

Putting aside their differences for the sake of their ailing father, the children filed into the room quietly and by age. The eldest was a big, strapping boy of twenty-five, engaged to be married to a lovely girl the following month. His strong hands were clasped tightly in front of him, for the largest part of him was his heart and it ached to see his beloved father weak in his bed. The next was a tall and slight lad of twenty-three, bright and astute. He stood gravely at the foot of the bed, knowing very well this might be one of the last times he would ever see his father. The third son was short and round with a mischievous spirit, being the source of much of the discord among the siblings, but even he recognized the seriousness of the occasion. The fourth son was a lad of seventeen, built like his eldest brother, and the fifth after him was a wispy thing of fifteen with bright blue eyes that shone with innocence and, at the moment, sadness. The last to enter was the daughter, a pretty little girl of merely ten years. She remembered how things had been just before her mother died, so even she knew that it would not be long before she lost her father, too.

With all six of them standing at the foot of his bed, the old man turned to his servant and asked him to take the bundle of sticks from his bedside table to his eldest son. The boy held the bundle (that he had seen the same servant gathering earlier) between his large hands and looked at his father in curiosity.

"Break it," his father ordered hoarsely. Knowing full well he could not do it, the boy tried his best anyway. When he could not, the bundle was passed from one brother to the next and even to the little girl at the end of the line. After none had succeeded, their father had the servant untie the bundle and give each of them one stick from the pile.

"Break them," the old man commanded again. This time the room was filled with the sound of snapping wood. Yes, even the youngest broke her stick in two with ease.

"Union gives strength," their father explained with more force in his voice than the children had heard in quite some time. "You are all accustomed to bickering and arguing, day in and day out. As I'm sure you all know, I am not long for this world, and a day will come when I will not be here to set things right when you inevitably quarrel again. I hope that you would keep this lesson in your minds, for when I'm gone you will only have each other to rely upon in this whole world." The siblings looked at each other solemnly, the broken bits of wood still clasped in their hands.

"Anna," the old man called quietly, reaching out for his youngest child to come nearer to him. He took her small hand in his wasted one and peered into her big brown eyes. "The world can be a cruel place for a woman, but I do not want you to be afraid. Be intelligent. Be confident. And, above all, be strong. For there are few things more formidable than a knowledgeable, strong, confident woman." He patted her hand and lay back on his pillow, exhausted from effort.

The children filed their way back into the hall and went somberly to their rooms, each determined to keep their broken sticks as a reminder of their father's most important lesson.

The Bundle of Sticks illustration by Walter Crane

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Author's Note:  The source material for my story is The Bundle of Sticks from the book "The Fables of Aesop" edited by Joseph Jacobs (1902). In the original tale, a dying man brings his sons to his death bed and teaches them that unity is strength by having them try to break a bundle of sticks individually. They only succeed after dividing up the sticks between them. The reason I chose to retell this story is because the man did not call any daughters he may have had to hear this lesson about strength. He may have only had sons, but I imagined that he did have at least one daughter and I believed that she should have been present to learn the lesson as well. I also imagined what lesson he might want to impart to this sole daughter individually, but I didn't want it to be the stereotypical lesson it seems girls always get from their dying parent: be kind. The main attributes Anna's father emphasizes are intelligence, confidence, and strength. I specifically picked these traits because they are usually associated with masculinity and the old man's sons would probably expect that they should aspire to be these things. Anna, however, might be told by the world that she only needs to be kind, gentle, pure, obedient, etc. It is for this reason her father makes a point of advocating strength, confidence, and intelligence, three characteristics that would certainly benefit a young orphan girl for whom self-reliance would be a necessity.