A Husbandman who had a quarrelsome family ,after having tried in vain to reconcile them by words ,thought he might more readily prevail by an example .So he called his sons and bid them lay a bundle of sticks before him .Then ,having tied them into a fagot, he told the lads ,one after the other ,to take it up and break it .They all tied ,but tried in vain .Then untying¹ the fagot ,he gave them the sticks to break one by one .This they did with the greatest ease .Then said the father:"Thus you ,my sons ,as long as you remain united ,are a match for all you enemies ;but differ and separate ,and you are undone²."

Union is strength.

译文： 一个农夫，家庭不和睦，用言语劝告大家和好，总是无效，最后他想，用实际例子可能容易说服他们。于是他把儿子都叫来，吩咐他们抱一捆火柴放在他的面前。他把火柴捆成一捆，接着叫这些孩子挨次拿起来折断它，一个个都试过了，但都没有折断，接着他解了捆，一根一根地给他们折，他们都轻而易举地折断了。这时父亲说："孩子们，只要我们团结一致，你们就能对付一切敌人；但是如果意见不合，各自东西，那么你们一定要失败。"