Johnny was a short-tempered boy. He used bad words when he lost his temper. Johnny’s father decided to teach him a lesson. So one day, he gave Johnny a bag full of nails. He asked Johnny to hammer a nail into the back of the fence every time he lost his temper. Johnny hammered 27 nails on the first day. But slowly, the number of nails hammered daily reduced. Johnny tried to control his temper in order to avoid the hammering of the nails. He discovered eventually that he had made many friends. After a few days, Johnny’s father asked him to pull out the hammered nails from the fence. Johnny took out all the nails. His father said, “Johnny, did you notice the holes left behind after pulling out the nails? These holes teach us a lesson. When you use bad words, those words leave a permanent scar in the memories of people. Always remember a verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.” From then on, Johnny behaved well.
Holes in the Fence
