There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. He could get angry easily. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day, the boy had hammered 37 nails into the fence. For the next few week, as he could control his anger, the number of nails hammered was getting smaller. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to hammer those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't get angry at all. He to told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail each day he was able to hold his temper. The day passed and the boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my 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 this one. It won't matter how many

times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.

(taken from UNBahasaInggrisP16Ulang2009/2010)