ow?

A. He would blow hard.

Q. Can you think of another word besides _hard_ to show how he would
blow?

A. Fierce.

Q. Fiercely. Yes, "_fiercely_" is a good word. How fiercely would he
blow?

A. Very fierce.

Q. Yes, very _fiercely_. Did you notice I said "fiercely," John? Now
can't you think of a comparison with something else that is fierce, so
that our story will sound well and people will like it?

A. A lion is fierce. We could say, "He blew as fiercely as a lion."

Q. But a lion does not blow. What does he do?

A. He tears his prey when he captures it.

Q. That's good. Now tell me how the Wind tried to make the man take off
his coat.

A. The Wind blew fiercely as a lion tears his prey.

Q. Good. Did the man take off his coat?

A. I don't think he did. I think he would try to keep it on.

Q. How hard do you think he would try?

A. As hard as he could.

Q. Did he lose it?

A. No. No matter what the Wind did I think the man would keep on his
coat.

Q. Will you please tell the story as far as we have gone?

A. The Wind and the Sun tried to make a man take off his coat. First the
Wind blew as fiercely as a lion tears his prey, but the man clung more
closely to his coat and would not let it go.

Q. That is good, but it does not satisfy me yet. I want a longer,
prettier story. Let us make believe the Wind and the Sun are two men.
Make them talk so they will seem real to us. Can't you start us?

A. One day Mr. Wind and Mr. Sun got to talking. Each one thought he was
stronger than the other. They saw a man walking along the road. He had a
big overcoat on and Mr. Wind said that he--

Q. Tell us exactly what Mr. Wind said.

A. Mr. Wind said, "I am stronger than you are. I can make that man take
off his coat. You can't!"

Q. That is a fine start. Tell us what the Sun said.

A. The Sun said that he--

Q. "That he?"

A. The Sun said, "I can make him take off his coat, and I can do it
quicker than you can."

Q. Good. Go on.

A. So they tried. Mr. Wind began. He blew as hard as he could and
whistled around the man. He blew as fiercely as a lion tears his prey,
but the man wouldn't take off his coat.

Q. What would the man do to his coat?

A. I think he'd hold on to it, button it up, draw it close around him.

Q. Good. Very good. Now tell the story as well as you can.

A. Begin at the beginning?

Q. Yes.

A. One day Mr. Wind and Mr. Sun got into a quarrel about who was the
stronges