The man had collected pieces of iron to sell at home. He carried the pieces of iron in a bag over his shoulder. The bag was heavy.
Still the man walked day after day. He knew he could sell the iron. With the money from selling the pieces of iron, he could help his
family.
But an accident happened. The man fell into a deep hole in the ground. He could not get out. He shouted for help. The people who
lived nearby heard his cries. They came to help him. They made a rope out of strong grass. They lowered one end of the rope into
the hole.
The man grabbed hold of the rope. The people began to pull him out. 'Wait,' he said. 'I forgot my bag of iron.' The man got the bag
of iron. But, when the people tried to pull him out, the rope broke. The man and the bag together were too heavy for the rope.
The people fixed the rope. They tried to pull the man and his bag of iron out of the hole again. But the rope broke. They tried one
more time. And again the rope broke.
'Leave the bag of iron,' they shouted to the man.
'No,' the man said. 'I must sell it. I need the money. I cannot leave it.'
Then the man said: 'Wait, let me think first.' He took time to think. He thought about many parts of the problem. He thought about
his family. He thought about how he could sell the pieces of iron. Then he thought how the money from iron pieces would make
his family's life better. With the money, he could buy things for his family. But he could not sell the pieces of iron if he did not get
them out of the hole.
How could he get the iron out of the hole? He said to the people, 'I have thought. I
see something now. Let us tie the bag of iron to the rope and pull it up first. Then
the rope will not break. After that, you can pull me up.'
So now the people could pull the bag of iron, as well as the man out of the
hole.
"And that is the end of the story," Grandmother said. "You see how
the man had a problem. To solve his problem, he needed to be more
thoughtful. He needed to take time to think!"
Linha and Joseph clapped their hands. It was a good story.
Discuss the story and discuss the following points in detail:
Discussion
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Indicate the dilemma/problem the man is faced with.
Sometimes we need to ask people for help. Who can we
ask?
Indicate that just like t