There was a boy who was very quick tempered.One day his father gave him a bag of nails and a hammer.''Hammer a nail into the fence every time you lose your temper.''he said.So every time the boy blew up his top,he would go out into the garden and hammer a nail into the wooden fence.This practice made him acutely conscious of his bad temper and he began to make attempts to control it.He found himself putting fewer and fewer nails into the fence each passing day and one evening he realised that he did not have to go to the fence even once.
The next morning he gave the balance nails and hammer back to his father,telling him he did not need them any more as he had learnt to control the temper.
''Very good,''said his father,''now pull out all the nails from the fence.''
The boy spent a greater part of the morning pulling out the nails.He finally accomplished his task.He gave the nails to his father.
''So many!''said the man,''come on,let us see what they have done to the fence.''
Together they examined the holes left by the nails in the fence.
''Anger may die down,''said the man to his son,''but the harm it has done does not vanish so easily.It remains like these holes.''
It was a lesson the boy never forgot.His volatile temper was not easily tamed,but eventually he developed a calm and peaceful disposition.