STORY 77
LEARNING TO SHARETherapeutic Characteristics
Problems Addressed
■ Relationship conflicts
■ Desire for what the other has
■ Envy and greed
■ Lack of communicationResources Developed
■ Assessing your own behavior
■ Building better communication skills
■ Learning to negotiate
■ Seeking resolutions
■ Discovering the benefits of sharing resources and skillsOutcomes Offered
■ Conflict resolution
■ Willingness to communicate
■ Mutual sharing of resources
■ Working with others cooperatively
Once upon a time there were two countries that shared the same border. One country, ruled by
a queen, was covered with rocks and stones. The other, ruled by a king, didn’t have any.
That would have been okay, except that the queen looked over the border and wanted what the
king had. “With clear land,” she said, “we could grow crops and feed my people.”
Now, the king was also looking across the border and wanted what the queen had. “With rocks,”
he said, “we could build houses, schools, and hospitals.”
The queen said to her people, “We need to clear our land if we are going to eat. Throw all the
stones over the border.”
The people of the stoneless country went to their king and complained. “The people in the
queen’s country are throwing stones at us,” they said.
“Don’t we want stones to build houses, schools, and hospitals?” asked the king. “Let’s declare
war. The queen’s people are poor and have no other weapons apart from their stones. If they keep
throwing stones, we will have all the material we need to construct our buildings.” So the war con-
tinued until the stoneless land was full of stones and the stony land was stoneless.
Both the king’s and the queen’s subjects were happy for a while. The queen’s people grew crops
on the clear land. The king’s people built homes, schools, and hospitals... for a while.
Soon the queen became aware they had plenty of food but no stones to build new homes,
schools, and hospitals. They had no stones to repair their old buildings.
On the other side of the border, the king’s people now had lots of buildings but food was short
and they were getting hungry.
184 Healing Stories, Teaching Stories