A boy brushed a Nettle and was stung. His mother told him it had stung him because he brushed it. Grasp it boldly and it will not hurt you.
Whatever you do, do it with all your might.
A boy brushed a Nettle and was stung by it. His mother told him: “It stung you because you brushed it. Next time grasp it boldly and it will be soft as silk and not hurt you.”
Townsend version
A Boy was stung by a Nettle. He ran home and told his Mother, saying, “Although it hurts me very much, I only touched it gently.” “That was just why it stung you,” said his Mother. “The next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt you.”
Moral
Whatever you do, do with all your might.
Aesop For Children
A Boy, stung by a Nettle, ran home crying, to get his mother to blow on the hurt and kiss it.
“Son,” said the Boy’s mother, when she had comforted him, “the next time you come near a Nettle, grasp it firmly, and it will be as soft as silk.”
Moral
Whatever you do, do with all your might.
JBR Collection
A little Boy, playing in the fields, chanced to be stung by a Nettle, and came crying to his father. He told him he had been hurt by the nasty weed several times before; that he was always afraid of it; and that now he did but just touch it, as lightly as possible, when he was so severely stung. “Child,” said he, “your touching it so gently and timorously is the very reason of its hurting you. A Nettle may be handled safely, if you do it with courage and resolution; if you seize it boldly and gripe it fast, be assured it will never sting you; and you will meet with many sorts of persons, as well as things, in the world which ought to be treated in the very same manner.”