Can You Tell Me The Summary Of The Story The Whistle By Benjamin Franklin?

• The summary

When Benjamin Franklin was seven years old he was given some coppers and told that he could spend them on anything that he liked.

He came from a large family with lots of brothers and sisters and so money was never something that was offered often.

On this particular day, Benjamin Franklin was excited and rushed off to the toy shop to spend his pennies. On the way there he met a boy playing a whistle and was so taken by the sound that it made that he offered all of his coppers for it.

When he got home, his family soon made him aware that he had paid far too much for the whistle and that he could have bought four times as many. This upset Benjamin Franklin so much so that he lost all pleasure in the whistle, but it taught him a valuable lesson.

• Lesson learned

Benjamin Franklin never forgot this episode in his life and used it as point of reference on many occasions. If he was ever tempted to buy something that was not necessary he would tell himself, "Don't give too much for the whistle" and in that way he saved money.

He also used this story as a parable by which he led his life. If he ever saw anybody whom he considered to be wasteful or giving too much of themselves he would tell himself that they were paying too much for their whistle. He did not just apply this principle to material things but also to how people behaved or what they tolerated.

For example, he observed a young woman who was married to a brute, and he thought that she had paid too much for her whistle, because what she had got was definitely not worth the price.