The document is about an old man who had five sons who were always fighting. To teach them the importance of unity, the old man asked his sons to bring him a bundle of sticks. When together in a bundle, the sticks could not be broken, but when separated they could be broken easily. This led the sons to understand that by working together as a united group, they would be stronger. The document then states the word "amalgamate" means to combine or unite, so its closest opposite is "separate", which means to divide or split apart.