Deep within the captivating rolling hills, resided a boy named Shepherd. His life was unadulterated, simple yet virtuous. His primary duty was to look after his herd of ewes.
Their gentle baas and the murmuring of the gales through the lone tree on the hilltop were his only companions. Day upon day, guarding his charges imbued in him a sense of quiet fulfillment.
But, there were the occasional moments of solitude, when the shepherd boy would long for fellowship. During one such occasion from sheer monotony, the shepherd boy devised a mischievous plan.
Narratives of predators hunting click here on sheep had been heard times and again in the town. So, the boy opted to used this fear and played a prank on the villagers.
One morning he ran into the village yelling “Wolf! A wolf is preying on my sheep!” The terrified villagers ran up the hills to help but found nothing threatening.
The boy chuckled at the confusion on their faces. This trick laughed for a few days more. However, one morning, a real wolf actually charge at the grazing sheep. The shepherd boy ran for aid screaming “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one showed up.
Frustrated and alone, the boy fought against the wolf but managed to protect only few of his sheep. Heartbroken, he returned to the village only to receive a lesson on honesty and the results of crying wolf.
The story of this shepherd boy has been transmitted generations as a mediaeval parable to teaching the importance of honesty, the implications of dishonesty and the perils of crying wolf. Moreover, it stresses how trust once broken, is difficult to reclaim. It's a story as appropriate today as it was anciently.