At the center of the mesmerizing rolling fields, lived a shepherd boy. His life read more was essentially pure, simple yet virtuous. His only responsibility was mainly to look after his flock of ewes.
Their low murmuring and the murmuring of the gales across the single tree on the mountaintop were his main associates. Day after day, guarding his wards imbued in him a feeling of calm satisfaction.
But, there were at times moments of isolation, when the shepherd boy would pine for fellowship. In one such instance out of sheer boredom, the shepherd boy devised a mischievous scheme.
Stories of predators prowling on sheep had long been circulating in the hamlet. So, the boy chose to leveraged this fear and played a joke on the inhabitants.
One afternoon he raced into the village screaming “Wolf! There is a wolf that has taken my sheep!” The terrified villagers ran up the hills for rescue but saw no wolf.
The boy chuckled at the dilemma on their faces. This game continued for a couple of more days. Yet, one noon, a real wolf did come to prey the grazing sheep. The shepherd boy ran for help, screaming “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one came.
Frustrated and alone, the boy fought against the wolf but managed to rescue only few of his sheep. Heartbroken, he went back to the town only to receive a reprimand on honesty and the results of dishonesty.
The tale 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 false alarms. Moreover, it emphasizes how trust once lost, is hard to regain. It's a story as pertinent today as it was then.