In the heart of the mesmerizing rolling fields, lived a shepherd boy. His being was untarnished, and unsophisticated. His only responsibility click here was mainly to care for his herd of ewes.
Their soft bleating and the whispering of the gales through the single tree on the peak were his main co-dwellers. Day upon day, watching over his charges inculcated in him a notion of calm satisfaction.
But, there were occasional moments of loneliness, when the shepherd boy would long for fellowship. On one such day because of sheer monotony, the shepherd boy devised a troublesome plot.
Stories of predators hunting on sheep had been around for a while in the village. So, the boy opted to leveraged this fear and played a trick on the inhabitants.
One day he ran into the village screaming “Wolf! There is a wolf preying on my sheep!” The frightened villagers sprinted up the hills to offer assistance but found no beast.
The boy giggled at the confusion on their faces. This trick persisted for a few more days. Yet, one noon, a real wolf did come to prey the flock. The shepherd boy dashed for aid screaming “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one responded.
Frustrated and alone, the boy struggled against the wolf but could protect only few of his flock. Devastated, he went back to the town only to be met with a scolding on honesty and the repercussions of crying wolf.
The tale of this shepherd boy has been transmitted generations as a mediaeval parable for teaching the value of honesty, the implications of dishonesty and the perils of false alarms. Moreover, it emphasizes how trust once broken, is tough to regain. It's a story as relevant today as it was then.