At the center of the mesmerizing rolling fields, lived a young shepherd. His life was unadulterated, and unsophisticated. His main role was essentially to care for his herd of ewes.
Their gentle baas and the whispering of the breezes across the solo tree on the hilltop were his constant co-dwellers. Day upon day, guarding his wards instilled in him a sense of quiet fulfillment.
Yet, there were at times moments of loneliness, when the shepherd boy would yearn for fellowship. During one such occasion out of sheer monotony, the shepherd boy devised a naughty plan.
Narratives of wild beasts preying on sheep had been around for a while in the hamlet. So, the boy opted to leveraged this fear and played a joke on the inhabitants.
One afternoon he raced into the village shouting “Wolf! A wolf is preying on my sheep!” The terrified villagers sprinted up the hills for rescue but discovered no beast.
The boy chuckled at the confusion on their faces. This prank continued for a couple of more days. But, one morning, a real wolf did attack the flock. The shepherd boy raced for aid shouting “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one came.
Frustrated and alone, the boy struggled against the wolf but could protect only few of his flock. Devastated, he returned to the town more info only to receive a reprimand on honesty and the results of false alarms.
The story of this shepherd boy has been handed down generations as a mediaeval parable for teaching the importance of honesty, the implications of dishonesty and the perils of false alarms. Moreover, it stresses how trust once violated, is hard to earn back. It's a story as pertinent today as it was anciently.