At the center of the mesmerizing rolling hills, lived a shepherd boy. His existence was mostly unadulterated, simple, and honest. His only responsibility was to look after his herd of ewes.
Their soft bleating and the whispering of the wind through the lone tree on the mountaintop were his main companions. Day in day, watching over his responsibilities inculcated in him a feeling of calm satisfaction.
However, there were the occasional moments of solitude, when the shepherd boy would yearn for fellowship. On one such day out of sheer tedium, the shepherd boy orchestrated a troublesome plot.
Narratives of wild beasts hunting on sheep had been around for a while in the village. So, the boy opted to leveraged this fear and played a joke on the villagers.
One day he ran into the village shouting “Wolf! A wolf is that has taken my sheep!” The terrified villagers ran up the hills for rescue but saw no wolf.
The boy giggled at the dilemma on their faces. This trick laughed for a few days more. Yet, one day, a real wolf did charge at the herd. The shepherd boy raced for help, shouting “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one showed up.
Frustrated and alone, the boy battled against the wolf but could check here protect only few of his flock. Devastated, he returned to the town only to receive a reprimand on honesty and the repercussions 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 consequences of lying and the dangers of false alarms. Moreover, it emphasizes how trust once broken, is tough to regain. It's a story as appropriate today as it was anciently.