Deep within the mesmerizing rolling hills, dwelt a boy named Shepherd. His life was essentially unadulterated, simple, and honest. His main role was mainly to care for his herd of ewes.
Their low murmuring and the murmuring of the wind through the solo tree on the hilltop were his main co-dwellers. Day after day, guarding his charges instilled in him a feeling of quiet fulfillment.
Yet, there were the occasional moments of solitude, when the shepherd boy would long for company. On one such day because of sheer tedium, the shepherd boy conceived a troublesome plot.
Tales of wolves prowling on sheep had been around for a while in the village. So, the boy chose to leveraged this fear and played a trick on the villagers.
One day he ran into the village read more shouting “Wolf! There is a wolf attacking my sheep!” The frightened villagers rushed up the hills for rescue but discovered nothing threatening.
The boy laughed at the puzzle on their faces. This prank laughed for a few days more. But, one morning, a real wolf actually attack the flock. The shepherd boy raced for aid shouting “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. Devastated, he returned to the town only to be met with a reprimand on honesty and the consequences of crying wolf.
His tale of this shepherd boy has been handed down generations as a mediaeval parable to teaching the significance of honesty, the implications of dishonesty and the perils of false alarms. Moreover, it stresses how trust once broken, is difficult to regain. It's a story as appropriate today as it was anciently.