Deep within the enchanting rolling fields, lived a boy named Shepherd. His life was mostly pure, simple, and honest. His main role was essentially to tend to his herd of rams.
Their gentle baas and the whispering of the breezes across the solo tree on the mountaintop were his main companions. Day upon day, watching over his charges instilled in him a sense of calm satisfaction.
However, there website were the occasional moments of isolation, when the shepherd boy would pine for companionship. In one such instance because of sheer tedium, the shepherd boy conceived a mischievous scheme.
Stories of predators hunting on sheep had been around for a while in the village. So, the boy opted to exploit this fear and played a joke on the villagers.
One day he ran into the village screaming “Wolf! There is a wolf that has taken my sheep!” The frightened villagers ran up the hills for rescue but found nothing threatening.
The boy laughed at the confusion on their faces. This trick laughed for a few days more. However, one noon, a real wolf actually attack the herd. The shepherd boy raced for aid screaming “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one came.
Frustrated and alone, the boy battled against the wolf but could rescue only few of his flock. Devastated, he returned to the village only to be met with a scolding on honesty and the repercussions of dishonesty.
His tale of this shepherd boy has been handed down generations as a mediaeval parable for teaching the value of honesty, the consequences of lying and the perils of crying wolf. Moreover, it emphasizes how trust once violated, is tough to earn back. It's a story as pertinent today as it was in the past.