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The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
In a small sleepy village at the edge of the forest, there lived a shepherd boy named Shyam. Everyday he would take the sheep for grazing to a pasture near the forest. Here the grass was green and he would laze while the sheep grazed.
Every morning when Shyam left for grazing, his father would tell him. “If a wolf attacks the flock Shyam, run towards the village and shout for help. The villagers would surely drive it away.”
Shyam he thought of a plan to amuse himself. He ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice. “Wolf! Wolf! Save my flock from this deadly animal.”
As expected, the villagers who heard the cry left their work and ran towards the pasture. Seeing the panic stricken villagers, he burst into laughter.
Ha! Ha! Ha! I fooled you!!! Did you really believe that there was a wolf?” this little prank made the villagers angry at Shyam. They all left in a huff.
A few days later, Shyam played the same trick again and the villagers ran to help him. Once again Shyam had a good laugh at their expense.
That evening, as the sun set, Shyam started to drive his sheep home. Just then a hungry wolf came out from the bush and pounced on the sheep. Shyam saw the big red eyes of the wolf and screamed, “HELP! HELP! WOLF! WOLF!” This time the villagers did not run to help him as they had done before.
Nobody was interested in listening to him.
“He cannot fool us again,” they said.
By the time Shyam went back to the grazing land, the wolf had killed many of his sheep and slipped away into the forest.
Moral of the story : “Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.”
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