At the center of the mesmerizing rolling hills, dwelt a young shepherd. His life was essentially untarnished, simple, and honest. His main role was essentially to tend to his flock of ewes.
Their low murmuring and the whispering of the wind among the solo tree on the mountaintop were his main co-dwellers. Day upon day, watching over his wards imbued in him a feeling of quiet fulfillment.
Yet, there were the occasional moments of isolation, when the shepherd boy would yearn for company. During one such occasion from sheer monotony, the shepherd boy devised a naughty plan.
Narratives of predators hunting on sheep had more info 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 yelling “Wolf! There is a wolf preying on my sheep!” The terrified villagers sprinted up the hills to offer assistance but found no wolf.
The boy chuckled at the confusion on their faces. This prank laughed for a couple of more days. Yet, one morning, a real wolf did charge at the grazing sheep. The shepherd boy raced for help, shouting “Wolf, Wolf!” But this time, no one responded.
Frustrated and alone, the boy fought against the wolf but managed to protect only few of his sheep. Heartbroken, he went back to the town only to receive a scolding on honesty and the results of false alarms.
The story of this shepherd boy has been passed down generations as a mediaeval parable to teaching the significance of honesty, the consequences of lying and the perils of false alarms. Moreover, it stresses how trust once lost, is hard to earn back. It's a story as relevant today as it was anciently.