THE SHEPHERD'S BOY
A Man that had a fine flock of Sheep put
them all into a field, and hired a Boy to
take care of them, while he worked near by
with his Men.
The Sheep went nibbling the grass all day,
up and down the hills, and along the brook;
and all that the Boy had to do was to look out
for the Wolf, and see that he did not come
prowling into the field.
After a while the Boy began to wish that
something would happen, it was so tiresome
staying there all alone, with no one to speak to
and nothing to do. He wished he could be
with the Men in the next field, or that they
could come and stay with him. All at once
he thought to himself, "I will make them
think the Wolf has come. That will be great
fun."
So he called out as loudly as he could, "Help!
help! The Wolf!" and all the Men came run-
ning up.
When they found it was only a joke, they
laughed, and went back to their work.
On the next day the Boy tried the same
trick again. As before, the Men dropped their
mattocks and spades, for fear there might be
danger, and ran to the help of the Boy. He
only laughed at them for their pains, and this
time they did not relish the joke. still the Boy
did not give it up. Again and again he
shouted "Wolf! Wolf!" till at last the Men
took no notice of him when he called them,
no matter how loudly or how long he shouted.
And now perhaps you can guess what fol-
lowed.
After a while, the wolf did get into the field,
Then the Boy called and called in real terror:
"Pray do come and help me. The wolf is
killing the sheep. The wolf! the wolf!" But
no one gave heed to his cries. Finding only a
terrified coward in care of the flock, the wolf
left few of them uninjured.When one is believed to be untruthful, no
one will take his word.