Once upon a time, there was a boy who had to watch over the sheep in a village. He often got bored and wanted some excitement. So, one day, he decided to play a trick on the villagers.
The boy shouted, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” The villagers heard the cry and quickly ran up the hill to scare away the wolf. But when they arrived, they realized there was no wolf. They were not happy with the boy’s joke.
The villagers warned the boy, “Don’t shout ‘wolf’ if there is no wolf, young boy! It’s not fair to trick us.” They went back down the hill feeling annoyed.
A little later, the boy decided to play the same trick again. He shouted, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” Once again, the villagers rushed up the hill to protect the sheep, but once again, there was no wolf. They scolded the boy for making a false alarm and told him to stop crying ‘wolf’ when there was no danger.
But the boy didn’t listen and thought it was funny to fool the villagers a third time. This time, when a real wolf appeared and threatened the flock, the boy shouted, “Wolf! Wolf!” hoping the villagers would come to his rescue.
Unfortunately, the villagers thought the boy was just playing another trick, so they didn’t come to help. When the villagers finally went to find the boy and their sheep, they discovered the truth. The boy was crying because the wolf had indeed attacked the flock, and now it was gone.
An older man approached the boy and tried to console him. He said, “Nobody believes a liar, even when he’s telling the truth.”
The moral of the story is that lying destroys trust, and once trust is broken, it’s hard for people to believe even a truthful person.
