Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a shepherd boy who was tasked with watching over the sheep.
Every day, he would take the sheep to a hill near the village and spend his time there. Though the work was simple, the boy often felt lonely and bored. To amuse himself, he thought of a mischievous plan.
One day, he climbed a rock and shouted loudly,
“Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!”
The villagers, hearing the boy’s cries, came running up the hill with sticks to scare away the wolf. But when they arrived, they found no wolf, and the boy burst out laughing at their expense.
“There is no wolf,” he said, “I was just joking.”
The villagers were annoyed and went back to their work. However, the boy found the prank so amusing that he repeated it the next day. Once again, the villagers rushed to his aid, only to discover that they had been fooled again. This time, they scolded the boy and warned him not to lie.
A few days later, a real wolf actually came out of the forest and attacked the sheep.
The boy was terrified. He climbed the rock and cried out loudly,
“Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!”
But this time, the villagers thought he was playing another trick and ignored his cries for help. The wolf killed many sheep and ran back into the forest.
When the boy returned to the village, he was in tears.
“Why didn’t you come to help me?” he asked the villagers.
An old man replied,
“Nobody believes a liar, even when they are telling the truth.”
Moral of the Story:
Always speak the truth. Once trust is broken, it is very hard to regain.