Theme: Lie

The Boy and the Wolf

Once upon a time there was a man who had a flock of sheep and every day he took them out to pasture.

Once, he needed to go on a trip for a few days. Therefore, he decided to pass on to his son the task of shepherding the sheep, who was already a grow up boy.

The man explained to his son what he should do. Every day, he would have to take the sheep out to the grass fields for them to eat plenty and become strong sheep with good wool. The boy would need to take care of them so that none of them got lost and he should watch around. If any wolf approached to attack them, he should scream loudly to call for help.

The boy paid attention and the next day he started his new activity, taking the sheep to pasture. Everything was going well, but the boy wanted to test if they could hear him if he needed to, and so, even without need, he started screaming:

- Wolf! Wolf!

His screams were soon heard and several men from the village came running with weapons and stones to scare the wolf away before he could eat any sheep. When they realized that there was no wolf, they were upset and returned to the village grumbling, because the boy had given them a good scare.

The boy, however, did not even care about the complaints. He even found it quite amusing to see their reactions. So, the next day, the boy took the sheep to pasture, waited a while, and started screaming loudly again:

- Wolf! Wolf!

It took almost no time and there were the villagers again. They came running, alarmed, but found no wolf.

The boy tried to make it up, saying that the wolf had gone away alone. But he was so calm, laughing at the commotion caused, that no one believed him, since the wolf would never have left before eating at least one sheep.

On the third day, the boy went out again with his sheep. Suddenly, when he climbed a small hill, he caught a glimpse of a wolf.

He shouted as loud as he could:

- Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!

The boy was already scared and even more so when he realized that no one was coming to help him. Fearing not only for the lives of his sheep, but his own as well, he realized how foolish he had been to have lied and enjoyed himself deceiving people who were willing to protect him.

The villagers, even hearing his call, thought he was lying again and so this time they didn't go to help. Only when the boy came running into the village, with a terrified look on his face, did they believe that this time he wasn't lying.

The men hurried to the field to try to save the sheep, but when they got there, they found the animals grazing calmly and no sign of a wolf.

Suddenly, in a gust of wind, one of them saw something moving in the distance. He found it strange and approached. The wind kept rocking the object and the man realized it was a cape, dark in color and light material. One of the villagers must have lost it the day before when they ran over there in a rush.

They soon understood that the boy had been confused. They brought the sheep back and all ended well, not only for the sheep, who were unharmed, but also for the boy, who learned a good lesson.

Never again did he lie, nor did he find it funny to amuse himself at the expense of others. He grew up to be a person that everyone could trust.

Adaptation of the history of the website Mãe Pop

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com