|
Key words£ºshepherd£¬wolf£¬sheep |
| ¡¡ |
¡¡ |
¡¡ |
|
Genre£ºfable |
Topic£ºcredulity |
Words:340 |
| ¡¡ |
¡¡ |
¡¡ |
| ¡¡ |
|
|
|
Now, he began to
look upon the wolf as a guardian of his flock. |
The shepherd's mistake
|
Author£ºAesop (Retold by
Bandyopadhyay) |
Source£ºwww.pitara.com
|
|
Date£º2008-5-26 |
Editor£ºEmma |
(Illustration by Shinod AP)
¡¡
Early every morning, a shepherd
took his flock of sheep out in the fields to graze. He would sit
by watching - as the sheep lazily munched on fresh grass. After
they had eaten, he would round them up and walk back home.
Sometimes while watching his flock, he would curl up in a quiet
corner and go off to sleep.
One day, the shepherd caught a wolf which had strayed into the
field, eyeing his sheep. However, it was some distance away and
it made no effort to come nearer. The shepherd at first stood on
guard against the wolf, as against an enemy, and kept a strict
watch over its movements.
But the wolf did not do anything. When the shepherd herded the
sheep and headed home with his flock, the wolf quietly followed
them at a distance.
This continued for a while. The shepherd would find the wolf
waiting at the edge of the field every morning. But it made not
the slightest effort to seize the sheep and would just watch.
So, by and by, the shepherd let down his guard a bit. A few days
later, he began to actually look forward to the wolf's presence.
The wolf, who generally sat on a large piece of rock, looked
like a big sheep dog from afar. The shepherd thought that other
wild animals or mischief-makers would be scared of the 'dog''s
presence and not harm his flock while it was around.
Now, he began to look upon the wolf as a guardian of his flock.
One day, in the middle of grazing his sheep, the shepherd was
called back to home urgently. Leaving the sheep entirely in
charge of the wolf, he left.
When he came back, what did he find? That the wolf had eaten
most of his flock, with only a few sheep wandering about.
Carcasses of the dead sheep lay around, everywhere.
The shepherd sat down in shock after witnessing the slaughter.
"Serves me right," he moaned to himself, "after all, I entrusted
the welfare of my flock to a wolf."
Discussion£º
How did the wolf cheat the
shepherd?
¡¡
¡¡
[Top]
[Genre]
[Home]
