Once upon a time, there was a boy who had a flock of sheep at home.
Every day, his mother would ask him to take the sheep up the mountain to graze.
She warned him, “There are wolves in the mountains. If you see a wolf, run down the mountain immediately and ask for help from the farmers and neighbors below. They will help you.”
The boy promised.
Every day, the boy would shepherd the sheep on the mountain, finding the days quite boring.
He thought, “Why not play a trick on the farmers below?”
So, the boy ran down the mountain and pretended to be very panicked as he told the farmers, “Wolf! Wolf!”
The farmers, who were working in the fields, upon hearing the news, quickly grabbed their hoes and ran up the mountain, ready to fight the wolf.
When they reached the top of the mountain and saw only the sheep peacefully grazing, they asked the boy, “Where is the wolf?”
The boy laughed and rolled around in the grass, saying, “I tricked you! There was never any wolf! You fell for it, it was fun!”
The farmers, very angry, walked away.
A few days later, the boy felt bored again and thought, “Let’s play another joke on the farmers.”
So, the boy ran back down the mountain and said to the farmers, “Wolf! Wolf!”
The farmers still believed the boy and hurried up the mountain to fight the wolf, but once again, they saw no wolf.
The boy laughed and rolled around on the ground again, saying, “You’re so dumb, you fell for it again! I lied to you, there was no wolf!”
The farmers, annoyed, said, “We need to tend to our fields. You’re just wasting our time, aren’t you?”
From then on, everyone thought that the shepherd boy was a liar and stopped believing his words.
One day, as the boy lay basking in the sun on the grass, he suddenly heard the sheep screaming.
He opened his eyes and saw a wolf biting one of the sheep.
Terrified, the boy ran desperately down the mountain and, panting heavily, said to the farmers, “Wolf! Wolf!”
The farmers laughed heartily and said, “Still trying to fool us? We’re not falling for it this time!”
The boy said, “This time it’s true!”
But no matter how much the boy insisted, the farmers didn’t believe him.
Feeling defeated, the boy had to return to the mountain. He saw that many sheep had been eaten by the wolf.
His mother said to him, “This is the result of your lying.”
From then on, the boy dared not lie or deceive anyone anymore.
This story tells us that when a liar tells the truth, no one believes them.
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