Once upon a time there was a little boy, apprentice to a
shepherd, who lived in a small village. One day his mentor told
him he was old enough to tend to the flocks alone. The boy was
given a staff and instructions that if a wolf approached the
flocks, he should shout out long and loud “Wolf! Wolf!” so that
the villagers would know he was in trouble and rush to his aid
with pitchforks and axes. But, the boy was warned, this was
nothing to take lightly. It was important that such an alarm be
raised only in the event of real danger—only upon seeing an
approaching wolf. Do you remember the rest of the story? The
shepherd boy thought it would be quite funny to upset the town
into chaos and watch the population scurry about excited and
scared, running to his aid. And he exercised his new power by
calling out “Wolf! Wolf!” in the absence of any real danger—much
to the anger of the villagers. In the end, when the real wolf
approached, no one answered the boy’s cries as the wolves
stalked into the flock and killed th