Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived on a farm with his family. They were an organized bunch, and each family member had his or her own set of chores to keep the farm running.
His father farmed all the crops and sold them in the local village. His mother cooked and cleaned and made sure everyone else was pulling his or her own weight. His brothers fed the chickens and the pigs and kept the pigpens and henhouses clean. His sisters milked the cows and goats and carefully kept track of which milk was which.
Being the youngest in his family, the little boy was given the simplest task on the farm. Every day, he would take the farm’s herd of sheep into a field nearby and look after them as they grazed on the grass. At night, when his mother rang the bell for supper, he’d escort the sheep back into their pen, and the whole thing would start over again the next day.
It was such an easy chore that the little boy spent most of the day being bored and restless. Even with a good imagination, it was difficult to keep himself entertained in the field.
He’d practice balancing his straw hat on the end of his staff, but he grew tired of that. He’d look for anthills and stomp on them until all the ants came out, but that got old pretty quick. He’d build buildings out of rocks, but eventually he ran out of rocks.
One afternoon, after he had done everything he could think of to pass the time, he decided to play a joke on his family.
“Wolf!” he cried. “There’s a wolf in the field!”
His father and his brothers immediately came running from the farm with their pitchforks and axes raised high. His mother and sisters ran out too, swinging rolling pins and carving knives. However, when they arrived in the field, there wasn’t a wolf anywhere.
The little boy burst into a fit of giggles.
“I tricked you!” he laughed. “There’s no wolf out here! You should have seen the looks on your faces!”
His siblings rolled their eyes and went back to the farm. His parents shook their heads and scowled at him. The little boy figured he was the only one in his family who had a sense of humor.
The next day, the little boy was back in the field watching over the flock of sheep as always. He was so bored, he didn’t know what to do with himself.
He practiced twirling his staff, but it kept hitting him in the head. He laid on the grass and thought about what the clouds were shaped like, but there were only one or two in the sky that day. He tried teaching the sheep tricks, like how to fetch and roll over, but the sheep weren’t interested in learning.
Finally, he was so desperate for excitement that he decided to play another joke on his family.
“Wolf!” he cried. “There’s a wolf in the field!”
Just like the day before, his family ran toward the field with pitchforks, axes, rolling pins, and knives raised. But before they reached the field, the little boy fell and rolled on the ground with bellyache-inducing laughter.
“I tricked you again!” he said with a giggle.
His parents and siblings were at their wit’s end with him. Even the sheep were annoyed, because the little boy frightened them each time he yelled.
“I’m glad you’re pleased with yourself, because the rest of us sure aren’t!” his father said. “Scare us like that again and you’ll get a whipping.”
The little boy was so tickled with himself, he laughed until it was time to head back for supper. Unfortunately, the next day the joke was on him.
Just like always, the little boy was back in the field watching the sheep. He was walking around looking for something to do, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a frightening sight. At the edge of the field was a pack of enormous wolves.