ASSEMBLY THEME

for week beginning 26th April

Once upon a time there was shepherd boy. Every day it was his job to take care of his flock of sheep as they grazed in the hillside fields beside a deep, dark forest. It was a lonely job for the shepherd boy and he was often bored with only his flock of sheep for company.

One day, the shepherd boy came up with a plan to amuse himself and to make his job more exciting. He left his sheep and ran quickly down towards the village shouting “Wolf! Wolf!” This alerted the villagers and they rushed to help him, joining him in the field to help protect his flock from being eaten by the wolf.

When they arrived in the fields, the villagers could see no sign of the wolf but they had no reason to doubt the shepherd boy's story.

This trick pleased the shepherd boy and just a few days later he tried the same thing. “Wolf! Wolf!” he cried and again the villagers came to drive the wolf away, again they found the flock of sheep happily grazing in the field and no sign of the wolf. The boy brought the villagers out in this way three or four times, each time he laughed to himself about the mischief he was causing.

Two days had passed since the last trick the shepherd boy had played. He was sitting quietly tending his sheep when he noticed a real wolf slowly creeping from the forest and towards his flock. The shepherd boy wasted no time, he jumped up and quickly ran toward the village crying “Wolf! Wolf!” more desperate and louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled before, ignored the shepherd boy's cries. They thought the boy was lying and trying to trick them again. None of the villagers came to the boy's aid. With nobody to stop it, the Wolf ate many of the sheep from the shepherd boy's flock.

As night was falling, an old man from the village began to wonder where the shepherd boy was and why he hadn't returned with his sheep for the evening. He slowly climbed the hill to find the boy huddled against a wall with tears down each of his cheeks. Seeing his distress, the old man tried to comfort him. "There really was a wolf!” the boy wept “I cried out, "Wolf! Wolf!" Nobody came to help me protect the sheep. "The old man put his arm around the boy, "Unfortunately,” he said ”You cried ‘wolf’ too many times. Nobody believes a liar... even when he is telling the truth! -

Although it is a different version the meaning / moral of the story is the same.

Do you know the meaning/moral of the story?

Were you surprised by the ending?

What were the consequences of the shepherd boy's lies?

What do you think the boy will learn from this?

Do you think he would cry ‘wolf’ again?

HONESTY