Have you every told a little white lie? You know, something that's not really true, but you either didn't want to get into trouble or you didn't want to hurt someone's feelings...
"No, I don't know how that vase got broken."
"My dog ate my homework."
"I like that dress you're wearing."
The thing about white lies, is that over time it gets harder and harder to remember what is true and what is made up. But when you are HONEST when someone asks you a question, you don't have to wonder what story you have to remember...because there IS no story...just the truth and that's easy to remember.
Check out this tale about one boy who had so much fun telling little white lies, that when he really needed someone to believe his story, no one thought he was being HONEST.
********
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
A shepherd boy tended his master’s sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherd’s pipe.
One day as he sat watching the sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what he would do should he see a wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.
His master had told him to call for help should a wolf attack the flock, and the villagers would drive it away. So now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, “Wolf! Wolf!”
As he expected, the villagers who heard the cry dropped their work and ran in great excitement to the pasture. But when they got there they found the boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.
A few days later the shepherd boy again shouted, “Wolf! Wolf!” Again the villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again.
Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and the shadows were creeping out over the pasture, a wolf really did spring from the underbrush and attack the sheep.
In terror the boy ran toward the village shouting “Wolf! Wolf!” But though the villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before. “He cannot fool us again,” they said.
The wolf killed a great many of the boy’s sheep and then slipped away into the forest.
********
There's a saying, "HONESTY is the best policy." It doesn't mean you won't get into trouble if the truth is that you're cheating on your history test. It also doesn't mean your parents won't be disappointed in you when they discover you haven't been HONEST with them. But it WILL make life easier for everyone to know what's true and what's not. And MUCH easier to keep you safe from the wolves out there...
