The Wolf and the Shepherd

A Wolf followed a flock of sheep for a long time, and did not attempt to injure one of them. The Shepherd at first stood on his guard against him, as against an enemy, and kept a strict watch over his movements. But when the Wolf, day after day, kept in the company of the sheep, and did not make the slightest effort to seize them, the Shepherd began to look upon him as a guardian of his flock rather than as a plotter of evil against it; and when occasion called him one day into the city, he left the sheep entirely in his charge. The Wolf, now that he had the opportunity, fell upon the sheep, and destroyed the greater part of the flock. The Shepherd, on his return, finding his flock destroyed, exclaimed: “I have been rightly served; why did I trust my sheep to a Wolf?”  -Aesop, c. 570 B.C.

The Wolf has always been portrayed as the evil one. Yet, why is that? Simply because he eats the sheep? That doesn’t make sense because the Shepherd eats them as well. Therefore, the act of killing could not be considered the “evil” in this case. So, what is so inherently evil about a Wolf?

To the Shepherd he is merely the “enemy.” In that statement you can find the true answer. In reality “good” and “evil” are in the eyes of the accuser. Does not the Wolf see the Shepherd as the evil one – he who hunts the wolf down and murders him for no other reason than being a Wolf? Is not the Shepherd a hypocrite to condemn the Wolf for doing that which he himself does?

In reality, it is the Shepherd who ultimately leads ALL of the sheep to slaughter. Does he ask the sheep for their permission? No. Does he give them a choice? No. Does he inform them of their impending doom before the killing blow arrives? No.

At least with the Wolf the sheep have a chance. They can run. They are not fooled by the Wolf’s intentions. They merely play out the age old roles that Nature has given to them.

In this world it is the Shepherd who is the stranger. It is the Shepherd who attempts to play God, and pass judgment on all those who he sees as inferior. Yet, it is the Shepherd who should take a look at himself! Is he a God or is he a Devil?

I myself prefer to be the Wolf.

Source:  Aesop’s Fables Copyright 1881, WM. L. Allison,New York. Illustrator: Harrison Weir,John Tenniel,Ernest Griset, et. al.