Once I had the job of looking after some sheep in a small village.
All in all, not the most strenuous job, although a bit tedious. Day in, day out, just watching some sheep eat grass.

After a while, I began to tire of this, and thought it'd be a bloody good joke to pretend there was a serious emergency occurring. I took a deep breath, and shouted 'Wolf! Wolf!' at the top of my voice.

All the villagers came running with big sticks, and upon their arrival I told them it had retreated, and that the sheep were safe again.

'Brilliant,' thought I, 'that was a thrilling experience!'

A few days later, I tried the same trick, with the same result.

I tried again the next day, but couldn't keep from laughing at the rather ridiculous situation I had created, and the villagers were none too pleased about this.

And woe is me, for the next week, what should I espy across the field but an actual, live wolf, heading with evil intent towards me and my sheepish charges. I screamed 'WOLF!' as loud as I could, but no-one seemed to hear. I continued screaming and shouting, but the villagers had all either gone deaf simultaneously, or chosen to ignore me as punishment for my earlier japes.

The wolf killed all the sheep, who remarkably sat around and watched as they were dispatched one by one, and then turned his attention to me, eating me like a particularly delectable cake.

Later, the villagers found my mostly-devoured corpse surrounded by a large quantity of bloody fleeces. I'll bet they were sorry after that. Some people just can't take a joke.


It was longer, but the wolf bit the end off.
(Pavlov'sDog is all out of pavlova, Fri 30 Nov 2007, 22:18, Reply)