The Two Shepherds

Once there lived a cute little lamb. He lived with Papa, Mamma, brothers, sisters, cousins, and all the other family members. They called him Baby. He played with them, and also he would go out with them to eat grass and drink water.

One day Baby noticed the shepherd for the first time. He looked different from his papa, mamma, and all the others around him.

“Mamma, isn’t that a sheep? He asked.

“No Baby,” mamma replied. “That is a human being. He is our shepherd. We belong to him. He cares for us. He leads and guides us to find food and water. He also protects us from wolves and other wild animals.”

After that day, Baby would go near the shepherd, look at his face, and touch his feet. That is how Baby expressed his love and admiration toward the shepherd.   With a smile on his face, the shepherd would take Baby in his arms and caress him gently. Baby enjoyed it very much. Afterwards, Baby would never lose a chance to spend time with the shepherd.

One night, Baby woke up hearing loud noises and an unusual commotion. “Mamma, Mamma,” Baby cried loudly. “What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” he was curious.

“It is a wolf,” mamma said. “But we don’t need to worry. Our shepherd will take care of it,” she assured. They could hear the voices of the shepherd chasing the wolf.

The next morning Baby found out that one of his dear friends narrowly escaped from the wolf because of the timely action of the shepherd. Baby developed more admiration and love for the shepherd.

After a few days, a similar incident occurred. A cousin of Baby narrowly escaped from the wolf. Baby began to be very cautious after these incidents. The slightest noise in the night began to wake him up.

One night a sound woke up Baby. His papa was walking out quietly. Seeing Baby awake, he said, "It's the shepherd. He is calling me. Let me go find out what he wants.”  Wondering why the shepherd called his papa at the middle of the night, Baby went back to sleep. The next morning when Baby woke up, papa was still not there. Baby ran around looking for his papa, but he wasn’t found anywhere. No one knew what happened to him. Never did Baby see him anymore. The memories of his papa filled his heart with sadness.

After a few days, Baby woke up hearing a sound. Someone was opening the door. Oh! It is the shepherd. He probably wants to make sure that all sheep are safe. The shepherd walked very quietly around, careful not to wake up any sheep. When he came very close to Baby, he greeted the shepherd. Hearing the unexpected noise, the shepherd moved around quickly and jumped over the fence. It was the first time Baby saw the shepherd jumping over the fence. He had always seen him coming in and going out through the door.   Also, was there anything unusual about the way the shepherd smelled? Baby wondered.

Another night baby woke up at night to see the shepherd walking around. Though he wanted to greet the shepherd, he didn’t, remembering the previous day’s incident. He went back to sleep. The next morning he woke up hearing the loud wailing of a cousin of his. “Mamma, Mamma,” he cried loudly. His mamma was missing.  

What is happening? Baby began to think hard. His papa disappeared a few days ago. Now the mamma of his cousin has disappeared. There seems to be some connection between the appearance of the shepherd at night, and the disappearance of the sheep. Moreover, there was something weird about the behavior of the shepherd at night. He jumps over the fence at night. Also he smells different at night.

The next night, some sounds woke Baby up. He saw his mamma getting ready to go out.

“Mamma,” Baby asked, “Where are you going?”

“The shepherd,” she replied. “He woke me up and asked me to go out to him. He is waiting outside for me.”  These words made Baby shiver with fear.

“Mamma,” Baby cried bitterly. “Are you going away like papa?”  Mamma was surprised at the reaction of Baby.

“Baby!” she tried to console him. “It is our shepherd. How can I go away like papa?  I will be back in a minute.”

“No Mamma,” Baby pleaded. “Please don’t go. There is something weird about the shepherd coming here at night, and the sheep disappearing. That is how papa disappeared. That is how my cousin’s mamma disappeared.”

“What do you mean?” mamma asked unbelievingly.

“Mamma, I have seen the shepherd several times at night. He smells differently at night.  Also, he acts differently. He jumps over the fence at night, but not at daytime. The night papa disappeared he went out telling me that the shepherd wanted him outside. Also, he happened to be here the night my cousin’s mamma disappeared. Mamma, please don’t go!”

Something flashed through the mamma’s mind.

“Come,” she said. “Let’s go find our shepherd where he is asleep.” They walked quietly to the room of the shepherd where they found him fast asleep. Baby wondered how the shepherd could be waiting outside if he was sleeping here.

“Our shepherd is here,” Mamma said. “The one waiting outside is …the wolf in the shepherd’s clothing.”

“The wolf?” Baby cried in disbelief.

“Quiet!” mamma said. “We have to put an end to this. He would have killed me by now if you had not stopped me, Baby! You are a wonderful kid!”

“What can we do?” Baby wondered.

“Wait, I have a plan,” Mamma said. She approached the sleeping shepherd and touched him gently to wake him up. When he woke up, the mamma quickly moved toward his staff he had kept at the corner, and touched it. 

The shepherd immediately understood the language of the mamma sheep. He jumped up, took the staff, and followed the mamma as fast as he could. 

He looked at the other “shepherd” with disbelief. My God!  There stood the wolf in shepherd’s clothing. He used to come here without any disguise, but he could not catch any sheep. Now he is here disguised as a shepherd. 

Without wasting any more time, the shepherd gave a hard blow on the head of the unsuspecting wolf, and that was its end.

Hearing the commotion and the noise, all the sheep woke up and came outside to see the two shepherds: the real one and the fake one.  Upon hearing the story of all that happened, Baby became a hero for them. 

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