The Shepherd’s Mistake

王秀鳳

Early every morning， a shepherd took his flock of sheep out in the fields to graze. He would sit by watching—as the sheep lazily munched on fresh grass. After they had eaten， he would round them up and walk back home. Sometimes while watching his flock， he would curl up in a quiet corner and go off to sleep.

One day， the shepherd caught a wolf which had strayed into the field， eyeing his sheep. However， it was some distance away and it made no effort to come nearer. The shepherd at first stood on guard against the wolf， as against an enemy， and kept a strict watch over its movements.

But the wolf did not do anything. When the shepherd herded the sheep and headed home with his flock， the wolf quietly followed them at a distance.

This continued for a while. The shepherd would find the wolf waiting at the edge of the field every morning. But it made not the slightest effort to seize the sheep and would just watch. So， by and by， the shepherd let down his guard a bit. A few days later， he began to actually look forward to the wolfs presence.

The wolf， who generally sat on a large piece of rock， looked like a? big sheep dog from afar. The shepherd thought that other wild animals or mischief?makers would be scared of the ‘dogs presence and not harm his flock while it was around.

Now， he began to look upon the wolf as a guardian of his flock. One day， in the middle of grazing his sheep， the shepherd was called back to home urgently. Leaving the sheep entirely in charge of the wolf， he left.

When he came back， what did he find？ That the wolf had eaten most of his flock， with only a few sheep wandering about. Carcasses of the dead sheep lay around， everywhere.

The shepherd sat down in shock after witnessing the slaughter. “Serves me right，” he moaned to himself， “after all， I entrusted my flock to a wolf.”

精彩譯文：

牧羊人的錯誤

每天早上，牧羊人會帶著他的一群羊到田野上去放牧。他總是坐在旁邊看著羊兒們懶洋洋地嚼著新鮮的青草。羊群吃飽之后，牧羊人會把它們聚集起來，趕著它們一起回家。有時候他放牧羊群時，也會蜷縮在安靜的角落里睡一覺。

一天，牧羊人發現一頭離群的狼在盯著他的羊群。然而狼離羊群很遠，沒有要靠近羊群的意圖。起初牧羊人防備著這頭狼就像防備敵人一樣，他嚴密地盯著狼的舉動。

但是狼什么都沒做。當牧羊人放牧后，帶領著羊群回家時，狼遠遠地跟隨著他們。

這樣持續了一段時間，牧羊人發現每天早上，這只狼會在田野上等著，但是并沒有做出任何一點捉羊的舉動，只是看著。所以，漸漸地，牧羊人放松了他的警惕。一段時間后，他竟然開始期待狼的出現。

那頭狼通常坐在一塊大巖石上，遠看像一只大牧羊犬。牧羊人認為，有這樣一只不會傷害他的羊群的“牧羊犬”在這兒，其他的野獸或者壞蛋會退避三舍。

現在，他把這頭狼看成了他的羊群的“守衛者”。一天正在放牧時，牧羊人被緊急地叫回了家。他留下由狼“看管”著的羊群，離開了。

當他回來時，發生了什么事情？那頭狼已經咬死了大多數的羊，只剩幾只四散奔逃。被咬死的羊到處都是。

牧羊人看到慘不忍睹的大屠殺，驚坐在地上。“都怨我，我竟然把我的羊群交給一頭狼去看管。”牧羊人沉痛地說。