There once was a boy who watched over his village's sheep on a hillside. Every day he felt bored, sitting alone watching the flock.

One day he thought of a joke and shouted at the top of his voice, Wolf! Wolf! Help me! The villagers rushed up the hill carrying sticks to help him, only to find him laughing, saying it was just a joke.

He enjoyed the trick so much that he repeated it the next day, and the villagers came running again, only to discover he had fooled them once more. The villagers began to feel annoyed and angry at his repeated jokes.

Then one day, a real wolf came and attacked the flock. The boy shouted with all his strength, Wolf! Wolf! This time it is real! But the villagers thought it was just another trick, and no one came to help him.

The boy lost many of his sheep that day, and he learned, too late, that lying, even as a joke, makes people stop trusting us exactly when we need them the most.

The Lesson: Lying costs us people's trust, even when we truly need it.