Lions In Wolf Country

Peace is Being in Charge of Your Mind.

Over the mountains, many miles from the nearest road there is a village know for its sheep breeding expertise. Over the years its inhabitants have grown wealthy in the mutton business. Now and then shepherds from distant villages arrive to secure employment. Traders travelling through have brought news of lions being sighted in the surrounding villages. But the inhabitants of Yele have never seen a lion before. They only had to deal with the occasional wolf problem.


On his first day, a shepherd is warned about the wolf problem and instructed to shout. Wolf! Wolf! Wolf! At this signal the lookout will light the beacon and the villagers will come to the rescue.

On one occasion the shepherd sported a lion roaming the hills. He cried: lion!!! ...lion!!! ...lion!!! Unfortunately, the look did not light the beacon and no one came to his rescue. On the second occasion the lion came and snatch one of his sheep. He cried out again but no one came. The next day he reported the incident to his employer.

“My son,” said his employer, “our fathers have tended sheep on these mountains for centuries and up to this day we haven’t seen a lion in these parts.” “What convinced you that all of a sudden they have decided to show their faces after all these years?” “This is my advice: stop listening to those good for nothing traders. All they are interested in is extortion and they will use fear to get it. Mark my words.”

That day our friend learned his lesson.

He went back to work. As the sun was going down behind the hills he sported a two lions approaching him from the direction of the setting sun. This time he cried Wolf, Wolf! Wolf!

The lookout hard the cry and warned the village. The young men came with excitement to confront the beast that was threatening their livelihood. This time they looked different. They chased them anyway; with noise and wild gestures.

The chief called to the shepherd to have a word. “Those are not wolves.” He said seriously. “They are lions and much more dangerous.” “The threat is not only to our flock and livelihood, but even to our young ones.” The shepherd replied: “it happened so fast, I thought they were wolves.

That evening our friend scratched these lessons on the back of a tree.

1. People will believe what they want to believe. Don’t fight it.

2. Don’t cry, “Lion”, in a wolf country.