There was once a little boy who looked after sheep. Bored one day he cried ‘wolf’. Everyone ran to see if he needed help. The little boy lay on his back and laughed.
Amazed at the attention this poor behaviour attracted he waited a few days and then cried wolf again. Once more the whole village ran up the hill to save him from this non-existent predator.
This time they were angry. ‘Don’t do that again,’ said one old man, ‘or we may ignore you when there is a real wolf.’
He did it again.
Some time later there was a real wolf. The boy cried ‘Wolf, wolf’. But everyone ignored him. The wolf went into town and ate them all, one by one.
The moral of this story is twofold.
Firstly, do not imagine that all stories which sound the same are the same. Secondly, treat all fire alarms as fires, however annoying they might be.
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