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 even began to actually look forward to the wolf's 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 “dog”'s 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 home urgently. Leaving the sheep entirely in the 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.
每天大清早，牧羊人都赶着羊群到地里吃草。他坐在羊群旁边看着他们懒洋洋地咀嚼青草。等羊儿吃饱了，他再把它们赶到一起，走回家去。有时候，他看着看着，就会在安静的角落里蜷作一团，打起盹来。
有一天，牧羊人发现一匹狼溜进地里，对羊群虎视眈眈。可是，它只是在远处看着，并没有走近。起先，牧羊人站起身提防着狼，就像提防敌人一样，严密地监视着狼的一举一动。
但是狼一动没动。牧羊人赶着羊群回家的时候，狼就悄悄地、远远地跟着他们。
这样的状态持续了一段时间。牧羊人每天早上都能看到狼就等在那块地的边上，一点儿抓羊的意思也没有，就只是看着。于是，久而久之，牧羊人放松了警惕。几天以后，他甚至开始盼望狼的出现。
狼呢，一般就坐在一块大石头上，远远看上去就像一只牧羊犬。牧羊人一想，只要这只“狗”在，其他野兽或是捣蛋鬼肯定就吓得不敢伤害羊群了。
现在，他开始把那匹狼当作羊群的守护者看待了。有一天，羊儿正在吃草，牧羊人被紧急叫回了家。他居然把整个羊群交给狼看管，就那么走了。
等到回来的时候，他看到什么了？狼把大多数羊都吃了，就剩了几只在那儿走来走去。周围躺着的是羊的尸体，遍地都是。
-shepherd [ˈʃepəd] n. 牧羊人
-munch [mʌntʃ] v. 用力咀嚼
-stray [streɪ] v. 走失
-mischief [ˈmɪstʃɪf] n. 恶作剧
-carcass [ˈkɑːkəs] n. (人或动物的)尸体
对敌人的仁慈就是对自己的残忍。