parable of the sheep
Date: May 5, 2005 3:04 AM
The Parable of the Sheep

By Charles Riggs, 22 Jan 2001

Not so long ago and in a pasture too uncomfortably close to here, a
flock of sheep lived and grazed. They were protected by a dog, who
answered to the master, but despite his best efforts from time to
time a nearby pack of wolves would prey upon the flock.

One day a group of sheep, bolder than the rest, met to discuss their
dilemma. ‘Our dog is good, and vigilant, but he is one and the wolves
are many. The wolves he catches are not always killed, and the master
judges and releases many to prey again upon us, for no reason we can
understand. What can we do? We are sheep, but we do not wish to be
food, too!’

One sheep spoke up, saying ‘It is his teeth and claws that make the
wolf so terrible to us. It is his nature to prey, and he would find
any way to do it, but it is the tools he wields that make it
possible. If we had such teeth, we could fight back, and stop this
savagery.’ The other sheep clamored in agreement, and they went
together to the old bones of the dead wolves heaped in the corner of
the pasture, and gathered fang and claw and made them into weapons.

That night, when the wolves came, the newly armed sheep sprang up
with their weapons and struck at them, crying, “Be Gone!” We are not
food!’ and drove off the wolves, who were astonished. When did sheep
become so bold and so dangerous to wolves? When did sheep grow teeth?

It was unthinkable!

The next day, flush with victory and waving their weapons, they
approached the flock to pronounce their discovery. But as they drew
nigh, the flock huddled together and cried out, ‘Baaaaaaaadddd!
Baaaaaddd things!

You have bad things! We are afraid! You are not sheep!’

The brave sheep stopped, amazed. ‘But we are your brethren!’ they
cried. ‘We are still sheep, but we do not wish to be food. See, our
new teeth and claws protect us and have saved us from slaughter. They
do not make us into wolves, they make us equal to the wolves, and
safe from their viciousness!’

‘Baaaaaaad!’ cried the flock, ‘the things are bad and will pervert
you, and we fear them. You cannot bring them into the flock!’ So the
armed sheep resolved to conceal their weapons, for although they had
no desire to panic the flock, they wished to remain in the fold. But
they would not return to those nights of terror, waiting for the
wolves to come.

In time, the wolves attacked less often and sought easier prey, for
they had no stomach for fighting sheep who possessed tooth and claw
even as they did. Not knowing which sheep had fangs and which did
not, they came to leave sheep out of their diet almost completely
except for the occasional raid, from which more than one wolf did not
return.

Then came the day when, as the flock grazed beside the stream, one
sheep’s weapon slipped from the folds of her fleece, and the flock
cried out in terror again, ‘Baaaaaad! You still possess these evil
things! We must ban you from our presence!’

And so they did. The great chief sheep and his council, encouraged by
the words of their advisors, placed signs and totems at the edges of
the pasture forbidding the presence of hidden weapons there. The
armed sheep protested before the council, saying, ‘It is our pasture,
too, and we have never harmed you! When can you say we have caused
you hurt? It is the wolves, not we, who prey upon you. We are still
sheep, but we are not food!’

But the flock drowned them out with cries of ‘Baaaaaaddd! We will not
hear your clever words! You and your things are evil and will harm
us!’

Saddened by this rejection, the armed sheep moved off and spent their
days on the edges of the flock, trying from time to time to speak
with their brethren to convince them of the wisdom of having such
teeth, but meeting with little success. They found it hard to talk to
those who, upon hearing their words, would roll back their eyes and
flee, crying ‘Baaaaddd! Bad things!’

That night, the wolves happened upon the sheep’s totems and signs,
and said, ‘Truly, these sheep are fools! They have told us they have
no teeth! Brothers, let us feed!’ And they set upon the flock, and
horrible was the carnage in the midst of the fold. The dog fought
like a demon, and often seemed to be in two places at once, but even
he could not halt the slaughter.

It was only when the other sheep arrived with their weapons that the
wolves fled, only to remain on the edge of the pasture and wait for
the next time they could prey, for if the sheep were so foolish once,
they would be so again. This they did, and do still.

In the morning, the armed sheep spoke to the flock, and said, ‘See?
If the wolves know you have no teeth, they will fall upon you. Why be
prey? To be a sheep does not mean to be food for wolves!’ But the
flock cried out, more feebly for their voices were fewer, though with
no less terror, ‘Baaaaaaaad! These things are bad! If they were
banished, the wolves would not harm us! Baaaaaaad!’

So they resolved to retain their weapons, but to conceal them from
the flock; to endure their fear and loathing, and even to protect
their brethren if the need arose, until the day the flock learned to
understand that as long as there were wolves in the night, sheep
would need teeth to repel them.

They would still be sheep, but they would not be food!
-End