Story: Protector of the Glade

"The Wolf and the Lamb": An oil painting by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) depicting the fable of the same name. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Protector of the Glade

The green, lush hill known as Good Grazing Hill, at least to the sheep who lived thereon, was once a happy place. Surrounding it on all sides was a dense forest. So thick was this forest that scarcely anyone tried to cross it. Such an adventure, the wise old sheep would say, was for the foolhardy and for those who thought they would make a delicious meal for the wolves and bears that lived in the forest.

So it was a tremendously shocking affair when one sheep decided that she would brave the dangers of the woods to see what lay beyond. Her mother and father were beside themselves with grief, already taking their daughter to be as dead as a plate of lamb chops. In truth, she felt more alive than she had ever been before. To brave unknown dangers and receive the attention of every sheep in the glade was an irresistible prospect.

And so, the following week, she set off. At first, the forest proved incredibly dark and she was startled every time a stick broke underhoof. She wasn't used to such rough going. She had to watch her every step and make sure she didn't trip. If she did, who knows if she would ever make it back?

Her confidence grew by the day. One day, following a dirt path, she almost thought that she could see the end of the forest. Suddenly, she heard a ferocious noise come from the farther down the path. She hid herself. The noise grew louder and she dared a peek around her hiding spot. Two scary creatures passed by. One had a long bushy tail, pointed ears, and sharp teeth. Just behind this oddity ran an even stranger beast. This one was much larger and had four legs, two arms, and two heads. The larger head made snorting sounds while the smaller head said yelled out commands to the small beast.

The lamb turned back around. At once, she was confronted with a creature which looked much like that smaller beast. This new creature had the same sharp teeth, the same pointed ears, and the same long tail, but it was much leaner and looked as though it hadn't eaten in days.

Frightened, the lamb asked, "Who are you? What were those? Where am I?"

This creature grinned, revealing two sets of yellow, sharp teeth. "I am a wolf. Those were a dog and a horse and a man."

"Three?" the lamb asked, perplexed.

The wolf's grin, already wide, grew tremendously so. "Yes, a man," he replied, "the creature on top of the horse."

"Where am I?"

"You're in a very dangerous place. Those beasts would eat you if they ever saw you."

"How do you know?"

"I've lived out here all my life. It's a truly terrible place. I shouldn't let you go farther onwards."

"No? But I've always wanted to see what lay beyond the forest."

"Trust me. It's in your best interest to head back. Where do you live?"

"I live on Good Grazing Hill with all of the other sheep. It's in the middle of the forest."

"What's it like?"

"It's perfectly safe. Everyone can eat and drink as much as they like. You look like you could eat something."

"Oh, yes, I could."

For several days, the sheep led the wolf back to Good Grazing Hill. Along the way, they stopped to eat grass. The wolf was visibly repulsed by the grass, but said to the lamb, "I'm simply not used to this type of foliage."

"The grass on our hill is much better," replied the lamb.

The sheep of Good Grazing Hill were wary of the wolf. He didn't look like anything they'd ever seen. It wasn't until the wolf had told them of the dangers beyond the forest that they trusted him. Casting aside their usual egalitarianism, they gave to the wolf the title of Protector of the Glade. He was to watch over them and, in return receive the choicest plots of grass.

Every few days, the wolf would go out into the forest to see what was going on. Each time he came back from these expeditions, his assessments would become grimmer, until one day he said that the humans had almost found their glade. In return for this warning and his continuing protection, they granted him all of the land west of Good Drinking Stream.

One day, while the wolf was drinking from this stream, the lamb who had led him to the glade appeared farther down the hill. The lamb was taking a few sips from the water. The wolf appeared unhappy, but in truth, he found this "intrusion" a great thing.

"You, little lamb, what are you doing? Why are you fouling up my water? Do you not know that this is my stream?"

"Protector Wolf, this stream belongs to everyone. And how am I fouling up your water? I am drinking downstream from you."

"Well, then, why did you try to stop me from becoming Protector of the Glade? Why did you spread dreadful rumors about me then?"

"That isn't true. I was the one who called for you to be elected Protector of the Glade. I have always supported you."

"Then you must not have supported me enough."

With that, the wolf grabbed the lamb with his sharp teeth. Before he could gobble her up, the lamb cried, "A tyrant will use any excuse to get what they truly crave."

Author's Note

My story is based on Aesop's fable, "The Wolf and the Lamb." At the beginning of this story, a wolf is drinking at a stream. He looks up and discovers that a lamb is drinking from the same stream. He accuses the lamb of fouling up his water. The lamb says that she couldn't have done so, since she is drinking downstream from the wolf. The wolf then accuses the lamb of calling him bad names a year ago. The lamb replies that she is only six months old. The wolf says he doesn't care and that, if it wasn't the lamb who insulted him, it must have been her father. With this, the wolf eats the lamb. With its dying breath, the lamb says, "Any excuse will serve a tyrant" (28).

By introducing the circumstances in which the wolf had come to power, I gave to the beast's plans a more insidious perspective. It seems to me that tyrants rarely appear on day one as out-and-out tyrants. Typically, they offer promises of safety and warnings of dangers should they not be put in power. In placing the eating of the lamb (no doubt the beginning of the wolf's feast) at the end of the story, I showed that the road towards tyranny can be a long one, and that those who once supported the tyrant may be eaten themselves.

Bibliography

Jacobs, Joseph. "The Wolf and the Lamb." The Fables of Aesop. The Edward Publishing Co. pp. 27-28. Web link.