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Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips... He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy (Proverbs 14:7, 21).

A shepherd boy was tending his flock one day when a voice called out to him from the nearby forest.

"Boy! Hello, there -- boy!" The voice was low and gruff. "Would you please come over here for a moment?"

Not accustomed to hearing voices in the lonely pasture-land far away from the village, the boy looked about him with confusion and caution. He could see no one anywhere within sight. So he shouted, "I beg your pardon, but who are you? And where, pray tell, are you?" He peered into the forest, searching with his eyes for the source of the voice. "I cannot see you for all the trees, and yet I dare not leave my flock unattended in this territory prowled by wolves and bears."

"Over here, boy," called the voice. "Beside the large rock."

The shepherd boy looked over to the large rock, just twenty paces to the right of where he stood, and there he saw an enormous gray wolf. In an instant, he withdrew his slingshot and loaded a rock to protect his master's sheep from the beast.

But before he could aim his shot, the wolf spoke to him in the same low, gruff voice that had called out to him moments previously. "Please, good shepherd boy, do not shoot me. I mean you and your flock no harm." The wolf wolf stepped out from the shadow of the forest. "I request only your help for a poor and needy soul, separated from his pack these last three days." The wolf's eyes were yellow, and his teeth gleamed in his mouth as he spoke; but the sincerity in the wolf's voice caused the shepherd boy to hesitate from firing his slingshot. "Please, I beg you..." the wolf flattened its ears against its skull and hung its tail between its legs. It certainly appeared to be a very sad and lonely creature.

"But you are a predator," the shepherd boy said. "And it is my responsibility to protect my flock from predators."

"Nay, certainly not," replied the wolf. "I am not a predator. I am simply a creature in need. I have not eaten in a week, and my strength is failing me. I assure you that I mean you and your flock no harm. I ask only if you might have a little something to eat for a poor, needy creature such as myself." The wolf took a tentative step towards the shepherd boy.

The shepherd boy took a half-step backwards, and wrung his hands in front of him. After another moment's consideration, he started fishing in his bag and found half of a mutton sandwich that his mother had packed for him before he left for the fields. He had already eaten his full less than an hour previously, and he decided that it could do no harm to offer the wolf his leftovers. While holding his slingshot carefully in his right hand, the boy flung the remainders of his sandwich to the feet of the wolf in an awkward motion with his left hand.

In one, quick motion, the wolf snatched up the mutton sandwich and swallowed it whole. Licking his lips in satisfaction, the wolf exclaimed, "Thank you, boy! Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You have made a tired old wolf very happy, and I wish you many blessings for your kindness." And with that, the wolf faded back into the shadows and disappeared from sight.

The shepherd boy relaxed his tensed shoulders and hands and smiled while gazing at the rock where the wolf had been standing. For the rest of the day, he saw no other sign of the wolf, and when his older brother came to replace him in his shepherding duties later that evening he decided against telling his brother about his act of altruism towards the shaggy beggar. And while eating supper in his parents' home, he forgot all about the incident. But again the following day, when the shepherd boy was once again tending the flock, the low, gruff voice of the old wolf called out to him from the forest.

"Boy! Hello there -- boy! Would you please come over here for a moment?" Sure enough, the wolf was standing by the large rock, looking at the shepherd boy with hungry eyes. And once again, after the wolf had reassured the boy that he was merely in need of sustenance and the boy ascertained that he had half of a sandwich to spare, the pattern of the previous day was repeated. And for two more days after that, the wolf would call out to the shepherd boy; the shepherd boy would provide him with half a mutton sandwich; and the wolf would thank him most graciously as he returned to the shadowy forest. But on the fifth day, as the wolf emerged from the forest and walked towards the shepherd boy, it was clear that he was not going to be satisfied with half of a mutton sandwich. Instead, he stalked closer to the pasture where the sheep were grazing and licked his lips, looking out over the flock. Several of the sheep started bleating in fear and trepidation, and the boy reached for the slingshot which had been resting in his belt.

"Boy, boy, boy..." said the wolf, in a tone that was meant to be reassuring. "Do not fear. Remember: I am merely a creature in need. While your sandwiches over the last several days have been most kind, I'm afraid that a creature of my size cannot be completely sustained by such offerings. Surely you must have a sheep that is so old or decrepit that its death is imminent and unavoidable anyway. Do you not?"

The shepherd boy gripped his slingshot and steeled his resolve.

"My dear boy," said the wolf. "Do you take me for a fool or a degenerate?" His eyes appeared sad. His mouth hung in such a way that suggested he had been offended by the boy's hesitation. "I would never dare encroach upon the choice sheep or lambs of your flock, after such kindnesses as you have shown me. But certainly there must be some old ewe whose flesh would be too tough for your taste and whose wool has become too wiry for wear anyway. Thus why would it be better for such a creature to die in a ditch somewhere and go to rot -- while a needy beast such as myself is forced to go hungry?" The wolf spoke quickly, with passion and conviction in his voice.

For a moment, the shepherd boy seemed swayed by the great wolf's words. But then in an instant, he shook his head and raised his slingshot. "You shall not touch the least member of the flock!" he said, while trembling. "I knew not if you were devil or an angel-unawares. I could not determine if you were a fool to be avoided or a humble beggar in need of kindness. But I have just seen the look in your eye, and I now know that you cannot be trusted within a mile of my father's flock." With that he cried out, a battle cry beyond his years, and he fired his slingshot in the direction of the enormous gray wolf. The wolf bolted towards the forest and yelped when the stone stung his backside, but it was not a fatal blow. As the shepherd boy loaded another stone into his sling, the wolf escaped into the forest, and he was never seen or heard from again.