The Boy Who Cried Wolf (updated version)

[Boojatta]

Once upon a time there was a schoolboy who had a part-time job selling newspapers in the market square of the village where he lived. His brother also worked for the newspaper, but his brother delivered the paper door-to-door to people who had subscriptions.

One day, it was very foggy and the boy who sold newspapers in the market square wasn't actually selling any newspapers in the market square. It seemed that nobody even noticed that he was there. After a few hours he hadn't sold any newspapers and was ready to go home, but he decided to attract attention so that he would at least have a chance of selling one paper for the day. He cried out the words of the headline. Maybe that day's headline was especially intriguing. He didn't know, but within a few minutes he sold more newspapers than he usually sold in one day.

Soon crying out the words of the headline was a well-established habit. He didn't even pay attention to the words that he was crying out. Then one day, the boy noticed that he was crying "Wolf! The mayor is a Socialist Wolf!" The boy stopped shouting and thought for a moment.

He had reason to doubt that the mayor was either a socialist or a wolf. He didn't want to slander the mayor. So he used some of his savings to buy the whole stack of papers that he had not yet sold for the day. He knew how he was going to line his bird's cage for the next several years.

Then he decided to quit his job selling newspapers. His brother told him that selling newspapers in the market square was a good job and that only a crazy person would quit it. He listened to his brother, but he didn't agree, so he quit and found a job that didn't contribute to any kind of slander or libel. A few years later, that newspaper went bankrupt without any prior warning and his brother suddenly had no job. Fortunately, the new employer of the boy who had once cried wolf -- the employer who didn't slander or libel anybody -- wanted to hire more help. The boy arranged an interview for his brother. And his brother was hired.

The moral is: even if people who act on principle seem crazy to you, you might need their help one day, so you're lucky if you know one of them.