“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
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A Wolf decided to disguise himself so that he might enter upon the Sheep without detection. So, he clothed himself in a sheepskin, and slipped in among the Sheep.
The Wolf deceived the Shepherd and was penned in for the night with the Sheep. But, alas, the Shepherd, requiring mutton for his table, laid hands on the Wolf in mistake for a Sheep!
Seeing the ruse, the Shepherd killed the Wolf with his knife on the spot.
Moral of the Story: The trickster takes the risk of the consequence. What goes around, comes around. Vigilance to see beyond what seems to be. “Vice has an accrued cost; always to be owed, often to be collected.”* Virtue does its job.
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Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Related Articles: The Patience of Comeuppance – No. 55. The Dying Lion – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series; Burning Bridges – Business of Aesop™ No. 15 – The Lion and the Mouse; Team, Helping Others – No. 4. The Donkey and the Mule – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series; Self-Absorbed. What Goes Around, Comes Around. No. 35. The Fox and the Stork – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series
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Why We Loved It: The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is one of the most famous of all the Aesop’s Fables. So much so, that saying that something is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is part of many cultures’ core vernacular, meaning that something appears to be friendly, but has latent danger. For example, “That new law is a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ It purports to protect a public interest, but it actually whittles away at individual freedoms.“
However, this is a complex fable, with a few corollaries. As is often the case with the Fables, the teaching provides different perspectives from the view of the different characters. Accordingly, we have the perspective of Sheep, the Shepherd and the Wolf.
The Sheep are prey, often considered metaphorically weak, simple and vulnerable, relying upon the Shepherd for their protection in some cases, and, here, they are placed at a new risk. The Shepherd protects the Sheep, but not from an altruistic perspective; indeed, as to these Sheep, the Shepherd is as much a predator as the Wolf, distinguished in time and method. We tend to place an evil morality onto the Wolf, but, from these Sheep’s perspective, whether Man or Wolf, it is ultimately immaterial in effect. Perhaps the Sheep are simply the MacGuffin of this fable.
From the Shepherd’s perspective, he lacked the virtue of vigilance to see through the superficiality of the ruse, and, in the end, he got lucky. He went to the stable to get his meal, and he simply pulled a good card, being the Wolf. As much as the fable has become known to mean that we should be aware of friendly-looking dangers, the ending does not really follow alone as such. That is, the opposite ending with the Wolf devouring the Sheep would stand alone for the meaning that there is a negative consequence for the foolish mistake of the Shepherd lacking the virtue of vigilance. But, here, by luck, this time, the Shepherd escapes his cost.
As to the Wolf, he received his comeuppance for his deception. The Wolf’s plan relied upon the flaw of the Shepherd, and it almost worked, but for bad luck. This time, the Shepherd was lucky, and, this time, the Wolf was unlucky. This time, the Wolf got caught in his own trap.
Thusly, reconciling the perspectives into each other, we recognize that the Shepherd is responsible to protect his own self interest, failed to do so, but was lucky. The Wolf took a shot with his ruse, and it almost worked, but he was unlucky.
In the end, the real lesson is for the Shepherd to do his job to protect his own interest, because wolves will be wolves. A Shepherd who blames the Wolf is not a very good Shepherd. A Shepherd who relies upon luck is not a very good Shepherd. On this day, luck prevailed. Luck always has its role, but relying upon luck is bad life strategy.
“The thousands of criminals I have seen in 40 years of law enforcement have had one thing in common: Every single one was a liar.” ~ J. Edgar Hoover
* “Vitium habet pretium; semper debitis, saepe solvendis.” ~grz
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© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn. Arnold Zegarelli can be contacted through Facebook.
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