The Story That Never Ends

(To be told very seriously)

ONCE upon a time there was a shepherd who had a great flock of sheep. He used to pasture them in a meadow on the other side of a brook. One day the sun had already set before he started home. Recent rains had swollen the brook so that he and the sheep had to cross on a little footbridge. The bridge was so narrow that the sheep had to pass over one by one.

Now we'll wait until he drives them all over. Then I'll go on with my story.

(When children grow impatient and beg for a continuation of the story, they are told that there are many sheep and that up to this time only a few have crossed. A little later when their impatience again breaks out, they are told that the sheep are still crossing. And so on, indefinitely. In conclusion:)

In fact there were so many sheep that when morning came they were still crossing, and then it was time for the shepherd to turn around and drive them back again to pasture!

Fillmore, Parker. Czecholovak Fairy Tales. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1919.

©Heidi Anne Heiner, SurLaLune Fairy Tales
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Page last updated June 1, 2005
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