Shepherd

[squiffy2]

During a very cold winter’s night, a shepherd sent his two sons up to the high pasture, many miles from their house, to make certain the sheep were not suffering from the cold. The two young shepherds trudged out reluctantly, and when they reached the pasture, one was so tired he would not go into the pasture to check the sheep. The other dutifully spent most of the night rounding up sheep and herding them into a corral.

The next night, the father journeyed up to the high pasture to check on his sons and the sheep. He found the dutiful son asleep. Asking him how he felt, the son replied he was cold and tired from working all night, and his lamp had gone out. The father, proud of his loyal, hard-working son, gave him oil and a wick for his lamp.

When the father checked on his other son, he found him soundly asleep. Upon waking him, he asked how he was, and the son replied that he was cold because his lamp had gone out. When he asked for a new lamp, his father replied, “You can have no lamp. ... There is no wick for the rested.”