Aesop's Lost Fables: The Boy Who Declared Things

with apologies to Aesop

There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. He rushed down towards the village declaring "Global Warming!, Global Warming!," and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time. This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, this time declaring “Pandemic!, Pandemic!”, and again the villagers came to his help. This also pleased the boy so much that again a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, this time declaring “World War 3!, World War 3!”. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So the villagers made a good meal of the boy, and when the boy complained, the wise man of the village said:

"A liar will not be believed, even if he speaks the truth."