Page 40 - Fables volume 2

Curly bleated. “No, I mind my own business. Woolgathering isn’t
my thing.”
“No, seriously,” said Matt, eyes gleaming. “The facts apply to all of
us. Look at our history: before the masters changed us into obedient
servants we were wild mountain sheep, fierce and tough. And they
did the same to the dog.”
“Really?” Curly rolled his eyes. “How did they wind up working all
day for a bowl of slops?”
“They were wolves, mortal enemies of sheep. Isn’t that strange?”
“If you say so. What about that plump one over there? Is she
hooked up?”
Matt cocked his head. “Looks good enough to eat, doesn’t she?”
Curly nodded eagerly. “How about an introduction?”
Matt shook his shaggy locks. “Stay far away her: she belongs to
Smokey Joe. Come around with me to the other end of the corral: I’ll
show you a sheep you won’t believe. Anyway, look at the irony of it
all: the master will kill us when the price of wool is less than our
value as kebabs; the wolves also want to eat us; and the dog, being
domesticated into a friendly little pet in order to do the masters’
bidding, does a lousy job of saving us from wolves. And this is what I
think: it’s not just that the fight has been bred out of him; it’s that he
has figured out either the wolves or the masters are going to make a
meal of us sooner or later, so why should he care? He puts on a good
show to get an old soup bone, that’s all.”
“You said it, brother. He just keeps us in a tight little bunch so the
wolves can make their selection without a lot of effort.”
“Yes,” agreed Matt. “First the masters try to solve their problem by
going after the wolves with guns to protect their sheep. Typical
woolly thinking. That messed up the balance of nature by letting the
deer overpopulate. Wolves eat them, too, you know.”
Curly nodded sagaciously. “So I’ve heard.”
“Then the masters figured out they needed to bring back that
predator, the wolf, in order to hold the deer in check. No more
killing wolves by hunters.”
They arrived at the far end of the pen. It was deserted.
“Hey,” said Curly. “I thought you said there were some hot lambs
over here.”
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