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------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------Shaaron looked up to see Baab standing straight and tall in front of the flock, his coat ruffled by the wind and a bit of dung dangling from one ear. -------Baab addressed the sheep in his fine deep voice and persuaded them to make him their leader. They brought him fresh grass and groomed his coat. Baab became fat and sleek, and under his leadership life in the sheepfold went on as before. -------Eventually it sank into Shaaron’s small wedge-shaped skull that she too might become fat and sleek. She called the flock together and persuaded them to make her their co-leader. -------Over time, other members of the flock came to the same conclusion, until at last there was no one left to bring them fresh grass and groom their coats. The sheep grew thin, and their wool became matted with straw and dung. -------Shaaron had been strangely befriended by the Shepherd and sought his advice. -------“We are all leaders,” she complained. “There is no one left to bring us fresh grass and groom our coats.” -------“I am the True Leader, my dear,” the shepherd corrected her. “If you wish to be successful at middle management you must appear to be doing something.” -------The next day Shaaron addressed the flock. ------- -------“The Shepherd is our True Leader, good sheep, but I am your Middle Manager, and I have asked the Shepherd to proclaim that we are fine-coated Spanish Merinos,” she announced. “We need only provide him with our excellent wool, and he will spare us from the butcher.” ------- The sheep greeted this news with joy and agreed that Shaaron should be their Middle Manager. She became fat and sleek, and under her management life in the sheepfold went on as before. ------- ------- 9 August 07 |
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