Five minute story for beginning readers.

The Sheep are a simple and kind-hearted family, and of all the animals on the farm, none are more loved than they are. The summer was a gentle and peaceful time, spent grazing in the fields and resting in the shade of the trees.  They made their home in the long, low sheep shed as the cold weather arrived. This is a happy time for the other farm animals, not because the Sheep could do anything for their neighbors to keep them warm or feed them. It is because they are gentle folk and pleasant in all they say. Others are happy to see them and have them near. 

As March winds begin blowing, the good farmer brings more yellow straw into the Sheep shed and sees that it is warm and snug. At this time, the Horses and Cattle often stop eating and listen. Even the Pigs, who do not think much about their neighbors, prick up their ears. They are listening for the first bleats of the new lambs.

From that day on, they hear more soft voices as the new Lambs come to live with the flock. The little Lambs are so weak and awkward at first! They stagger and wobble. They can hardly stand alone. You can just imagine how hard it must be to learn to manage four legs all at once! 

One thing they do learn very quickly, and that is to eat. They are hungry little lambs and like their mothers’ warm milk. It tastes so good that they can hardly stand still while they drink it down, and they give funny little jerks and wave their woolly tails in the air. 

One Lamb had a longer tail than any of the rest, and, sad to say, it made him rather vain. When he first came, he was too busy drinking milk and learning to walk to think about tails, but as he grew older and stronger, he began to know that he had the longest one. Because he was a very young Lamb, he was so foolish as to tease the others and call out, “Baa! Your tails are snippy ones!” 

Then the others would call back, “Baa! Don’t care if they are!” 

The little lamb with the longest tail

After a while, his mother, a sensible Sheep who had seen much of life, said, “Your tail is lovely. It is something to appreciate with gratitude. However, you must not brag about your tail. It is very rude of you and very silly, too.” 

The Lamb didn’t dare to boast of his tail after this, but when he passed the others, he would look at his mother, and if he thought she wouldn’t see, he would wiggle it at them. Of course, that was just as bad as talking about it, and the other Lambs knew perfectly well what he meant; still, they pretended not to understand. 

One morning, when his mother’s back was turned, he was surprised to see she had a short and stumpy tail. He had been thinking so much of his own that he had not noticed hers. “Mother,” he cried, “why don’t you have a long tail too?” 

“I did have once,” she answered with a sheepish smile. 

“Did it get broken?” he asked in a faint little voice. He was thinking how dreadful it would be if he should break his. 

His mother said, “I will tell you all about it. All little Lambs have long tails—-” 

“Not so long as mine, though,” said he, interrupting. 

“No, not so long as yours,” she replied, “but so long that if they were left that way, they would catch burrs and sharp, prickly things, which would pull the wool and sting the skin. The farmer knows this, so when the little Lambs are about as old as you are now, he and his men make their tails shorter.” 

“Oh!” cried the Lamb, curling his tail in as far between his legs as he could, “do you mean that they will shorten my tail, my beautiful long tail?” 

“Yes, that is just what I mean,” said his mother, “and you should be very glad of it. When that is done, you will be ready to go out into the field with me.”

The little Lamb sank as he realized his boastful days were over. Yet, his mother’s words proved true โ€“ playing was WAY more fun without that long tail getting tangled! It turns out being the best Sheep wasn’t about tails. Finally, he understood โ€“ kindness, soft wool, and the love of his farm friends were the things that truly mattered.

Of all the farm animals, none are more loved than the sheep!

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