The River Crossing

There once was a young shepherd named Felipe.  He lived in a small village a long time ago.  His sheep Maybell would eat grass just outside the village.

One day, Felipe noticed some other shepherd boys with their sheep across the river.  The grass on the other side of the river was tall, green, and healthy - much better than the dry, brown grass near the village.  Unfortunately for young Felipe, the river was wide and fast, and there was no way to get across.

"Hey!" Felipe called to the other boys, "How did you manage to get across the river?"

They turned to Felipe in a look of digest, and said, "If you want the green grass on this side of the river, you should be able to figure it out, just like we did."

Distraught, Felipe tried to think of how to cross the river.  He could wade through it, but his sheep would topple due to the current.  He could build a bridge, but he didn't have any supplies.  Felipe decided it was no use, and stayed on the side with the old grass.

The next day, with no new ideas, Felipe called once again to the boys on the other side of the river.  "Hey, can you at least give me a suggestion?"

One turned to him and asked, "What could you use to get your sheep across the river?"  Noticing that young Felipe was still without answer, another said sarcastically, "Maybe all the rocks around you?"

Felipe looked around him and notice that there indeed were a lot of rocks.  With his new information, he decided to place stepping stones along the river.

Felipe gathered many of the small stones around him, and tried to build a pathway for his sheep.  As he tried to place the rocks, however, they would wash away downstream because they were too small.

For the third time, Felipe consulted the boys across the river.  "These rocks are too small!  They drift away in the water!  What am I supposed to do?"

"Really?" one of the boys called back.  "Figure it out."

Felipe was done with this nonsense, and decided to hatch himself a plan.

The next morning, Felipe woke up very early.  He snuck out of the village and hid behind some shrubbery near the edge of the river.  After waiting uncomfortably for what seemed like an hour, Felipe saw the other boys approach the river with their sheep.  One boy started walking directly towards Felipe, and he was scared he would be seen.  Instead, the boy went to a nearby bush and picked up some very large rocks, much larger than those along the river.  The boys picked up the rocks and placed them in the water, providing a path for the sheep to walk.

After all the boys and their sheep had crossed, they picked up the stones one by one, and hid them in some bushes on the other side of the river.  With his newfound knowledge, Felipe went home.

Felipe returned later after gathering some large rocks from upstream.  He placed them evenly just like the other boys had done, and successfully made it across the river.  The other boys saw what he had done, and congratulated him on his eventual success.

Felipe looked back on the path of stones he had created.  With the help of his creation, anyone from the village could easily access the rich green fields on the other side of the river.  After some thought, Felipe decided to follow the actions of the other boys, and remove the rocks, preventing anyone else from accessing the green grass.

 Later that same day one of Felipe's little cousins from the village approached the river, and called to him, "Hey Felipe!  How did you get across the river?"

Felipe looked at his little cousin, and said, "If you want to get across, you'll just have to figure it out."