For the shepherd the days and nights of January are heavy with
responsibility--he counts himself lucky if he can find time for an
hour's sleep. It is wonderful how the shepherd of a large flock knows
all the ewes and the lambs over which he now watches. In his lambs
he has a personal interest, for there may be a sixpence in his purse
for each lamb that lives to be deprived of its tail. The shepherd's
knowledge of the lambs surpasses that of the ewes, whom sometimes
he deceives; for it is by scent rather than sight that the mother
recognises her offspring, while the shepherd believes only what he
sees. By fastening the skin of a dead lamb on to an orphan he will
induce a bereaved ewe to adopt the orphan, and she will accept, guard,
and love it as if it were her own.
* * * * *