They named him Dopey because he slept all the time. He was supposed to be the sheep dog, but the farmer thought he was the most stupid sheep dog he had ever had!
Whenever he got a chance, he curled up and slept: in a haystack or on the doormat, inside the manger or on the cart. One day, the sheep had been shorn and their wool was piled up, ready to go to the market. The farmer found it very heavy. Dopey was sleeping in it, of course!
The farmer’s wife found that he had dug a nice pit in the bed of cabbages and fallen asleep there on a warm summer’s day. She chased him out with a broom. Dopey really made a lot of work for everyone!
No one had seen Dopey that day. It was cloudy and it seemed as if rain would fall that evening. Normally on rainy days, Dopey went into the kitchen. But today, he had not been seen anywhere.
Later in the morning, the farmer had to take some vegetables and fruits to the market. He had put everything into the cart early morning, and then fed all the animals and the birds. Dopey’s bowl was kept outside the kitchen but it was untouched.
When it was time to go, the farmer drove off in the cart. He unloaded all the sacks at the grocer’s, taking the previous batch of empty sacks.
Dopey had wriggled into one of the sacks and was fast asleep. So, he found himself in the grocer’s shop when he awoke. “This is not the farm,” he thought as he looked around, “I must be dreaming!”
But when he wriggled out, he realised it was not a dream! He was in the village market. Seeing a strange dog, the grocer promptly shooed him out.
Dopey had to walk home. He walked and he walked and was tired out by the time he reached there. He had a long drink of water in the stable and fell asleep! This time, no one woke him up because they knew poor Dopey was really exhausted.
