●From French literature
The French writer François Rabelais told the story of a man named Panurge who was on a sea voyage on a ship. On the same ship was the sheep merchant “Denduno” with a flock of sheep transported for the purpose of selling them.
Dendono was a greedy merchant who did not know the meaning of mercy, and the great writer Rabelais described him as representing the worst of this era, which is the absence of humanity.
A quarrel occurred on the deck of the ship between Panurge and the merchant Dendono, after which Panurge decided to take revenge on the greedy merchant, so he decided to buy the largest sheep from the merchant at a high price, amidst Dondono's happiness at the winning deal.
In a strange scene, Panorg grabs the sheep leader by the horns and drags him forcefully to the side of the ship, then throws him into the sea. One of the sheep had no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the drowning sheep leader to meet his fate, followed by the second, third, and fourth, amidst the merchant’s astonishment and shock.
Then the remaining sheep lined up in a “majestic queue” to practice their role in jumping in all directions.
The sheep merchant, “Denduno,” went crazy as he tried to prevent the herd from jumping into the water, but all his attempts failed. The sheep’s “belief” in what they were doing was too firm to resist.
Motivated by a strong desire of greed, Dendono rushed to catch the last living sheep, hoping to save him from his inevitable fate, but the sheep insisted on following the sheep, so they both fell into the water to die together by drowning.
From this story, the expression “moutons de Panurge” became a common term in the French language and means the group being led unconsciously or willfully behind the opinions or actions of others....