Doesn’t make much of a splash.
The length of time over which the book's events occur is very nebulous. How much of it is literal? Metaphorical?
Water flows from rain and down the mountains, and eventually ends up in the ocean.
The metaphor breaks down when you examine it.
The shepherd is explicitly a boy, though it's not clear exactly how old he is. The sheep is an actual sheep, and not even a particularly useful one at that (black wool was less desirable). And I've read "Where the Red Fern Grows"-- I know that in a battle of dog vs. mountain lion, mountain lion usually wins.
Sheep are worth risking your life over.
