2. The Boy Who Cried Wolf – An Aesop’s Fable
Once there was a boy who kept sheep. Every morning, he would take his sheep and head out to the pastures just outside the village. The sheep would graze there and the boy would idle his time in the shade of an apple tree.
Often, when he would get bored of snoring under the tree, or eating apples from it, he would climb up to the top of the tree and call out in a loud voice, “Wolf! Wolf!”
The villagers would drop everything they were doing. And they would run to the pastures to help the boy save his sheep from the wolf’s sharp teeth. Once they arrived there, the boy would laugh and call out, “Tricked you!” The wicked, little boy would play this joke everyday until one day, the villagers got tired of him and decided to ignore him in the future.
One day, as the boy sat eating apples on one of the branches of the tree, a wolf did come into the pasture. The wolf saw the large herd of sheep and jumped right into the midst of it.
The boy shouted in fear, “Wolf! Wolf!”
The villagers heard his cries and nodded to each other.
“There goes the boy with his pranks again”, said one villager.
“Oh! But we will not be tricked by him again, will we?!” replied another.
The villagers went about their work as usual, ignoring the boy’s cries.
The boy saw the wolf eat up his sheep. He ran to the villagers calling them to come and help him. But the villagers just scowled at him and went about their business.
The boy ran back to the pasture. But the wolf had already killed most of his sheep, finishing a hearty meal.
Moral: One seldom believes a liar, even when he is telling the truth.
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Click Next To Read Next Story – The Ass and The Mule
Four stories are missing here in this site.
I remember this story as it was prescribed us in our 6th grade English text book. The name was ‘Persuasion is Better than Force’ . I enjoyed reading it and now my children enjoy listening to this bedtime story.
My aunt used to tell me this bedtime story when I was a kid. I really enjoyed her warm hug and story narration that put me into gentle sleep. It was heaven to be with her. Later my grandmother took over the task of story telling as my aunt got married and moved out to her husband’s house.
very nice collection of story