The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Aesop
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Retold by The Legendary Connection
TLC#00002
Also titled: The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
Once upon a time, there was a young Shepherd Boy who took care of a flock of sheep. Every day, he led them to a big, green field on the edge of a dark, quiet forest. His job was very important: he had to make sure no harm came to the sheep. But day after day, the boy grew bored. There were only sheep, grass, and his trusty dog to keep him company. Sometimes, he played a little tune on his shepherd’s pipe, but even that wasn’t enough to make the long days go by faster.
One afternoon, as he sat on a rock, watching the sheep graze, an idea came to him. His master had told him that if a wolf ever came out of the forest to attack the sheep, he should cry out for help, and the villagers would come running to save the flock. The boy thought to himself, “What if I call for help… even if there isn’t a wolf? Wouldn’t it be funny to see everyone rushing out here?”
So, just for fun, he ran toward the village, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Wolf! Wolf! Help, a wolf is attacking the sheep!” The villagers, hearing his cries, dropped everything they were doing. They grabbed their tools and raced up the hill to help the boy. But when they arrived, there was no wolf at all. The boy was laughing so hard he could barely stand up straight.
“Oh, I was just joking!” the boy said, still chuckling. The villagers were not amused. “That wasn’t funny,” they grumbled, and they walked back to the village.
A few days later, the boy got bored again. He thought about how funny it had been to trick the villagers, and so he decided to do it once more.
“Wolf! Wolf!” he cried again. And once more, the villagers came running, though this time they weren’t as quick. When they arrived, they found the boy laughing, just like before. “This is no joke, young man,” one of the villagers said angrily. “Don’t cry for help if there’s no wolf.” The boy just shrugged. To him, it was all in good fun.
Then, one evening, as the sun sank low in the sky and long shadows stretched across the field, something terrible happened. From the edge of the dark forest, a real wolf appeared. Its eyes glowed in the fading light, and with a low growl, it crept closer to the sheep. The boy’s heart filled with fear. He jumped up and ran toward the village, shouting, “Wolf! Wolf! Help, please! There’s really a wolf this time!”
But this time, no one came. The villagers had heard the boy’s cries too many times before. “It’s just another one of his tricks,” they said to each other. “We won’t be fooled again.”
The wolf attacked the flock, and though the boy shouted and shouted, no help arrived. By the time the wolf had disappeared back into the forest, many of the sheep were gone. The boy sat down, his heart heavy with sadness. He had learned a hard lesson: if you tell lies, people might not believe you when you’re telling the truth.
Original Source: Aesop. The Æsop for Children. Project Gutenberg, December 2, 2006 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19994/19994-h/19994-h.htm#Page_24
