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The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Aesop Fable - As Retold by Dr. Mike Lockett, The Normal Storyteller

Long ago, young boys were used to help in the village by watching the sheep.  While men and women in the village did other work, the boys would take all of the sheep from the entire village up to the mountainside to eat the sweet grass.  The boy watching the sheep was given a special horn with directions to only blow the horn if danger was nearby.

One of the younger boys got tired of watching the sheep and lambs run around and decided to play a trick on everyone.    He blew on the horn he held in his hand and shouted, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is after the sheep!"

The men and women of the villager came running up the hill to help the boy chase drive the wolf away. But when they got to the top of the hill, there was no wolf. There was only the face of a young boy who laughed at the angry men.

"Don't cry 'wolf'," said the villagers, "if there is no wolf!" The angry men left and went back down the hill.

Later, the boy again blew the horn he had been given and for the second time yelled, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is after the sheep!" Again, he watched the men run up the hill to help him chase the wolf away.

When the villagers saw that the alarm was not real, they angrily said, "Save your alarm for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!"

But the boy just smiled and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.

Later, he saw a REAL wolf coming closely prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"

But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.

Later that night, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find him crying.

"There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I yelled, "Wolf!" Why didn't anyone come?"

"We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," they said.  "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"