The Boy Who Cried Wolf

An Aesop Fable

A shepherd boy was in charge of tending a flock of sheep. Every morning he took the sheep to a meadow near his village. Every evening he brought the sheep back home. All day long he watched the sheep to make sure they were not harmed or didn’t wander off and get lost. One day the shepherd boy began to complain. “I am bored,” he said. “There is nothing to do but watch these silly sheep eat grass. Nothing different ever happens.” As he watched the sheep munching on the tall green grass, he had an idea. What fun it would be to fool the villagers. He would pretend that a wolf was attacking the flock of sheep. “Wolf! Wolf!” he shouted. The villagers came running with pitchforks and clubs to drive off the wolf. When they arrived there was no wolf. There was just the naughty shepherd boy laughing his head off. Again and again, the shepherd boy called wolf. Again and again the villagers came. Each time there was no wolf. At last, one day, a hungry wolf crept up on the flock. When the shepherd boy saw the wolf, he began to shout, “Wolf! Wolf!” He shouted and shouted, but no one came. The villagers thought the boy was up to his old tricks, so they ignored his calls. The wolf killed sheep after sheep before the boy finally drove it away. The shepherd boy finally learned that no one believes a liar even when he is telling the truth.