The boy who cried wolf

 
THE B OY WHO CRIED WOLF

One of the boys in a village was sent out into fields to look after the sheep. ‘’Mind you take care of them and don’t let them stay,” said the villagers to him. “And good look out for wolves. Don’t go far away: and if you see a wolf coming near the sheep, shout out ‘wolf’ as loudly as you can, and we will come at once to help you. “

“All right   I” said the boy, “I Will be careful.”  So, every morning he drove his sheep out to the hillside and watched them all day.

And when evening came, drove him home again.

But after a few days he got rather tired of this lonely life. Nothing happened and no wolves came. So one afternoon he said to himself: “These villagers have given me a very stupid job. I think I will play a trick on them just for fun.”

So he got up and began shouting as he could, “Wolf! Wolf!”

The people in the village heard him, and at once they came running with sticks.

“Wolf! Wolf!” shouted the boy; and they ran faster. At last, they came up to him. Out of breath.

“Where is the wolf?” they panted. But the boy only laughed and said: “there is no wolf. I only shouted in fun. And it was fun to see you all running as hard as you could!”

 

The men were very angry.

“You young rascal!” they said. “If you play trick like that again, we will beat you instead of the wolf.”

And they went back to their work in the village.

For some days kept quiet. But he got restless again, and said to himself: ‘I wonder if they will come running again if I cry ‘wolf! wolf!”

The villagers heard him. Some said. “That boy is up to his tricks again. “ But others said, “It may be true this time : and if there really is a wolf, we shall lose some of our sheep. “

So they seized their sticks, and ran out of the village to the sheep.

“Where is the wolf?” they cried, as they came up.

“Nowhere!” said the boy laughing. “It was fun to see you running up the hill as fast you could.”

“We will teach you to play jokes, “shouted the angry men: and they seized the boy and gave him a good beating, and left him crying instead of laughing.

 A few days later a wolf really did come. When the boy saw it, he was very frightened and began shouting “wolf! wolf! Help! Help!” as loudly as he could.

The villagers heard him, but they took no notice.

“He is playing his tricks again, “they` said. “We won’t be made fools for a third time. You can’t believe a boy after you have caught him lying twice.”

So no one went to his help, and the wolf killed several sheep and frightened the boy nearly out of his wits. 

When a wolf actually does appear, the villagers do not believe the boy's cries for help, and the flock is destroyed. The moral of the story is that liars will not be rewarded; even if they tell the truth, no one believes them.