
The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!"
by Aesop
There
was once a shepherd-boy who kept his flock at a little distance
from the village. Once he thought he would play a trick on the villagers
and have some fun at their expense. So he ran toward the village
crying out, with all his might:
"Wolf! Wolf! come and help! The wolves are at
my lambs!"
The kind villagers left their work and ran to the
field to help him. But when they got there the boy laughed at them
for their pains; there was no wolf there.
Still another day the boy tried the same trick, and
the villagers came running to help and were laughed at again.
Then
one day a wolf did break into the fold and began killing the lambs.
In great fright, the boy ran for help. "Wolf! Wolf!" he
screamed. "There is a wolf in the flock! Help!"
The
villagers heard him, but they thought it was another mean trick;
no one paid the least attention, or went near him. And the shepherd-boy
lost all his sheep.
That is the kind of thing that happens to people who
lie: even when they do tell the truth they will not be believed.
|