The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A shepherd boy was watching over the village sheep on the hillside.

He felt bored and decided to play a trick on the villagers. He ran down the hill shouting, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!"

The villagers came running up the hill to help. But when they arrived, there was no wolf. The boy laughed at them.

"Don't cry wolf when there is no wolf, boy!" they said angrily and went back down.

The next day, the boy played the same trick again. "Wolf! Wolf!" he cried. Again the villagers rushed up to help, and again they found no wolf.

Then one evening, a real wolf came out of the forest and began chasing the sheep.

"Wolf! Wolf!" the boy cried, running toward the village. "Please come! A wolf is really attacking the sheep!"

But this time, no one came. The villagers thought it was another trick.

The wolf ate many of the sheep and ran back into the forest.

The old man of the village told the boy: "Nobody believes a liar, even when he is telling the truth."