The Shepherd Boy and Wolf

The Shepherd Boy and Wolf Story

A long, long, long time ago, even longer than when your grandma was a little girl, there was a shepherd boy. He had a very important job: he looked after his master’s sheep. All day long, every single day, he had to sit in the big, green field. His only job was to watch the sheep munch, munch, munch on the grass. The sheep went “baa” and wandered around, and the boy just had to sit there and watch them.

The boy was so bored! Very, very, very bored! Sometimes, to pass the time, he would talk to his dog. His dog was his best friend. He’d tell the dog stories, and the dog would wag its tail and listen. Sometimes, the boy would play songs on his little flute. He’d try to make up funny tunes, tootling and whistling, but even that got boring after a while. There’s only so many songs you can play on a little flute!

Also See the Story: The Owl and the Grasshopper

One day, while he was sitting in the field, just like always, watching the sheep, he started to think. “What would I do if a wolf came and tried to eat my sheep?” he wondered. His master had told him, “If you see a wolf, you have to shout really loud and call the villagers for help!”

The boy thought about it and thought about it, and then he had an idea! He thought it was a very clever idea, a very cool idea, even if it wasn’t very kind. He decided to play a trick. He stood up tall and shouted as loudly as he could, “Wolf! Wolf! Help! Somebody help! A wolf!”

Just like the boy thought they would, the villagers heard his cries. They stopped what they were doing – some were baking bread, some were fixing fences – and they ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the field. When they got there, panting and out of breath, they looked around. No wolf. The boy was standing there, giggling and laughing. He had tricked them! He thought it was very funny. The villagers were not amused.

A day or two later, the shepherd boy was bored again. So, he did the same trick! “Wow! Help! Wolf! Wolf!” he yelled. Again, the villagers came running, thinking a wolf was attacking the sheep. And again, there was no wolf. The boy laughed and laughed at them. He thought it was a great joke.

One long, hot, sunny day, the sun started to go down. The shadows of the trees in the forest got long and stretched across the field. The shepherd boy sat quietly, talking to his dog. He yawned a big, sleepy yawn. Just then, whoosh, out of the forest came a real, live wolf! It was big and scary, with sharp teeth and glowing eyes, and it started chasing the sheep!

The boy was terrified! He was so scared he could barely breathe. He turned and ran towards the village as fast as he could, shouting, “Wow! I’m telling the truth this time! Wolf! Wolf! Help me!”

The villagers heard him screaming, but they didn’t believe him. “He’s tricked us too many times,” they said to each other. “We’re not going to fall for his tricks again.” So, nobody went to help.

The wolf chased the sheep and, oh no!, it bit a lot of them.

The sheep’s owner, the boy’s master, was very, very, very angry with the boy. He told the boy he couldn’t look after the sheep anymore. He wasn’t allowed to work on the farm.

And that’s the end of the story. The sad lesson the boy learned is that if you tell lies too many times, even when you tell the truth, nobody believes you anymore.