The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Tonight’s story comes from Greece, a country of rocky mountains and olive trees with silvery leaves. People have been telling it for more than two thousand years, and they still do.

Long ago, at the foot of a mountain beside a dark forest, there lived a shepherd boy. Every morning he led his sheep out to the grass, and every evening he brought them home. His village sat far below in the valley. From down there, his flock looked like a few white specks on the hillside.

All day long it was just him and the sheep. Sheep nibble grass and say “baa,” but they are not much for conversation. The wind hummed through the trees. The boy sat on a rock and looked down at the village. He could see smoke rising from the kitchens and people going about their day, and nobody ever came up to keep him company.

He was lonely. Then one day he thought of a way to get some company, and a bit of excitement too.

He ran down towards the village as fast as he could, shouting, “Wolf! Wolf! There’s a wolf!”

In the village, people dropped what they were doing and came out to meet him. They all hurried up the mountain to help chase the wolf away.

When they got there, there was no wolf at all. The sheep were grazing peacefully. Some of the villagers stayed with the boy for quite a long time before they went home. He loved that. It had been ages since anyone had stayed with him for so long.

A few days later he felt lonely again, so he did exactly the same thing. He ran down and shouted, “Wolf! Wolf!”

Once again the villagers left their work and hurried up the hill. Once again there was no wolf, and they went back home.

Not long after, a real wolf came out of the dark forest. It had grey fur and a long snout, and it walked straight towards the sheep.

The boy was so frightened he shook. He ran and shouted, louder than ever before: “Wolf! Wolf! There really is a wolf! Please help me!”

Down in the village, people heard him. But they had been fooled twice already. Everyone thought he was playing the same trick again, and nobody got up.

Up on the mountain, the wolf rushed at the flock and the sheep scattered. The boy could do nothing on his own. By the time the wolf went away, it had taken a great many of his sheep.

That evening the boy went down to the village in tears and asked why nobody had come to help him. An old man, the one everyone said was wise, looked at him and said:

“Nobody believes a liar, not even when he tells the truth.”