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Aesop’s famous story has worked it’s way into the English Language. The dictionary says that to cry wolf is to ” ask for help when you do not need it, with the result that no one believes you when help is necessary.”
In this Storynory version the boy is now an old man, and he looks back on the joke that went badly wrong and landed him with a reputation for silly pranks. It’s a real shorty – but we hope you will enjoy it – and we think it’s quite moving.
Read by Natasha. Duration 6.07
When I was a lad, my father used to send me out to the fields each day to watch over his sheep. Hey-how, there are worse jobs than sitting out in the fresh air all day, but it was boring work for a lad. I longed to be running around with my friends, playing ball, or making boyish mischief.
“Can’t the sheep look after themselves?” I asked my father. “After all, they know how to bleat and much grass, and there isn’t much else that they do.”
But father said it was important work. And most of importantly of all, I must keep my eyes pealed for the wolf, in case he came sneaking into the fields and grabbed on of the spring lambs.
And so I couldn’t even go to sleep. I had to sit and keep a sharp look-out. And a few weeks of this, I got so bored that began to wish that the wolf would show up and give me something to do.
And then I got thinking to myself. Let’s liven things up a bit, I thought. Let’s play a trick on the villagers. And so I got up an ran as fast as I could into the village shouting at the top of my voice:
“Wolf ! Wolf WOOOOOOOOLF !”
And the villagers grabbed sticks, rolling pins, and pitch-folks and came running up to the field to case away the world.
But when they got there, all was peaceful. The lambs were frolicking as usual, quite unmolested.
And I laughed
“Ha ha Fooled you all ! ”
But none of the villagers laughed with me. Some of them grumbled and and the blacksmith became quite angry and shouted at me. But he was just a bad sport who couldn’t see the funny side of my joke.
And so a week later I did the same thing again, only this time I put on an even better act. I daubed red paint on my arm, and pretended that the wolf had bitten me. This fooled even the blacksmith, who was on his guard after the last trick I had played.
And when they all arrived breathless in the field I again called out
“Ha Ha ! Fooled YOU! ”
And this time quite a few of the villagers were angry with me, and I got quite an ear wigging from the blacksmith, the teacher, and the iron-monger. When I got home, my father was furious and told me that I had a stupid sense of humour. But I thought it was funny. And so did my friends.
About a week after that, I was sitting up on the hill watching my father’s sheep as usual. It was getting on for evening, and the sun was setting behind the forrest. I would have to spend the night out there, and oh, how lonely and bored was I. Then all of a sudden the sheep dogs started to bark and the flock was running around and bleating like they had all gone made. Only they hadn’t. There was a wolf among the sheep and he had seized a lamb.
“Wolf ! Wolf ! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLF !” I called out and I ran into the village to get help.
But nobody came. Not one villager. They carried on doing whatever they were doing. Eating supper, drinking ale, or finishing off their work for the day.
‘But please,” I said to the blacksmith, “This time it’s true. There really is a wolf.”
And he just shrugged his shoulders.
You see nobody believes a liar, even when he’s speaking the truth.
And that’s why you should never cry wolf unless you really mean it.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Hello this is Natahsa, and I’m dropping by with a famous fable by Aesop.
Have you ever heard the expression, To Cry Wolf? Do you know what it means? Well even if you do, you should listen to this tale, because it will tell you how it came about.
It’s told by an old man, who remembers the biggest lesson of his life, the one that got him branded for ever more as The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
When I was a lad, my father used to send me out to the fields each day to watch over his sheep. Hey-how, there are worse jobs than sitting out in the fresh air all day, but it was boring work for a lad. I longed to be running around with my friends, playing ball, or making boyish mischief.
“Can’t the sheep look after themselves?” I asked my father. “After all, they know how to bleat and much grass, and there isn’t much else that they do.”
But father said it was important work. And most of importantly of all, I must keep my eyes pealed for the wolf, in case he came sneaking into the fields and grabbed on of the spring lambs.
And so I couldn’t even go to sleep. I had to sit and keep a sharp look-out. And a few weeks of this, I got so bored that began to wish that the wolf would show up and give me something to do.
And then I got thinking to myself. Let’s liven things up a bit, I thought. Let’s play a trick on the villagers. And so I got up an ran as fast as I could into the village shouting at the top of my voice:
“Wolf ! Wolf WOOOOOOOOLF !”
And the villagers grabbed sticks, rolling pins, and pitch-folks and came running up to the field to case away the world.
But when they got there, all was peaceful. The lambs were frolicking as usual, quite unmolested.
And I laughed
“Ha ha Fooled you all ! ”
But none of the villagers laughed with me. Some of them grumbled and and the blacksmith became quite angry and shouted at me. But he was just a bad sport who couldn’t see the funny side of my joke.
And so a week later I did the same thing again, only this time I put on an even better act. I daubed red paint on my arm, and pretended that the wolf had bitten me. This fooled even the blacksmith, who was on his guard after the last trick I had played.
And when they all arrived breathless in the field I again called out
“Ha Ha ! Fooled YOU! ”
And this time quite a few of the villagers were angry with me, and I got quite an ear wigging from the blacksmith, the teacher, and the iron-monger. When I got home, my father was furious and told me that I had a stupid sense of humour. But I thought it was funny. And so did my friends.
About a week after that, I was sitting up on the hill watching my father’s sheep as usual. It was getting on for evening, and the sun was setting behind the forrest. I would have to spend the night out there, and oh, how lonely and bored was I. Then all of a sudden the sheep dogs started to bark and the flock was running around and bleating like they had all gone made. Only they hadn’t. There was a wolf among the sheep and he had seized a lamb.
“Wolf ! Wolf ! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLF !” I called out and I ran into the village to get help.
But nobody came. Not one villager. They carried on doing whatever they were doing. Eating supper, drinking ale, or finishing off their work for the day.
‘But please,” I said to the blacksmith, “This time it’s true. There really is a wolf.”
And he just shrugged his shoulders.
You see nobody believes a liar, even when he’s speaking the truth.
And that’s why you should never cry wolf unless you really mean it.
73 Comments
i love this story, it also teaches a lesson
Can you tell more storys from Aesop? This story was great!
that boy is the biggest liar i ever known or seen
many thanks… great lesson but most of the people get in trouble and saying lies can be choice for them…stay in truth to forever…
Oh twice story?
oh, is boy consumption?
This story is funny because it tells you that if you lie everytime, nobody will ever believe you again.
Natasha,the stories you tell are just so nice. Can you put more new stories?
This story is so nice and lovely!
i think this is a great story and a lesson for all that should read it its a very good story for children
The only way i can explain it is fantastic fantastic fantastic
That is one of my favorite stories my teacher read it to me in yr 1 and i still remember it
This is a good story my mother told to me long ago and every time we lied.
it was a nice old story.
that is soooo good
ok you rocked when you said WOLF WOLF woooooolf!!
you peple are good story tellers
this is a funny fairytail nice
wolf wolf grgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgrggrr
The sound is very good,but it is very very exciting to read.
I am korean,so I can’t read it very well. I want to know who read with large sound.
i just love this story!
i got so much of my homwork done with this web site thankyou!!!!!!!!!
this story wasn’t good at all they made alot of mistakes.
this is really goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood
dont like
hi this is the best story THE BOY WHO CRIED WLOF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My daddy had told me this story before and i thought it is funny!
I think he fooled itself.
Um… Mrs. Bertie is the boy a sheperd????
Hi Dena, yes, he was a shepherd, but not a very good one
This stories made me improve my English,Oral , creative writting and many more.thank you storynory!!
you rock
fue intresante conocer esta historia, es de mucha introducion al trabajo
Wait, what happened to the lamb?
WERE , DID THE SHEEP GO
I love the voice Natasha used.
HOW COULD PAINT LOOK LIKE REAL BLOOD? YOU HAVE TO BE COMPLETLY STUPID TO FALL FOR THAT.
Dad told this story in the car; we are 5 and when we got home, we searched for an audible one and you saved the day.
We loved it!
Thank you
(Mom)
I think joking is bad but sometimes we can have fun joking. p.s Don’t joke to much.
This is a funny cute story!
I love this story. I remember reading this when I was in the sixth grade.
hi am you bigest fan
storynory is the best i listen to there storys all the time
this is the best site ever
I love this story. It helps me to teach children how wrong it really is to lie. The only thing is I would of loved to here be told by a much younger voice. T
This story is great! It helps kids understand how wrong it is to lie. And what can happen when you do. I think if the person who was reading the story would of made her voice sound like a younger child the story would of been much better. My 3yr.old Daughter was scared to here the way she read the story.
A wolf A wolf A WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLF!:)
A wolf A wolf A WOOOOOOOOlf:D
WoW! its so funny!
i liked it!
it shows you not to lie!
That was a great story.
Duble text,Bertie
cool story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love it bec. it tells me to be honest.
a smaller story to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
good story i told my sister the same thing she done something wrong just like the boy
the story is funny and very good!!!
This is a weird story so funny
i love this story HAHAHAHAHAHA
this is a weird story
Too Cool.
fab
ffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbb l
.
HI I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved
it!!!
i lied to my freind in school and had to go to see my head of house and this remainds me of it lol its a good story though love it
=)
he deserved what he got when the viliagers wouldn’t come
it serves people right if they lie
its a bit boring
i loved the story this is jbl out of wwe,rock and roll!