The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Boy Who Cried Wolf, also known as The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, is a fable by Aesop. The protagonist of the fable is a bored shepherd boy who entertained himself by calling out "wolf". Nearby villagers who came to his rescue would find the alarm a false one. When the boy was actually confronted by a wolf, the villagers did not believe his warnings and his flock perished. The moral is stated at the end of the fable as:

Related Topics:
Fable - Aesop - Protagonist - Shepherd - Wolf - Moral

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:Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed.

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The English idiom "to cry wolf", derived from the fable, refers to the act of persistently raising the alarm about a non-existent threat, with the implication that the person who cried wolf would not be taken seriously should a real emergency take place.

Related Topics:
English - Idiom

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A radically different view of this story is presented in '. A Cardassian avers that the moral of the story is not "do not tell lies" but rather "do not tell the same lie twice."

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A cynical interpretation is also possible: Do not lie too often, and do not tell lies just for fun. Save lies for when they are needed.

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Cartoonist Stephan Pastis has created a character called The Wolf who cries Boy.

Related Topics:
Stephan Pastis - The Wolf who cries Boy

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