The Shepherd’s Boy And The Wolf

A Shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four
times by crying out, “Wolf! Wolf!” and when his neighbours came to help him, laughed at them for their
pains. The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an
agony of terror: “Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep;” but no one paid any heed to
his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or
destroyed the whole flock.

Vocabs

 alarmed (adjective): worried

 agony (noun): intense suffering
 to pay heed (verb): to notice or pay attention
 render (verb): to give what is needed
 at leisure (noun): without difficulty
 lacerate (verb): to rip or tear; to create deep wounds

The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf is one of the famous Aesop’s Fables. A “fable” is a short story, typically
with animals as characters, telling a moral or lesson.

Read by Tara Benwell.

http://edition.englishclub.com/podcasts/aesops-fables/shepherd-boy-wolf/

T/F Questions

Based on the story, state 'true' or 'false'.

1. At the beginning of the story, the villagers were cheated many times by the boy crying out that
there was a fox.
2. The boy was a kind and honest person in the village. So, he was loved by all the villagers.
3. The boy liked to play with the fox near the village.
4. When the fox really came, the boy was very afraid and shouted for help.
5. The villagers didn't pay attention to the boy's cry for help when the fox really came, because
they trusted him no more.
6. The fox finally killed all the sheep.
7. The moral value of the story is: There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.