USBORNE ENGLISH READERS

LEVEL 1

The Boy who

cried Wolf
Retold by Mairi Mackinnon
Illustrated by Pablo Pino

with activities

and free audio

 Usborne English Readers
Level 1

The Boy who

cried Wolf
Retold by Mairi Mackinnon
Ilustrated by Pablo Pino

English language consultant: Peter Viney

 Contents

3
The Boy who cried Wolf

24

About the story

25

Activities

30

Word list

You can listen to the story onlne here:

www.usborneenglishreaders.com/
boywhocriedwolf
A boy once lived in a village in the
mountains. His name was Sam, but
only his mother called him that. Everyone
him Boy.
else called

Boy, bring more wood for the fire,"

said his father.

"Boy, wash those plates in the kitchen,

said his sister.
"Thank you, Sam", said his mother.
 When Sam went to school, it
was just
the same there.
"Bov, up straight, said his teacher
sit

"Boy, go and find our ball," said the

older children.

Sam didn't like school. In summer there

was no school, but he had to work.

4
 "Boy, help me with the sheep, said
his father. "Take them up the mountain
tomorrow morning, so they can eat the
good new grass. Then bring them back in

the evening.

"Do I have to stay all day?" asked Sam

"Ofcourse," said his father. "You must
see that the sheep are safe, and keep them
all together."
That's so boring," Sam thought, but
he didnt say anything.

5
 dam s mother gavo

T
lunch.
next morning,
him some bread
and cheese for his

do I have to go?
Sam asked her
"Why

"Tm sorry, Sam. The bigger boys and

girlshave to help here in the fields, and
the little ones can't go up the mountain.

s
Anyway, it' nice up there. It's less hot,
and you can rest.
"It's still
boring," Sam thought.

6
 He walked up the mountain until he
was a long way above the village. The sun
was shining. The sheep found lots of new
grass, and they started eating. Sam sat

down under a tree and rested

The sheep all stayed together. Sam felt

hungry, so he ate his lunch. He fell asleep
for a short time, but when he woke up,

7
the sheep were still there.
 and chasing some
He tried running
but soon that was boring too.
ofthem,
in the sky, he took
When the sun was low
the village.
the sheep back to

Boy, we had dinner without you, sala

his father. "Weworked hard today.
"T kept a
plate for you, Sam," said his
mothe.

8
 The next day was just the same, and
the next day too. Nothing happened. The
other children laughed at Sam. "Watching
sheep all day? That's easy! That's not
real work."
 of stories. In his
Sam started thinking

stories, he was watching the sheep when.

.some ROBBERS came over the

mountain, or.

...a LION came

out of the trees.

"Maybe not a lion," he thought. "There are

no lions here. -
Maybe maybe a WOLF!

w.a.
 A few minutes later, he was runnng
down the mountain to the village. "Help,
help! he shouted. "There's a wolf! It's

attacking the sheep! Come quickly!"

Everyone stopped working. "A wolf?
Are you sure?"

"T saw it!" said Sam. "A big, black wolf!

was really frightened. Please, come

with me.

1l
 Sam's father and some of the other men
and boys ran after him up the mountain
When they reached the sheep, the men
were hot and tired. The sheep were quietly

eating grass, and there was no wolf.

His father looked at the sheep. "A wolf
attacked them? Really? They re all here,
and there's no blood. You imagined it.
 "No I didn't!" said Sam.
"No dinner for you tonight," said his

father.

"Well, today wasn't so boring, anyway,

thought Sam.
am had three more boring days. "The
he thought. He
wolf day was exciting,
found some soft ground and made wolf
with his hand.
footprints

Then he ran down the

mountain. "ielp
help." he shouted. "The wolf is
back

14
 Sam's father's face was red. He was
very angry. An older man said, "There
were wolves when I was a boy. Maybe

they came back.

A few men and boys came up the

mountain with Sam. They didn't run so

fast this time, but they were still hot and

tired when they reached the sheep.
 "There!" said
Sam's father. "Nowolf."
the footprints.
Sam showed them
like wolf tootprints
"Those don't look
Someone said.

"But I saw it! said Sam. "lt was

THIS big
"No wolf is THAT big," said

Someone else.

Sam had no supper again that

nign
"Tm not going to tell any more wolr
stories,
"he
thought.

16 s
T he next day, the sun wasn't shining.
The sheep were
didn't
restless,

want to go up the mountain.

and they

"Stupid animals," said Sam. He was

hungry. He ate his lunch early.

Suddenly the sheep were making lots of

noise, and running everywhere. Sam saw
a dark shape in the trees. "Stupid dog!

Don't chase my sheep!" he shouted.

17
 of the trees
Then the shape came out
was a wolf.
wasn'tadog,
it
It

dam ran down the mountain. "HelP

please help!" he shouted.
"That's not funny," said his father.
There really is a wolf!"
'No,there isn't. Go back to the sheep:

18
 "T'm frightened! Sam looked at his
father. Which was worse, a wolt or an
angry father? Sam started crying, and
went slowly back up the mountain.

The wolf was gone. The sheep were

gone. "Father'sgoing be really angry

now, Sam thought. He started looking

for the sheep. He found one here, two

there, until it was dark.

19
 to the village," he
"I can't go down
need to find them all. I can
thought. "I
look for the others
tomorrow mornng,

when Ican see.

The mountain was cold at

night.
dam didn't have a coat, and he couldnt
make a fire. He was still frightened,
d
he couldn't
sleep. He saw some lights
through the trees, and heard
voices

20
 "Sam! What happened? Where are
the sheep? Sam saw
his mother and his

sister. "Wait, there's sheep's wool here -

and blood. Oh, Sam!"

T told you, there was a wolf. You didn't

believe me.
You told us before and it wasn t true.
We couldn't believe you after that. Come
With us, now. Let's bring those sheep, and
We can find the others tomorrow.

21 s
 were waiting in the
Lots more people
"Are the anmals safe? Is Sam all
village.

asked.
right?" they
"Yes, I am," said Sam. "Tm sorry,
everyone.From now on, promise I'm
I

going to tell the truth."

His father a
said, "So there really 1s
Wolf.
Maybe we need more than one bo
to watch the
sheep.
 asked his
"Would you like that,Sam?
mothe.
the mountain
Sam imagned going up
with another boy.
"Wecan talk, then," he
-maybe not
thought. "We
can tell stories

eat our lunch together.

wolf stories. We can
we can chase a wolf away."
Together,
I would."
"Yes," he said. "Yes,
 About the story
The Boy who cried Wolf comes
from a very old collection of

short stories called Aesop's

Fables (fable' is another

word for story'). Nobody

knows very much about
Aesop, or even it he was a real

person. Most of the stories

comefrom Greece, and they are

over 2,500 years old. Some are much

older, and come from the Middle East
or India.

Many about
of the stories are anmals,
and all of them have a 'moral -

a message that tells us how to

and be happy. Sometimes,
live well

ideas from the stories become

phrases that we use in everyday

life. For
example, when someone
'cries wolf', we understand that
they are telling us
something
terrible, but it
probably isn truet

24
 Activities
The answers are on page 32.

What is Sam thinking?

tor each picture.
Choose the right sentence
D
A. B C. Why do I
The wolf day I don't like have to go
It's not a dog,

it's a wolf! was exciting. school It's boring

O
O O
O
O

2.

3.
.

25
 What happened when?
and senter
Can you put these pictures tences
in the right order?

B. C.
A.

"Stupid dog! Don't The other children "Letsbring those

chase my sheep!" laughed at Sam. sheep,and we can tind
the others tomorrO

D. E. F.

"Boy, help with the attackng

Those don't look like "A wolf is
sheep!"
wolf's the sheep!
footprints.

26 s
 Sam's day

Choose the right word to finish the sentence.

sad hot hard soft cold

boring hungry frightened

Sam felt...
ate his lunch.
so he The men were
and tired.
.
4

Hefoud some
and made wolf
..
footprints.
ground The mountain was
at night.

27sb
 Telling stories
Choose the correct sentence for each
picturo
picture

A. Sam was
bored, so he
thought of a story.

B.The sheep were

interested,
so Sam thought of a
story.

2.

A. "Today wasn't so boring

thought Sam.

B. "Todaywas frightening
thought Sam.

A. "But I imagined it!

said Sam.

B. "But I saw it!

said Sam.

28
 Coming home
One word in each sentence is wrong
word instead?
Can you choose the right

"You told us before and it Is Sam all

right?" they

wasn't bad." answered.

nice true said asked

safe thought

4.

the
TknowTm going to tel Sam imagned eating up
the truth." mountain with another boy.

think say going

promise living standing

29