The Boy who cried Wolf

Author: Aesop

A shepherd-boy looks after his master’s sheep in the meadow, not far from the village where he lived. A
forest was nearby. The work was easy. It was, however, also very dull, and the boy had nothing to do as
he tended the flock all day.

Then, on a particularly boring day as he sat watching the sheep and the nearby forest, the boy
wondered what he would do if a wolf suddenly appeared out of the forest. Would he cry for help?

And so, he had an idea – an idea for how to amuse himself during those dull days spent watching the
sheep. The boy recalled that his master, the shepherd, had instructed him to cry for help if a wolf ever
turned up and attacked the sheep. The villagers would come when they heard him crying for help, and
they would chase the wolf away.

The boy grinned and suddenly got up and ran towards the village, crying, ‘Wolf! A wolf!’

Sure enough, the villagers who had heard him crying ‘wolf!’ ran from the village and out into the
meadow. But when they reached him, they found the boy sitting there and laughing, and they realized
that the boy had tricked them.

The boy was so pleased that his trick had worked that a few days later, he did it again, crying, ‘Wolf!
Wolf!’ Once again, the villagers ran from the village to help him against the wolf, only to discover there
was no wolf and he’d duped them again. Angrily, they returned to the village.

One evening a short while later, as evening arrived and the sun began to set, the boy was watching the
sheep when – to his horror – a wolf really did appear from the forest and attacked the sheep.

Terrified, the boy ran toward the village shouting, ‘Wolf! Wolf!’ to try to get help. The villagers heard his
cry, but as they’d been fooled twice by a false alarm, none of them ran to help him, believing he was
trying to trick them again.

The wolf killed a great many of the sheep before slinking back into the forest.

Moral: Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.
 The Ants and The Grasshopper

One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the
grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm,
came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.

"What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world
were you doing all last summer?"

"I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that
before I knew it the summer was gone."

The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.

"Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the
Grasshopper and went on with their work.

Moral: There's a time for work and a time for play.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Once upon a time there lived a poor widow and her son Jack. One day, Jack’s mother told him to sell
their only cow. Jack went to the market and on the way he met a man who wanted to buy his cow. Jack
asked, “What will you give me in return for my cow?” The man answered, “I will give you five magic
beans!” Jack took the magic beans and gave the man the cow. But when he reached home, Jack’s
mother was very angry. She said, “You fool! He took away your cow and gave you some beans!” She
threw the beans out of the window. Jack was very sad and went to sleep without dinner.

The next day, when Jack woke up in the morning and looked out of the window, he saw that a huge
beanstalk had grown from his magic beans! He climbed up the beanstalk and reached a kingdom in the
sky. There lived a giant and his wife. Jack went inside the house and found the giant’s wife in the
kitchen. Jack said, “Could you please give me something to eat? I am so hungry!” The kind wife gave him
bread and some milk.

While he was eating, the giant came home. The giant was very big and looked very fearsome. Jack was
terrified and went and hid inside. The giant cried, “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be
he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” The wife said, “There is no boy in here!”
So, the giant ate his food and then went to his room. He took out his sacks of gold coins, counted them
and kept them aside. Then he went to sleep. In the night, Jack crept out of his hiding place, took one
sack of gold coins and climbed down the beanstalk. At home, he gave the coins to his mother. His
mother was very happy and they lived well for sometime.

Jack and the Beanstalk Fee Fi Fo Fum!Climbed the beanstalk and went to the giant’s house again. Once
again, Jack asked the giant’s wife for food, but while he was eating the giant returned. Jack leapt up in
fright and went and hid under the bed. The giant cried, “Fee-fifo-fum, I smell the blood of an
Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” The wife said, “There is
no boy in here!” The giant ate his food and went to his room. There, he took out a hen. He shouted,
“Lay!” and the hen laid a golden egg. When the giant fell asleep, Jack took the hen and climbed down
the beanstalk. Jack’s mother was very happy with him.

After some days, Jack once again climbed the beanstalk and went to the giant’s castle. For the third
time, Jack met the giant’s wife and asked for some food. Once again, the giant’s wife gave him bread
and milk. But while Jack was eating, the giant came home. “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an
Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” cried the giant. “Don’t be
silly! There is no boy in here!” said his wife.

The giant had a magical harp that could play beautiful songs. While the giant slept, Jack took the harp
and was about to leave. Suddenly, the magic harp cried, “Help master! A boy is stealing me!” The giant
woke up and saw Jack with the harp. Furious, he ran after Jack. But Jack was too fast for him. He ran
down the beanstalk and reached home. The giant followed him down. Jack quickly ran inside his house
and fetched an axe. He began to chop the beanstalk. The giant fell and died.

Jack and his mother were now very rich and they lived happily ever after.
The Hare and the Tortoise:
There once was a speedy Hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast,
the Tortoise challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

The Hare ran down the road for a while and then paused to rest. He looked back at the tortoise and
cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

The Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to
relax."

The Hare and the Tortoise StoryThe Tortoise walked and walked, never ever stopping until he came to
the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise that they woke up the Hare. The Hare
stretched, yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise had already crossed the finish
line.

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.