What is the moral of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?

A liar will not be believed, even when he is telling the truth. Because the boy raised false alarms twice, the villagers ignored him when a real wolf came.

Who wrote The Boy Who Cried Wolf?

It is one of Aesop's Fables, traditionally credited to Aesop, a storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece around the sixth century BCE. The fables were passed down by word of mouth and written down by later collectors; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.

What age is The Boy Who Cried Wolf for?

It works best for children aged about 4 to 8. This telling is gentle: the wolf is more sneaky than scary, and nothing gory happens.

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Fable · 声匠改编 · 3:42

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A bored shepherd boy fools his village twice by crying wolf. Then a real wolf creeps out of the trees, and nobody comes. An Aesop fable, warmly retold.

Narrator

Milo

Old Abel

Farmer Hal

Mrs. Dunn

The Wolf

0:000:00

Other languages · 2 languages

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

About this story

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop's Fables, the ancient Greek collection of short animal and village tales. This VoiceSmiths retelling turns it into a full-cast audio story, with a bored shepherd boy, two worn-out villagers, a wise old shepherd and a sly, scary-funny wolf. It keeps the hard lesson but ends with the boy earning trust back.

What it teaches

Nobody believes a liar, even when he tells the truth. Trust is easy to lose and slow to win back, so a call for help should never be used as a joke.

Suits

Ages 4–8

Tips for telling it

Pause before the third cry of wolf and ask: will the villagers come this time? Why or why not?
Talk about the difference between a funny joke and a trick that makes people worry or waste their time.
Ask how Milo can win back the village's trust, and what he could do each day to show he has changed.

Questions people ask

What is the moral of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?: A liar will not be believed, even when he is telling the truth. Because the boy raised false alarms twice, the villagers ignored him when a real wolf came.
Who wrote The Boy Who Cried Wolf?: It is one of Aesop's Fables, traditionally credited to Aesop, a storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece around the sixth century BCE. The fables were passed down by word of mouth and written down by later collectors; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.
What age is The Boy Who Cried Wolf for?: It works best for children aged about 4 to 8. This telling is gentle: the wolf is more sneaky than scary, and nothing gory happens.

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