There was once a shepherd boy who grew bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself, he cried out, "Wolf! Wolf! There's a wolf chasing the sheep!"
The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top, there was no wolf in sight. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces.
"You shouldn't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," the villagers said, "when there is no wolf!" Then they went grumbling back down the hill.
Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" And to his naughty delight, the villagers all came running up the hill again to help him scare the wolf away.
But when the villagers saw there was no wolf, they said to the boy, "Save it for when something is actually wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there's NO wolf!"
But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.
Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and called out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!"
But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy, and saw that he was crying.
"There was really a wolf this time! The flock has scattered! I cried out, 'Wolf!' Why didn't you come?”
An old man tried to comfort him as they walked back to the village.
"We'll help you look for the sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Nobody believes a liar...even when he's telling the truth!"