The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Encyclopedia
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, is one of Aesop's Fables
, numbered 210 in the Perry Index
. From it is derived the English idiom 'to cry wolf', meaning to give a false alarm.
boy who tricks nearby villagers into thinking a wolf is attacking his flock. He repeats this so many times that when the sheep are actually confronted by a wolf, the villagers do not believe his cries for help and the flock is destroyed. The moral
at the end of the Greek version is that 'the story shows that this is how liars are rewarded: even if they tell the truth, no one believes them.' This seems to echo a statement attributed to Aristotle
by Diogenes Laërtius
in his The lives and opinions of eminent philosophers, where the sage was asked what those who tell lies gain by it and he answered 'that when they speak truth they are not believed' William Caxton
similarly closes his version with the remark that men bileve not lyghtly hym whiche is knowen for a lyer.
The story dates from Classical
times but, since it was recorded only in Greek and not translated into Latin until the 15th century, it only began to gain currency after it appeared in Heinrich Steinhowel
's collection of the fables and so spread through the rest of Europe. For this reason, there was no agreed title for the story. Caxton titles it "Of the child whiche kepte the sheep" (1484), Hieronymus Osius
"The boy who lied" (De mendace puero, 1574), Francis Barlow
"Of the herd boy and the farmers" (De pastoris puero et agricolis, 1687), Roger L'Estrange
"A boy and false alarms" (1692), George Fyler Townsend
"The shepherd boy and the wolf" (1867). It was under the final title that Edward Hughes set it as the first of ten "Songs from Aesop's fables" for children’s voices and piano, in a poetic version by Peter Westmore (1965).
Teachers have used the fable as a cautionary tale about telling the truth but a recent educational experiment suggested that reading “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” increased children’s likelihood of lying, while a book on George Washington and the cherry tree
decreased it dramatically. The suggestibility and favourable outcome of the behaviour described therefore seems the key to the moral nurture of the young. When dealing with the moral behaviour of adults, however, Samuel Croxall
asks, with reference to political alarmism, 'when we are alarmed with imaginary dangers in respect of the public, till the cry grows quite stale and threadbare, how can it be expected we should know when to guard ourselves against real ones?'
The idiomatic phrase 'cry wolf' has been frequently used in the titles of films, books and lyrics, but these rarely refer directly to the fable.
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
, numbered 210 in the Perry Index
Perry Index
The Perry Index is a widely-used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC...
. From it is derived the English idiom 'to cry wolf', meaning to give a false alarm.
The fable and its history
The tale concerns a shepherdShepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
boy who tricks nearby villagers into thinking a wolf is attacking his flock. He repeats this so many times that when the sheep are actually confronted by a wolf, the villagers do not believe his cries for help and the flock is destroyed. The moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
at the end of the Greek version is that 'the story shows that this is how liars are rewarded: even if they tell the truth, no one believes them.' This seems to echo a statement attributed to Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
by Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
in his The lives and opinions of eminent philosophers, where the sage was asked what those who tell lies gain by it and he answered 'that when they speak truth they are not believed' William Caxton
William Caxton
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...
similarly closes his version with the remark that men bileve not lyghtly hym whiche is knowen for a lyer.
The story dates from Classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
times but, since it was recorded only in Greek and not translated into Latin until the 15th century, it only began to gain currency after it appeared in Heinrich Steinhowel
Heinrich Steinhowel
Heinrich Steinhöwel was a Swabian author, humanist, and translator who was much inspired by the Italian Renaissance...
's collection of the fables and so spread through the rest of Europe. For this reason, there was no agreed title for the story. Caxton titles it "Of the child whiche kepte the sheep" (1484), Hieronymus Osius
Hieronymus Osius
Hieronymus Osius was a German Neo-Latin poet and academic about whom there are few biographical details. He was born about 1530 in Schlotheim and murdered in 1575 in Graz. After studying first at the university of Erfurt, he gained his Masters degree from Wittenberg university in 1552 and later...
"The boy who lied" (De mendace puero, 1574), Francis Barlow
Francis Barlow (artist)
Francis Barlow was an English painter, etcher, and illustrator.-Life:Barlow's first major work was the illustration of Edward Benlowe's Theophila...
"Of the herd boy and the farmers" (De pastoris puero et agricolis, 1687), Roger L'Estrange
Roger L'Estrange
Sir Roger L'Estrange was an English pamphleteer and author, and staunch defender of royalist claims. L'Estrange was involved in political controversy throughout his life...
"A boy and false alarms" (1692), George Fyler Townsend
George Fyler Townsend
Reverend George Fyler Townsend was the translator of the standard English edition of Aesop's Fables.Although there are more modern collections and translations, Townsend's volume of 350 fables introduced the practice of stating a succinct moral at the conclusion of each story, and continues to be...
"The shepherd boy and the wolf" (1867). It was under the final title that Edward Hughes set it as the first of ten "Songs from Aesop's fables" for children’s voices and piano, in a poetic version by Peter Westmore (1965).
Teachers have used the fable as a cautionary tale about telling the truth but a recent educational experiment suggested that reading “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” increased children’s likelihood of lying, while a book on George Washington and the cherry tree
Parson Weems
Mason Locke Weems , generally known as Parson Weems, was an American book agent and author. He is best known as the source of some of the apocryphal stories about George Washington...
decreased it dramatically. The suggestibility and favourable outcome of the behaviour described therefore seems the key to the moral nurture of the young. When dealing with the moral behaviour of adults, however, Samuel Croxall
Samuel Croxall
Samuel Croxall was an Anglican churchman, writer and translator, particularly noted for his edition of Aesop's Fables.-Early career:...
asks, with reference to political alarmism, 'when we are alarmed with imaginary dangers in respect of the public, till the cry grows quite stale and threadbare, how can it be expected we should know when to guard ourselves against real ones?'
The idiomatic phrase 'cry wolf' has been frequently used in the titles of films, books and lyrics, but these rarely refer directly to the fable.
See also
- False alarmFalse alarmA false alarm, also called a nuisance alarm, is the fake report of an emergency, causing unnecessary panic and/or bringing resources to a place where they are not needed. Over time, repeated false alarms in a certain area may cause occupants to start to ignore all alarms, knowing that each time it...
- How King You of ZhouKing You of ZhouKing You of Zhou was the twelfth sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty and the last of Western Zhou Dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BCE.In 780 BCE, a major earthquake hit Guanzhong...
's folly fooled the nobles repeatedly so they would not rescue him in a real danger - "Marge Gets a JobMarge Gets a Job"Marge Gets a Job" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons fourth season. It was first broadcast on November 5, 1992 on Fox. In this episode, Marge gets a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to pay for foundation repair at the Simpson house. Mr. Burns develops a crush on Marge after seeing...
", a SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode which includes this story as a plot element.
External links
- Laura Gibbs' gallery of 15th-20th century book illustrations of the fable