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The tale concerns a shepherd boy who repeatedly fools villagers into thinking a wolf is attacking his town's flock. When an actual wolf appears and the boy calls for help, the villagers believe that it is another false alarm, and the sheep are eaten by the wolf. In a later
English-language poetic
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Teachers have used the fable as a cautionary tale about telling the truth, but an educational experiment in the first decade of the 21st century suggested that reading "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" increased children's likelihood of lying; reading about
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171:, however, decreased this likelihood dramatically. The suggestibility and favourable outcome of the behaviour described, therefore, seems the key to moral instruction of the young. However, when dealing with the moral behaviour of adults,
179:, "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?"
131:'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),
163:
for children's voices and piano, in a poetic version by Peter
Westmore (1965). It also features as the second of "Aesop's Fables for narrator and band" (1999) by Scott Watson (b. 1964)
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The moral stated at the end of the Greek version is, "this shows how liars are rewarded: even if they tell the truth, no one believes them". It echoes a statement attributed to
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similarly closes his version with the remark that "men bileve not lyghtly hym whiche is knowen for a lyer".
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The Taill of how this forsaid Tod maid his
Confessioun to Freir Wolf Waitskaith
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version of the fable, the wolf also eats the boy. This happens in
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289:"Poem: The Shepherd-Boy and the Wolf by William Ellery Leonard"
264:"Poem: Fable 3, Of the Boy and the Wolf by John Hookham Frere"
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197:"151. The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf' (Laura Gibbs, translator)"
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390:. New York: Grand Central Publishing. pp. 83–84.
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Translated by C.D. Yonge: Section XI (apophthegms) of
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The Taill of the
Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous
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109:The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
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8:
1105:The Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the Foxe
388:Nurture Shock – New Thinking about Children
146:
136:
1426:Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology
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498:
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469:Laura Gibbs' gallery of 15th–20th century
1084:The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian
188:
61:Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
32:The Boy Who Cried Wolf (disambiguation)
348:"Of the child whiche kepte the sheep"
169:George Washington and the cherry tree
155:"A boy and false alarms" (1692), and
7:
386:Po Bronson; Ashley Merryman (2009).
145:"Of the herd boy and the farmers" ("
1008:Out of the frying pan into the fire
898:(also known as The Mice in Council)
710:The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
550:The Astrologer who Fell into a Well
947:The miller, his son and the donkey
565:The Bird-catcher and the Blackbird
44:'s illustration of the fable, 1687
25:
922:The drowned woman and her husband
825:The Travellers and the Plane Tree
645:The Fisherman and the Little Fish
415:available on Google Books, p. 263
457:
445:
430:
725:The Horse that Lost its Liberty
471:book illustrations of the fable
464:The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf
735:The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
148:De pastoris puero et agricolis
1:
1436:Metaphors referring to wolves
870:The Young Man and the Swallow
590:The Cock, the Dog and the Fox
570:The Bird in Borrowed Feathers
1057:The Grasshopper and the Ants
942:The Hawk and the Nightingale
865:The Woodcutter and the Trees
820:Town Mouse and Country Mouse
785:The Old Woman and the Doctor
700:The Frogs Who Desired a King
438:Children's literature portal
319:, raynhalfpint.wordpress.com
175:asks, referencing political
998:The labyrinth of Versailles
937:The Gourd and the Palm-tree
845:Washing the Ethiopian White
810:The Snake in the Thorn Bush
795:The Satyr and the Traveller
740:The Man with Two Mistresses
525:The Ant and the Grasshopper
240:. June 2005. Archived from
1457:
1366:The Pig Who Cried Werewolf
902:The Blind Man and the Lame
770:The North Wind and the Sun
610:The Dog and Its Reflection
555:The Bear and the Travelers
545:The Ass in the Lion's Skin
216:(Cassel Publications 1992)
29:
1018:The milkmaid and her pail
967:The Shepherd and the Lion
962:The Scorpion and the Frog
891:The Bear and the Gardener
830:The Trees and the Bramble
815:The Tortoise and the Hare
790:The Rose and the Amaranth
675:The Fox and the Sick Lion
560:The Belly and the Members
540:The Ass Carrying an Image
360:Songs from Aesop's Fables
233:Oxford English Dictionary
214:The Concise Dictionary...
161:Songs from Aesop's Fables
78:Fables for Five Years Old
65:Oxford English Dictionary
1023:Wolf in sheep's clothing
907:The Boy and the Filberts
850:The Weasel and Aphrodite
765:The Mouse and the Oyster
720:The Horse and the Donkey
650:The Fowler and the Snake
635:The Farmer and the Viper
630:The Farmer and the Stork
605:The Deer without a Heart
595:The Crow and the Pitcher
313:"The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
1411:English-language idioms
957:The Priest and the Wolf
912:Chanticleer and the Fox
755:The Moon and her Mother
690:The Fox and the Woodman
640:The Fir and the Bramble
530:The Ass and his Masters
1358:Muppet Classic Theater
1280:The Boy Who Cried Wolf
952:The Monkey and the Cat
886:An ass eating thistles
855:The Wolf and the Crane
805:The Snake and the Crab
760:The Mountain in Labour
750:The Miser and his Gold
730:The Lion and the Mouse
685:The Fox and the Weasel
660:The Fox and the Grapes
600:The Crow and the Snake
585:The Cock and the Jewel
575:The Boy Who Cried Wolf
452:The Boy Who Cried Wolf
147:
137:
86:William Ellery Leonard
55:, numbered 210 in the
49:The Boy Who Cried Wolf
45:
1138:Demetrius of Phalerum
1091:The Cock and the Jasp
1013:Still waters run deep
917:The Dog in the Manger
860:The Wolf and the Lamb
780:The Old Man and Death
715:The Honest Woodcutter
705:The Goat and the Vine
680:The Fox and the Stork
625:The Eagle and the Fox
375:performance and score
330:the life of Aristotle
157:George Fyler Townsend
135:"The boy who lied" ("
123:The story dates from
40:
1188:Laurentius Abstemius
1121:La Fontaine's Fables
927:The Elm and the Vine
775:The Oak and the Reed
670:The Fox and the Mask
665:The Fox and the Lion
655:The Fox and the Crow
620:The Dove and the Ant
615:The Dog and the Wolf
580:The Cat and the Mice
466:at Wikimedia Commons
30:For other uses, see
1416:Fictional shepherds
1335:Three Little Wolves
1218:Jean de La Fontaine
1168:Adémar de Chabannes
1050:Aesop's Film Fables
932:The Fox and the Cat
745:The Mischievous Dog
695:The Frog and the Ox
535:The Ass and the Pig
411:The Fables of Aesop
364:details on WorldCat
350:at mythfolklore.net
244:on December 1, 2008
129:Heinrich Steinhöwel
63:and glossed by the
1303:Boy Who Cried Wolf
1158:Dositheus Magister
335:2011-02-21 at the
293:www.poetrynook.com
268:www.poetrynook.com
90:Aesop & Hyssop
82:John Hookham Frere
46:
18:Boy Who Cried Wolf
1393:
1392:
1246:
1245:
462:Media related to
450:Works related to
397:978-0-446-56332-1
236:. askoxford.com.
105:Diogenes Laërtius
16:(Redirected from
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1421:Fictional wolves
1351:Marge Gets a Job
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1431:Big Bad Wolf
1384:Big Bad Wolf
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1178:John Lydgate
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1003:Lion's share
988:Panchatantra
983:Jataka tales
835:The Two Pots
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246:. Retrieved
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1386:(character)
1327:Adaptations
1238:Zhou Zuoren
1233:Robert Thom
1223:Ivan Krylov
1131:Translators
1069:adaptations
1042:adaptations
993:Perry Index
57:Perry Index
1400:Categories
879:Apocryphal
183:References
151:", 1687),
141:", 1574),
80:(1830) by
51:is one of
125:Classical
101:Aristotle
1353:" (1992)
1319:" (1987)
1317:Cry Wolf
1312:" (1986)
1310:Cry Wolf
1305:" (1985)
1143:Phaedrus
333:Archived
231:Compact
177:alarmism
1377:Related
1153:Avianus
1148:Babrius
1032:(album)
976:Related
515:Aesop's
119:History
107:in his
1369:(2011)
1361:(1994)
1346:(1936)
1338:(1936)
1077:Ysopet
1040:Screen
517:Fables
394:
298:Apr 4,
273:Apr 4,
227:"wolf"
1295:Songs
1288:Aesop
1282:from
1067:Print
507:Aesop
84:, in
71:Fable
392:ISBN
300:2023
275:2023
250:2007
1286:by
315:by
238:OUP
103:by
88:'s
1402::
362:,
291:.
266:.
229:.
199:.
1349:"
1315:"
1308:"
1301:"
1272:e
1265:t
1258:v
1114:"
1110:"
1107:"
1103:"
1100:"
1096:"
1093:"
1089:"
499:e
492:t
485:v
400:.
302:.
277:.
252:.
203:.
34:.
20:)
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