The Boy Who Cried Wolf

                When I was a child, I can remember my father lecturing me when I had done something wrong. Unlike most children, I would listen to these lectures very seriously and try to learn from my mistakes. That is why the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf has always lingered in the back of my mind.

                I can remember my dad’s face telling me the story of the boy that lied until no one would believe him even when he was telling the truth. Being a morally driven person, the story has stuck with me over the years, and has inspired me to believe that honesty is always the best policy. I think it is because of the memory of that story and that lecture that I refuse to lie today. The story not only put the fear in my mind that if I lied, people would not trust me, but it also made me realize that lying is just wrong in general.

                The Boy Who Cried Wolf is an Aesop Fable, and the story dates from Classical era, the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The moral that a liar is not believed, even when they tell the truth, is an idea attributed to Aristotle. Although the story was first written in Greek and later in Latin, it did not gain its popularity until Heinrich Steinhowel included it in his translated collection of Aesop’s Fables. The story then spread all through Europe. Many countries in Europe had slightly differing versions simply because of translation. The first version of the story is probably much different than the one known today because the story has been around so long and has been translated so many times.

                I found a video of the Muppets doing The Boy Who Cried Wolf which can be seen here. In this version, instead of just blatantly lying, the shepherd is overreacting. This could be a fine lesson in itself, but I prefer the story to be about lying because honesty, to me, is one of the most important values to learn and uphold in life.