Long ago, in a small village on a hill, there lived a young shepherd. Every day he took the village sheep up to the fields and watched them while they ate grass. The work was quiet and boring, and the boy often wished for some excitement.
One afternoon he had an idea. He ran down the hill and shouted, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is attacking the sheep!" The villagers dropped their tools and hurried up the hill to help. But when they arrived, there was no wolf. The boy laughed at their angry faces.
A few days later, he did the same thing again, and again the villagers came running. Again there was no wolf, and again the boy laughed. This time the villagers were really angry. "Nobody will believe you next time," said an old woman.
Then, one evening, a real wolf came out of the forest. The terrified boy shouted, "Wolf! Wolf! Please help!" But the villagers thought it was another trick, and nobody came. The wolf scattered the sheep, and the boy learned a hard lesson: a liar is not believed, even when he tells the truth.