A hungry wolf finds an old sheepskin and disguises himself as a sheep to sneak into the flock -- but his trickery leads to an unexpected, ironic ending.
Once upon a time, there was a wolf who wandered hungry and weary through the forest. He hadn't eaten in several days, and his stomach growled so loudly that the birds in the trees flew away in fright.
"I must find something to eat soon, or I'll starve to death!" the wolf muttered to himself as he sniffed around the forest floor.
Then he spotted a flock of sheep grazing peacefully in the meadow below the farm. He caught the scent of mutton and licked his lips.
"What a wonderful meal those sheep would make, but how can I get close to them without the farmer or the dogs seeing me?" the wolf wondered.
While he was puzzling over what to do, he stumbled upon something in the forest -- an old sheepskin that had been left behind after a slaughter. The wolf stopped and got an idea.
"This is perfect! I can dress up in this skin and pretend to be a sheep. Then I can sneak in among the flock without anyone noticing!" said the wolf, pleased with his own cunning.
The wolf put on the sheepskin and moved slowly toward the flock. The sheep, who were used to seeing one another, didn't notice anything unusual. They thought he was one of them.
The wolf spent the whole day among the sheep, waiting for night to fall. He looked forward to the meal he was going to have. When the farmer led the flock into the pen, the wolf slipped in with them.
"This is going better than I thought!" the wolf thought. "Soon I'll get my reward."
But while the wolf was planning his first attack, the farmer came out of the house with a lantern in hand. It was dinnertime, and the farmer needed a sheep for the evening meal. He walked through the pen, studying the flock closely.
Suddenly he stopped and looked at the wolf, who tried to hold still. Even though the sheepskin hid the wolf's true identity, there was something about him that didn't look quite right.
"This one looks a bit strange, but it's probably big and fat. Perfect for dinner!" said the farmer, and grabbed the wolf.
The wolf tried to fight back, but he couldn't reveal himself without being discovered as a wolf. He was carried into the kitchen, and before he knew it, the wolf had gone from hunter to prey.
The next day, the sheep noticed their "new friend" was gone, but no one missed him.
"That was odd. I always thought there was something creepy about him," said one of the sheep, and the rest nodded in agreement.
The Moral
He Who Deceives Others Deceives Himself
This fable shows us that deception leads to trouble. The bigger the lie, the bigger the fall.
This is a free adaptation of Aesop's classic fable from ancient Greece.
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