The Mother and the Wolf
Early one morning a hungry Wolf was prowling around a cottage at the edge of a village when he heard a child crying in the house. Then he heard the Mother’s voice say
“Hush, child, hush! Stop your crying, or I will give you to the Wolf!”
Surprised but delighted at the prospect of so delicious a meal, the Wolf settled down under an open window, expecting every moment to have the child handed out to him.
But though the little one continued to fret, the Wolf waited all day in vain.
Then, toward nightfall, he heard the Mother’s voice again as she sat down near the window to sing and rock her baby to sleep.
“There, child, there! The Wolf shall not get you. No, no! Daddy is watching, and Daddy will chase him away if he should come near!”
Just then the Father came within sight of the home, and the Wolf was barely able to save himself from the Dogs by a clever bit of running.
Moral of the story
Don’t jump to conclusions: Sometimes things are not as they seem.
Listen to the whole story: Don’t believe everything without knowing all the facts.
Questions for the children
- Why do you think the Wolf believed he would get the child for a meal?
- How could the situation have been avoided if the Wolf knew the full story?
Post Note: This story is based on Aesop’s fable, written around 600 BC. In this retelling, we’ve used simpler words to make the story easier for young readers to understand.
