一个牧童在离村子不远的森林旁为主人放羊。很快他就发现放牧生活十分无聊。他聊以解闷的不过是对着狗说话，或者把玩他的牧笛。
一天，正在望着羊和寂静的森林发呆，想着万一发现狼他该怎么办时，他突然想到了一个解闷的好主意。
主人曾经嘱咐他，万一狼来袭击羊群，只要大声呼救，村民们就会来赶走它。所以现在，尽管连个狼的影子都没看到，他声嘶力竭地喊叫着向村子跑去，“狼来了！狼来了！”
不出所料，听到喊叫声的村民们放下手中的活儿，心急火燎地向牧场跑去。可是当赶到那儿时，他们发现牧童正为自己对他们搞的恶作剧哈哈大笑。
过了几天，牧童又喊道，“狼来了！狼来了！”又一次村民们跑去帮助他，却只是再次被嘲笑而已。
然后一天晚上，当太阳正在落到森林的后面，夜幕渐渐覆盖牧场时，真的有一只狼从灌木丛中跳出来，向羊扑去。
大惊失色之下，牧童向村子跑去，大喊着“狼来了！狼来了！”然而虽然村民们听到了他的叫喊，他们并没有像往常那样跑去帮助他。“他不可能再次欺骗我们，”他们说。
狼咬死了很多牧童的羊，然后钻进森林里溜掉了。
说谎者即使说真话也不会被相信。
THE SHEPHERD BOY AND THE WOLF
A Shepherd Boy tended his master's Sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherd's pipe.
One day as he sat watching the Sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what he would do should he see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.
His Master had told him to call for help should a Wolf attack the flock, and the Villagers would drive it away. So now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a Wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, "Wolf! Wolf!"
As he expected, the Villagers who heard the cry dropped their work and ran in great excitement to the pasture. But when they got there they found the Boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.
A few days later the Shepherd Boy again shouted, "Wolf! Wolf!" Again the Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again.
Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and the shadows were creeping out over the pasture, a Wolf really did spring from the underbrush and fall upon the Sheep.
In terror the Boy ran toward the village shouting "Wolf! Wolf!" But though the Villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before. "He cannot fool us again," they said.
The Wolf killed a great many of the Boy's sheep and then slipped away into the forest.
Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.