Aesop Fables: The Wolf and His Shadow; The Wolf and the Crane; The Wolf and the Lamb

The Wolf and His Shadow

One evening, a wolf emerged from his den in good cheer and with a ravenous appetite. The wolf appeared much larger than he actually was as he ran because the setting sun cast a shadow of him that extended far out onto the ground.

Why, the Wolf exclaimed arrogantly, "See how big I am! Fancy me fleeing from a puny Lion! I'll prove to him whether he or I am deserving of being king. ".

Right then, a huge shadow completely obscured him, and a Lion quickly dispatched him with a single blow.

Moral:

Avoid letting your imagination cause you to overlook the truth.

The Wolf and the Crane

A Wolf had overindulged, and a bone had been lodged crosswise in his neck. He couldn't move it, and he couldn't eat anything. That was obviously a bad situation for a greedy Wolf.

So he dashed off to the Crane. He was certain that she would be able to reach the bone and pull it out with her long neck and bill.

"I will reward you handsomely if you pull that bone out for me," replied the Wolf.

As you can expect, the Crane was nervous about sticking her head down a Wolf's throat. But since she was grasping in nature, she did what the Wolf demanded.

When the Wolf noticed the bone had vanished, he began to walk away.

"But what about my reward?" enquired the Crane.

"What!" hissed the Wolf as he spun around. "Don't you have it? Isn't it enough that I let you remove your head without snapping it off?"

Moral:

There will be no reward for serving the wicked.

The Wolf and the Lamb

A stray Lamb was drinking on the edge of a wooded stream early one morning. A hungry Wolf passed by farther up the stream that morning, looking for anything to eat. He immediately had his sights set on the Lamb. Mr. Wolf usually ate such delectable morsels without hesitation, but this Lamb appeared so weak and innocent that the Wolf felt he needed some type of justification for killing it.

The wolf screamed, "How dare you paddle around in my stream and stir up all the mud!” "You should be severely punished for your recklessness!"

"But, your highness," the terrified Lamb pleaded, "do not be furious! I can't possibly contaminate the water you're drinking up there. Keep in mind that you are upstream and I am downstream."

"You do muddy it!" furiously growled the Wolf. "On top of that, I've heard you lied about me last year!" "How could I have done so?" begged the Lamb. "I didn't even exist until this year."

"If it wasn't you, it had to have been your brother!"

"I do not have any brothers", the lamb replied.

"Well, then," the Wolf hissed, "it was someone in your family." But, whomever it was, I'm not going to be talked out of my breakfast."

Without further ado, the Wolf snatched the hapless Lamb and took her away to the jungle.

Moral:

The dictator will always find a reason to continue his rule.

The unjust will not listen to the innocent's explanation.

The tyrant can always find an explanation for his oppression.