The Wolf and the Lamb

A Wolf meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the Lamb himself his right to eat him. He thus addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me." "Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born." Then said the Wolf, "You feed in my pasture." "No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well." "No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." On which the Wolf seized him, and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations."

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.

From The Wolf and the Lamb by Aesop, translated by George Fyler Townsend (1867). Public domain.

Check your understanding

1. What is the first excuse the Wolf uses to try to eat the Lamb?

You drank from my well.You insulted me last year.You are eating my grass.You ran away from the fold.

2. Why does the Wolf say he will not remain 'supperless'?

He wants to share his food.He is not hungry.He refuses to go without a meal.He wants to eat breakfast instead.

3. Retell the three excuses the Wolf makes to the Lamb, and how the Lamb answers each one.

4. Why did the Wolf try to make up excuses before eating the Lamb?

5. At the end of the story, the Wolf eats the Lamb even though the Lamb proved him wrong. What does this tell us about the Wolf's true plan?

6. The story shows that a bully will always find an excuse to be mean. Have you ever seen someone make up an excuse to be mean? How did it make you feel?