The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Basic English
There is a boy who lives in a small village. He likes to make jokes and
tell lies. One day, he tells everyone in the village that there is a wolf just
outside in the woods. Everyone is afraid for their children. The men get
together and go look for the wolf. They find nothing. The boy laughs to
himself about how upset everyone in the village is.
Later, he does it again. He warns everyone about the wolf. Everyone is
scared. They stop working and go look for the wolf. Again, they find
nothing. This time, the people become angry with the boy for lying to them.
Then one day the boy really does see a wolf. The wolf chases him. He
runs into the village and cries for help. But no one comes to see. They do
not believe any wolf is there. So, the wolf catches and eats the boy.
Intermediate English
There once was a boy who lived in a small village. He liked to make
jokes and tell lies. One day, he told everyone in the village that he saw a
wolf in the nearby forest. The villagers got scared, and parents worried for
the safety of their children. The men of the village banded together to go
find and kill the wolf. But they didn't find anything, because it was all a lie.
The boy just laughed and laughed to himself about how upset he had made
everyone.
A week later, he tried it again. He told everyone in the village about a
great big, grey wolf he had just seen. Just as before, everyone became
worried and the men gathered and searched for the wolf. Again, they found
nothing. This time, though, the people of the village realized the lie and
became very angry with the boy.
As it happened, one day the boy went out walking in the woods and he
really did see a wolf. The wolf chased him back to the village, where he
cried out for someone to come save him. But no one came out to see or
even looked up from their work. They no longer believed the boy or his lies
about wolves. And so, the wolf caught the boy and ate him up.
Advanced English
Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a small village. He was a
mischievous sort who liked to joke and tell lies. One day, he got the idea of
lying about having seen a wolf in the nearby forest. The villagers believed
his story and immediately began to worry for the safety of themselves and
their children. The men of the village banded together to search for the wolf
and kill it if they could. But of course, they didn't find anything.
Meanwhile, the boy just laughed and laughed at them. The sight of
everyone running around with such concern on their faces delighted him to
no end.
A week later, he tried the same trick again. "There's a gigantic grey wolf
on the outskirts of town," he shouted. Again, everyone was worried. The
men of the village conducted a thorough search of the nearby forest and
concluded that the boy had lied to them again. Realizing they had been
duped, the villagers became quite angry with the boy.
As it happened, the boy was playing around in the forest some time after
this when he really did see a wolf. What's worse, the wolf saw him. The
boy raced back to the village as fast as he could go, with the wolf getting
closer and closer at every step. "The wolf is here," he cried out, "he's after
me!" But this time, no one in the village stopped working or bothered to
check on the boy. "Another one of his tales," they said to themselves. And
so, instead of being saved, the boy was caught by the wolf-who tore him
limb from limb and ate him up.