The Mother and the Wolf

A famished wolf was prowling about in the morning in search of food. As he passed the door of a cottage built in the forest, he heard a mother say to her child, "Be quiet, or I will throw you out of the window, and the wolf shall eat you."

The wolf sat all day waiting at the door. In the evening, he overheard the same woman fondling her child and saying, "You are quiet now, and if the wolf should come, we will kill him." Hearing these words, the wolf went home, gasping with cold and hunger.

When he reached his den, Mistress Wolf inquired why he had returned weary and supperless, so contrary to his usual habits. He replied, "Why, forsooth! I gave credence to the words of a woman!"