When the Princess Rescued the Prince - fantasyREADERS

EXCERPT FROM
The Little Brother Who Cried “Wolf!”
As in Aesop’s fable, the little boy raises false
alarms, and so the villagers will not come to help
when a real wolf arrives.
So Hans ran down to the village and cried: “Wolf,
wolf! A wolf is at the sheepfold! Come everyone and help
us! Wolf, wolf!”
But the villagers just said: “Ho-hum. You have cried
‘Wolf’ too many times.” And they shook their brooms at
Hans, and would not come out of their warm houses at all.
So Hans had to climb back up the trail alone.
While he was gone, Griselda had jumped down to the
fence and was holding the break together, shouting at the
sheep to stay in the fold and the wolf to go away.
Together the children kept the wolf away through the
night, and next morning they repaired the fence (as best
they could, for the villagers would no longer help them).
So after this the wolf came every night, knowing that
sooner or later he could get past the children, or panic the
sheep and drive them out of the fold. Every night it was
harder to shout him away, and every day the children
grew more weary; and at last an old owl who lived in a
tree by the sheepfold began to complain of the noise.
“You, you, you two–” called the owl. “Why do you two
not do something more wise?”
Griselda sighed. “I’m sorry about the noise. What
would be wise?”