The Wolf Turned Shepherd by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Wolf Turned Shepherd
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

A wolf, finding few chances to prey on the flocks, disguises himself as a shepherd. He takes a shepherd’s hat and coat, carries a cudgel as a crook, brings a pipe, and writes on his hat that he is Willie, shepherd of the sheep. He approaches the sleeping flock, where the real Willie, his dog, and the sheep are all deeply asleep. Hoping to lead the flock away, the disguised wolf decides he must imitate the shepherd’s voice. But when he tries to speak, his unnatural tone echoes from the wood and wakes the sheep, the dog, and the shepherd. Trapped in his cumbersome disguise, the wolf can neither flee nor fight. The fable warns that deceit inevitably reveals itself, and that a wolf should avoid the restraints of hypocrisy.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale · 352 words

First lines

A wolf, whose gettings from the flocks / Began to be but few, / Bethought himself to play the fox / In character quite new. / A shepherd's hat and coat he took, / A cudgel for a crook, / Nor e'en the pipe forgot: / And more to seem what he was not, / Himself upon his hat he wrote, / 'I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep. ' / His person thus complete, / His crook in upraised feet, / The impostor Willie stole upon the keep. / The real Willie, on the grass asleep, / Slept there, indeed, profoundly, / His dog and pipe slept, also soundly; / His drowsy sheep around lay. / As for the greatest number, / Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber, / And hoped to drive away the flock, / Could he the shepherd's voice but mock. / He thought undoubtedly he could. / He tried: the tone in which he spoke, / Loud echoing from the wood, / The plot and slumber broke; / Sheep, dog, and man awoke. / The wolf, in sorry plight, / In hampering coat bedight, / Could neither run nor fight.

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — A brief animal-centered narrative that delivers an explicit moral lesson about the failure of deceit and hypocrisy.
Didactic Literature — The poem is designed to instruct readers, concluding that deception inevitably reveals itself and that one should not pretend to be what one is not.
Animal Tale — Its central character is a wolf with human-like intentions and behavior, while the sheep and dog support the traditional animal-story framework.
Moral Poetry — Written in verse and ending with a direct ethical maxim, the work uses poetic storytelling to communicate a moral principle.

What this Textopian page supports

The Wolf Turned Shepherd is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Fable
Author: Jean de La Fontaine
Date: 1668 CE
Language: English
Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale, Moral Poetry, Allegory
Length: 352 words
Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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