The she-Wolf and the Herd-Boys by Pu Songling
Two herd-boys seize wolf cubs and climb separate trees, alternately pinching the cubs to make their mother run between them until she collapses and dies. The closing moral recommends retreating from a blustering foe and letting his anger exhaust itself unopposed.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Fable, Animal Tale · 276 words
First lines
Two herd-boys went up among the hills and found a wolf's lair with two little wolves in it. Seizing each of them one, they forthwith climbed two trees which stood there, at a distance of forty or fifty paces apart. Before long the old wolf came back, and, finding her cubs gone, was in a great state of distress. Just then, one of the herd-boys pinched his cub and made it squeak; whereupon the mother ran angrily towards the tree whence the sound proceeded, and tried to climb up it. At this juncture, the boy in the other tree pinched the other cub, and thereby diverted the wolf's attention in that direction. But no sooner had she reached the foot of the second tree, than the boy who had first pinched his cub did so again, and away ran the old wolf back to the tree in which her other young one was. Thus they went on time after time, until the mother was dead tired, and lay down exhausted on the ground. Then, when after some time she shewed no signs of moving, the herd-boys crept stealthily down, and found that the wolf was already stiff and cold. And truly, it is better to meet a blustering foe with his hand upon his sword-hilt, by retiring within doors, and leaving him to fret his violence away unopposed; for such is but the behaviour of brute beasts, of which men thus take advantage.
Genres
- Fable — A brief narrative about boys exhausting a wolf ends with an explicit lesson about avoiding confrontation with an angry foe.
- Animal Tale — The action follows a mother wolf's repeated attempts to reach her distressed cubs and her eventual death.
Tags
wolves · wolf cubs · herd-boys · animal cruelty · exhaustion · conflict avoidance
What this Textopian page supports
The she-Wolf and the Herd-Boys is listed on Textopian as a fable by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Fable
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Fable, Animal Tale
- Length: 276 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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