The Listening Grove · Aesop's Fables
Fable 10: The Kid and the Wolf
A Charlotte Mason fable lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Aesop's fable The Kid and the Wolf about?Parent review
Aesop's Fable 10, The Kid and the Wolf, is a short tale about brave words spoken from a safe place. A young Kid, left on the roof of a shed out of harm's way, spies a Wolf below and begins to jeer and make faces at him. The Wolf only looks up calmly and says he holds no grudge, for he knows it is not really the Kid who is so bold, but the safe roof that is doing the talking.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last fable.
What happened in Aesop's fable Hercules and the Wagoner?Have a look
In the last fable, Hercules and the Wagoner, a Farmer's wagon sank into the mud, and he did nothing but call on Hercules for help. Hercules appeared only to tell him to put his own shoulder to the wheel, for the gods help those who help themselves.
Back to the previous lesson: Hercules and the Wagoner →The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to The Kid and the Wolf, the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition.
Read by Kindred Thicket, from the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition.
Read along with the fableRead along
A frisky young Kid had been left by the herdsman on the thatched roof of a sheep shelter to keep him out of harm's way. The Kid was browsing near the edge of the roof, when he spied a Wolf and began to jeer at him, making faces and abusing him to his heart's content.
"I hear you," said the Wolf, "and I haven't the least grudge against you for what you say or do. When you are up there, it is the roof that's talking, not you."
Memory becomes Action!
Use the character cards* to remember who is in the fable. Choose one way to narrate.
*Character cards are free with the email list; the Composition Prompt and Drawn Narration Sheet are in the Companion Guide.
What is the list of the names, people, characters, and places that are important in Aesop's fable The Kid and the Wolf?The Kid, The Wolf, The roof of the sheep shelterHave a look
- The Kid: A frisky young goat, safe on a rooftop, who jeers and makes faces at the Wolf below.
- The Wolf: Bears no grudge, and calmly points out that it is the safe roof talking, not the Kid.
- The roof of the sheep shelter: The place the fable happens: the thatched roof where the herdsman left the Kid out of harm's way.
What is the moral of Aesop's fable The Kid and the Wolf?Have a look
“Do not say anything at any time that you would not say at all times.”
The Kid was bold and full of insults, but only because he stood safe on a high roof. As the Wolf said, it was the roof talking, not the Kid; brave words come cheaply from a safe place.
The Kid and the Wolf Q & A
Common questions about this fable: the other titles it goes by, where it comes from, its lesson, and how to help your child narrate it.
Is "The Kid and the Wolf" the same as "The Wolf and the Kid"?
They are two different fables with nearly the same name, so it helps to know them apart. This one, "The Kid and the Wolf," is also called "The Kid on the Housetop": a young goat safe on a roof jeers at a wolf passing below. The other fable, "The Wolf and the Kid," is about a kid who asks a wolf to pipe a tune. Look for the rooftop and the taunting kid, and you have this one.
Where does this fable come from, and where else will my child meet it?
It is from the Greek Aesop, and it gave us the enduring idea that it is easy to be brave from a safe distance. The wolf's own answer, that it is the roof talking and not the kid, is the heart of it, and the notion of courage that lasts only as long as there is no danger is one your child will recognize in stories and in life.
What is the lesson, and do I need to explain it?
The kid is bold only because he is out of reach, so the fable teaches, in the old words, not to say anything at any time that you would not say at all times. The wolf delivers the point himself, dryly, so you can read it and leave it there.
How do I help my child narrate this one?
It is very short. Read it, then ask: "Where was the kid standing, and what did the wolf say to him?" A drawing of the kid on the roof calling down to the wolf is narration enough, and the free character cards give her the kid and the wolf to place high and low as she tells it.