Week 5 - Storytelling: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Once upon a time, there was a lonely sheep, Jula.  She wished she had other sheep around, but alas, they were all gone.  Suddenly, one day Jula saw a group of sheep come over the top of the hill.  Jula decided to approach them and introduce herself.

"Hello.  My name is Jula.  Are you lost or are you going somewhere specific?"

"Hello, Jula.  I am John.  This is my wife Carrie and our two children, Brian and Samantha.  We are traveling from our pasture home, as there is no more grass and there are no more of our sheep kin."

"Well," replied Jula, "There is plenty of grass here and I too am all alone and would welcome the company should you decide to stay."

Brian and Carrie discussed this for a moment and decided they too would welcome the new relationship and decided to stay, at least for a while, to see if the family could be happy here.

One night, Samantha woke from a deep sleep to an odd sound.  She got to her feet and decided to investigate the sound.  She looked around and saw her father, mother, and brother all sleeping soundly, but she didn't see Jula anywhere.  As she walked through the pasture, just a few yards from where her family still slumbered, she saw the skin of a sheep!!!!  She was horrified!!!!  A wolf must've gotten to Jula!!!  Samantha ran over to her sleeping family and woke her mother.  She led her mother to the sheep skin.

"Oh my goodness!!" exclaimed Carrie.  "This is horrible!  We must wake the family and leave quickly before we meet the same fate as Jula!"

The woke John and Brian and explained what was going on.  Brian was scared and was more than ready to leave, but John was a different story.  He told his wife, "we do not know for sure what, if anything, has happened to Jula.  We should wait until morning and make our decision then.  The  children are tired and we do not know where to go from here!"

Carrie told her husband, "we did not know where we were going when we found this pasture.  We are not tied to this land and will certainly find more sheep and greater pastures, but we must leave NOW!! We must keep our children safe.  And if you do not wish to leave, we will be forced to leave without you!"

Carrie, Brian, and Samantha left immediately, but they kept a watchful eye out for wolves as they made their way through the pasture and on to a new, but yet unknown, home.

The following morning, John awoke and walked over to the empty sheep skin.  He realized he should have left with his family.  He missed them immensely and was lonely without them.  Just as he turned to take his leave, he heard a strange, yet somehow familiar, voice.

"Where are you going, Brian?  And what has happened to your family?  Where are they?"

Brian turned and saw a large wolf glaring at him with hungry eyes.  "Jula?  Are you Jula?  What is going on here?"

"Well, Brian, I am the one who 'pretended' to be the sheep, Jula.  My real name is Snowfire and I'm sure you can see that I am a Great White Wolf.  There used to be an immense heard of sheep on these lands, but I slowly devoured them one by one.  I was becoming very hungry and was about to move on when you and your family came to me.  Unfortunately, your wife and children realized something was amiss and fled.  It is unfortunate for you that you did not heed their warning and leave with them.  I am going to kill you, John.  And when I am finished with you, I shall catch up to your family and devour them as well.''

John didn't know what to say or do.  He knew he could not outrun the wolf, but he thought his family might have a big enough of a head start that Snowfire would be unable to catch them.  He certainly hoped, for their sakes, that this was true.  John sighed and said to Snowfire, "Well, if you're going to consume my flesh, there is no sense in prolonging the inevitable.  But you will NEVER catch my family.  They are swift and strong and extremely clever.  The next time you lay your eyes on a wolf, you had better ask yourself....'is this truly a wolf, or are they sheep in wolf's clothing come to exact their revenge?'"

This made Snowfire uneasy.  She found it hard to believe that sheep could be as cunning as a wolf, but she certainly wasn't going to back away from her food source.  She shook the doubt from her mind and replied to John, "You are wasting my time and your threats will not deter me from my goal," said Snowfire.  "Now, you might want to close your eyes - this will not be pleasant!"

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Sheep In Wolf's Clothing

Author's Note:

I chose to retell the tale of The Wolf Aunt.  In this story, a man and his family have a hard time surviving.  One day while he is in town selling goods, a woman approaches him and claims to be his long lost sister.  After a short visit, she insists he bring his family to live with her.  She tells her alleged brother that she has plenty of money to support them all.  He brings his family to her home.  As a way to say thank you to the newfound aunt, the mother and daughter bake a treat to take to her.  When the daughter peeks through the aunt's window, she sees her turn into a wolf and devour a man.  She tells her mother what she saw and the mother insists that the family leaves.  Of course, the father refuses.  But the mother, trying to protect her children, waits until nightfall and sneaks her children out and they return to their home.  The next morning, the man confronts his "sister" and tells her what his family said about her being a wolf.  The following morning, she comes to her "brother's" room as a wolf and asks him, "how should I devour you? Feet first or head first?" 

The moral of the story, essentially is trust those you know well and be suspicious, at least for a bit, of newfound relatives.  They may have ulterior motives.

Bibliography:

Image: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing.  Web Source: Wolf-Sheep

Unit: Persian Tales.  Web Source: Persian Unit

The Wolf-Aunt.  Web Source: Wolf Aunt
Image: Sheep In Wolf's Clothing.  Web Source: Sheep-Wolf