The Mother and the Wolf

A FAMISHED¹ WOLF was prowling about in the morning in search of
food.  As he passed the door of a cottage built in the forest, he
heard a Mother say to her child, "Be quiet, or I will throw you
out of the window, and the Wolf shall eat you."  The Wolf sat all
day waiting at the door.  In the evening he heard the same woman
fondling her child and saying:  "You are quiet now, and if the
Wolf should come, we will kill him."  The Wolf, hearing these
words, went home, gasping² with cold and hunger.  When he reached
his den³, Mistress Wolf inquired of him why he returned wearied
and supperless, so contrary to his wont⁴.  He replied:  "Why,
forsooth!   use I gave credence⁵ to the words of a woman!"