The Wolf, the Mother, and Her Child

A hungry wolf was prowling near a small cottage on the edge of a village, desperately searching for food. Winter was approaching, and game had become scarce in the nearby forest. The wolf had not eaten a proper meal in several days, and his ribs were beginning to show through his thick coat.

As he crept closer to the cottage, hoping to find chickens or perhaps a goat, he heard the sound of a baby crying loudly inside. The wolf paused, his ears pricked forward, listening to the commotion within the house.

Through the thin walls, he could hear a woman’s voice, presumably the child’s mother, speaking in frustrated tones.

“Stop crying this instant!” the mother said, her voice strained with exhaustion. “If you don’t be quiet, I’ll throw you outside for the wolves to take!”

The wolf’s ears perked up with interest and hope. Had he heard correctly? Was this woman actually offering to give him her child if the baby didn’t stop crying?

The baby continued to wail, and the mother’s voice grew more exasperated. “I mean it! Keep crying like that, and out you go! The wolves can have you!”

The wolf could hardly believe his good fortune. Here was an easy meal being offered to him freely! All he had to do was wait for the mother to follow through on her threat. He settled down beneath the cottage window, his mouth watering as he anticipated the meal that seemed to be promised.

Minutes passed, and the baby’s crying continued unabated. The wolf waited patiently, confident that at any moment the door would open and the woman would toss the child outside, just as she had threatened.

“Any moment now,” the wolf whispered to himself, his stomach growling with hunger. “She said she would throw the child to the wolves, and I’m the only wolf here. What a lucky day this has turned out to be!”

But as time went on, something unexpected began to happen. Instead of the baby being thrown outside as threatened, the crying gradually began to subside. The wolf could hear the mother’s voice changing from frustrated threats to gentle cooing.

“There, there, my little one,” the mother said softly. “Mama’s here. Everything is all right.”

The wolf listened more carefully. The threatening tone had completely disappeared from the woman’s voice, replaced by tender words of comfort and love.

“You’re my precious baby,” the mother continued. “Mama would never let anything hurt you. You’re safe and warm right here with me.”

The wolf began to feel confused. The same woman who had just threatened to throw her child to the wolves was now speaking words of protection and devotion. How could both things be true?

Soon, the baby’s crying stopped entirely, replaced by contented gurgles and the soft sounds of nursing. The wolf realized with growing disappointment that no child was going to be thrown outside after all.

But the wolf was very hungry and not ready to give up hope entirely. Perhaps the woman had simply managed to quiet the child temporarily. If the baby started crying again, surely she would follow through on her threat then.

So the wolf continued to wait beneath the window, growing hungrier and more uncomfortable as the hours passed. The cottage grew quiet as the family settled in for the night, but still no child appeared at the door.

As dawn began to break, the wolf finally heard movement inside the cottage again. He perked up his ears, hoping that perhaps this would be the moment when the mother would make good on her promise.

Instead, he heard the woman speaking tenderly to her child: “Good morning, my sweet baby. Did you sleep well? Let’s get you fed and changed.”

The wolf’s confusion deepened. This was clearly the same woman who had threatened to give her child to the wolves, yet now she was speaking with nothing but love and care.

Just then, the cottage door opened, and the woman stepped outside to fetch water from the well. She was carrying her baby protectively in her arms, holding the child close to her chest.

When she spotted the wolf lurking near her home, she let out a scream of terror and quickly backed toward the cottage door.

“Go away!” she shouted at the wolf. “Get away from my baby!”

The wolf, now thoroughly confused, decided to speak up. “But wait!” he called out. “Last night you said you would throw your child outside for the wolves to take. I’ve been waiting here all night, just as you promised!”

The woman stared at the wolf in amazement, then began to laugh despite her fear. “You foolish creature,” she said, still clutching her baby tightly. “Don’t you know the difference between a real threat and the frustrated words of an exhausted mother?”

“What do you mean?” the wolf asked, genuinely puzzled.

“I would never actually harm my child,” the woman explained. “When I said I would throw him to the wolves, I was simply expressing my frustration with his crying. It’s something tired parents say when they’re at the end of their rope, but it doesn’t mean we would actually do such a thing.”

The wolf felt very foolish indeed. He had spent an entire night waiting for something that was never going to happen, based on words that were never meant to be taken literally.

“You mean you were never actually going to give me your child?” the wolf asked.

“Never!” the woman declared firmly. “In fact, if any wolf tried to harm my baby, I would fight with every ounce of strength I possess to protect him. A mother’s threats against her own child are just expressions of temporary frustration. A mother’s protection of her child is real and absolute.”

The wolf slunk away, hungry and disappointed, but also wiser than before. He had learned an important lesson about the difference between words spoken in frustration and genuine intentions.

From that day forward, whenever the wolf heard humans speaking, he was more careful to consider the context and true meaning behind their words, rather than taking everything at face value.

And the mother, shaken by her encounter with the wolf, was more careful about the threats she made in moments of frustration, realizing that sometimes there might be unintended listeners who could misunderstand her words.

Moral: We must be careful not to mistake words spoken in frustration or jest for genuine intentions. Context and the speaker’s true character matter more than the literal meaning of words spoken in the heat of the moment.