This childhood story – which needs no introduction, and which you no doubt heard growing up – is famous all over the world, including in China.
从前，有一个小男孩叫小明。他每天在山上看羊。他的工作很无聊，他觉得很没意思。
有一天，小明想了一个主意。他大声喊：”狼来了！狼来了！”
山下的村民听到了，都跑上山来。但是他们到了以后，发现没有狼。小明哈哈大笑。
村民们很生气。”不可以这样！”他们说。他们回到了村子里。
第二天，小明又喊：”狼来了！狼来了！”村民们又跑上来，又没有看到狼。他们非常生气，回去了。
第三天，一只真正的狼来了。小明非常害怕，大声喊：”狼来了！狼来了！救命啊！”
但是村民们听到了，都摇摇头。”他又在骗我们，”他们说。没有人上山。
狼走进了羊群。小明一个人站在那里，不知道怎么办。
那天晚上，小明回到村子里，没有羊，也没有人同情他。
说谎的人，没有人会相信他。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 无聊 | wúliáo | boring/bored |
| 主意 | zhǔyì | idea/plan |
| 村民 | cūnmín | villager |
| 生气 | shēngqì | angry |
| 真正 | zhēnzhèng | real/genuine |
| 害怕 | hàipà | afraid/scared |
| 救命 | jiùmìng | help/save me |
| 骗 | piàn | to trick/deceive |
| 同情 | tóngqíng | sympathy/to feel sorry for |
| 说谎 | shuōhuǎng | to lie/tell lies |
| 从前 | cóng qián | previously; formerly; once upon a time |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 男孩 | nán hái | boy |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 明 | Míng | Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); surname Ming; Ming (c. 2000 BC), fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 山 | Shān | surname Shan |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 羊 | Yáng | surname Yang |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 没意思 | méi yì si | boring; of no interest |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice; loudly |
| 喊 | hǎn | to yell; to shout; to call out for (a person) |
| 狼 | láng | wolf; CL:匹[pi3],隻|只[zhi1],條|条[tiao2] |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 山下 | Shān xià | Yamashita (Japanese surname) |
| 听到 | tīng dào | to hear |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 上山 | shàng shān | to climb a hill; to go to the mountains; (of silkworms) to go up bundles of straw (to spin cocoons); to pass away; (of the sun or moon) to rise |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect; a discovery |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 哈 | Hā | abbr. for 哈薩克斯坦|哈萨克斯坦[Ha1 sa4 ke4 si1 tan3], Kazakhstan; abbr. for 哈爾濱|哈尔滨[Ha1 er3 bin1], Harbin |
| 大笑 | dà xiào | to laugh heartily; a belly laugh |
| 不可以 | bù kě yǐ | may not |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 回到 | huí dào | to return to |
| 村 | cūn | village; (dialect) to scold; rustic; boorish; variant of 村[cun1] |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 二 | èr | two; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 回去 | huí qu | to return; to go back |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! |
| 摇 | yāo | to shake; to wave; to rock; to sway |
| 头 | tóu | head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 走进 | zǒu jìn | to enter; to step into |
| 羊群 | yáng qún | flock of sheep |
| 一个人 | yī gè rén | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) |
| 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt; to stop; branch of a company or organization; website |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) |
| 道 | dào | road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quot… |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 办 | bàn | to take care of (a matter); to deal with (a task, procedure etc); to organize (an event); to establish; to set up; to manage; to run (an enterprise); (law) to handle; to investigat… |
| 那天 | nà tiān | that day; the other day |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 相 | Xiāng | surname Xiang |
| 信 | xìn | letter; mail; CL:封[feng1]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random |
Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Xiao Ming. Every day he watched sheep on the mountain. His job was very boring, and he found it very dull.
One day, Xiao Ming thought of an idea. He shouted loudly: ‘The wolf is coming! The wolf is coming!’
The villagers at the bottom of the mountain heard him and all ran up the mountain. But when they arrived, they discovered there was no wolf. Xiao Ming laughed heartily.
The villagers were very angry. ‘You can’t do this!’ they said. They returned to the village.
The next day, Xiao Ming shouted again: ‘The wolf is coming! The wolf is coming!’ The villagers ran up again, and again saw no wolf. They were extremely angry and went back.
On the third day, a real wolf came. Xiao Ming was very scared and shouted loudly: ‘The wolf is coming! The wolf is coming! Help!’
But the villagers heard him and all shook their heads. ‘He’s tricking us again,’ they said. No one went up the mountain.
The wolf walked into the flock of sheep. Xiao Ming stood there alone, not knowing what to do.
That evening, Xiao Ming returned to the village, without any sheep, and no one felt sorry for him.
A person who lies will not be believed by anyone.