The Wolf and the Lamb from Aesop for ESL Students

The Wolf and the Lamb from Aesop for ESL students with a podcast and vocabulary practice in real context

The Wolf and the Lamb is now in the public domain available on Gutenberg Project

Podcast of the Wolf and the Lamb

The Wolf and the Lamb

A wolf came upon a lamb straying from the flock, and felt some compunction about taking the life of so helpless a creature without some plausible excuse; so he cast about for a grievance and said at last: “Last year, sirrah, you grossly insulted me.”

• stray: get lost, wander away
• flock: crowd or horde of sheep
• compunction: feeling of shame and regret about doing something wrong, reluctance
• helpless: powerless, weak, feeble
• plausible: reasonable, believable
• grievance: resentment, complaint, protest
• sirrah: a form of address for a man or boy that was used to express contempt
• grossly: totally, unpleasantly

“That is impossible, sir,” bleated the lamb, “for I wasn’t born then.”

• bleat: to make sheep’s noise, complain, moan

“Well,” retorted the wolf, “you feed in my pastures.”

• retort: to respond sharply
• pasture: land for grazing

“That cannot be,” replied the lamb, “for I have never yet tasted grass.”

“You drink from my spring, then,” continued the wolf.

• spring: a source of water as a small stream or pool

“Indeed, sir,” said the poor lamb, “I have never yet drunk anything but my mother’s milk.”

“Well, anyhow,” said the wolf, “I’m not going without my dinner”: and he sprang upon the lamb and devoured it without more ado.

• devour: to eat something quickly
• ado: bustle, excited activity or bother