The Billy Goat and the Wolf
Once upon a time, a clever billy goat lived at the top of a vast canyon where the high cliffs whispered with the wind. With his curved horns and his proud bearing, this billy goat glided freely over the steep cliffs and fed on fresh thyme shoots. But in the secluded valley at the foot of the precipice prowled a wolf with sly eyes, who had wandered hungry for days. As the red rays of the evening sun lit up the rocks, the wolf fixed his eyes upward on the delicious billy goat. But since he did not dare to climb the steep rocks, a cunning trick came to his mind. The wolf put on his sweetest tone of voice, raised his head and began to speak. "O majestic brother billy goat, why do you waste your time up there on a narrow rock, in danger of falling?"
"Look, on the floor of the valley there is juicy and soft grass that glitters like emerald." "Come down beside me and let us share this delicious feast together; fill your belly with pleasure." The billy goat, looking calmly down from the edge of the rock, noticed at once the spark of hunger in the wolf's eyes. The old billy goat stroked his beard and smiled slyly at the cunning predator. "I am grateful for your generous offer, my friend, but I am not at all sure that you are thinking of me," he answered. "What carries away your reason is not the taste of the grass I would eat, but directly my own taste." "You are inviting me not to the grasses of the valley, but to the dark table inside your own stomach."
Faced with these words the wolf did not know what to say, and understood that his cunning had not worked. The hungry wolf, realizing that he had been caught, tucked his tail between his legs with a shamefaced air. Though he looked back with one last hope, he saw that the billy goat had not stirred from his safe place on the heights. The cunning hunter withdrew silently toward the depths of the dark forest, accompanied by the rumbling of his empty belly. The billy goat, meanwhile, went on peacefully chewing the thyme shoots on his steep and safe cliff. Thanks to wit and caution, that evening the billy goat both saved his life and enjoyed his freedom. Those who can notice the hidden intentions behind sweet words always stay far from possible disasters. The wolf changes his coat, but not his nature.