# The Wolf and His Shadow

- Source: The Aesop for Children (aesop.gutenberg.org), Public domain, Aesop, pictures by Milo Winter, 1919, via Project Gutenberg
- Reading level: Grades 3 and 4
- Subjects: Stories, Animals
- Topics: wolf, shadow, fancy, lion, appetite, away
- Length: 107 words, about 1 min
- Original: <https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19994>
- Page: <https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/r/aesop/aesop-28-the-wolf-and-his-shadow>
- Open in Sprouts: <https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/?read=aesop/aesop-28-the-wolf-and-his-shadow>

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A Wolf left his lair one evening in fine spirits and an excellent appetite. As he ran, the setting sun cast his shadow far out on the ground, and it looked as if the wolf were a hundred times bigger than he really was.

"Why," exclaimed the Wolf proudly, "see how big I am! Fancy me running away from a puny Lion! I'll show him who is fit to be king, he or I."

Just then an immense shadow blotted him out entirely, and the next instant a Lion struck him down with a single blow.

Do not let your fancy make you forget realities.

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## Picture credits

- Milo Winter, Public domain (<https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19994>)