A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
A wily predator dons a sheepskin so he can help himself to the whole flock.
1135-1145
A wily predator dons a sheepskin so he can help himself to the whole flock.
1135-1145
The wolf in sheep’s clothing is a metaphor used by Jesus Christ to warn against those who pretend to be Christians so they can prey on them. Nikephoros Basilakes, a twelfth-century teacher of rhetoric at the Patriarchal School in Constantinople, penned this little ‘Aesop’s Fable’ with a twist to the tale.
freely translated
IT occurred one day to the Wolf to conceal his true nature under a disguise, as it promised a feast; and, swathed in the fleece of a ram, he grazed with the rest of the flock, completely fooling the shepherd with his stratagem.
Night fell. The shepherd herded the predator into the fold, drew the gate across the entrance, and saw to it that the enclosure was tight shut.
But then the shepherd took a fancy to some mutton. So he picked up a knife — and slaughtered the wolf.
And the moral of that is, that he who plays a comedy in borrowed clothes often loses his life, having found the stage painted for a tragedy.
freely translated
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did the wolf dress up as a sheep?
To spend a night inside the sheepfold.