Why do Wolves have a Bad Reputation?
How many fairytales were told to you by your mother where the villain was a wolf? Alimented by stories, films or parables, ever since childhood we all seem to put the wolf in a corner because of the bad reputation he has achieved.
When it comes to expressions containing the word wolf, there are quite a few. For instance have you ever used the expressions "cry wolf" - to raise a false alarm; "wolf at the door" - starvation or financial ruin; " who's afraid of the big bad wolf - a scoff; a wolf - a cruel, ferocious or rapacious person; to wolf - to eat ravenously; a wolf in sheep's clothing - a deceptive or treacherous person; a wolf's lair - a sinister or cunning person's base; a wolf pack - a group of bruisers; wolf-whistle - a whistle of sexual liking for a woman; throw to the wolves - sacrifice someone to save yourself; wolf note - a consistent bum note on a musical instrument; or wolfy - ferocious, uncivilized?"
Not only do we have many expressions containing the word wolf, but we also have many fairytales about wolves. "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" written by Brothers Grimm. . .
Once upon a time there was a mother goat that had seven little kids (young goats); they lived in a house in the forest. One day, the mother goat needed to go out into the forest to look for food; she called her seven little kids to her and told them, "Dear children, I have to go into the forest, be on your guard against the wolf; if he comes in, he will devour you all - skin, hair, and everything. The wretch often disguises himself, but you will know him at once by his rough voice and his black feet."Now, most wolves, being hungry, would have just went after the mom but oh, no, not this wolf; why go after the mom when one could have seven young kids whose meat was tender to the taste.
The kids were having a grand time playing with each other when all of a sudden they hear a knock at their door and a voice that claimed to be their mom . . . "Open the door, dear children; your mother is here, and has brought something back with her for each of you." The kids looked at each other and said amongst themselves, "How can this be our mother with such a rough voice; it must be the wolf for mom said he has a rough voice." "We will not open the door," cried they, "you are not our mother. She has a soft, pleasant voice, but your voice is rough; you are the wolf!"
The wolf knew what he needed to do to disguise his voice; he purchased a chunk of chalk to chew so to soften his voice with it. He returned to the home of the goats, knocked, and said, "Open the door, dear children; your mother is here, and has brought something back with her for each of you." The wolf though had placed his black paws, the size of a man's head, through a window in full view of the kids inside. The kids cried out to the wolf, "We will not open the door, our mother has not black feet like you: you are the wolf!" Once again the wolf had unwittingly made himself known and had to cunningly disguise his feet which wasn't a problem for the wolf the baker and the miller took care of that.
Upon arriving once again at the door of the seven kid goats with his voice and feet disguised, the wolf asked them once more, "Open the door for me, children, your dear little mother has come home, and has brought every one of you something back from the forest with her." Upon seeing the color white of his feet, the kids thought that this was truly their mother and opened the door. I will let you use your imagination as to what happened next with this in mind, the youngest goat ran to hide in the clock-case and was not found.
Of course, in the end good wins and they get to be happy again. However the poor old animal, the wolf, seems to have a bad reputation in every child's mind. There are the stories we grow up with that make us think negative about this creature which me might never actually meet during our lifetime- except of course in the zoo...where we see him so harmless and closely resembling a dog.
Jesus Himself gives an example talking about falsehearted people naming them "wolves clothed in sheep clothing". Well...it seems that from ancient times up to nowadays the big bad wolf parables and stories are here to stay ...
Not only do we have many expressions containing the word wolf, but we also have many fairytales about wolves. "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" written by Brothers Grimm. . .
Once upon a time there was a mother goat that had seven little kids (young goats); they lived in a house in the forest. One day, the mother goat needed to go out into the forest to look for food; she called her seven little kids to her and told them, "Dear children, I have to go into the forest, be on your guard against the wolf; if he comes in, he will devour you all - skin, hair, and everything. The wretch often disguises himself, but you will know him at once by his rough voice and his black feet."Now, most wolves, being hungry, would have just went after the mom but oh, no, not this wolf; why go after the mom when one could have seven young kids whose meat was tender to the taste.
The kids were having a grand time playing with each other when all of a sudden they hear a knock at their door and a voice that claimed to be their mom . . . "Open the door, dear children; your mother is here, and has brought something back with her for each of you." The kids looked at each other and said amongst themselves, "How can this be our mother with such a rough voice; it must be the wolf for mom said he has a rough voice." "We will not open the door," cried they, "you are not our mother. She has a soft, pleasant voice, but your voice is rough; you are the wolf!"
The wolf knew what he needed to do to disguise his voice; he purchased a chunk of chalk to chew so to soften his voice with it. He returned to the home of the goats, knocked, and said, "Open the door, dear children; your mother is here, and has brought something back with her for each of you." The wolf though had placed his black paws, the size of a man's head, through a window in full view of the kids inside. The kids cried out to the wolf, "We will not open the door, our mother has not black feet like you: you are the wolf!" Once again the wolf had unwittingly made himself known and had to cunningly disguise his feet which wasn't a problem for the wolf the baker and the miller took care of that.
Upon arriving once again at the door of the seven kid goats with his voice and feet disguised, the wolf asked them once more, "Open the door for me, children, your dear little mother has come home, and has brought every one of you something back from the forest with her." Upon seeing the color white of his feet, the kids thought that this was truly their mother and opened the door. I will let you use your imagination as to what happened next with this in mind, the youngest goat ran to hide in the clock-case and was not found.
Of course, in the end good wins and they get to be happy again. However the poor old animal, the wolf, seems to have a bad reputation in every child's mind. There are the stories we grow up with that make us think negative about this creature which me might never actually meet during our lifetime- except of course in the zoo...where we see him so harmless and closely resembling a dog.
Jesus Himself gives an example talking about falsehearted people naming them "wolves clothed in sheep clothing". Well...it seems that from ancient times up to nowadays the big bad wolf parables and stories are here to stay ...
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