Aesop's fables (Child's World)

A bored shepherd entertains himself by falsely telling townspeople a wolf is stealing his sheep. When a wolf really does appear, the twice-tricked townspeople are convinced the shepherd is lying, and no one comes to his aid.

"Carrying her pail of milk upon her head, a milkmaid daydreams of what she will purchase once she sells the milk at market. But the milk is spilt before the maid can sell it, and thus readers learn the phrase "don't count your chickens before they're hatched.""--