This classic fable playfully explores the temptation in us all to exaggerate - and the risks attached! The story of a shepherd boy who repeatedly annoys his fellow villagers with his hoaxes, only to have the prank backfire when it comes true, is familiar as one of Aesop's fables. However, its origins go much further back than that, and versions of it are found in cultures throughout the world. In all the message is the same: nobody believes a liar.