[atoav]

My pet peeve is that in the boy cried wolf story in the end the wolf was real and the boy got eaten.

Imagine a real village where a boy sees a wolf and three times the villagers run out and don't see a wolf and then one day the boy cries wolf again and gets eaten — which is more likely:

1. The boy lied to the villagers about the wolf and then by a turn of fate a wolf showed up.

2. The boy actually saw a real wolf, but that wolf evaded the villagers, then the villagers let the boy get eaten and out of shame they started telling the story in a way that tells us the boy lied, even if he didn't. That boy had it coming. He always was a bit misguided — says the person who thinks death is an acceptable punishment for lying.

I find the latter way more likely and the lesson to be learned from it more profound.