The Nurse and the Wolf
A wolf, roving about in search of food, passed by a door where a child was crying and its nurse scolding it. As he stood listening he heard the nurse say, "Now leave off crying this instant, or I'll throw you out to the wolf." So thinking that the old woman would be as good as her word, he waited quietly about the house, in expectation of a capital supper.
But as it grew dark and the child became quiet, he again heard the nurse, who was now fondling the child, say, "There's a good dear then; if the naughty wolf comes for my child, we'll beat him to death, we will."
The wolf, disappointed and mortified, thought it was now high time to be going home, and, hungry as a wolf indeed, muttered as he went along: "This comes of heeding people who say one thing and mean another!"