Do you remember the stories that you read as a child? Moral stories can needn’t be serious, but they can be funny at the same time help your child learn something. We have compiled a list of 07 short moral stories that are inspirational, from India, and from around the world. <h3>1. The Boy Who Cried, Wolf</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_boy_who_cried%2C_wolf.webp_image_1638188646554.webp" width="359">There was a young boy whose father, a farmer, had asked him to take their herd of sheep grazing every day.One day, the boy was extremely bored as he watched over the sheep and so he cried: “Wolf! Wolf!”On hearing his cries, the villagers rushed to help him chase the wolf away and save the sheep.When they saw the grinning boy and realised he had cried wolf for his amusement, they scolded him and told him to not cry wolf!The next day, the boy cried out that the wolf was there. The villagers came, scolded him again, and left.Later that same day, a wolf came and terrorized the sheep.The boy cried, “Wolf! Wolf! Please help me.”But, the villagers assumed that he was pulling a silly prank again and did not come to his rescue. The sheep ran away and the boy cried.Moral of the story: Don’t lie or engage in foolish pranks, for no one will believe a liar even when he is telling the truth! <h3>2. The Golden Touch Of Midas</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_golden_touch_of_midas.jpg_image_1638188804006.jpg" width="365">A long time ago, there lived a king in Greece named Midas.He was extremely wealthy and had all the gold he could ever need. He also had a daughter whom he loved very much.One day, Midas saw a Satyr (an angel) who was stuck and was in trouble. Midas helped the Satyr and asked for his wish to be granted in return.The Satyr agreed and Midas wished for everything he touched to be turned to gold. His wish was granted.Extremely excited, Midas went home to his wife and daughter touching pebbles, rocks, and plants on the way, which turned into gold.As his daughter hugged him, she turned into a golden statue.Having learnt his lesson, Midas begged the Satyr to reverse the spell who granted that everything would go back to their original state.Moral of the story: Stay content and grateful for what you have. Greed will not get you anywhere. <h3>3. The Foolish Thief</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_foolish_thief.jpg_image_1638188856227.jpg" width="362">Once, a wealthy merchant came to King Akbar’s court to seek help from Birbal. He suspected that one of his servants had robbed him.On hearing this, Birbal thought of a clever plan and summoned the merchant’s servants.He gave each servant a stick of the same length. He told them that the thief’s stick would grow two inches by the next day.The next day, Birbal summoned the servants again. He noticed that a servant’s stick was two inches shorter than the others.He knew who the thief was.The foolish thief had cut the stick shorter by two inches as he thought it would grow two inches. Thus, proving his guilt.Moral of the story: Truth and justice will always prevail. <h3>4. Two Frogs With The Same Problem</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/two_frogs_with_the_same_problem.png_image_1638188962564.png" width="346">Once, a group of frogs was roaming around the forest in search of water. Suddenly, two frogs in the group accidentally fell into a deep pit.The other frogs worried about their friends in the pit.Seeing how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that there was no way they could escape the deep pit and that there was no point in trying.They continued to constantly discourage them as the two frogs tried to jump out of the pit. But keep falling back.Soon, one of the two frogs started to believe the other frogs — that they’ll never be able to escape the pit and eventually died after giving up.The other frog keeps trying and eventually jumps so high that he escapes the pit. The other frogs were shocked at this and wondered how he did it.The difference was that the second frog was deaf and couldn’t hear the discouragement of the group. He simply thought they were cheering him on!Moral of the story: People’s opinion of you will affect you, only if you believe it to be so. It’s better to believe in yourself. <h3>5. The Milkmaid and Her Pail</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_milkmaid_and_her_pail.jpg_image_1638189037353.jpg" width="348">There was once a milkmaid named Patty.She milked her cow and carried the two pails of milk she fetched on a stick and set out to sell the milk at the market.As she was walking to the market, she began to daydream about what she would do with the money she fo for the milk.She thought of buying a hen and selling its eggs and she planned on becoming wealthy.She dreamt of buying a cake, a basket of strawberries, a fancy dress, and even a new house with the money she would make selling the eggs and the milk!In her excitement, she forgot about the pails she was carrying and began to skip.Suddenly, she realised that the milk was spilling down and when she checked her pails, they were empty.Moral of the story: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch! It is important to focus on the process of achieving success and not just success alone. <h3>6. The Elephant Circus</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/elepahnt_circus.jpg_image_1638189224771.jpg" width="361">Once upon a time in a circus, five elephants performed circus tricks. They were kept tied up with weak rope that they could’ve easily escaped, but did not.One day, a man visiting the circus asked the ringmaster: “Why haven’t these elephants broken the rope and run away?”The ringmaster replied: “From when they were young, the elephants were made to believe that they were not strong enough to break the ropes and escape.”It was because of this belief that they did not even try to break the ropes now.Moral of the story: Don’t give in to the limitations of society. Believe that you can achieve everything you want to!<h3> </h3>7. The Elephants And The Mice<img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/1_xvfat_v8xumqnkx7-3jcka.png_image_1638189285226.png" width="350">In an earthquake-hit village abandoned by humans, a colony of mice lived. Near the village was a lake, which was used by a herd of elephants.The elephants would have to cross the village to go to the lake. Thus, one day, as they walked through, they trampled a lot of mice.The leader of the mice met with the elephants and requested them to take a different route to the lake. He promised them that their favour would be returned in the time of their need.The elephants laughed. How could such small mice help these large elephants in any way? But then, they agreed to take a different route.Not so long after, the mice heard that hunters had caught the herd of elephants and were tied in nets.Immediately, they rush to rescue the elephants. They gnawed through the nets and ropes with their sharp teeth.The leader of the elephants repeatedly thanked the mice for their help!Moral of the story: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Make sure you help your friends out whenever they need it. They should always be able to count on you. That’s all folks!We hope children like these short yet interesting stories with morals that we have read growing up!There are more and more stories with morals on <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/s/moral-stories" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bee Stories</a>.

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

07 Must Read Short Moral Stories For Children

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

Shina Utavani

Once there lived a very greedy fox. One day he was very hungry and decided to hunt something big. With the hope that he would get something big, he went off the woods to find a nice, big supper.He saw a fat cuckoo sitting on the top of a bush. He was happy that he found a big meal for the day. He did not want to scare the cuckoo, so he sat down beside the bush and spoke to her softly, “What a beautiful bird you are! Your feathers are glowing. I think you will look even more beautiful when you are sleeping.”After hearing this, cuckoo was pleased and felt very happy. She began to open her feathers in the Sun. After looking at this, the fox said, “Beautiful! Your feathers look amazing. I wish I can see you when you sleep. I think you will look even more beautiful.”The cuckoo was pleased by the comment and closed her eyes so that the fox could witness her beauty while sleeping. As soon as the partridge closed her eyes, the foxgrabbed her in his mouth. The fox was very happy that he got his meal for the day. When cuckoo realized she said in a little voice, “OH, Mr. Fox please tell me one last time how beautiful I am. Tell me how beautiful my feathers look and then kill me please.”The fox thought there was nothing bad in telling that once again. So, he opened his mouth as said, “You are….” As soon as he opened his mouth the cuckoo flew away. She reached on the highest branch of a tree. The fox was shocked. He said to himself, “Why did I open my mouth?”. The cuckoo asked herself, “Why did I shut my eyes?”.The hungry little fox went on his way further into the woods, looking for his supper! Moral:Do not trust easily.

This is a story of cuckoo and fox.Moral(s) of the story: idiot

THE fox and the cuckoo 

Ravina Sewani

An old woman had two servants. Every day the woman would wake up as soon as her cock started crowing. Then she would rouse the servants as well and ask them to begin the day's work.The servants did not like to get up early in the morning. All the time they were thinking what to do to have longer and undisturbed sleep in the morning.One day one servant said to the other, "Let us kill the cock. If there is no cock, there will be no crowing. If there is no crowing, the mistress won't wake up early in the morning. If she does not wake up early in the morning, she will not disturb our quiet sleep."The other servant agreed. So the next day they killed the cock. Now that there was no cock, the old woman would not know the exact time. She would wake up even earlier than before. Once she was out of her bed, she would not let her servants remain in bed.The cock was gone. But the servants had a harder time than before. Moral:A wrong remedy is worse than the disease.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of hen.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The old woman and the servant

Once upon a time, a lion called Madotkata used to live in a dense forest. He was the king of the forest. He had three friends — a jackal, a wolf, and a crow. These were not true friends. They were selfish and had become friends with the lion for their own benefit because he was the king. One day, a camel lost his way and wandered into the forest. The three friends of the lion saw the camel and realised that he did not belong to this forest, so he must have lost his way and reached there.“Let’s kill and eat him,” the jackal said to his friend. “No,” the wolf replied. “It is a large animal. Let us go and inform our king.” The crow said, “Yes, this is a good idea. Then he can kill the camel and we can all share the meat after the lion has had his share.” So, the three went to the lion and said, “Your Majesty, a camel has wandered into our kingdom from somewhere. He has a lot of flesh and may prove to be the best meal of our lives. Let’s kill him and eat him.” The lion was angered on listening to the three friends’ suggestion. “If the camel has come to our kingdom seeking refuge, it is my duty as the king to offer him protection, not to kill him and eat him. Go and bring him to me.”The three friends were very disheartened but they could not do anything contrary to the king’s wishes. They went to the camel and told him about the lion’s command. The camel was very scared on hearing this. He thought that his last moments had come. He resigned himself to fate and followed the three animals to the lion’s den. But he was surprised on reaching there, because the lion received him warmly. The lion also assured the camel of his safety while he was living in his kingdom. The camel was very happy. He started living with the jackal, wolf, and the crow. A few days later, while the lion and his friends were hunting for food, they got into a fight with a wild elephant. The fight got so fearsome that all three of the lion’s friends deserted him and fled. Though the lion managed to kill the elephant, he was badly injured in the fight. He was unable to hunt and had to go hungry for many days. His strength was failing. His friends were also starving because they depended wholly on the lion’s prey for their food. But the camel, being a vegetarian, was not affected. He grazed around happily as before.One day, the jackal, the wolf and the crow went up to the lion and said, “Your Majesty, you are becoming weaker day by day. Why don’t you kill the camel and eat him?” The lion replied fiercely, “No, he is our guest. We can’t treat him that way. Don’t even suggest that to me.”So, the three animals thought of another plan. They went to the camel and said, “Friend, our king is in a very unfortunate situation. He has had nothing to eat for many days and is unable to hunt for food. Under such circumstances, it is our duty to sacrifice ourselves to save our king’s life. Let us go to the king and offer him our bodies for his food.” The camel had no idea about the other three’s scheme and agreed to come along with them. All four reached the den of the lion. First, the crow came forward and said, “Your Majesty, we could not find any prey, so you can eat me.” The jackal said, “Your body is too small to assuage the king’s hunger. Your Majesty, I offer myself to you. Kill me and eat me.” The wolf said, “No, you are also too small to assuage our king’s hunger. I offer myself to you for this noble cause, My Lord. Kill me and eat me.”But the lion did not kill any of the three animals. The camel was standing there looking at what was going on. He thought that now it was his turn to go forward and make his offering. So, he said, “My Lord, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Please eat me and fulfil your hunger.”The lion had already been informed by the wolf that the camel was very keen on offering himself to the king. Now that the camel himself offered to sacrifice himself, the lion did not feel any pangs of conscience on killing the camel. So, he pounced on the camel at once and tore him to pieces. The lion and his friends fed on the camel for days. Moral:Beware of people who become friends only to fulfil their evil desires. They might appear to be sweet, but they are never trustworthy in reality.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of camel, crow, jackal, lion and wolf.Moral(s) of the story: betrayal

Beware of mean friends

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water. After walking around for some time, she came to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water.She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly plucked a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up onto it. Soon, the leaf drifted to dry ground, and the ant jumped out. She was safe at last.Just at that time, a hunter nearby was about to throw his net over the dove, hoping to trap it.Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The dove was quick to fly away to safety. Moral:One good turn begets another.

This is a story of ant, dove and karma.Moral(s) of the story: benevolence, helpfulness and kindness

The Ant and The Dove

Once upon a time, there was a huge banyan tree. An owl, a mongoose, a cat and a rat used to live in or around this tree. All four were scared of each other. The owl feared the cat, the mongoose feared the owl and the cat, and the rat was scared of all three—the owl, the cat and the mongoose. Still, the four animals continued to live in the same place. One day, a hunter laid a trap under this banyan tree hoping to catch at least one of the four animals. He set the trap and went to wait at a distance. Soon, the cat walked there, looking for the rat. She stepped on the snare and before she could realise, she was trapped in the net. Seeing this, the mouse became very happy. He went out of his hole and started dancing in joy around the trapped cat.The owl and the mongoose both saw the rat prancing about and wanted to catch him for their meal. Both of them started approaching him. The rat noticed them but it was too late. They were already quite close and there was no way that the rat could run back to his hole. There was only one way that the rat could think of — to enter the trap along with the cat and persuade her not to kill him by offering to nibble through the net. The rat had to take a quick decision. As the owl and the mongoose came closer, the rat thought that this was his last hope of survival and he quickly entered the trap alongside the cat.The cat was just about to pounce on the rat when the rat said, “Please spare my life. If you don’t kill me, I can help you to get free from this trap. I will nibble the net at many places and you can easily escape.” The cat agreed and let the rat stay with her inside the trap. Seeing the rat with the cat, the owl and the mongoose went away. When they were gone, the rat chewed through the net with his sharp teeth and both of them got out of the net. The cat ran away into the forest and the rat quickly got into his hole.The next day, the cat came to meet the rat. But the wise rat refused to come out of his hole saying that friendship between enemies is only a temporary thing. They will ultimately always remain enemies. Moral:Wisdom is knowing when to side with your enemy and when to keep the distance.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story from cat, owl and rat.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

There was once a boy who always treated his mother horribly, shouting at her, insulting her. It didn't matter to him how sad he made her.One day, without knowing how, he woke up in an immense and lonely place. He was sitting on a rock from which four huge pillars rose up into the sky, appearing to support the entire world.He was all alone, but soon an enormous flock of crows with beaks made of steel landed on the rock, and set about violently chipping away at it.After the crows left, a mysterious door in one of the pillars opened, and through it came a charming and pretty girl. "Have you come to help us? That's great! We need all the people we can get."The boy was puzzled, and spotting his confusion, the little girl explained, "So you don't know where you are? This is the centre of the Earth. These pillars support the whole planet, and this rock keeps the pillars in place.""And how can I help you?" said the boy, confused. "Well, to help look after the rock, of course. Anyone can see by your face that you're the best person for the job," answered the girl,"The birds you saw are only increasing in number and if we don't look after this rock it will eventually crumble and everything will come crashing down.” "And what do you see in my face?!" exclaimed the boy, surprised. "I've never looked after a rock in my whole life!" "But you'll learn how, even if you've never done it. Here, look in this mirror," said the girl, holding one in front of the boy's face.The boy could clearly see he now had the face of a bird, and his nose was gradually turning into steel. There he stood, shocked and worried, not a word passing his lips. "All those crows used to be children like you and I”, explained the girl, "but they decided not to look after the rock. Now that they're older they've turned into evil birds; all they do is destroy the pillars now. Up to now, you haven't done much to look after it, but now that you know, will you help me to preserve all this?"She said all this with a smile, taking his hand in hers.The boy still didn't quite understand all this. He looked closely at the pillars and could see that each one was made of thousands and thousands of little figurines, representing the best virtues: sincerity, effort, honesty, generosity...Closely inspecting the ground beneath him, he could see that the enormous rock was made up of little instances of children showing respect to their mothers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and old people.What the crows were trying to do was cover over these instances by carving out scenes of shouting and insults. Next to his feet, he could see his own little carving, representing the last time he shouted at his mother. That image, in such a strange place, made him realise that the only thing keeping the columns standing was respect. Respect was sustaining the world.The boy, filled with regret, stayed there and looked after the rock for many days. He carried out his task joyfully, going without sleep to repel every crow attack. He carried on until, exhausted by his efforts, he collapsed; completely spent.When he woke he was back in his bed at home, and he didn't know whether it had all been a dream. However, what he was now sure of was that no crow would ever again get the chance to carve a picture of him shouting at his mother.Moral: It is only respect with which we can go forward in life.

This is a story of earth and crow.Moral(s) of the story: respect

Pillars of earth and a boy

One hot day, a thirsty crow flew all over the fields looking for water. For a long time, she could not find any. She felt very weak, almost giving up hope. Suddenly, she saw a water jug below her. She flew straight down to see if there was any water inside and could see very little water in it.The crow tried to push her head into the jug. Sadly, she found that the neck of the jug was too narrow. Then she tried to push the jug down for the water to flow out. She found that the jug was too heavy.The crow thought hard for a while. Then looking around her, she saw some pebbles. She suddenly had a good idea. She started picking up the pebbles one by one, dropping each into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled the jug, the water level kept rising. Soon it was high enough for the crow to drink. Her plan had worked! Moral:If you try hard enough, you may soon find an answer to your problem. Pro tip: Demonstrate the story by putting something in a glass half filled with water. Let your child see how water rises in the glass.

This is a story of crow.Moral(s) of the story: dedication and hard work

The Thirsty Crow

Penguin, Reindeer and Fox were great friends. One day, Penguin and Reindeer found a load of fruit, and decided to keep it a secret. On the way, they met Fox, who seeing them so happy, asked them why. They told him they couldn't say, because it was a secret, but Fox asked them to trust him, so they told him about the fruit.When they arrived at the village, Fox forgot about his promise, and told everyone. When Penguin and Reindeer returned to the place where they had found the fruit, the animals of the village had already been there and eaten it all.That same day, Penguin and Reindeer found another place full of food, and the same thing happened again with Fox. Angered by these betrayals, they decided to teach Fox a lesson. The next day they told Fox that they had found a lake so full of fish that no effort was needed to catch them. Fox again told everyone in the village about this. The next day, Fox came by, covered in cuts and bruises. After telling all the animals about the lake full of fish, everyone, including even the polar bears, had gone there. But, not finding anything, they felt deceived, and had given Fox a good beating.Fox learned that keeping people's trust is very important, and that to get it in the first place you have to earn it with loyalty and always keeping your word.Penguin and Reindeer devised another trick for Fox but, as he was no longer a bigmouth, he did not betray them, and Penguin and Reindeer regained their faith in Fox, thus forgiving him.Moral: Betrayal often leads to loss of friends and family.

This is a story of fox, deer, penguin and reindeer.Moral(s) of the story: loyalty and trust

Bigmouth fox

Yesha Desai

Here’s another great story from the Hitopadesha. Once upon a time, there lived a deer and a crow in a dense forest. They were very good friends and often spent time with each other. One day a jackal spotted the deer and said to himself, “Nothing tastes better than&nbsp;deer flesh! I must somehow make friends with this deer and try to get close to him.”So, he approached the deer and said, “O deer! I am an orphan jackal and do not have any friends in this forest. You appear very kind-hearted to me. Would you agree to be my friend?” The deer was very pleased with the jackal’s mannerisms and took his new friend to his home.When the crow saw the deer with the jackal, he warned him, “Dear friend, you must be careful!” But the deer did not pay heed to the crow’s warning and continued being friends with the jackal. One day, the jackal said to the deer, “I know of a big field that is full of fresh corn. Do you wish to go there with me? “The deer happily accompanied the jackal to the corn field. From that day onwards, both of them started visiting that corn field every day. The owner of the field was very annoyed and decided to catch the thief who ate corn from his field. He set a trap in the field and the next day when the unsuspecting deer came to eat the corn, he got trapped in the net.The jackal saw the deer getting caught in the net and thought, “Once the owner of the field kills the deer, I shall finally get to eat the tasty deer meat for which I have waited so long.” The deer called the jackal for help, but the cunning jackal said, “I am sorry, I cannot do anything! The net seems to be very strong.” Saying so, he walked away from there and hid himself near the field, waiting for the owner to come and kill the deer.When the crow did not see his friend deer by the evening, he started searching for him and found him lying trapped helplessly in the field. When the deer saw the crow, tears filled up in his eyes and he said, “My friend, I disregarded your advice at first and now I suffer. Tomorrow, I shall be killed by the owner of this field.” The crow felt very sorry for the deer. He thought for a while and then a bright idea struck him. He told the deer, “Listen to me, my friend! When the owner comes tomorrow morning, lie down quietly; make your legs stiff and pretend to be dead. When he takes off the net, I will start cawing. That would be a signal for you to stand up and run away quickly.”The owner of the field came the next morning and saw the deer seemingly dead. As soon as he removed the net, the crow began to caw loudly. In a moment, the deer stood up and sped away. The owner got very angry and threw a stick at the deer. The deer escaped, but the stick hit the jackal on the head and killed it. Moral:We must not trust unfamiliar people very easily and instead put our loyalty and belief in the advice of the people we know.

This is a classic story from Hitopadesha tales.This is a story of crow, deer, jackal and trust.Moral(s) of the story: trust

bird stories

Kids moral stories help in improving their imagination & relate to real-world life. Here are age-specific bedtime stories for children by renowned storytellers.

THE fox and the cuckoo

The old woman and the servant

Beware of mean friends

The Ant and The Dove

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

Pillars of earth and a boy

The Thirsty Crow

Bigmouth fox

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

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