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

Five hundred years ago, there lived a girl namedNandiniwith her parents and two old brothers in Raigadh. She belonged to a poor family. Sun King was the ruler of the village. Once, they came to know that the health of the king’s son which was not well since birth, had worsened. The Sun King was worried about his son’s life. The court magician said, “The only hope for your son’s life is the water from the Magic Lake. The magic lake was situated at the end of the earth. In the end, the sky dips so low that it touches the lake’s water and it has the magical healing power.”The Sun King announced that whoever could bring him the water from the magic lake would be rewarded. For the Nandini’s two older brothers, it was the opportunity to save the king’s son. They begged their parents to let them go to find the magic lake. Their father said that the end of the earth is very far, and it would take a lot of time to reach there. Her mother said that there would be a lot of danger in the way to reach there. The only thing the brothers said was, “But our prince will die without the water from the Magic Lake. We must try.” Eventually, the parents agreed and Nandini’s brothers embarked on the journey. They travelled for months, trekking through various mountain ranges. After crossing each mountain range, they thought they would reach the magic lake after that. But that did not happen.The brothers were exhausted and tired. One of them said, “We are not going to find the Magic Lake.” "Look, the harvest is coming, and our parents need us back at the farm. Let's take some water from this mountain lake back to the prince. Who knows? We're far from Raigadh. Maybe the water will help cure him." They were confused but filled the jar full of the mountain lake water, sealed it, and presented it to the Sun King at the castle. But when the court magician poured their water into his flask, it sizzled and evaporated in a flash. The court magician frowned, "My magic flask holds only water from the Magic Lake.” He said, "This water is fake. These men are imposters!". The Sun King was angry and said, "How dare you try to trick the royal family! Throw them in prison!" LittleNandini felt very bad about the news that her brothers were put in jail but she was happy that at least they were alive.Nandini decided to go on the journey to search for the magic water. Her parents did not allow her to go. But she requested her parents by saying that it was the only way to save her brother’s life. Her parents at last agreed and her mother gave her a bag of toasted nuts and a Lamb (her pet)to keep her company. She went on the journey to find the magic water. She did not want to risk her pet’s life so she asked him to go back home after one day.She was sitting under a tree. She took out some nuts from her bag to eat. On the tree, there were various birds. She offered some of the nuts to them as well. The birds were happy for her kindness and they decided to help her find the magic lake. They gave the girl, a feather from each of their wings and told her that those feathers held magic powers. They also told her to hold all of them together like a fan and that would take her where she wished to go. Nandini was also advised that the lake was guarded by three terrible beats, but that she should not worry because the feathers would help her.Nandini then reached a beautiful lake within a few seconds with the help of the feathers. When she reached there, she realised that she left her bag behind including the flask to fill the water. She kept the feather fan on her lips and wished for the flask. Suddenly there appeared the flask. Before the girl could fill the flask with the water, she heard a menacing sound behind her. She looked around and saw a giant crab who told her to leave the water alone. Nandini took the magic fan up to her lips and the crab fell asleep. As she went ahead, she saw a giant snake coming towards her. She got very scared. She quickly took the magic fan and the snake disappeared. Again, she heard the tail of a giant alligator before she could fill the water. Nandini again used the magic fan and the alligator fell asleep.Now that she had faced the three terrible beasts, Nandini was free to fill the water. She filled the water and took the magic fan and wished to be in the palace. She arrived in the room that was occupied by the king, queen, and prince. She put a few drops of water onto the prince’s lips. He immediately began to recover.The king was very happy and asked Nandinito wish for anything she wanted. She asked for three things. First, she asked for her brother’s release. The king released them immediately. Second, she wanted her parents to be no longer poor. The king agreed to give them land, house, and enough money. Thirdly, she asked that the magic fan to be returned to the birds. As soon as she made this request, the fan lifted itself and went out of the castle.Nandini asked nothing for herself. The king requested her to stay with them. She kindly denied as she wanted to go back home to her parents. Then, she lived peacefully and comfortably with her parents. Moral:Always be courageous and never give up. Family should always be our priority.

This is a story of brother, king, lake and magic.Moral(s) of the story: courage

The Magic Lake 

Ravina Sewani

Once upon a time Sammy and his sister Marie visited their grandparents at their farm. Sammy picked up a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for the lunch. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck.Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly which hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the pile of woods. Marie had seen it all from the window but she said nothing. After the lunch, the next day Grandma said, “Marie, let’s wash the dishes.” Marie said,“But Grandma, Sammy told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.”Then she whispered to Sammy, “Remember the duck?” Sammy got nervous knowing his sister knew about the duck and if he doesn’t obey, she may tell his grandparents about it. So without saying anything, he did the dishes.Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing but Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Marie to help make a supper.” Marie just smiled and said, “Well that’s all right because Sammy told me he wanted to help.”She whispered again to Sammy, “Remember the duck?” So Marie went fishing and Sammy stayed to help. After several days of Marie taking advantage of Sammy, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, “Sweetheart, I know. I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Marie take advantage of you.” Moral:Always confess of your mistakes. It will take away a load of guilt from your heart and no one will take an advantage of your secret mistakes! Accept your mistake, apologize and seek forgiveness politely.

This is a story of brother, duck, grandfather, grandmother and sister.Moral(s) of the story: confession and honesty

Little Boy with a Slingshot

Story- Once upon a time in a kingdom there were two brothers Ram and Shyam. Ram was the elder brother. He was not only intelligent, but also soft hearted and very kind. Hence he preferred spending time serving the poor people. So the younger brother Shyam was crowned the king.The younger prince was a good man but very innocent and fell prey to wrong advice easily. There were some cunning ministers in the kingdom who took advantage of this and brainwashed the king. As a result, Shyam sent his soldiers to arrest his elder brother.However, Ram managed to escape on time. Meanwhile there was an attack from the enemies of another kingdom. Ram disguised himself as an archer and joined his younger brother army. He was so good that the enemy gave up and ran away. The king was really impressed and told Ram to ask for whatever he wanted. To which Ram said that all he ever wanted was his younger brother Shyam’s love and trust.On hearing this, Shyam realized that this was no other than his elder brother Ram. Shyam was not only apologetic but overwhelmed by emotion and took a promise from his elder brother that he would never leave the kingdom and always be there to guide him. Moral:It is always wise to believe your family.

This is a story of brothers, king.Moral(s) of the story: family value

The story of Ram and Shyam

Yesha Desai

Once there were two dairy shops owned by two brothers. Both the brothers were very good businessmen and worked very hard.However, one of them always profited more than the other. The other was always confused as to how that was possible.One day he decided to ask his brother, “Brother, how is it that we both sell the same things at the same price and yet you earn more than me? We both work equally hard, so why is it?”The brother replied, “Because I wake up early in the morning and open my shop early.”The man understood his mistake. Dairy products are usually needed early in the morning and thus more customers are available in the morning.He decided to wake up early and work harder too. Moral:Waking up early and getting to work gives you a headstart at the day and is always profitable.

This is a story of brother and morning person.Moral(s) of the story: routine importance

The story of two brothers

India is a diverse nation and there are numerous festivals that are celebrated in a year. Raksha Bandhan is one of them. On the day of Raksha Bandhan, a sister ties a thread, known as “rakhi” on her brother’s wrist, as a symbol of protection and care. The brother in turn gives gifts to his sister. It glorifies the bond and connection between them. Raksha Bandhan falls on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August. Origin: During the partition of Bengal in 1905, Dr. Rabindranath Tagore started the Rakhi festival to celebrate and strengthen the bond of togetherness and love between Hindus and Muslims of Bengal. Another story describes the tale of Yama and Yamuna. The lord of death, Yama was blessed with eternity as his sister the Yamuna tied up a Rakhi thread on his wrist. The concept of tying a thread is believed to be started from here. The festival celebrates the love and bond between a brother and sister.

This is a story of brother, rakshabandhan and sister.

Raksha Bandhan

Once there were two brothers who were great friends and always played together. However, one day they had a huge argument about one of their toys. In the end, they decided that from then on they would only be allowed to play with their own individual toys.They had so many toys and things that they agreed to spend the next day sorting out which toy belonged to whom. So the next day each brother got to work, making a pile of his own things. When they had finished doing the big toys it was time to sort the little stuff. However, they had already taken so long that it was time for bed, so they left the small toys for the next day. The same thing happened the next day, because they had started dividing up parts of the house.Day after day it was the same story. They were spending their whole time deciding what, among all kinds of things, belonged to either one of them.Anything would set them off: seeing an animal, a tree, or even a stone. In the end, they had accumulated two complete mountains of stuff which had to be kept out in front of the house.As the years passed, nothing changed: every morning they would meet up to argue about which things belonged to whom. They were getting older, and everyone now knew them as "the grumpy old men". No one had ever seen them smile.That was, until one morning they went out and found that their two mountains of stuff had been totally mixed up together. Someone had been there, mixing their things up! After all that time and effort they had spent to separate everything!Furious, the brothers tried to find who had done it. Soon they found a pair of children playing on the other side of the mountains of stuff. They were happily playing together, picking everything up, careless of whether they were mixing it all together. They looked really happy, enjoying themselves to the max.Seeing the children so happy, the two grumpy old brothers realised how foolish they had been for so many years. They had given up playing with anything, instead spending their whole lives arguing over what was theirs to play with. How sad they felt, for spending their lives in anger. At the same time, though, they were happy to have finally realised their foolishness.They spent that day, and the rest of their days, playing together with those two children, mixing everything up, and sharing it all. People even stopped calling them the grumpy old men. Now people called them the 'Big Kids'. Moral:Sharing is caring. It’s not worth to waste time fighting over things. We should learn to share and cherish others’ company.

This is a story of brothers.Moral(s) of the story: sharing

The Angry Brothers	

Nishita Sanghvi

There were three brothers Sohan, Mohan and Rohan. Every day they would go to the park to play, and then visit the vegetable market where they would buy vegetables and other groceries, as instructed by their mother and also some goodies for themselves.However, it turned out today that the market which they visited was closed. So they kept playing in the park not realizing that it had gotten dark and it was time to go home. They were very tired as they had played so long and were feeling hungry.Sohan wanted to have something juicy. Mohan wanted something sweet while Rohan felt they needed to eat something healthy as mom always insisted.As they were walking down the road, they noticed a fruit vendor, who immediately understood that the kids were hungry. Sohan said, “I want something juicy as I am thirsty”. Mohan said, “I want something sweet so I can feel energized”, and Rohan insisted on having something healthy. But they had only a few rupees with them which the fruit vendor could figure out from their discussion.He took out the grapes and gave it to them by saying, “This is not only juicy and sweet but healthy as well.”This brought a big smile on the children’s faces and they thanked the vendor for helping them.

This is a story of 3 brothers and greengrocer.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Smart Fruit Vendor

This story dates back to the time when king Brahmadutta ruled the city of Banaras. He had four young princes. They young princes had grown up hearing many wonderful stories about a beautiful tree known as the Red Bud Tree. They had never seen the Red Bud tree and wished to be the first one to see it.One day, driven by his curiosity to see the tree at the earliest, the eldest prince asked the king’s charioteer to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew. It was still early spring and the tree was standing as a bare stump of wood in the forest, devoid of any leaves or buds. The prince failed to understand why it was known as the Red-Bud tree and returned back to the palace.Sometime later in spring, the next son requested the king’s charioteer to take him to the Red Bud Tree. At this time, the tree was covered with bright red buds and looked very beautiful.The third son went into the woods just after the spring time. Now tree did not have any red buds and was covered with lush green leaves. He also could see no reason for calling it a Red Bud tree.The youngest price also decided to go and have a look at the famous Red Bud tree. By this time, the tree was covered with little bean-pods. When he came back from the forest, he ran into the garden where his brothers were playing and told them with much excitement, "I saw the Red Bud tree!""So, what is special about it?" said the eldest prince. “It is nothing but a dead stump of wood,” He added."What makes you say that?" said the second son. "When I went in the woods, it was covered with hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is known as the Red Bud tree."The third prince said, "I have also seen the Red Bud tree. It is neither a dead stump of wood nor covered with red buds. It looks like an ordinary tree covered with green leaves."The youngest prince said with utmost confidence, "Brothers, all of you are mistaken! I have just a seen the tree and I can say for sure that it is now covered with little bean-pods."The princes wondered that maybe the Red Bud tree was indeed some mystical tree and appeared in different forms before different people. The king was overhearing their conversation. When they stopped talking, he came out and said, "My dear sons, all four of you have seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year." The princes understood what the matter was and laughed at their naivete. Moral: All is not what it seems. The four princes could not agree with each other because all of them had seen different stages of the tree. Sometimes, there’s more to a situation than what meets the eye.

This is a story of brother, forest, Jataka tales, prince, red and tree.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

brother 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 Magic Lake

Little Boy with a Slingshot

The story of Ram and Shyam

The story of two brothers

Raksha Bandhan

The Angry Brothers

The Smart Fruit Vendor

The Red Bud Tree

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