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

There was once a boy named Peter who lived with his grandfather. He was six years old. Their house was situated near a forest. His grandfather had a cat named Ivan and a duck named Sonya. One morning, Peter went for a walk near his house. Little peter saw the forest and decided to go on a hunt in the forest.His grandfather never allowed peter to go into the forest. So, peter decided to go when his grandfather was asleep. He slipped out from his house at night. He was very happy to finally go for a hunt. Sonya and Ivan also joined him to protect him. Peter took his popgun and went for a journey to the forest. Peter heard about a wolf that lived in the forest who used to tease people. Peter decided to hunt the wolf so the people could live without fear.As soon as they reached the forest, a little bird named Sasha saw Sonya coming towards the lake. The bird asked Sonya, “Are you a bird? What kind of bird you are and can you even fly?”. Sonya became a little nervous and said, “What kind of bird you are? Can you even swim?” Listening to this Sasha replied, “Birds can never swim.” Sonya said, “Yes, they can” and she jumped into the lake to show the bird that she can swim. The little bird was amazed.Back at home, the grandfather was awake and saw that the peter’s room was empty. Ivan and Sonya were also not there at home. The grandfather knew Peter would have gone to the forest. The grandfather ran towards the forest and saw peter in the forest. The grandfather said peter to come back home with him. Peter denied. As they were arguing, suddenly they saw the wolf coming towards them. The grandfather, peter and Ivan hid behind the tree. But the duck was still in the water. Peter shouted at Sonya and asked him to hide. But the duck was very scared and jumped out of the water. The duck was out of the water but very near to the wolf. As soon as Peter saw the duck, he ran towards the wolf to catch him. Peter had a rope and he went towards the wolf with the rope in his hand. The little bird helped peter to tie the rope around the wolf’s head. They were able to catch the wolf. The duck did not know what was happening so he hid under the tree.Peter and his grandfather took the wolf towards the zoo. Little Bird and Ivan also left for the zoo with them. But Sonya was still in the forest. Peter and his grandfather were so happy that they forgot about the duck. When they were returning from the zoo, they realized that Sonya was not with them. The grandfather and peter felt very bad. They all were very sad and went back to him. As they reached home, they heard the voice, “Quack, Quack”. Peter was surprised hearing the voice and saw Sonya hiding behind the tree. They all were very happy that Sonya was alive and safe.Peter was brave and everyone considered him a hero as he saved everyone from the Wolf. They all lived happily ever after.

This is a story of cat, forest, swan and wolf.Moral(s) of the story: bravery

Peter and the wolf

Ravina Sewani

Once a cat was caught in a hunter’s net. A mouse, living in a nearby hole, saw this and started playing around the cat. After a while, the mouse noticed a mongoose approaching with an intent to kill him.The mouse thought to himself, “When the hunter takes away the cat, the mongoose will not spare me.” So he went to the cat and proposed a deal.He told the cat “I can cut the net if you promise to save my life from the mongoose.” The cat agreed. The mouse started cutting the net slowly and freed the cat only when the hunter was just near the cat. The cat took to heels and so ran the mongoose too and the mouse quickly went for his hole.A few days later, the cat was hungry and went to the hole of the mouse and requested him to come out for a game. The mouse was smart enough to understand the cat’s intent and replied, “I sought friendship and saved you to save my life in turn. I never expected that you would take such an ugly turn. Moral:Don’t nurture friendship with selfish people.

This is a story of cat, mongoose and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: selfishness

The selfish cat

Yesha Desai

A long time ago, king Krishna Deva Raya had a very wise minister in his court by the name of Tenali Raman. Once, the kingdom faced a major problem of rats. Rats had multiplied to a very large number and were creating a lot of destruction. They were nibbling through important papers, clothes, grains in food stores, etc. There were not many cats in the kingdom to catch all the rats. So, the king asked all the houses in the kingdom to keep one cat each. But cats feed on milk and not every house owned a cow to get the milk. So, the king also gave cows to every house. The people were happy and brought up the cows and the cats. They used to give a lot of milk to their cats.But Tenali Raman was a lazy fellow and he was also very fond of drinking milk. He wanted to keep the milk from the cow for himself. So, he thought of a clever trick. He boiled the milk and poured it in a pan. Then, he put this pan in front of the cat. As soon as the cat touched the boiling hot milk with its tongue, its tongue got burned and it ran away at once. Tenali repeated the same thing the next day and again the day after that. After a few days like that, the cat refused to touch the milk that was offered to it for fear of getting its mouth burned. In this way, Tenali got to drink all the milk himself.One day, the king ordered for all the cats to be brought before him for inspection. While everyone else’s cats were fat and healthy, Tenali’s cat looked thin and weak. The king was very angry with Tenali for not taking proper care of the cat. But Tenali pleaded, “Your Majesty, I cannot help it. My cat does not drink any milk at all.” The king said, “Nonsense, I will put you in prison for telling a lie.” Tenali requested the king to give him a chance to prove it and the king agreed.So, Tenali brought his cat and the pan of milk in front of the king. He offered milk to the cat. But on seeing the pan of milk, the cat ran away, frightened. The king was surprised at this but he let Tenali go. Tenali lived happily, enjoying lots of milk by himself. Moral:We can use our wit and good planning to overcome problems.

This is a classic story from Tenali Raman.This is a story of cat.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

Tenali raman and the cat

A long time ago there lived a partridge, in a safe and warm hollow in a tree. Unfortunately, there was no proper source of food available near his home. So, he decided to go out in search of a good source of food. He soon found a field where there was ample supply of food, so he did not come back to his home for a few days and ate to his heart’s content every day. While the partridge was enjoying himself in the field, a hare happened to see the partridge’s old home. He liked it very much and started living in it. One fine day, the partridge decided to go back to his old home again. He had now grown very fat because of consuming a healthy diet. When he saw the hare comfortably living in his home, he asked him to move out immediately.They had a long verbal argument, but could not arrive at any decision. So one day, they decided to approach someone else who could solve their problem. There lived a cat nearby, when the partridge and the hare approached him, he decided to take advantage of the situation. He slyly said, “My dear friends, I am so sorry, I am old and hard of hearing. Both of you come close to me and tell me your problem. I will do my level best to help you out.” As soon as the partridge and the hare came near the wicked cat, he killed them both and had a lavish meal.This story teaches us that whenever two people have a fight, a third, the mediator often takes advantage of the situation. Moral:Someone else can always benefit from your trifle so you must be careful.

This is classic story form Jataka tales.This is a story of cat and rabbit.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The cat, partridge, and the hare

Once, there lived a washer man in the city of Patna who had a donkey that used to carry all the clothes to the riverside and back. The washer man used to feed the donkey well. The donkey also worked very hard for his master. But as time passed, the donkey grew old and was no longer able to work as hard as before. The cruel washer man stopped feeding the donkey as he was of no use for him. The donkey felt miserable and decided to go to Calcutta to become a musician. So, one fine day, the donkey left the washer man’s house to go to Calcutta.On his way, he met an old dog that was crying uncontrollably. The donkey asked him, “What is the matter, my dear friend? Why are you crying?” The poor dog replied, “My master used to love me very much till the time I was young and alert enough to guard his house. But now age has caught up with me and I am not able to catch the thieves. So, my cruel master has thrown me out of the house.” The donkey replied, “The same thing happened to me. So I have decided to go to Calcutta to become a musician. Why don’t you join me?” The dog agreed to accompany the donkey and together they set out for Calcutta.On their way, they both met a cat who was crying horribly. The dog and the donkey asked him, “Why are you crying?” The cat replied, “My master brought me to this house when I was very young. I could catch a lot of rats every day and my master gave me lot of milk to drink. But now I have become old and cannot catch rats anymore. So my master has turned me out of the house. I am crying because of that.” The donkey and dog were very sorry to hear the cat’s story. They asked her to join them. The cat thought it was a very good idea and then the donkey, dog and the cat started walking towards Calcutta.Walking ahead, they met a rooster that was weeping bitterly. The donkey, dog and the cat asked the rooster, “Why are you crying?” The rooster replied, “My master brought me to this house when I was young. I used to wake up early morning and wake him up so that he could go to work early. He also used to give me good food. But now I have become old. I keep sleeping till late in the morning. So, I am not able to wake him up and because of this, my master has kicked me out of the house.” Then the donkey, dog and the cat told the rooster, “We are very sorry to hear your story. We also became old and our masters are not giving us food. So we decided to go to Calcutta to become musicians. Why don’t you come with us?” The rooster thought it was a very good idea and joined them.By the evening, the four friends got very tired of walking. They were feeling very hungry. Then, the rooster climbed up the tree and noticed some light coming from a distance. They thought maybe they would be able to find something to eat there. So, they followed the source of light and when they reached there, they saw that the light was coming from a big house. The rooster volunteered to fly around and find out who lived inside the house. He found out that the house belonged to three robbers and they had a lot of food stacked up in the house. The four friends were starving by now, so they spoke to each other and made a plan.The donkey stood with his legs on the window. The dog stood on him. The cat stood on the dog and the rooster flew and remained on the top. All of them started singing at the same time. The robbers who were inside mistook the four animals for a strange looking ghost and ran away.The donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster went inside and ate to their heart’s content. Then, they decided to spend the night in the house. The cat decided to sleep on the stove in the kitchen. The dog decided to sleep near the gate. The donkey decided to sleep near the outside wall and the rooster decided to sleep on the roof.The robbers who had run away were also hungry. They were watching their house from far away. One of them came back to the house sent to see if everything was all right. That robber slowly entered the house through the back door and went into the kitchen. He wanted to see whether there was milk on the stove.When he reached near the stove, the cat jumped up and scratched his face. The robber was terrified by this sudden attack and ran outside. The dog, who was lying near the door, bit his leg. He ran near the wall. The donkey kicked him and threw him on the roof. The rooster who was there on the roof, pecked all over him with his sharp beak.The robber jumped from the roof and ran to his friends. He told them in a shaking voice, “That ghost has now entered our house. It scratched me, bit me, kicked me and pecked me. We must never go back there.” The other robbers agreed and went away. The donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster lived happily in that house and gave up the idea of going to Calcutta. At night, all of them used to practice music. Moral:Every creature deserves love and affection. Do not be selfish and use animals or birds for as long as they prove to be helpful for you.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of cat, dog, donkey and hen.Moral(s) of the story: selfishness

The donkey, the dog, the cat, and the rooster

A pet shop owner had put several animals up for a sale and as expected, a lot of children soon gathered around.A girl came up to the shop owner and asked him the prices of different cats that he had in his shop.The girl frowned because she did not have so much money and the shopkeeper smiled since he knew the girl from around the neighborhood, “It is alright child, you can pay me back later.”The shopkeeper took the girl to see all the animals.All the puppies and birds around them made eager noises, except for one.Toby, a stray cat, hid in his box, away from prying eyes.The girl asked the shopkeeper, “What is wrong with him?”The shopkeeper slowly brought Toby out and the cat whined before sadly limping away.The girl looked with determination, “Sir, I want to take Toby home.” and handed the little money she had to the man.The man shook his head, “Child, you do not have to pay for him. It is alright. I can give him to you for free as no one wants a limping, mean cat. People keep returning him.”The girl shook her head, “No. His worth is just as much as the other animals. His physical status does not matter and neither does the fact that his previous owners could not understand him.”“But, he won’t be able to play with you like the other kittens. He won’t be able to run fast or anything.”The girl smiled and showed him her metal leg. “Good, because I cannot run fast either.”Toby was brought to a home where his human played with him while considering his physical limits. The girl would always be very thoughtful of Toby’s needs. In return, the girl found companionship in Toby.Toby lived happily ever after, with a girl who loved him and understood him. He was never returned back to the shop. Moral:We are not meant to fit in with everyone. Sometimes we just need people who understand us.

This is a story of cat and pet store.Moral(s) of the story: understanding

Toby- The Cat

Once upon a time a woman received a cap from a wizard. The wizard told her that it was a magic cap. “What sort of magic does it do?” The woman asked the wizard.The wizard smiled, “You would have to see that for yourself.” The woman took the cap and walked away with it.When she put the cap on her head she heard, “Give me back my food! You cat, give me back my food.”She looked around but there was no one but two cats fighting with each other. She ignored it, thinking that she was imagining the voices.She walked ahead and near a lake she heard, “Ugh these fishermen. I won’t die today.” She frowned because no one was around. What was happening?She walked some more and then a dog came in front of her, “Please give me some food human.” She was shocked. Was it the dog speaking?The dog barked a reply but she could understand it, “Yes. It was me.” The woman realised that all along, these were the voices of animals and she could understand them because of her magic cap.Not only could she understand what they were saying but even they could understand her.The woman decided to use this gift to help animals whose needs could not be understood. She pledged to create a better life for them.

This is a story of cap, cat, dog, goblin, pixies, troll and wizard.Moral(s) of the story: kindness

The magic cap

Nishita Sanghvi

A long time ago, the king of the jungle who lived in a cave was frequently irritated by a mouse who would climb up on him always at the time when he was sleeping. The lion tried very hard to kill the mouse but the mouse was too quick for him to get hold of. The moment the lion would try to grab him, the mouse would slip off. The lion was fed up and realized he had to trick the mouse somehow and so he thought of something very clever.The lion went to a nearby village and convinced a cat to come with him. The mouse was obviously scared of the cat and now was very careful in coming out of its hole. The happy lion could now sleep peacefully as the cat acted like the lions guard and the mouse would not want to leave his hole with the cat being around. Every day the lion would share his meal with the cat. Both the master and the servant were thus, passing time happily with each other.One day, the mouse came out of his hole looking for something to eat. The cat pounced on it and the mouse was dead. The lion was extremely happy to know this. Now the lion completely lost interest in the cat and stopped giving him any food as the cat was of no use to him and as a result the cat died of starvation.Therefore, we realize that people usually value things that are of use to them.Moral of the story -Unfortunately people only value things that are of use to them.

This is a story from hitopadesha tales of cat, lion and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Cat Who Served The Lion

Once there lived two cats who were best friends. They lived together and used to have a lot of fun.The two cats were roaming around one day. On a street, the cats found a loaf of bread. They took the loaf of bread and decided to break it into two. One of the cats said, “You take one of the pieces and I will take one.” the bread looked extremely delicious. The other cat agreed.They took the loaf and decided to break it equally. But both of them could not decide who will cut the loaf into two equal parts. They both were arguing over who will cut the bread. Meanwhile, a monkey saw the cats quarrelling over the bread. “Such foolish cats,” he thought. The monkey was also hungry so he made a plan.The monkey went to the cats and said, “Let me help you.” The monkey said, “let me decide who will break the loaf.” The cats said, “Then why do not you divide the loaf equally.” The monkey agreed. He divided the loaf into two parts.The two parts of the loaf were not equal. One of the pieces was larger than the other. Before the cats could say anything, the monkey said, “Let me take a bite of a larger piece and then it will be equal.” The cats agreed. This time the monkey purposefully took a bigger bite of the large piece. Thereby the piece became very small. And then the monkey told, “OH!! Now let me bite the other piece so that they will become equal.” The monkey took another bite of the bread. He continued doing so until he finished the bread loaf all by himself.The poor cats were left with no bread. The monkey said, “That was a very tasty bread. Sorry, it was difficult to divide the bread equally. I should go now,”. The monkey left the place. The cats then realized their mistake and thought it would have been better if they ate the bread without fighting. Moral:When we fight amongst ourselves, a third person gets the benefit.

This is a story of beard, cat, friend and monkey.Moral(s) of the story: idiot

cat 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.

Peter and the wolf

The selfish cat

Tenali raman and the cat

The cat, partridge, and the hare

The donkey, the dog, the cat, and the rooster

Toby- The Cat

The magic cap

The Cat Who Served The Lion

Two cats and the monkey

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