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.

Ravina Sewani

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

Once, a huge flock of crows became a great nuisance to a farmer. The crows would swoop down on his cornfield and destroy the crop. The angry farmer decided to get rid of them.One day he spread a net in his field. Then he scattered some grain on it. The crows saw the grain. They came down to eat the grain. They were caught in the net. The farmer was glad to see the trapped crows. He said, "You robbers, now you will meet the end you deserve." Just then he was surprised to hear a pitiful sound of cooing. So he looked carefully and found a pigeon among the crows.The farmer said to the pigeon, "How come you are in this gang? Anyhow, I am not going to spare you. You have chosen bad company and so you must suffer."Saying so, the farmer whistled to call his hounds. The hounds came and killed all the birds one by one. Moral:Better be alone than falling in bad company.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of farmer, crow and pigeon.

THE CROWS AND THE PIGEON

Once upon a time, there was a very clever fox that lived in the forest. One day, the fox was hungry. He really wanted to eat something sweet, like a cookie. Just then, he saw a crow sitting on a branch. The crow had a cream biscuit in his beak which he had snatched away from a little boy. The fox’s mouth started watering on seeing the biscuit. He started thinking of a way of getting the biscuit for himself.The fox said to the crow, “Dear crow, the lion king told me that you sing beautifully. But I have never heard your voice. Will you sing a song for me?” The crow was so pleased on hearing the fox’s flattering words that he immediately opened his beak and began, “Caw, caw, caw.” As soon as the crow opened his beak, the cream biscuit fell down. The cunning fox immediately munched it up and went off.The next day, the fox came across the crow again. This time, the crow had a piece of cake in his mouth. The fox also wanted that cake. He said, “Dear crow, please forgive me about yesterday. Your song was so sweet and I really wanted to hear the whole song but I spotted a rabbit nearby so I ran away. Please sing that song for me again.” But the crow had understood the fox’s trick. He flew off towards his nest with the piece of cake in his beak. After keeping the cake safely in his nest, he returned to where he was sitting and began singing loudly, “Caw, caw, caw.” The fox could not bear to listen to the crow’s voice and ran away.This story tells us that we cannot fool someone every time. Moral:You can never fool anyone more than once.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of crow and fox.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The fox and the cream biscuit

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days, I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.” Moral:Grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have. A person who is satisfied with what he/she has is the happiest person in the world.

This is a story of crow and peacock.Moral(s) of the story: jealousy and satisfaction

Who is Happy? The Peacock and The Crow

Shina Utavani

Once in a dense forest, there lived a group of crows on a tree. The crows were self-obsessed and did not like outsiders. They were all busy on their own and did not like anyone else. They were very rude to other birds and animals.A little bird, while flying in the forest, lost her way. It started getting dark so she decided to stop over a tree. She saw a tree where the group of crows lived. She decided to rest there. But they all were very arrogant. One of the crows shouted, “Go away from here.” The little bird requested them to allow her to stay for a while as it might rain but the crows did not listen to her. The bird pleaded them but they did not agree. Finally, the little bird decided to fly to another tree.The bird went to another tree and there she found a nice hole to rest in comfortably. After some time, it started raining. It rained heavily with hailstones falling. The crows sitting on that tree faced difficulties. Many of them were hurt and some of them even died. On the other hand, the little bird took rest for the whole night.The next day, the little bird came out and decided to fly towards her home. One of the crows saw her and asked, “How come you are not hurt?”. The little bird said, “God helps humble creatures and lets arrogant ones like you suffer.” The crows realized that they were punished for their selfish nature. Moral:One should never be arrogant because God punishes those who are arrogant.

This is a story of crow, forest and tree.Moral(s) of the story: arrogance and selfishness`

The vain Crows

A long time ago, the birds of a forest called a meeting to elect a new king for themselves. They were dissatisfied with their present king, Garuda, who spent most of his time enjoying in heaven rather than fulfilling his duties as the king of the birds. So, the birds decided that they would elect some other bird as their king. After many arguments and heated discussions, the birds finally came to the decision that they would crown the owl as their new king. They started making preparations for the coronation of the newly-elected king of the birds. Just then, a crow flew in and made an objection to the birds’ selection saying, “You have chosen the owl as the king? What were you thinking? Why, such an ugly bird! He also goes blind during the day! And what’s more, owls are birds of prey. He might just kill one of you and have you for his meal rather than protecting you as his subject. What kind of a king would such a bird make? A peacock or a swan would do much better.”The birds thought that the crow’s arguments were based on logic. This made them reconsider their decision. They decided to hold another meeting on a later date for the election of the king. The coronation ceremony was postponed.The owl who was still sitting, ready to be crowned as the king, noticed that suddenly everybody had gone absolutely quiet around him. Since it was day time, the owl could not see anything at all. He started growing restless and a little suspicious too. At last, he asked his attendants why the coronation was taking so long. The attendants replied, “Sir, the coronation ceremony has been postponed. The birds have changed their minds about crowning you as their king, They have all gone back to their homes now. There is nobody here.The owl was infuriated. “Why?” he asked.The attendant replied, “A crow put up arguments against the owl family. He said that owls are ugly and are killers.”The owl lost his temper even more. He said to the crow who was smirking, “You have deprived me of the honour of becoming the king of the birds. So, from now on, the owls will be sworn enemies of the crows. Beware of us.”The crow realised that his over-smartness had made him an enemy but it was too late now. Moral:Think twice before doing or saying anything.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of crow and owl.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

Why the owls became the enemies of the crows

Once there was a crow that lived near a farm-house. The owner of the farm had kept some pigeons and he fed them with grains regularly. The crow looked at the pigeons and envied them every day. Deciding to share the feed, the crow painted his body like that of pigeons and joined the pigeons as one of them. Thus, he was able to enjoy the feed daily. The pigeons never suspected anything foul.But one day, after the feed, the crow could not control himself and started crying. The pigeons came to know that he was not one of them. They pecked at his body so mercilessly that he started bleeding. The crow flew away to save his life and went straight to his own brethren- the crows. But because of his painted body, they refused to accept him. So, he was forced to flee in order to save himself and became a homeless wanderer.So, don't pose what you are not because affectation seldom works. Moral:Never pretend what you are not.

This is a story of crow.Moral(s) of the story: jealousy

A Pretentious Crow

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

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

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.

crow 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 Thirsty Crow

THE CROWS AND THE PIGEON

The fox and the cream biscuit

Who is Happy? The Peacock and The Crow

The vain Crows

Why the owls became the enemies of the crows

A Pretentious Crow

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

Pillars of earth and a boy

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