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

Once, there was a huge banyan tree on which thousands of crows lived. Close to this banyan tree, there was a cave in which thousands of owls had made their home. The owls used to hunt the crows at night. Every day, many crows were killed by the owls. The main reason for this was that the crows could not see clearly at night while the owls, being nocturnal birds, could see very clearly and locate exactly where the crows were sitting. The poor crows could not fly away to safety in time and became easy prey for the owls. Soon, the population of crows became considerably less. The king of crows was very troubled by this. He called a meeting to come up with a solution to this problem. After a lot of discussion, finally the crows hit upon a clever idea. They chalked out the details of their plan and decided to put it into action the next day.As per the plan, the next day, a drama was staged near the cave of the owls. The king of the crows pretended to beat up an old crow. They sprinkled a goat’s blood on the old crow to make it seem as if he was injured and bleeding. Then they left him lying there in a seemingly pitiable condition.The owl king’s senior minister advised the owl king to admit the wounded crow in their kingdom. He said, “Your Majesty, this poor crow has come to be in this miserable condition because he spoke favourably about us to his king. He said that owls were a superior race and stronger and more intelligent than them and so owls should be recognized as the king of birds. This led to him being beaten.”The owl king said, “Let him in and help him to regain his health and heal his injuries.” So, the old crow was carried into the cave by the owl king’s soldiers. Soon, the old crow made a favourable place for himself among the owls. Most of the ministers of the owl king’s court were in the old crow’s favour. There were only one or two who opposed him saying that, after all, a crow is an enemy. But the opposition was quite weak and the crow continued living with the owls.One day, he found his opportunity and began to put his plan into action. It was day time, so the owls were unable to see anything because of the sunlight. The apparently injured crow got up and gradually made a pile of a thousand wooden logs at the mouth of the owls’ cave. Then, he set fire to the logs. The flames leapt high and soon the whole cave including all the owls inside it were burnt down to ashes. Moral:Never trust an enemy and allow them to get close to you.

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

The old wise crow

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, 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

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

Once upon a time, a large falcon used to live on a high mountain. One day, the falcon was looking for his prey. He saw a rabbit scampering about on the ground below. The falcon suddenly swooped down, caught the rabbit in his sharp talons and, in an instant, flew back to his nest high up in the mountain rocks.A crow who used to live in a tree on the ground, saw the falcon perform this thrilling act and was highly impressed. He thought of imitating this act. So, the crow flew up high into the sky. From high above, he located a rabbit on the ground and swooped down with great force to catch the rabbit. But the crow’s aim was not sharp enough and he missed his target. Instead of catching the rabbit, the poor crow dashed against some jagged rocks. He broke his neck and cracked his skull and died immediately. Moral:Never imitate others foolishly. Everyone has their own uniqueness and we should embrace that.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of crow, falcon and rabbit.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness and uniqueness

The falcon and the 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

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

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.

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 old wise crow

Beware of mean friends

The Thirsty Crow

Who is Happy? The Peacock and The Crow

The falcon and the crow

THE CROWS AND THE PIGEON

The fox and the cream biscuit

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

A Pretentious Crow

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