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.

One day, a bear was sleeping in the forest. A farmer saw the bear sleeping and sneaked into him and cut off one of his paws with an axe. The farmer brought the paw home. He said to his wife, “Boil some soup from the flesh, and knit some warm gloves from the wool.” Her wife took off the skin, threw the flesh into the pot to boil, and sat down to spin the wool. When the bear woke up, he found out that one of his paws was not there. There was no one to help him so, he cut a bit of wood and tied it instead of his leg. After that, we went into the village. On his way, he sang: Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I am stumbling with the tree wood on my leg,The water’s asleep, and the earth’s asleep, the whole village is asleep,only one woman is awake, and she is boiling my flesh,sitting on my skin and spinning my wool!” The farmer’s wife got scared by hearing the bear’s voice. She saw him coming and she quickly hid in the cellar under the floor. The bear went into the house and there was no one. He then took the bit of his skin, took the flesh out of the pot and left the place. Moral:Attacking someone when they are not aware is easy. The strength is when both the parties are equally aware and armed.

This is a story of bear and farmer.Moral(s) of the story: cheating and strength

The bear’s paw

Yesha Desai

Once, Emperor Akbar got so displeased by an act of Mulla Do-Piyaza that he asked one of his soldiers to slay him and bring him his head the next morning.The Mullaa was petrified to hear the Emperor’s orders. He went running to Birbal and pleaded with him to save his life. Birbal assured him that he would not let Mullaa come in harm’s way. He quickly thought of a clever plan and asked Mullaa to execute it in a clever fashion.The Mullaa, according to the plan, persuaded the soldier to take him alive to the court the next morning. Emperor Akbar blew his top on seeing Mullaa alive in his court. He asked the soldier angrily, “Didn’t I tell you to bring Mulla's head to the court, not the Mulla himself?”Before the soldier could say anything, the Mullah said politely, “It is not his fault, Huzoor! I asked him to do so. I feared that he may not carry out your orders in the best possible manner. So, I thought of myself doing the difficult task that you had assigned to him. I have brought you my head Huzoor, as you had desired, on my shoulders!”Akbar was so pleased with Mulla's defense that he spared Mulla's life and allowed him to keep his head on his shoulders. Moral:Putting your talents and creativity to a good use, you can help someone else.

This is a classic story from Akbar Birbal.

The Mulla used his head

Ravina Sewani

King Vikram was given the duty of bringing Betal to a tantric. Betal traditionally means ‘evil spirit’. Each time Vikram tried to capture Betal, it told him a story that ended with a riddle. If Vikram could not answer the question correctly, Betal agreed to remain in captivity. But, if the king knew the answer and still kept quiet, his head would burst into a thousand pieces. And if King Vikram spoke, Betal would escape and return to his tree.King Jaipal had three queens. Each of them was very beautiful, sensitive, and delicate.One day, the first queen was wounded when a flower from her hair fell on her thigh. Another night, when the king and his second queen were spending time on the terrace, the moonlight burned her skin. The third queen was also no less. Once, she heard someone weeping in the next room, she turned pale and fainted.Betaal asked Vikram, “Tell me O Wise king! Which among the three queens is most sensitive?” Vikram replied, “The third queen was the most sensitive because in my opinion, those who are sensitive to the suffering of others are sensitive in the real sense of the word.” Betaal was very happy with the answer. He said, “No doubt, you are very intelligent! But, you always make the mistake of breaking your silence. Now, I must fly back to the tree. Goodbye!” Saying this, Betaal flew back to the tree. Moral:Be empathetic towards other and develop the skill of listening and understanding others.

This is a classic story from Vikram betal.Moral(s) of the story: empathy and understanding

The Three Sensitive Queens

One day, Emperor Akbar saw a woman hugging and kissing a very dark, ugly and unattractive child. Though the child was obnoxious to look at, the woman was calling him the most attractive child in the world. This surprised the Emperor and he said to Birbal, “Birbal, I wonder how could a woman shower her love on such an unattractive child.” Birbal replied politely, “Huzoor, he must have been the woman’s own child. For every mother, her own child is the most beautiful child in the world.”Birbal could easily make out from the Emperor’s face that he was not convinced with his reply. Next day, when the royal court met, Birbal ordered a guard to find and bring the most beautiful child in the world to the court next morning.Next day, the guard brought one unattractive and ugly child with projecting teeth and unkempt hair and presented him before the court. “This is the most beautiful child in the world, Your Majesty,” said the guard.The Emperor asked, “How do you know that he is the most beautiful child in the world?” “Your Majesty, I went home and shared my problem with my wife. According to her, our child is the most beautiful child in the world and hence, I brought him to the court,” the guard replied meekly. Moral:Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This is a classic story from Akbar Birbal.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

Birbal’s beautiful explanation

Pallavi Hota

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayanaî.Apart from his three brothers, Rama also had a sister. Not many people know about this, and it is also believed that all four sons of King Dashrath were not told about the existence of their sister Shanta. Shanta was the oldest child of King Dashrath and Queen Kaushalya. Queen Kaushalya had an older sister, named Vershini, who did not have any children of her own. So, during one of her visits to her younger sister Kaushalya, Vershini asked for Kaushalyaís child. King Dashrath agreed to give his daughter Shanta to Vershini.

This is a story of Ram and Shanta.

The Story of Lord Ramaís Sister Shanta

Shina Utavani

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from “The Mahabharata” which describes the reason why we call Karna ‘Danveer’Karna was on his death bed amidst the battlefield and was gasping for breath in his last moments. Lord Krishna was confused about Karna’s generosity and wanted to check it. He went to Karna disguised as a beggar. Karna was on his death bed and seeing the beggar asked him what he needed. Lord Krishna as a beggar said, “Lord, I need some gold for my daughter’s marriage”. Karna showed his helplessness to the beggar and said, “I am sorry but I have nothing to give you as I am on my death bed. I feel worse that I am not able to give you anything. But you can ask gold from my wife in Angadesh.” Listening to this the beggar said, “I cannot travel so far for gold, Lord. I thought you are kind and generous and would help me.”Karna felt very bad and decided to give him the golden tooth he had. Karna took a stone and broke his golden teeth. The tooth was bleeding with blood and Karna did not want to give blood covered teeth to the beggar. He was injured badly and could not move. He took his arrow and bowed it towards the sky. The next moment rain broke out and then he gave the cleaned gold teeth to the beggar. Lord Krishna was shocked to see Karna’s sacrifice. He was proved that there was no one as generous and kind as Karna. Lord Krishna came into his real form and said, “You will live in the hearts of people. You will be remembered for your qualities Daan (Donation) and Veer (Heroic). You will be remembered as ‘Danveer.”That is how Karna got his name ‘Danveer”.

This is a story of Karan and Krishna.Moral(s) of the story: sacrifice

Karna as ‘Danveer’

There was once a river that flowed through a deep forest. There lived a handsome, clever deer on one bank of the river. A crocodile lived in the river. He was horrific. One day, the crocodile saw the deer and from that day, he wanted to catch him.The deer was passing by the river one day and he saw red delicious berries on the opposite bank of the river. He was mesmerized by the berries and said, “I wish I could go across and eat them.” The deer only thought of the berries the whole day. He wanted to go on the opposite bank but if he entered the water, the wicked crocodile and his friends would eat him.He thought of a plan. He went near the river and shouted, “Hey Mr. Crocodile!” On hearing the deer’s voice, the crocodile came and said, “What happened? Why are you calling me?”. The deer said that the king had arranged a buffet and had invited all of them to eat and enjoy. He said that there will be lots of delicious food.“The king is inviting us?” the crocodile asked excitedly. The deer replied, “Yes! The king has called me to count the crocodiles in the river. Please call all the crocodiles in the river and tell them to line up one behind the other so that I can count them.”After hearing about the buffet, all the crocodiles obeyed and stood in a line. The crocodile asked the deer to proceed the counting. The deer said, “I will count by climbing on your back. You will not eat me. If you will then I will not be able to report the king and you all will not be invited for the party.”The crocodiles were so excited about the buffet that they said, “No, we will not eat you. We promise.” The deer jumped from one crocodile to another counting them and finally reached the other side of the river. As soon as he reached there, he said, “Thank you crocodile for your help. This will now be my new home.” The deer immediately ran off and the crocodiles were angry and annoyed.And so, in this way, by using his wit, the deer was able to overcome the obstacles of the crocodiles. He lived happily in his new home, feasting on delicious berries and fruits every day. Moral:It is the intelligence that matters not always the strength.

This is a story of crocodile, deer and river.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Clever Deer 

Diya went on a train for the first time when she was four years old. She was going with her grandmother to her uncle’s house.It was a very long journey and Diya was very excited for it.Firstly, they reached the railway station half an hour before our train. It was a good idea because railway stations are very crowded. It took Diya and her grandmother a long time to get to our platform because they had too many bags.There were so many people. Some people who travelled daily, some tourists, vendors, railway staff.They bought hot tea and drank it. When their train arrived at the stop they moved a little back. Diya was seeing a train from so close for the first time.&nbsp;It was very huge and long.Then they settled into their seats and placed their bags. Diya was very excited for the journey to begin.Soon, the train started moving and picked up speed. She played lots of games with her grandmother and watched the scenery go. She looked out of the window the entire time.Soon the journey ended and she loved every bit of it.

Diya’s first train journey

Once, a donkey called Gopu lived in the hills. One day, Gopu was happily munching on the grass of the lush green meadow. Gopu was so engrossed in eating the green patch of grass that he did not notice anything in his surroundings. Suddenly while eating, he lifted his head and was shocked to see Shikari right in front of him. Shikari was a wolf. Gopu realized that he needed to quickly think of an idea or else the wolf would devour him. At once, Gopu started making sounds, “Oohhh, ahhh, it’s hurting so bad!” Unable to understand anything, Shikari asked him what was wrong. Gopu began to limp and said, “A sharp thorn has pierced through my foot while I was walking on the bushes, now I am in terrible pain, will you please remove it for me?”“Why do you think I would do that?” asked Shikari, and thought to himelf how foolish the donkey must be. “I am waiting to eat him up and he wants me to remove a thorn from his foot,” thought Shikari.“Shikari, it is for your benefit that I am asking you to take out the thorn,” said Gopu. “What benefit will I get by helping you?” asked Shikari.“The thorn is very big and sharp. When you eat me, it will get stuck in your throat and will hurt you badly.”Shikari thought for a moment and then agreed to do what Gopu said. Gopu lifted his foot for Shikari, and as soon as Shikari came close to his feet, Gopu kicked Shikari with all his strength and galloped away swiftly.Shikari was blinded by the force of the kick and he also lost some teeth. “Serves me right. Why did I even listen to the donkey instead of eating him up right away? It is so foolish of me,” Shikari thought to himself, and quietly limped away from there. Moral:The right use of one’s wisdom at the right time can escape the scariest of the situations.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is. a story of donkey and wolf.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

dancing 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 bear’s paw

The Mulla used his head

The Three Sensitive Queens

Birbal’s beautiful explanation

The Story of Lord Ramaís Sister Shanta

Karna as ‘Danveer’

The Clever Deer

Diya’s first train journey

The donkey’s wisdom

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