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.

Once upon a time, there was a little kid named Shankar. He belonged to a very poor family. One day, he was passing by the forest carrying some woods. On his way, he saw an old man who was very hungry. Shankar wanted to give him some food, but he did not have food for himself. So, he continued on his way. Further, he saw a deer sitting under a tree. The deer was very thirsty. Shankar wanted to give him some water, but he did not have water for himself. So, he continued on his way. Then, he came across a man who wanted to make a camp but did not have enough woods. Shankar decided to give him some of his woods. In return, the man gave him some food and water. Instead of keeping the food and water for himself, Shankar went to the old man and gave him some food. He then rushed to the thirsty deer and gave him some water. The old man and the deer were very happy. Shankar then happily went back on his way. However, one day Shankar was walking by, and he suddenly fell down from the hill. He was in pain and it was difficult for him to even move. There was no one around to help him. After some time, an old man saw Shankar. He was the same man whom Shankar had helped before. The old man quickly came and pulled him up the hill. He had many wounds on his legs. The deer whom Shankar had given water saw his wounds. He quickly went to the forest and brought some herbs. The herbs helped Shankar to cover his wounds. All were happy that they could help each other. Moral:&nbsp;If you help others, they will also help you. The more you want to help others, the more they will want to help you.&nbsp;

This is a story of deer.Moral(s) of the story: helpfulness and kindness

An act of Kindness

Nishita Sanghvi

In a kingdom, a king was very fond of eating meat of deer. He had in fact kept a herd of deer in his garden where he would feed them and ultimately eat them.However, the eldest deer was spared for the time being as she was going to have a baby. She had requested the king that after her baby was born she would become the King's next meal.As this was agreed upon, it was now the turn of the next deer to serve the king but this deer was really scared. So, the deer with the baby decided to go instead as she could not see another baby in tears.When the king saw the pregnant deer, he asked, “Why are you here instead of the younger deer?” To which she said, “The younger one is too scared and I feel that to save my baby's life, I cannot take someone else's baby's life.”On hearing this, the king felt ashamed of himself. He not only spared the deer's life but decided to stop eating meat altogether.Moral- Kindness begets kindness.

This is a story of Deer and king.Moral(s) of the story: kindness

The kind Deer

Ravina Sewani

A long time ago, in a jungle there lived a deer, a mouse, and a crow. They were very good friends. They used to spend most of their time with one another and had their meals together. One day, a turtle came to them and said, “I’m all alone in the jungle. I also want to join your group and become your friend.”“You are most welcome to join our company,” the three friends said. The crow asked the turtle, “But what about your personal safety? You know that the jungle is full of dangers. Many hunters keep coming to the forest regularly. Suppose a hunter attacks, how will you save yourself?” The turtle replied, “That is the main reason why I want to join your group.” The four friends had hardly finished talking when they noticed a hunter approaching them. Quickly, to save their lives, the deer ran away into the forest, the crow flew high in the sky and the mouse darted into a nearby hole. Turtles, as we all know, are slow creatures. The turtle could not crawl away fast enough and the hunter trapped him in a net. Though the hunter was disappointed on not being able to catch the deer, he thought that it was better to at least have a turtle to eat rather than going hungry. The deer, the mouse and the crow were very worried to see the turtle getting trapped. They sat together to think of a plan for freeing their friend from the hunter. Together, they came up with a plan and started working on it. First, the crow flew high up in the sky to locate the hunter. He spotted him next to the river. Then, the deer overtook the hunter, unseen, and went and lay at a little distance, pretending to be dead. When the hunter reached this spot, he saw the deer lying on the ground. He thought that the deer must be dead. He was very happy at having found a deer finally. He thought that he would feast upon the deer’s flesh and sell its skin in the market for good money. So, he put the turtle on the ground and started moving towards the deer. As soon as the hunter left the turtle’s side, the mouse appeared out of a hole and nibbled off the net in which the turtle was trapped. The hunter, completely unaware of the animals’ plan, walked towards the deer thanking his stars. But, as soon as he came near the deer, the deer suddenly got up and bolted into the forest. The hunter was completely taken by surprise. Before he had time to react, the deer was gone. Dejected, the hunter went back to the place where he had set the turtle down. He was shocked to see that the turtle was gone! There was only a piece of nibbled net lying on the ground. By the time that the hunter was away, the turtle, freed by the mouse had crawled to the river and swam away. These strange occurrences were too much for the hunter. For a moment he thought that he must be dreaming. But the damaged, gnawed-through piece of net was evidence that all these things had truly happened. The hunter could not think of any explanation for these strange happenings other than that it was just a miracle. Scared out of his wits, the hunter ran away from the jungle as fast as he could.The turtle thanked his three friends for saving his life. Thereafter, the four friends lived happily. Moral:A friend in need, is a friend indeed.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story from crow, deer, mouse and turtle.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

The four friends and the hunter

Shina Utavani

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 

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

Penguin, Reindeer and Fox were great friends. One day, Penguin and Reindeer found a load of fruit, and decided to keep it a secret. On the way, they met Fox, who seeing them so happy, asked them why. They told him they couldn't say, because it was a secret, but Fox asked them to trust him, so they told him about the fruit.When they arrived at the village, Fox forgot about his promise, and told everyone. When Penguin and Reindeer returned to the place where they had found the fruit, the animals of the village had already been there and eaten it all.That same day, Penguin and Reindeer found another place full of food, and the same thing happened again with Fox. Angered by these betrayals, they decided to teach Fox a lesson. The next day they told Fox that they had found a lake so full of fish that no effort was needed to catch them. Fox again told everyone in the village about this. The next day, Fox came by, covered in cuts and bruises. After telling all the animals about the lake full of fish, everyone, including even the polar bears, had gone there. But, not finding anything, they felt deceived, and had given Fox a good beating.Fox learned that keeping people's trust is very important, and that to get it in the first place you have to earn it with loyalty and always keeping your word.Penguin and Reindeer devised another trick for Fox but, as he was no longer a bigmouth, he did not betray them, and Penguin and Reindeer regained their faith in Fox, thus forgiving him.Moral: Betrayal often leads to loss of friends and family.

This is a story of fox, deer, penguin and reindeer.Moral(s) of the story: loyalty and trust

Bigmouth fox

Two deer named Beauty and Brownie lived with their father and mother and great herds of deer in a forest. One day their father called them and said, “Dear children, the time has come for the corn in the fields to ripen. It is a time of great danger for us as when the corn is ripening in the fields, the hunters set their traps there to catch us. It will be best for both of you to go away for a while. Each one of you must also take a small herd of young deer with you and keep it safe.”The children asked their father, “Dear father, will you not be accompanying us?” The father replied, “No, there is enough food for me and your mother here! We will stay back with some old deer. But you must leave with the young deer as there is not enough food for all of us. At the hills, you will find plenty of food to sustain yourselves till the time, the corn in the fields is harvested and it is safe to return.” He further instructed them, “Remember to travel by night, because the hunters will see you if you go by day. And you must not take your herd near the villages where hunters live.”So Beauty and Brownie both took one herd of young deer and bid adieu to their parents. Beauty remembered his father’s instructions word by word and always travelled at night. He never allowed any deer of his herd to go near any villages. But Brownie was completely oblivious of his father’s advice. He fearlessly travelled in the daylight and when he saw a village, he led his herd right past it. The hunters were able to clearly spot Brownie’s herd, and they killed many deer from his herd.When the crops had been cut, the deer started returning to the forest. Beauty proudly came back with all the deer of his herd while Brownie could bring back only a few.That is why it is said, we must never ignore the advice of our elders. Moral:We should not ignore the advice of our elders.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of deer.Moral(s) of the story: obedience

Beauty and the brownie

Once upon a time a deer, a woodpecker and a turtle lived in a forest near a lake. The three were very close friends, and lived together happily. One day a hunter came to that forest and was delighted to see the footprints of the deer near the edge of the lake. He decided to catch the deer, and set a massive leather trap near the lake. Late in the night, when the deer visited the lake to quench his thirst, he was caught in the hunter’s trap. He cried out for help. At once the woodpecker flew down from her tree-top, and the turtle came out of the water to see what had happened to their dear friend.The woodpecker told the turtle to gnaw the leather trap with his teeth and set the deer free, while she flew away to find the hunter and keep him engaged. Soon, the woodpecker was able to locate the hunter’s house. As soon as the hunter came out of the front door, the woodpecker flew as fast as she could and struck the hunter in his face by flapping her wings.The hunter was taken aback by the unexpected attack of a bird and rushed back into his house. His face was badly hurt, but he wanted to find out whether the deer was caught in his trap or not. So, this time, he left the house from the backdoor, hoping that the bird would not see him. The woodpecker was a clever bird. She was already waiting for the hunter to come out of his backdoor. As soon as the hunter came out, she again attacked him, flapping her wings in his face. The hunter once again scuttled back inside the house and lied down on his cot for a while. It was getting difficult for him to wait any longer. So, he mustered up courage and decided to kill the bird if she attacked him again. He came out once again with a knife and dared the bird to come and attack him once more. This time the woodpecker flew back as fast as she could fly to her friends. She yelled at the top of her voice, “Beware my friends! Here comes the hunter!”By this time the turtle had gnawed away most of the leather trap. The deer broke this last piece of the trap with all his might and ran into the woods. The woodpecker flew up to her nest in the tree-top. But the turtle, who had become very weak after gnawing the trap all night long, was unable to get away. The hunter picked the turtle, put him in a bag and tied it to a tree. The deer saw his friend being captured and in order to save the turtle’s life, he slowed down a bit and let the hunter see him.The hunter seized his knife and started chasing the deer. The deer, keeping just out of his reach, led the hunter into the forest. The hunter was not familiar with the forest and got lost in the woods. The deer then took another way and reached the lake once again. Using his sharp horns, he tore open the bag in which the hunter had captured the turtle.The turtle was alive and very happy to see his friend once again. The woodpecker also flew down to meet them. The deer then thanked both of his friends for saving his life and asked them to hide in the forest till the time the hunter did not go away for good. The woodpecker flew away to safety, the turtle hid in the lake and the deer vanished in the thick forest.The hunter finally found his way out of the woods. He was very sad at losing the deer but was content that at least he had the turtle. When he reached the lake, he found that the turtle had also escaped. He cursed his stars, swore never to come back to that place again for hunting and left for his home. The three friends lived together for the rest of their lives. Moral:It is important that we help our friends and stand with them when they are in need so we can thrive.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of deer, tortoise and woodpecker.Moral(s) of the story: friendship and helpfulness

deer 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.

An act of Kindness

The kind Deer

The four friends and the hunter

The Clever Deer

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

Bigmouth fox

Beauty and the brownie

The woodpecker, turtle and the deer

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