Do you remember the stories that you read as a child? Moral stories can needn’t be serious, but they can be funny at the same time help your child learn something. We have compiled a list of 07 short moral stories that are inspirational, from India, and from around the world. <h3>1. The Boy Who Cried, Wolf</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_boy_who_cried%2C_wolf.webp_image_1638188646554.webp" width="359">There was a young boy whose father, a farmer, had asked him to take their herd of sheep grazing every day.One day, the boy was extremely bored as he watched over the sheep and so he cried: “Wolf! Wolf!”On hearing his cries, the villagers rushed to help him chase the wolf away and save the sheep.When they saw the grinning boy and realised he had cried wolf for his amusement, they scolded him and told him to not cry wolf!The next day, the boy cried out that the wolf was there. The villagers came, scolded him again, and left.Later that same day, a wolf came and terrorized the sheep.The boy cried, “Wolf! Wolf! Please help me.”But, the villagers assumed that he was pulling a silly prank again and did not come to his rescue. The sheep ran away and the boy cried.Moral of the story: Don’t lie or engage in foolish pranks, for no one will believe a liar even when he is telling the truth! <h3>2. The Golden Touch Of Midas</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_golden_touch_of_midas.jpg_image_1638188804006.jpg" width="365">A long time ago, there lived a king in Greece named Midas.He was extremely wealthy and had all the gold he could ever need. He also had a daughter whom he loved very much.One day, Midas saw a Satyr (an angel) who was stuck and was in trouble. Midas helped the Satyr and asked for his wish to be granted in return.The Satyr agreed and Midas wished for everything he touched to be turned to gold. His wish was granted.Extremely excited, Midas went home to his wife and daughter touching pebbles, rocks, and plants on the way, which turned into gold.As his daughter hugged him, she turned into a golden statue.Having learnt his lesson, Midas begged the Satyr to reverse the spell who granted that everything would go back to their original state.Moral of the story: Stay content and grateful for what you have. Greed will not get you anywhere. <h3>3. The Foolish Thief</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_foolish_thief.jpg_image_1638188856227.jpg" width="362">Once, a wealthy merchant came to King Akbar’s court to seek help from Birbal. He suspected that one of his servants had robbed him.On hearing this, Birbal thought of a clever plan and summoned the merchant’s servants.He gave each servant a stick of the same length. He told them that the thief’s stick would grow two inches by the next day.The next day, Birbal summoned the servants again. He noticed that a servant’s stick was two inches shorter than the others.He knew who the thief was.The foolish thief had cut the stick shorter by two inches as he thought it would grow two inches. Thus, proving his guilt.Moral of the story: Truth and justice will always prevail. <h3>4. Two Frogs With The Same Problem</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/two_frogs_with_the_same_problem.png_image_1638188962564.png" width="346">Once, a group of frogs was roaming around the forest in search of water. Suddenly, two frogs in the group accidentally fell into a deep pit.The other frogs worried about their friends in the pit.Seeing how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that there was no way they could escape the deep pit and that there was no point in trying.They continued to constantly discourage them as the two frogs tried to jump out of the pit. But keep falling back.Soon, one of the two frogs started to believe the other frogs — that they’ll never be able to escape the pit and eventually died after giving up.The other frog keeps trying and eventually jumps so high that he escapes the pit. The other frogs were shocked at this and wondered how he did it.The difference was that the second frog was deaf and couldn’t hear the discouragement of the group. He simply thought they were cheering him on!Moral of the story: People’s opinion of you will affect you, only if you believe it to be so. It’s better to believe in yourself. <h3>5. The Milkmaid and Her Pail</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/the_milkmaid_and_her_pail.jpg_image_1638189037353.jpg" width="348">There was once a milkmaid named Patty.She milked her cow and carried the two pails of milk she fetched on a stick and set out to sell the milk at the market.As she was walking to the market, she began to daydream about what she would do with the money she fo for the milk.She thought of buying a hen and selling its eggs and she planned on becoming wealthy.She dreamt of buying a cake, a basket of strawberries, a fancy dress, and even a new house with the money she would make selling the eggs and the milk!In her excitement, she forgot about the pails she was carrying and began to skip.Suddenly, she realised that the milk was spilling down and when she checked her pails, they were empty.Moral of the story: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch! It is important to focus on the process of achieving success and not just success alone. <h3>6. The Elephant Circus</h3><img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/elepahnt_circus.jpg_image_1638189224771.jpg" width="361">Once upon a time in a circus, five elephants performed circus tricks. They were kept tied up with weak rope that they could’ve easily escaped, but did not.One day, a man visiting the circus asked the ringmaster: “Why haven’t these elephants broken the rope and run away?”The ringmaster replied: “From when they were young, the elephants were made to believe that they were not strong enough to break the ropes and escape.”It was because of this belief that they did not even try to break the ropes now.Moral of the story: Don’t give in to the limitations of society. Believe that you can achieve everything you want to!<h3> </h3>7. The Elephants And The Mice<img src="https://bee-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com/image/1_xvfat_v8xumqnkx7-3jcka.png_image_1638189285226.png" width="350">In an earthquake-hit village abandoned by humans, a colony of mice lived. Near the village was a lake, which was used by a herd of elephants.The elephants would have to cross the village to go to the lake. Thus, one day, as they walked through, they trampled a lot of mice.The leader of the mice met with the elephants and requested them to take a different route to the lake. He promised them that their favour would be returned in the time of their need.The elephants laughed. How could such small mice help these large elephants in any way? But then, they agreed to take a different route.Not so long after, the mice heard that hunters had caught the herd of elephants and were tied in nets.Immediately, they rush to rescue the elephants. They gnawed through the nets and ropes with their sharp teeth.The leader of the elephants repeatedly thanked the mice for their help!Moral of the story: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Make sure you help your friends out whenever they need it. They should always be able to count on you. That’s all folks!We hope children like these short yet interesting stories with morals that we have read growing up!There are more and more stories with morals on <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/s/moral-stories" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bee Stories</a>.

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

07 Must Read Short Moral Stories For Children

Short stories with moral values will teach your children some important lessons which they will remember always.

Shina Utavani

Bible is the collection of 66 books written by different authors describing the God's action and purpose with all creations. Bible contains life stories of Jesus. The bible gives the messages God has desired for us to understand. Following is a story from “The Bible”. Once upon a time, there lived three wise kings far away in the east. The three kings were King Gasper, Melchior, and King Balthazar. One day, they saw a beautiful star shining brightly over Bethlehem. They knew it was a sign of God. They decided to follow the star. They followed God’s direction and to search for the King of Jews. The kings travelled all their way on the camel over mountains, deserts and over white open plains. They followed the star to find the child who would become the king of Jews. They believed that the star was God’s sign to give them direction.The wise men reached Bethlehem and the star disappeared. They were outside the palace of King Herod. They went to King Herod to ask about the child that was born. King Herod was afraid he would lose his kingdom so he said, “Tell me when you find this child so that I can also honour him.” The wise men were disappointed and did not know where to find the child. They again saw the star in the sky and started following it. They kept following the star and the star disappeared when they reached their destination. The wise men were overwhelmed. They were outside the house. They went inside and saw a little child in Mary’s lap. The child was born to Mary and Joseph. The wise men knew that the child was Jesus, son of God so they knelt down in front of him. They came with valuable gifts for their Lord. They offered God with precious gold and valuable gifts. When they left the house, they did not go back to King Herod because they were warned in their dream not to do that. They travelled back to their homes. One night, Joseph, the father of the child saw an angel in his dream. The angel warned him in the dream, “Hurry to Egypt and save the child. King Herod wants to kill the child and the Lord needs to be saved.”So, Joseph and Mary immediately left for Egypt along with Jesus. After many years, when King Herod died, the angel again came to Joseph’s dream and said, “You can go back to Bethlehem with Jesus, it is safe now.” Soon, they went back to Bethlehem and lived there happily. That is the place where Jesus grew up.Moral:Have faith that God always plans things for the greater good.

This is a story of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary.Moral(s) of the story: faith

The Three wise men

Pallavi Hota

Bible is the collection of 66 books written by different authors describing the God's action and purpose with all creations. Bible contains life stories of Jesus. The bible gives the messages God has desired for us to understand. Following is a story from “The Bible”. One day, Moses, the most important Jewish prophet, played many vital roles in the holy book Bible, saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man. The sight of such injustice broke young Moses’ heart. As he tried to stop the fight, the Egyptian man was killed. Left with no other option, Moses had to flee Egypt to save his life.Moses wandered around as a shepherd, trying to understand the purpose of his life. One day, as he sat near Mount Horeb, tending to his sheep, he saw a miraculous sight! The Lord himself appeared to Moses in the middle of a burning bush. As Moses looked on with wonder, God spoke out “Remove your sandals as you stand on sacred ground.” Then he told Moses that the people of Egypt needed him, so he was to go back to save the Hebrew slaves. Moses was confused and said, “I am but a common man. How can I convince the Pharaoh to let slaves go? And in any case, the sons of Israel, the Hebrews in Egypt won’t follow me!” God knew that Moses still did not trust his strength, so he said, “Throw your stuff to the ground.” Moses did as the Lord said, and lo behold, the stuff turned into a serpent. And as Moses picked up the serpent it again became his stuff. Moses finally understood that he was God’s chosen one. With complete faith and trust in the Lord, Moses left for Egypt to save the sons of Israel. The story of Moses will be one of the kids favourite bible stories. Moral:We all have the strength to change the world.

This is a story of Moses.Moral(s): trust

The Story Of Moses

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time there lived a famous samurai warrior who was known for his skills in battle. He was strong, intelligent and sharp.But the samurai was also very impatient.One day he was sent on a mission with some other warriors but his impatience messed it up.The King was very disappointed but he wanted to give this very talented person another chance.He sends the samurai to a monk. The samurai does not wish to go but obeys the orders.The monk lives high up in the mountains and treated the samurai with none of the respect he was used to.He forces the samurai to make straw hats.Day and night the samurai sits and make hats of straw. He is tired and bored. He does not see how the stupid hats would be anything beneficial to him.After all, the samurai is a valuable member of the King’s army. He should be practising, protecting his country, not making giant hats. He wanted to argue and tell the monk to stop this but he decided to patiently make hats until told otherwise.That was until on a very hot day he was called back to the capital.By that time, he had created hundreds of straw hats. He took one since it was a very hot day to travel. The hat protected him from the heat or he would have fainted in the hot journey.The samurai realised that after months of handling delicate needles, his sword skill had also become more precise.The samurai was no longer just strong but also wiser and more patient.

This is a story of cap, face, hat, king and soldier.Moral(s) of the story: patience

The warrior who learns patience

Ravina Sewani

Long ago, there lived a woodcutter in a small village. He was sincere in his work and very honest. Every day, he set out into the nearby forest to cut trees. He brought the woods back into the village and sold them out to a merchant and earn his money. He earned just about enough to make a living, but he was satisfied with his simple living.One day, while cutting a tree near a river, his axe slipped out of his hand and fell into the river. The river was so deep, he could not even think to retrieve it on his own. He only had one axe which was gone into the river. He became a very worried thinking how he will be able to earn his living now! He was very sad and prayed to the God. He prayed sincerely so the God appeared in front of him and asked, “What is the problem, my son?” The woodcutter explained the problem and requested the God to get his axe back.The God put his hand deep into the river and took out a silver axe and asked, “Is this your axe?” The Woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”.&nbsp;So the God put his hand back deep into the water again and showed a golden axe and asked, “Is this your axe?” The woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”. The God said, “Take a look again Son, this is a very valuable golden axe, are you sure this is not yours?” The woodcutter said, “No, It’s not mine. I can’t cut the trees with a golden axe. It’s not useful for me”.The God smiled and finally put his hand into the water again and took out his iron axe and asked, “Is this your axe?” To this, the woodcutter said, “Yes! This is mine! Thank you!” The Goddess was very impressed with his honesty so she gave him his iron axe and also other two axes as a reward for his honesty. Moral:Always be honest. Honesty is always rewarded.

This is a story of gold, iron, silver and woodcutter.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

The Woodcutter and The Axe

Once upon a time, there were two princesses named Anna and Elsa. They were sisters and best friends. Elsa was born with magical powers. She had the power to make snow and ice. The sisters used to play with ice and used to build snowmen. One day, while playing, Elsa slipped and accidentally struck Anna in the head with her ice magic. She started to get very cold and weak. Her parents took her to trolls for help. The trolls removed ice from Anna’s head but they had to take all the memory of Elsa’s magic with it. So, Anna did not remember anything about what had happened or that Elsa had magic.To protect Elsa’s secret, the King and Queen closed the castle gates and limited the people who came inside. Elsa did not want to hurt her sister again, so she stayed in the room instead of going out to play with Anna. Anna became very sad and lonely. The sisters did not spend any time together even after their parents were lost in a stormy sea.After some years, when Elsa became young, it was time to make her the queen of Arendelle. As it was a huge day, everyone was allowed to enter the ceremony for only that day. The gates of the palace were opened and everyone was invited to attend the ceremony. Elsa had to hide her secret. She prepared herself to hide her powers and feelings.At the grand ceremony, Anna met the handsome Prince Hans from the Southern Isles. She danced with the prince and he made her heart beat faster. They both liked each other. They decided to get married. Elsa thought that the prince was not right for Anna. She went to Anna and said, “Your engagement with the prince is a bad idea.” Anna disagreed and started arguing. In the heat of the argument, Elsa lost control and an ice shot from her hands. People were in shock after seeing ice splash from Elsa’s hands. Everyone in Arendelle knew her secret. Elsa panicked and left the place and went to the mountains.Elsa’s powers created a winter storm in the middle of the summer. Anna felt terrible. She decided to go after Elsa. She went with her horse towards the mountains. She gave Hans the power to handle the kingdom. As she was riding through the wind, her horse threw her into the snow and went back to Arendelle. Anna met an ice harvester Kristoff and his reindeer, Sven. They helped her and they all went together to look for Elsa. When they climbed mountains, they met Olaf, the snowman. He knew where Elsa was and decided to help them.Olaf directed them towards an ice palace. Anna and Kristoff entered a giant palace which was created by Elsa with her powers. They entered the palace and saw Elsa. Anna told her about everything. She told her about a terrible storm in Arendelle. Elsa wanted to help but was worried that she would hurt more people. The sisters led to an argument. And in the argument, an icy wave burst out from Elsa and struck Anna in the chest. Anna did not want to leave without taking Elsa with her. Elsa used her magic and created a giant snowman which chased Anna and her friends out of the palace.They safely escaped from the snowman but Anna was worried because her hair was turning snowy white. Kristoff brought Anna to the troll. A troll told them that unless Elsa’s magic was reversed, Anna would be frozen solid. The troll further said only the act of true love could melt the frozen heart. Hans and his soldiers had attacked Elsa and brought her back in Arendelle. They threw her in prison. Anna knew Hans was her true love. So, Kristoff brought Anna back to Arendelle. Anna asked Hans to save her with a kiss but he refused. He said he had only pretended to love her, to take over Arendelle. Hans left her alone shivering. Olaf helped in providing warmth to Anna. He saw Kristoff heading towards the palace. Olaf thought that Anna needed Kristoff’s kiss.Elsa had escaped from the prison but Hans was standing with a sword right behind him. Hans told Elsa about Anna. He told her how her magic had hit Anna’s heart. After hearing this, Elsa collapsed in the snow and closed her eyes. Every effort of her to protect Anna had failed. Anna went to Kristoff to save herself but saw Hans with a sword. Instead of saving herself, Anna went and leaped in front of her sister. Hans swung his sword with Anna and it shattered against her frozen body. Elsa gasped Anna. The two sisters hugged and suddenly Anna began to melt. Everyone remembered the words of troll, “An act of true love would melt a frozen heart.”True love of the sisters had saved them both. The two sisters became best friends again and summer had returned to Arendelle. The castle gates were wide open and now everything was the way it was supposed to be. They lived happily. Moral:True love can stand against all odds.

This is a story of Anna, Elsa, frozen, ice and sister.Moral(s) of the story: love

Frozen

Once, a village merchant named Vardhmanaka was going to Mathura on his bullock cart. His two bullocks, Sanjeevaka and Nandaka, who had always served him faithfully, were pulling the cart. As they were walking along the bank of river the Yamuna, Sanjeevaka all of a sudden stepped into a marshy area and got stuck. He tried to get out of the marsh with all his strength. The merchant also tried to get Sanjeevaka out of the marsh, but nothing worked. Ultimately, Vardhmanaka was left with no choice but to leave Sanjeevaka there and go on with his journey. So, Sanjeevaka was left there, stuck in the marsh. He thought sadly, “I served my master faithfully throughout my life and this is how he has treated me. Now, there were only two options for Sanjeevaka—either to try with all his might to escape from the marsh or to give up and die there. He thought, “It is said that God helps those who help themselves. I will not give up. I will try my best to get out of this marsh.” So, Sanjeevaka used every bit of his strength and energy to struggle against the marsh that was pulling him down, and finally he managed to get out of it.Now, Sanjeevaka had nowhere to go. He did not want to return to his master’s house after his master had deserted him so heartlessly. So, he started walking along the banks of the river. He wandered about, eating fresh grass in the nearby forest and drinking water from the river. Soon, living in the natural environment, he regained his strength and became healthier than ever. He started bellowing like a lion. His bellows sounded like thunder and could be heard from miles away.One day, the king lion of the forest, Pingalaka, went to the river to drink water. There, he heard the thunder-like bellowing which scared him so much that he ran back to his cave at once. His ministers were two jackals, Damnaka and Kartaka. When Damnaka saw that the king seemed to be afraid of something, he went and asked the king about it. “What is the matter, my lord? Has something scared you?” he asked. “Tell me, and I will bring it in front of you at once.”Though the lion, being the king, did not want to admit his fears, he ultimately told Damnaka about the frightening thunder-like sound. Damnaka at once left to investigate the source of the sound. Soon, Damnaka brought Sanjeevaka to the court and said, “This is the animal who has been making those frightful sounds, My Lord. He says that Lord Shiva has sent him to roam around in our forest.”King Pingalaka was pleased to meet Sanjeevaka. Soon, they became friends and spent most of their time chatting with each other. Gradually, the lion started becoming more and more spiritual. He started neglecting his kingdom and even stopped hunting for his prey. This made Damnaka, Kartaka and his other subjects very worried.Then, Damnaka came up with a plan. He went up to the king and said, “My lord, Sanjeevaka has evil plans about your kingdom. He plans to kill you, take over your kingdom and become the king himself.”And the next day, he went to Sanjeevaka and said, “King lion is no true friend of yours. He has planned to kill you and distribute your flesh to the whole kingdom. You should kill him with your sharp horns before he kills you.”Sanjeevaka was very furious on hearing this. He went to the king’s court and started bellowing in a thundering tone. The lion, who had already been misinformed by Damaka as to Sanjeevaka’s intentions, was himself very furious. Like a flash, the lion pounced on Sanjeevaka with a loud roar.Both, Pingalaka and Sanjeevaka, were strong. They had a gruesome fight at the end of which, Pingalaka killed Sanjeevaka with his sharp claws and ate his flesh. Though he had killed Sanjeevaka, Pingalaka felt sad about it. Sanjeevaka had been is friend. But since Damnaka had convinced him that Sanjeevaka was a traitor, he had no choice but to kill him. Damnaka was later made the chief minister of the kingdom. Moral:One should never be friends with a natural enemy.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of bull, jackal and lion.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

The bullock and the lion

Once upon a time, in the Himalayan mountains, there lived an old saint and his young disciple. The saint was frequently in deep meditation and during his meditation he would have visions of the future which always came true.One day, the saint had a very disturbing vision. He saw that his little disciple was going to die thirty days later. The saint called his disciple and said, “My child, I am going to give you a holiday for thirty days so that you can go home to see your family. However, you must remember to come back here before the end of the thirtieth day.”Delighted at the prospect of meeting his family again, the young disciple went down the mountains without realising that his guru was sad and was actually reluctant to let him go. After a long walk, the young boy stopped at a stream to drink water. There he saw an ant cave, which was a home to countless ants. He observed their activities with great interest and, just as he was about to leave, he saw the water level of the stream gradually rising because of the rains. Very soon, the water would enter the ant cave and drown all the ants.He quickly took off his shirt and put some hard soil in it to make a protective wall along the cave. He managed to stop the water from entering the cave and saved the life of countless ants. Twenty-nine days passed by quickly. The old saint was strolling in the mountain sadly when he saw his little disciple running back to ashram cheerfully.Convinced that these were the last few hours he would ever have with his favourite disciple, he showered him with lots of love and affection and dreaded the break of dawn.The morning sun rose, the whole day passed by and young boy continued to go about his chores as cheerfully as he had done in the past. That day-the thirtieth-too passed uneventfully, and so did the next few days! It was the first time that his vision of the saint had not come true. Obviously, he was elated, but also curious. He knew that there had to be a reason for this ‘vision’ to have failed.Happily, he asked the disciple to narrate the events that had taken place while he was away from the ashram. When he heard about the incident with the ants, it became clear to the saint that because the compassionate young boy had saved the life of countless ants his lifespan had increased. The young disciple, thereafter, lived a long and happy life full of compassion. Moral:Showing compassion to others comes back to us in ways we could never imagine.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of saint and disciple.Moral(s) of the story: compassion and discipline

A saint and his disciple

The story of Saraswati plays an important role in Indian mythology. It is believed that life would not have been the same that it is today without her. Brahma who is the creator of the Universe, felt that something was missing and was lacking concept. So, he decided to create the embodiment of knowledge to help him with this task of bringing order to the universe. So, Saraswati-the goddess of knowledge and wisdom emerged from his mouth.Goddess Saraswati was a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. She was the goddess of learning, art, and literature. She emerged from Brahma to give him directions. She guided him on how to create order in the cosmos; and that is how moon, sun, and stars all came into being.She guided him in creating the universe we see today. It is said that later she became the bride of Brahma. Thus, Brahma became the creator of the world with Saraswati as his wisdom.

This is a story of Brahma, Saraswati and universe.Moral(s) of the story: knowledge and wisdom

The Origin of Sarawati

The Sun and the Moon were best friends once upon a time. As they were always together there was no concept of the night. No one in the world knew anything about the night. They did not know anything about sleeping. The children played the whole day without feeling sleepy. One day, the Moon and the Sun were passing by and saw the ocean. The ocean was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The ocean enjoyed the Sun’s warmth and Moon’s beautiful face. She loved the moon more than the Sun. Whenever Moon was around, she created waves and tides in excitement. This made Sun very jealous.One afternoon, as the Ocean slept, the Sun did something terrible. He slowly lifted the Moon and threw him against the wall of the sky! Instead of breaking like glass, the Moon created millions of sparks that could not go out. He called the sparks “stars.”The Stars knew what the Sun had done to the Moon. The stars were very angry at the Sun and decided to attack the Sun. The stars formed an army and went on to attack the Sun. Before they could attack the Sun, the Ocean stopped them and asked, “Where are you going little stars?” The stars replied, “We are going to destroy the Sun!”The Ocean did not want either the Sun or Moon to be hurt or destroyed in a fight. She loved them both. So, she made a quick plan. She told the stars she had an idea. She called the Moon and the Sun. She told them to share their time with her. The Sun would visit her in the day, and the Moon at night. Both were very happy with the idea. This made the Ocean happy too. The Stars followed the Moon every day, to protect him from the Sun.From that day onwards, people saw the Sun in the day and the Moon at night. Moral:Fighting is not the solution to every problem.

This is a story of moon, ocean and star.Moral(s) of the story: ego and respect

dhanteras 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 Three wise men

The Story Of Moses

The warrior who learns patience

The Woodcutter and The Axe

Frozen

The bullock and the lion

A saint and his disciple

The Origin of Sarawati

Stars guarding the Moon

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