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, a farmer had two big and strong oxen by the names of Big Red and Little Red on his farm. He also owned a little pig that used to live with the oxen. The oxen used to work very hard in the farmer’s field. The pig did nothing and just idled around.One day, the farmer fixed his daughter’s wedding. He ordered his men to fatten the pig for the wedding feast. And since that day, the farmer’s men started feeding a rich diet to the pig.Seeing this, Little Red said to Big Red, “Brother, just look at the good fortune of this lazy pig! He is getting to eat all the delicious dishes without doing anything. Despite working so hard in the fields, we get to eat only some straws and grass.”Big Red replied, “Dear brother, do not envy the pig. He is eating the food of death. He is being fattened up for the wedding feast. He would soon be slaughtered by the farmer. It is better to eat dry grass and straws and live long rather than have a rich feast and get killed.” Moral:Grass is always greener on the other side. The ox thought it had a worse situation than the pig but in reality, it was quite the opposite. We always seem to think that others are in a better place than us rather than being thankful for what we already have.

This is story of farmer, Jataka tales, ox and pig.Moral(s) of the story: jealousy

The Ox who Envied The Pig

One day there was a battle of wits between a mountain and a mouse. The mountain said, “What a poor little thing you are!”The mouse snapped, “I know I am not as big as you are. But, then, you are not as small as I am.” “Big size has big advantages,” said the mountain, “I can stop the clouds sailing across the sky.”“So you can,” agreed the mouse. “But you can’t stop me from making big holes in your very foundation, can you?”The tiny mouse outwitted the mighty mountain. Moral:Big or small, each one has his importance.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of mountain and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: equality

The Mountain and the Mouse

Shina Utavani

Once there lived a pig in a farm. His name was Henry. The pig was very passionate and ambitious. The biggest ambitious of the pig was to fly like a bird. He thought if birds can fly, he can fly too. He said to himself, “Birds can fly because they have wings but humans can also fly and they do not have wings. If humans can create artificial wings, I can also do it.”An idea stuck into Henry’s mind. He imagined himself flying like a bird. Henry started collecting bird’s feathers. He used to collect feathers dropped by any bird. Soon, he had enough feathers. He thought that the feathers would help him in flying in the sky like a bird. He then started preparing for the next step of his plan.One day, one of Henry’s friends Mousey saw him doing something secretly. Mousey saw henry applying glue to something. Mousey went to henry and asked him what was he up to. Henry said that he was doing a great invention and that he will fly just like a bird. The Mousey told henry that it was not possible, but henry did not listen to him and continued with his invention.Mousey told everyone about Henry’s invention and everyone gathered to see Henry flying up to the sky. Mousey shouted, “Henry, please do not do this. You will die, you fool! I will not let you do this, Henry, stop!”. Henry shouted, “Do not stop me Mousey, go away!” and pushed Mousey away. The poor Mousey fell on the ground.Henry began to fly with his feathers. He applied the utmost force to the feathers so that he can fly. But instead of going up, he was coming down. Henry was very scared. Henry now understood why Mousey was telling him not to do so. But it was late for Henry as he was already in the sky. Henry lost all his balance and fell on the ground with a bang.Henry lost his life because he fell on the ground miserably. Mousey also lost his life because Henry pushed him very hard. Both of them lost their lives. Henry lost his life because of his foolish wish and Mousey lost his life because of his foolish friend. Moral:If people don’t listen to good advice, let them find the hard way.

This is a story of pig.Moral(s) of the story: friendship and idiot

The pig has wings

Once there lived a camel who had a bad habit of making funny comments on the looks of other animals and birds. He never spoke a good word about any of them.To the cow he said, "Just have a look at yourself. What an ugly looking animal you are! When I look at your bones, it seems to me they will tear through your skin any moment."To the buffalo he said, "You must have surely offended the Creator and so He has painted your entire body with the coal black colour. Your crooked horns make you look uglier still."To the elephant he said, "You are a cartoon among all the animals. The Creator must have made you in one of His humorous moods. All the parts of your body are out of proportion. Your huge body is tagged with a bit of a tail. Your eyes are so small, and ears so big. I had better not say anything about your trunk and legs and other parts of your body."To the parrot he said, "The Creator has shown His sense of humour through the hook-like red beak of yours."In this way the camel always jeered and sneered at one and all. Once the camel chanced to meet a fox who was very outspoken and blunt. The fox said to him, "Camel, give up your dirty habit of commenting on others. Just find some time to look at yourself. You have a long face, stone-like eyes, yellow and dirty teeth, legs like crooked sticks and an ugly hump on your back. You are the ugliest among ugly animals. Other animals have a fault or two each, but yours outnumber and outclass them all."The camel hung his head in shame and walked away silently. Moral:Look at your own faults rather than at those of others.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of buffalo, camel, cow, elephant, fox and parrot.Moral(s) of the story: empathy

The ugly Camel

Chetak was the most well groomed, obedient and good looking horse in the locality. His owner Ram Singh was extremely proud of him. He took very good care of Chetak and never missed a chance to show him off in front of his neighbours and associates. “There goes my young boy,” exclaimed Ram Singh each time he opened the gate to Chetak’s stable. Chetak would immediately come out galloping and would run around the whole ground. His sparkling eyes, light brown mane and shiny brown coat looked very attractive.Ram Singh would then ride him all around the farm. The crowd would look at them admiringly and he would feel extremely proud of Chetak. “Whenever I ride him, it’s like I am flying in the air,” said Ram Singh gladly.Chetak’s old groom had to quit for some reason, so Ram Singh hired a new groom for him. Ram Singh loved Chetak to pieces, so he hired the best groom in the town to take care of Chetak. Baloo, the new groom was very famous and supposedly all the horses groomed by him always ended up looking way better than they had ever done before. Chetak too became very handsome and even more attractive under Baloo’s grooming.Early every morning, Baloo would start with his grooming process. He would bathe Chetak carefully and comb his tails and brush his coat till it started shining. Hours passed this way and Chetak looked well groomed every day.But for some reason, Chetak was not happy. His beautiful eyes lost their sparkle and he became very inactive. Earlier, he would jump and gallop out of his stable as soon as the door was open. However, these days he almost had to be coaxed to get up and run. “What exactly is wrong with him?” thought the worried owner, and decided to find out for himself.One day, he went inside Chetak’s stable to investigate the reason behind the drastic change that had came upon his most loved companion. While walking through the stable, Ram Singh suddenly stumbled upon a stack full of oats. He was taken by surprise as those oats were meant for Chetak. Ram Singh had instructed Baloo strictly to feed them to Chetak thrice a day. Later, he found out that Baloo, instead of feeding Chetak with the oats, was actually saving them to sell them off at a lower price in the market.Ram Singh got very angry and asked Baloo, “Why did you keep the oats aside, while they are meant to be fed to Chetak?” Baloo was absolutely unrepentant and replied, “So what? He does not need to eat that much. Moreover, I do everything possible to make him look good—I rub oil on him and brush his coat to make him look this nice.”Ram Singh lost his temper. He shouted, “I appointed you to take care of him and keep him in good condition. I don’t care if you are grooming him nicely when he is starved and unhappy.” Saying this, Ram Singh dismissed Baloo immediately and started taking care of Chetak personally. Moral:All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes, what our eyes see is not the reality.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of horse.

The groomed horse

Once a goat was grazing on the grassy slope of a hill. It decided to taste the grass on the hills across. A narrow log served as a bridge across the stream. While crossing the bridge, it saw another goat coming from the other side. The bridge was so narrow that only one animal could cross the bridge at a time.The first goat said to the other, "Let me pass first." "You let me pass first", shouted the other goat. They started arguing and finally got into a terrible fight. They lost their balance and fell into the stream.The other grazing goats witnessed this and learnt a lesson. After few days, two other goats encountered the same problem.&nbsp;One goat said to the other, "I'll sit down and you can step over my body and pass." The other goat replied, "Thank you. Next time, I'll sit down and let you cross first."Thus both of them were able to cross the bridge safely.Moral: Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

This is a story of goat and jataka tales.Moral(s) of the story: cooperation, foolishness, understanding and wisdom

Two Silly Goats

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time, there was a small dog that used to sneak in the royal shed to eat some food that was kept for the royal elephant. Since the royal elephant lived alone throughout the day in the shed, he also did not mind the dog visiting him daily and gladly let him eat his leftover food. Soon, the elephant and the dog became very good friends. They ate together, slept together and played together. A time came when they were almost inseparable from each other.Then one day, a farmer who came to visit the elephant-keeper, saw the dog. He liked it very much and asked the elephant keeper to sell it to him. Although the elephant keeper did not own the dog, He took some money from the villager and gave it to him. The king’s elephant became very sad after this incident. He missed his friend a lot and stopped eating, drinking and even bathing.Three days had passed and the elephant had not moved an inch from his place. The elephant keeper had to report the matter to the king. The king asked his wisest minister to look into the matter and find out what was wrong with his elephant. The minister went to the stable and checked the elephant. He could make out that there was nothing physically wrong with the elephant. He then arrived to the conclusion that the big animal was perhaps missing something or someone. He asked the elephant keeper, “ I think that the royal elephant is grief stricken, possibly due to the loss of a dear friend. Do you know if this elephant shared a close friendship with any person or animal?”The elephant-keeper hesitantly said, “Yes, Sir! There was a dog that used to eat, sleep and play with the elephant. A stranger took him away three days ago, but I do not know where he went.” The minister went to the king and told him, “Your Majesty, the royal elephant is fine but he is lonesome without his dear friend, the dog. Some stranger has taken away the dog and nobody knows his whereabouts.”The king was concerned about the well being of his elephant. He asked the minister, “How can we bring back the dog and make my elephant happy again?” The minister suggested, “Your Majesty, make a declaration, that whoever has taken the dog that used to live at the royal elephant’s shed shall be penalised.” The king did the same and the farmer who had taken the dog, quickly let him loose.Once freed, the dog found his way to the elephant’s shed easily. The elephant was so delighted to see the dog that he picked him up with his trunk and made him sit on his head. The king was content to see his elephant happy once again and suitably rewarded the minister for his wise judgement. Moral:True happiness is based on the relations you keep.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of dog and elephant.Moral(s) of the story: happiness

The elephant and the dog

The story is of the time when Raja Birbal did not have a personal horse or a carriage to bring him from his home to the Emperor’s court. One day, Akbar saw him coming on foot and promised to give him the fastest horse from his royal stable. Accordingly, he instructed the in-charge of the royal stable to give a horse to Birbal. But, just to have some harmless fun with Birbal and see his reaction, Akbar asked the stable man to select a weak and sick horse for Birbal. The stable man carried out the Emperor’s orders and delivered an old and sick horse at Birbal’s house. The horse was in such a bad shape that it died on the same night that it was delivered.Next day When Akbar saw Birbal coming on foot again, he asked in a surprised tone, “What happened to the horse that was arranged for you from the royal stable? It was our fastest horse! Were you afraid of riding it?”Birbal bowed and replied, “Jahapanah, it indeed was the fastest horse of all. He was in fact, so fast that he crossed the distance from earth to heaven in one night.”Akbar smiled at Birbal’s witty reply, and got a healthy horse arranged from the royal stable for Birbal. Moral:Our wit and humour can brighten our days and make them enjoyable.

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

Fast Horse

Bub was born in the bubble soap liquid along with his brothers and sisters. He had always waited to be set free in the real world and enjoy with his friends.His dream came true when a human blew from the bubble soap. Soon Bub and his friends were set free in the wild, wild world. Bub was very excited to see the world for the first time.His friends were equally excited too. Bub flew over a tree and met beautiful birds. The tree waved at him.He flew over a river and the river smiled at him. The fish came up to meet him. Bub was delighted. Bub almost crashed into a car as he flew near to the ground but the car driver put Bub’s safety first.Bub got chased by a cat and their screaming never stopped. He was so scared for his life but he escaped. Then Bub flew high above the ground and could see kids in the ferris wheel, they excitedly blew at him so he could go further.Bub smiled.He was so high above the ground and he had the best day ever. The sun welcomed him as he went higher.Bub had an amazing day. He saw the world, he made people happy, he made some new friends, lost some old ones along the way but he had a lot of fun.

domestic animal 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 Ox who Envied The Pig

The Mountain and the Mouse

The pig has wings

The ugly Camel

The groomed horse

Two Silly Goats

The elephant and the dog

Fast Horse

Bub the bubble and his friends

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