Ravina Sewani

Once, a lion was in a very foul mood because his wife, the lioness, had told him that his breath smelled, and he needed to do something about it. The lion acted as if he did not care as he was the king of the jungle, but secretly though, he was worried and wanted to know from others also if he had bad breath. So, later that day, the lion summoned three of his counsellors – the sheep, the wolf and the fox. He first addressed the sheep and asked, ‘Tell me, do you think my breath smells?’The sheep thought the lion wanted to know the truth. So, she humbly bowed before the lion and said, ‘Yes, Your Majesty! Your breath smells terrible. In fact, it smells so bad that it makes me feel sick.” This was not what the lion wanted to hear. He roared loudly with anger and killed the sheep for her audacity.Then, he called the wolf and said, “Tell me, O Wolf! Do you think my breath smells?” The wolf had already seen what the lion did to the sheep when she told him the truth. He had no intentions of ending up the same way. He folded his hands and said, “Your Majesty! I wonder who in the world told you that your breath smells! Your breath smells as sweet as the flowers in spring. I simply love to be around you.” The lion understood that the wolf was lying. His anger knew no bounds. He pounced on the wolf and ripped him to pieces.At last, the lion called the fox. The fox had seen the fate of the sheep and the wolf. They had both been punished for telling the truth and as well as for lying. So, the fox was caught between the devil and the deep sea. He did not know what to tell the lion. Still, he went near the lion, while desperately thinking of a suitable plan to escape from the lion’s wrath. “Tell me, O Fox,” growled the Lion, sharpening his claws, “Do you think my breath smells?” The fox coughed and sneezed and blew her nose, and then clearing her throat noisily, said in a hoarse voice, “I am so sorry, Your Majesty! I have such a nasty cold that I cannot smell anything.” The lion found her excuse to be genuine, and let her go scot free. This is how the clever fox saved her life. Moral:Cleverness and wit can help you escape out of the toughest situations.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of fox, lion, sheep and wolf.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Lion’s bad breath

Bajirao Peshwa was a great commander of the Maratha Army. Once he was returning to his capital after fighting many successful battles. On the way he camped with his army in Malva. His soldiers were very tired and hungry after a long march. They did not have enough food to eat.Bajirao called one of his captains and commanded, "Go with a hundred armed soldiers to the countryside. Cut some corn from the fields and bring it to the camp for our army."So the captain went to the countryside with a hundred armed soldiers. On the way they met a farmer. The captain said to the farmer, "Please take us to the biggest cornfield in this area." So the farmer took them to a very big cornfield. The captain ordered the soldiers to cut the corn and put it into their bags. The farmer requested the captain, "Sir, please don't cut any corn from this field. I will take you to another field where the crop is ripe and ready."So the captain and the soldiers went with the farmer to another cornfield which was a few miles away from there. It was a small field. The farmer said, "Sir, please cut from this field as much corn as you need." The captain angrily asked the farmer, "Why did you make us ride a long distance for this small field? This field is much smaller than the former one." The farmer politely said, "Sir, please don't be angry. That field was not mine. This one is mine and so I have brought you here."The farmer's reply cooled down the captain's anger. He rode back to the Peshwa without any corn and narrated his experience to him. The Peshwa then realised his own mistake. Peshwa himself went to the farmer's cornfield. He paid the farmer the price of the corn in gold and collected all the corn from the field. Moral:Be just and honest in everything you do.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of farmer.Moral(s) of the story: honesty and justice

The peshwa and the farmer

Pallavi Hota

Indra, the King of heaven, committed an offense at the feet of his spiritual master, Brhaspati. Brhaspati therefore left the demigods, who then had no priest. However, at the request of the demigods, Visvarupa, the son of the brahmana Tvasta, became their priest. Once upon a time, Indra, the King of the demigods, was sitting with his wife Sacidevi and being praised by various demigods like the Siddhas, Caranas and Gandharvas when Brhaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods, entered the assembly. Indra, being too absorbed in material opulence, forgot himself and did not respect Brhaspati, who thus became aware of Indra’s pride in his material opulence and immediately disappeared from the assembly to teach him a lesson. Indra became most repentant, understanding that because of his opulence he had forgotten to respect his spiritual master. He left the palace to beg pardon from his spiritual master, but could not find Brhaspati anywhere. Because of his disrespectful behavior toward his spiritual master. Indra lost all his opulence and was conquered by the demons, who defeated the demigods in a great fight and occupied Indra’s throne. King Indra, along with the other demigods, later took shelter of Lord Brahma. Understanding the situation, Lord Brahma chastised the demigods for their offense to their spiritual master. Following Lord Brahma’s orders, the demigods accepted Visvarupa, who was a brahmana and the son of Tvasta, as their priest. Then they performed yajnas under the priesthood of Visvarupa and were able to conquer the demons.

Indra Offends His Spiritual Master, Brhaspati

Yesha Desai

Toby’s mother was very hardworking and this was the first time she was taking little Toby out to the grocery store for shopping. Baby Toby asked his mother, “What is a grocery store?”She replied, “A grocery store is a place where you can get everything you need in your daily life. There are many types of grocery stores. Some stores are big and some are small. Grocery stores sell food like milk, eggs, bread, meat, canned food, fruit, vegetables, snacks, frozen foods, drinks, and cereal.&nbsp;It also sells stuff like toothbrush, toothpaste, plates, screws, jacks and other toolbox and garage equipments.”Before they stepped in, his mother pulled out a list. They entered the store and it was very noisy and full of light. Toby immediately wanted to leave.They grabbed a shopping cart to help carry their food and Toby’s mother fit him into the cart.At first baby Toby was very scared of the new surroundings but soon he got used to it.As his mother kept on shopping and ticking things off the list, Toby soon got bored. He asked his mother when they were leaving. His mother still had a lot of things to do but she saw baby Toby’s patience wearing out. She had to entertain the baby in some way so she slowly spinned the shopping cart around.Toby squealed and asked his mother to do it again. His mother did so and a few times he laughed happily.&nbsp;So his mother continued shopping.Toby noticed that the grocery stores are separated into sections and rows. Some sections in the store are the dairy, meats, fruits and vegetables, seafood, and bakery. The rows in a grocery store are called aisles. Sometimes they have signs posted with numbers or words that tell me the type of food that is in each aisle.He learnt a lot about grocery stores but soon got bored again. The shopping trip was about to end as his mother now went to the cashier to pay for the stuff. His mother looked at him and said, “Toby, behave. We are almost leaving, alright? If you will be nice, I will let you watch television for a little longer and even get you bubble soap.”At that, Toby stayed silent.Soon they reached home and his mother praised him and said he was very well behaved for his first trip to the grocery store. She made bubbles with him in their backyard and they danced around. They also ate peanut butter sandwiches and jam right from the can. Toby had a very fun day.Surely it took longer to get used to grocery stores but as Toby grew up he even helped his mother put things into the shopping cart and then into their kitchen.

This is a story of bubble, grocery store and sandwich.

Toby’s first grocery shopping trip

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.” Once when Kunti was young, she was deputed by her father to render her services to the great sage Durvasa. Kunti was highly dutiful and sincere in her offering and could therefore please the sage beyond comparison. At the end of her stay with the sage, the sage saw through his clairvoyance that she would not have any issues through her husband in future. Therefore, the sage blessed her with a powerful mantra that would help her get a son from anyone she wished. Kunti looked at the sun god moving in the sky and chanted the mantra in all her devotion. At once, the sun god appeared before her in all his splendour. Kunti could not bear the radiance and effulgence of the sun god and prayed that he left the scene. But, the sun god said due to the power of the mantra, he had to bless her with a son and she at once gave birth to Karna. Kunti was highly frightened due to the possible doubts that the people might have regarding her son and was afraid of the social stigma connected with a girl giving birth to a boy child at a very young age. Therefore, she decided to abandon the child. She covered the baby in nice garments and floated him on the waters of a river. The child was received by a charioteer called Athirath and was raised by him in his home.

This is a story of Karna and Duryodhana.

Karna’s Birth

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”. John was the blessed one to have the truth revealed to him. In his words ìOn the day the Savior was nailed to the cross, I was there. I saw him die in pain and agony. But soon he was alive again! He was, after all, the Living One!Then the angels also showed me many more wondrous things. I saw the Holy City, the beautiful Jerusalem, waiting for all believers.I also saw the new Heaven and Earth, waiting for God's children. God spoke to me and said ëI am the Alpha and Omega. I am everything. I built all this for my children ñ for you. Whoever believes in me will never go thirsty. To the hungry I will give food. This beautiful new world is now all yours!So, John wrote down everything God told him and gave us this beautiful book called the Holy Bible! Moral:The Bible is God's word.

This is a story of Bible and John.

The New Heaven And Earth

A small boy called Johnny was always eager to show his wit. One morning he decided to play a trick on the barber. He went to the barber's shop and sat in the chair against the mirror.The barber asked, "Yes, Johnny?" Johnny said in a stern voice, "Will you please shave my beard?" The barber saw through the game. But he politely said, "I will surely do so, young master."The barber then put a piece of cloth around Johnny's shoulders. He also applied soap on his face. Then he got busy with some other work. Johnny waited for quite a long time. Waiting with soap all over his face was difficult. He shouted at the barber, "Why do you keep me waiting?"The barber smiled and coolly replied, "I'm waiting for your beard to grow." Moral:When you play a joke on someone, keep in mind that someone can play a joke on you too.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of barber.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

Johnny and the barber

One day a she-wolf had a craving to eat fresh fish-meat. The wolf did not know how to swim, but still he went down to the river, hoping to get some fish-meat for his mate.When the wolf reached the river, he saw two otters standing on the bank, also looking for fish. Soon one of the otters spotted a big fish in the water. He swiftly jumped into the river and caught the fish by its head. But the fish was very strong and was struggling continuously to get out of the otter’s hold. Fearing that he might lose the fish, he called out to his friend for help. The other otter also jumped into the river and held the fish tightly from the tail. Together, they were able to bring the fish to land.The first otter said, “This fish is good enough for both of us! Let us divide the fish into two parts.”“I want the half with the head on,” said one.“You cannot have that half. That is mine,” said the other. “You can take the tail.”The wolf heard the otters arguing over the division of fish and a brilliant idea struck him. He went up to the otters and offered his help to settle the dispute. There was no other way of ending the quarrel, so the otters also readily agreed. The wolf cut off the head and gave it to the first otter as he had caught the fish by the head. Then he severed the tail of the fish and gave it to the second otter as he had caught the fish by the tail. Both the otters were anxiously waiting to find out how the wolf would divide the rest of the fish, just then, quick as the lightning, the cunning wolf quickly ran away with the body of the fish.The otters realized that they had been fooled by the wolf. They were full of remorse and said, “If only we had not been greedy and fought with each other, we could have enjoyed a scrumptious meal.”The wolf was very pleased with himself for fooling the two otters and happily went home with the fish-meat. Moral:You must be very clever with how you deal with people so you are not fooled.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of wolf and otter.Morals(s) of the story: foolishness

The otters and the wolf

Shina Utavani

There was big a lion in a jungle and he was the king of the jungle. One day, the king of the forest was wounded in a fight with an elephant. The king was hurt very badly and could not hunt for many days. He did not have anything for food. He had to remain hungry for many days. The lion’s minister was a clever fox. Since the lion was unable to hunt, the fox too had to remain hungry. After remaining hungry for many days, one day the fox finally said, “Your majesty! We have not eaten anything for days and we both are hungry. If this continues for some more days then we will die soon.” The Lion said, “My legs are wounded and I cannot go for hunting. But we can do one thing. If you manage to bring an animal to me, I can kill that animal easily. Then we both can eat that animal.” The fox said, “I will try my best.” The fox left and went on to search for an animal. On the way, the fox saw a donkey. The fox was very happy to see the donkey and thought he was the right choice for the hunt. He went to the donkey and said, “Hello, how are you? I have seen you after so long. You are looking very weak.” The donkey replied, “Yes, actually my owner takes a lot of work from me and does not give me enough food.” The clever fox then said, “I feel very bad for you. Why don’t you come with me to the jungle? Our King is very kind. We even have a vacancy in the king’s court. He will keep you nicely.” The donkey was attracted by the fox’s words and agreed to go with him. The cunning fox was successful in fooling the donkey. They both went to the jungle. As soon as the lion saw the donkey, he jumped upon him to kill him. But the lion missed the target and the donkey was very scared so he ran away from there. They lost good meat because of the lion’s rush. They both felt very sad. The lion requested the fox to try again and bring the donkey back.So, the fox went in search of the donkey. The fox met him and said in a surprising tone, “Hey, Why you ran away that day? The King was very happy to see you and, in that excitement, he jumped to welcome you. The King is calling you back.” The donkey again believed fox and went with him to the jungle. This time, the lion was very careful. When the donkey came near to him, he grabbed him tightly and killed him.” The fox was very happy that they finally had something to eat. The king was excited to eat the donkey. But before he could start, the clever fox said, “King, why don’t you take a bath before eating your meal.” The lion liked the idea as he had not taken a bath for days. The lion went to take a bath. And in the meantime, the fox quickly ate the donkey’s brain. The fox thought that the lion will not give him much to eat so he ate the donkey’s brain. When the lion returned, he started eating and searched for donkey’s brain as he liked eating the brain. Not being able to find the brain, he roared, “Where is the brain? Did you eat the brain?” The fox cleverly answered, “No, majesty. The donkeys do not have a brain. If he had a brain, he would not have come with me for the second time.” The lion believed the fox and ate his food happily. Moral:Do not believe the words of an enemy under any situation.

This is a story of donkey, fox and lion.Moral: idiot

general dyer 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.