Ravina Sewani

Sam was a greedy and a selfish man. He always desired to have lots and lots of money and never hesitated to cheat others to make money. Also, he never wished to share anything with others. He paid very low wages to his servants.However, one day, he learned a lesson that changed his life forever.It so happened that one day, a small bag that belonged to Sam was missing. The bag had 50 gold coins in it. Sam searched high and low for the bag, but could not find it. Sam’s friends and neighbours also joined in the search, but all their efforts were in vain.After a couple of days, the ten year old daughter of a man working for Sam found the bag. She told her father about it. Her father identified the bag as the one that was missing, and immediately decided to take it to his master.He gave the bag back to his master Sam, and asked him to check whether the bag had 50 gold coins. Sam was exultant to get the coins back, but he decided to play a trick. He shouted at his worker, “there were 75 gold coins in this bag but you gave me only 50! Where are the other coins? You have stolen them!”The worker was shocked to hear this and pleaded his innocence. Selfish and greedy, Sam did not accept the worker’s story, and decided to take the issue to court. The judge heard both the sides. He questioned the daughter and the worker about the number of coins they had found in the bag, and they assured it was only 50. He cross-examined Sam and Sam replied, “Yes my lord, I had 75 gold coins in my bag, and they gave me only 50. Hence, it is quite obvious that they have stolen 25 coins!” The judge then asked, “Are you sure that your bag had 75 coins?”Sam nodded vigorously. The judge then made his judgment. “Since Sam lost a bag of 75 gold coins and the bag found by the girl had only 50 coins, it is obvious that the bag that was found does not belong to Sam. It was lost by someone else. If anyone finds a bag of 75 gold coins, I will declare that it belongs to Sam. As there are no complaints about the loss of 50 coins, I order the girl and his father to take those 50 coins as a token of appreciation for their honesty!” Moral:Honesty will always be rewarded and greed punished!

This is a story of coin.Moral(s) of the story: greediness, honesty and selfishness

Gold Coins and a Selfish Man

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time, there lived a king who ruled over a rich and prosperous kingdom. But, the king was never happy with what he had and was always on a mission to expand his empire by conquering other kingdoms. One day, he set out on a mission to conquer a distant country. The king and his soldiers walked the entire morning in the forest. By evening, all of them were exhausted and thus halted near a lake to take some rest. The horses were also tired, so the soldiers fed them some peas. A monkey living in the forest was eyeing the delicious peas being fed to the horses. He jumped down from the tree, grabbed a handful of peas and scampered back to the tree. As he sat down comfortably on a branch and started to eat the peas, one small pea slipped from his hand and fell on the ground. Without thinking even once, the greedy monkey dropped all the peas he had in his hands, and ran down to look for the lost pea. Unfortunately, the monkey could not find that pea. He kept looking for the pea for some more time and then climbed back the tree empty handed. His greed had made him lose all that he had.The king was watching the monkey with great interest. Wisdom dawned on him and he realised that his want for more may leave him with nothing one day. He said to himself, “I will not be like this foolish monkey, who lost much to gain a little. I will go back to my own country and enjoy what I have.” So, the next day he ordered his men to march back home. Moral:We should try to be happy with whatever we have and not be greedy and foolish.

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

The penny wise monkey

Shina Utavani

In a forest, there lived a bear. The bear was very greedy. He always wanted something bigger. He was never satisfied with what he had. One day, the bear was very hungry and he wanted to eat something. He decided to go out to search for food.The day was very beautiful and bright. The sun was shining and everything looked bright and pretty. The bear decided to eat fish to enjoy the bright sunny day. So, he went to a river to catch fish. The river was filled with fishes and the bear was very happy to see that. He decided to eat lots of fish.The bear prepared himself for the hunt. He looked at the fish and waited for the chance. The bear looking at the opportunity tried to catch a fish. As soon as he grabbed a fish, he was very happy. But when he saw the fish, he became sad. he said, “This fish is very small. I will wait for the bigger fish.” The bear threw the fish back in the water.He again started hunting for the fish. He waited for his chance. He swung his arm in the water and grabbed another fish. After looking at the second fish he again said, “Oh no! This is very small. I need a bigger one.” He again threw the fish back in the water.He continued doing the same again and again. Every time the fish he grabbed was too small for him and every time he would throw the fish back in the water. He wanted to eat a bigger fish. In the end, he was very tired and had nothing to eat because he had thrown every fish back in the river. Moral:Many small things make up for one big thing. Never let go of what you have in hand for what you don’t have yet.

This is a story of bear, fish and river.Moral(s) of story: greediness

The Foolish Bear

Once there was a dog. He wandered from door-to-door. One day he stole a place of meat from a butcher’s shop. He ran away with it.He ran out of the town. There was a stream close by. It was a good place for him to enjoy the piece of meat. When he was passing over the plank, he saw his reflection in the water. He thought it was another dog with a larger piece of meat. He was very greedy. His mouth watered. He wanted to get that piece also.He barked at the dog in the water. When he opened his mouth, his own piece of meat fell into the water. He was very sad. He repented over his folly. But it was too late.Moral: Greediness is always punished.

This is a story of dutch, dog and water.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness and greediness

A greedy dog

Once, in the town of Patliputra, there lived a merchant named Manibhadra. He was a rich and charitable man. But once, misfortune struck him and he lost all his wealth. He became poor and his social status also diminished. He became very depressed.One night, he was lying in bed feeling depressed and cursing his fate. He also thought of committing suicide by starving himself. But soon, he fell asleep. In his dream, he saw a Jain monk appear before him and speak to him. The monk said, “You have no cause to worry. I am wealth. I was gathered by your forefathers and you have a legitimate right to possess me. I will come to your house in the form of a Jain monk tomorrow. Hit me on my head with a stick and I will turn into pure, solid gold.”When the merchant woke up the next morning, he could hardly believe his dream. That day, the merchant’s wife had called the barber to the house to massage her feet. While the barber was there, a Jain monk appeared at the door of the merchant’s house. The merchant remembered his dream and welcomed the monk inside. After having the monk seated and offering him water, the merchant hit the monk on his head with a stick. Immediately, the body of the monk turned into gold. The merchant was very happy. He collected all the gold and kept it in his safe. The barber who had witnessed this scene was astonished. He thought to himself, “I should also invite some monks to my house. When they come inside, I will hit them on their heads and they will turn into gold. Soon I will be the richest man in the town.”So, the barber went to a monastery and invited the head monk to dinner at his house. But the head monk refused saying, “We are not Brahmins that you are inviting us for food. We collect alms. We do not live to eat, but we eat only for survival.” The barber then went outside the monastery and when he saw some monks coming towards him, he requested them to come and conduct prayers at his house.Some of the monks agreed and the next day, they went to the barber’s house. As soon as they entered the house, the barber hit all of them on their heads with a heavy stick. Some of the monks died on the spot while some got seriously injured. Soon, as talk of this incident spread around the town, the barber was arrested for his crime and was made to appear before the court of law.In the court, the judge asked the barber for an explanation of why he had committed this crime.“I saw the merchant doing it,” the barber replied.So, the merchant too was summoned to the court. He told the judge the whole story about his dream and the monk turning into gold.The judge ordered a death sentence for the barber for having killed and injured many people.It is true that blind imitation is always dangerous. Moral:Not everyone has the same fate decided or the same path to be walked upon. Do not be greedy and blindly copy others in the pursuit of fame, wealth, or success

This is a classic story from panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

The merchant and the barber

Once upon a time, there lived jackal whose name was Jijo. One day, Jijo went to the fair with his friend Fredo, the fox. They loved the place and enjoyed various rides. They ate a lot of ice cream and fried snacks. They spent their entire day having fun at the fair.Jijo loved motorbikes and wanted to have one. He told his father to get him a motorbike. His father thought that he was very small to ride a motorbike. So, he told him to use a bicycle for now. Jijo thought he was old enough to use a bike. But all he had was an old bicycle. He really wanted to ride the motorbike so he decided to ask for a bike to his father again.He went to his father one day and said, “Dad, I know how to ride a bike and I want the bike. Please buy one for me.” His father replied, “Son, riding a bike takes a lot of responsibility. Will you be able to take care of your bike? You have to assure me that you will follow all the rules and will drive safely.” Jijo said, “Yes, Dad, I promise!” His father had some more conditions. He said, “I will give you money for just four litres of fuel every month. You will use the bike only to do important things. You should always inform us before using the bike and you must learn all the important traffic rules.”After hearing all the conditions, Jijo was a little shocked but as his father agreed to buy him a bike so he said ‘Yes’.The next month, Jijo’s father got him a new bike. Jijo was busted with joy. He was overwhelmed to receive a bike. He would make different excuses to ride the bike. He wanted to ride the bike every day but as he was allowed only four litres of fuel in a month, he could not ride very far. His friends also wanted to ride his bike. But Jijo could not do a lot of things due to the conditions put by his father. He felt restricted due to the conditions.One day, Jijo’s friend, Fredo, the fox came to visit him. Fredo was impressed by his bike. He said, “Jijo, you know there is a fair being held on the outskirt of the forest. Why don’t we go there on your bike?” Jijo wanted to go but there was hardly any fuel left in the bike and he did not have money to buy more fuel. Fredo said, “Ask your mother. She might have some task for you to complete and using that as an excuse, we can go to the fair and have some fun.” Jijo went to his mother and informed his mother that they were going to market to buy some fruits. His mom agreed and the two set off for the fair.Jijo and Fredo enjoyed the bike ride and reached the fair. They spent their entire day at the fair and enjoyed different rides, ate ice-creams, and a lot of fried snacks. They had a great time together at the fair.As it started getting dark, they decided to go home. They took the bike and went back to their home. In the middle, their bike suddenly stopped. They had only travelled a small distance and they had a long-distance to cover in order to reach home. When Jijo checked the fuel tank of the bike, it was empty. Jijo got worried and asked, “How will we go home, now?” Fredo had an idea, he said, “We can do one thing. You sit on the bike and I will push it from behind. After some time, I will sit on the bike and you push. This way, we will reach home.” Jijo agreed and they both took turns and tried to push the bike. Somehow, they reached home late at night. They both were very tired. Jijo was very upset as it was very difficult for them to reach back home. He said to himself, “My old bicycle was so much better. It looks worn out but it never stopped working. It was good for my health too.”Jijo understood the value of his old bicycle. After that day, he decided to ride his bicycle every day and used his motorbike only when he needed to.

This is a story of bicycle, fox and motorcycle.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

Jijo's new Motorbike 

Once upon a time lived on a cloud that was grown up over a very beautiful country. One day, she saw another much bigger cloud and she felt so much envy, than the cloud decided that in order to get bigger and grow more, her water would never abandon her, and will never start raining again.Indeed, the cloud grew up, while his country was getting dried. First, rivers dried up, then people, animals, plants, and finally, the whole country became a desert. The cloud did not care much, but she also did not realize that by being over a desert there was no place where she could obtain new water to keep growing. So slowly, the cloud began to lose size, and was unable to do anything to stop it .The cloud then realized her mistake, and that her greed and selfishness were the cause of her vanishing; but just before evaporating, when she was just a sigh of cotton, there started blowing a gentle breeze. The cloud was so small and weighed so little that the wind took her far away, to a faraway beautiful country, where once again she recovered her original size.Having learned this lesson, our cloud remained small and modest, but she became so generous when raining, that her new country became even greener, giving away to all people there the most beautiful rainbow in the world.Moral: Greed and selfishness bring with them serious problems.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of cloud, rain and rainbow.Moral(s) of the story: greediness and selfishness

The greedy cloud

A long time ago, there lived a poor farmer named Haridatta. He used to work very hard in the fields, but his fields never had a profitable yield. One day, while watering his fields, he saw a frightful snake coming out of an anthill. He thought that perhaps the snake was the guardian of the field and since he had not paid homage to the snake, his fields never yielded the desired harvest.He rushed home to bring some milk and offered it to the serpent in a bowl. While offering the milk respectfully, he addressed the serpent, “O, Guardian of this field! I was not aware that you lived here, that is why I never offered you anything. I will not make this mistake again. Please forgive me.”The next day, when the farmer came to plough the field, he found a gold coin in the bowl near the anthill. Feeding the snake became a regular feature of the farmer’s life. Every day he served milk to the serpent and found a gold coin in the empty bowl the next day.&nbsp;Soon all the financial problems of the farmer disappeared.One day the farmer had to go to the town for a few days for some urgent work, so he asked his son to take care of the serpent. The son brought the milk to the anthill and offered it to the serpent. Next day, when he came back to collect the bowl, he found a gold coin in it. He thought, “This anthill must be full of gold coins. I can kill the serpent and take them all.” Next day, he offered the milk to the snake and as soon as the serpent leaned down to drink the milk, he struck the serpent’s hood with the stick. The snake escaped the blow of the stick and bit the boy to death.When the farmer returned to his village and came to know about the death of his son. He was full of grief but did not discontinue his daily practice. He went near the anthill and called out to the serpent.The serpent came out of the anthill and replied, “My dear man, I know that you have come here just driven by your greed. Your greed has brought you to feed the serpent who bit your son to death. Neither can I forget that stick’s blow nor can you forget the pain that I have caused you. So, it is best for us to part ways.” After saying this, the serpent gave him a diamond and said, “Never come to me again.” Then the serpent disappeared into the anthill and the farmer never saw it again. Moral:Greed harms us more than does any good.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of farmer and snake.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

The gold giving serpent

It is said that once when Akbar had lost his way, Mahesh Das, aka Birbal had helped him find his way to his capital, Agra. It was an interesting encounter in which Mahesh Das had immensely impressed the Emperor by his quick wit. The Emperor had gifted his royal ring to Mahesh Das and invited him to join his&nbsp;court.After some days, Mahesh Das decided to go to Agra to meet the Emperor.&nbsp;The sentry at the main gate&nbsp;did not allow him to enter.&nbsp;Mahesh Das then showed&nbsp;him the ring that the Emperor had gifted him. The guard&nbsp;was very greedy. He thought that if he allowed this young man to go inside, he would get more rewards and gifts from the Emperor and then he would ask the boy to share them with him. So, the sentry agreed to allow Mahesh Das to go inside&nbsp;the court&nbsp;on one condition- that he would give him half of the reward he would get from the Emperor. Mahesh Das accepted the condition.Mahesh Das went inside and presented himself in front of the Emperor. He greeted the Emperor and showed the ring to Akbar.Akbar immediately recognised the young man and said, “Oh young man! It is so good to see you. Tell me what do you want from the King of Hindustan?”“Jahanpanah! I want to be flogged! I want 50 lashes from you as a reward,” replied Mahesh Das.Everybody in the royal court was stunned. They thought that he was mad. Akbar was also greatly surprised by the young man’s strange request and asked him the reason.Mahesh Das said he would only tell him the reason after receiving his reward.&nbsp;Akbar knew that there must be something going on in the clever young man’s mind and asked his guards to flog him as per his wish.After the twenty fifth lash, Mahesh Das asked the guards to stop and requested the Emperor to call&nbsp;the sentry&nbsp;who was at the&nbsp;main gate.The sentry was summoned in the court. He was happy at the thought that he was being called for his reward. To his surprise, Mahesh Das told the Emperor,”Jahanpanah! This sentry of yours had let me in on the condition that I would share half of my reward with him. I want to keep my promise, so I request you to give the remaining twenty five lashes to him.”The Emperor and all the courtiers were amused at the young man’s wit. Akbar ordered fifty lashes of the whip for the sentry along with 5 years of imprisonment. He then rewarded Mahesh Das with a permanent place in his court and gave him a new name, ‘Birbal.’ He was so fond of Birbal’s wit and sense of humour that he bestowed him with the title of ‘Raja’ and included him in his special committee of nine advisers, who were also known as ‘Navratans.’Because of his razor sharp wit and presence of mind, Birbal soon became a close friend of the Emperor. Moral:Greediness is a bane and we must steer clear of it.

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

greediness 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.