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.

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”. On his way to heal the ruler’s dead daughter, Jesus saw a large crowd gathered around him. Among them was a woman who was bleeding for twelve years. She thought she would only be healed by the Lord. She was afraid that perhaps Jesus was angry as she wished to touch his garments to heal herself, but Jesus was pleased with her. He said to her “Not me, but your faith has made you well.” When Jesus reached the home of the ruler, He took the young girl by the hand, and she got up, alive and well. This way Jesus healed everybody with his love and care. Moral:Miracles through Jesus are possible, all you have to do is have faith.

This is a story from Bible of Jesus Christ.Moral(s): faith

Jesus Always Healed People

Ravina Sewani

Long, long ago, there was a King who was very fond of painting portraits. One day he went to a hilltop and painted a beautiful picture on a canvas. When the picture was ready, he stood before the picture. He moved to and fro and gave it a finishing touch with his brush. Then he stepped backwards, looking at the picture before him, to see how it looked from a distance. He reached almost the edge of the hill.A shepherd boy, who was grazing his sheep on the hill, saw the King. He thought that if the King moved back even a bit, he would fall down into the valley below and die. So he ran to the picture and tore it with a hard blow of his stick.The King was very angry with the boy. He rushed to the boy and caught him. He angrily shouted, “You fool! What have you done? I will kill you.”The shepherd boy fell on his knees before the King and said in a humble voice, “Sir, please look back. If I had not done this, you would have fallen down and lost your life.”The King looked back and thanked the boy for saving his life. He said to the boy, “If you had not used your presence of mind, I would have certainly died.” Then the King took the boy with him to the palace and rewarded him with rich gifts.Later, the boy was brought to the palace and brought up there under the personal care of the King. After a few years, he was made the King’s Chief Minister. Moral:A stitch in time saves nine.

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

The King and the Shepherd Boy

Once upon a time, a sparrow lived on a tree. He had a beautiful and comfortable nest in the tree and used to live in it happily. Each day, the sparrow would go out in search of food and return to the nest in the evening. One day, the sparrow as usual went out to look for food but it started raining heavily so the sparrow had to take shelter in another tree’s branches. The sparrow kept waiting for the rain to stop so that he could go home but the rain did not stop all night.In the morning, when the sky cleared, the sparrow returned to his nest. He was shocked to find a rabbit in his nice and comfortable nest. The sparrow became angry and said, “This is my home. Please leave at once and go back to wherever you have come from.” “Don’t be such a fool,” the rabbit replied. “Things like trees, rivers and lakes don’t belong to anyone. They are only yours as long as you are living in them. If, in your absence, your place is acquired by someone else, then it belongs to them. So, this place is now mine. Don’t disturb me now.”But the sparrow did not see any logic in the rabbit’s statement. He wanted his home back. He said, “Let us go and seek the advice of some wise person who can help us to settle this matter. Now it so happened, that a wild cat who used to live at a little distance from the tree overheard the conversation of the sparrow and the rabbit. He thought of taking advantage of the situation. So he quickly took a dip in the river and then sat like a priest chanting the name of God loudly. When the sparrow and the rabbit heard the chanting and saw the cat sitting there like a priest, they thought that he must be a very wise person. So, they went to consult him hoping that he provide them with impartial justice.The cat was very happy to see the sparrow and the rabbit. He pretended to listen with interest as they told their story and put forth their arguments. As soon as the time was right, he pounced upon them and killed both of them and ate them for his meal. This is how tussles over little, insignificant matters may sometimes lead to disaster. Moral:When you fight among yourself over little things, some third person gains from that usually.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of cat, rabbit and sparrow.

The cunning judge

Shina Utavani

Once upon a time, there was a girl who thought her life was miserable. She did not know what was going on in her life. She was tired of struggling and fighting all the time. She was tired of dealing with all her problems. One day, she complained about her struggle to her father. Her father was a chef; he took her to the kitchen. He placed three pots filled with water on high fire.Once the water started boiling, he placed a potato in the first pot, egg and ground coffee beans in the second and third pot respectively. He then waited for the water to boil. Her daughter impatiently waited wondering what her father was doing. After twenty minutes, he took out potato and egg out of the pot and placed them in different plates. He placed the water with the coffee beans in a cup.He then asked her daughter what she noticed. She replied, “A potato, egg and coffee beans.” Her father told her to look closer and touch the potato. She did and noticed that they were soft. He then asked her to break the egg. She saw the boiled egg after pulling off the shell of the egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee from the cup. The rich aroma of the coffee brought smile on her face.Then, she asked to her father the reason behind doing this activity. He replied that the potato, egg and coffee beans each faced the same problem- the boiling water. However, each reacted differently. The potato went in strong and hard but in boiling water it became soft and weak. The egg was weak with a thin layer protecting its liquid until it entered the boiling water. After, keeping it into the boiling water, the inside of the egg became strong. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were put into the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.Her father then asked her, “Which one are you? How do you respond in your difficult times? Are you a potato, egg, or a coffee bean? Moral:In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

This is a story of coffee, daughter, egg, father and potato.Moral(s) of the story: confidence and struggle

The struggle of life

Once upon a time, there was a little monkey who lived in the forest. One day, the little monkey was playing on a tree and swinging from one branch to the other. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his tail. He saw that a sharp thorn had pricked his tail. It was giving him a lot of pain. The monkey could not remove the thorn himself so he decided to go to the city. On his way, he met a man who was carrying a knife. The monkey requested the man to remove the painful thorn from his tail. The man agreed but while he was removing the thorn with his knife, he accidentally cut off the monkey’s tail. The monkey was upset and annoyed. He said to the man, “You cut off my tail! Now you will have to give me your knife. I will bite you if you don’t.” The man readily agreed to give the knife to the monkey and went away. The monkey was so happy on getting the knife that he started singing, “I lost my tail but I got a knife. Dum, dum, da dum.”The monkey started roaming here and there with his new knife. At some distance, he came across a man who was carrying a lot of mangoes in a basket. The man did not have a knife to cut the mangoes with. So, when he saw the monkey carrying a knife, he requested him to lend him the knife. He promised that after cutting and eating a mango, he would give the knife back to the monkey. The monkey agreed and lent the man his knife. But as soon as the man started cutting the mango, the knife’s blade broke. The monkey became very angry. He said, “You have broken my knife! Now you will have to give me all of your mangoes. I will scratch you if you don’t.” The man got scared and ran away, leaving all the mangoes for the monkey. The monkey was again happy and began singing, “I lost my tail but I got a knife. Dum, dum, da dum. I lost my knife but I got mangoes. Dum, dum, da dum.”As the monkey was walking around, humming his little tune to himself, he came across a musician who was carrying a pipe. The musician was very hungry. On seeing the monkey with so many mangoes, the musician asked the monkey to let him have some mangoes. The monkey agreed to share some mangoes with the musician. The musician sat down to eat but he was so hungry that soon he finished off all the mangoes in the basket. The monkey did not like this at all. He shouted, “You ate all of my mangoes! Now give me your pipe in return or I’ll pinch you hard.” The musician got scared. He gave his pipe to the monkey and ran away. The monkey started singing happily, “I lost my tail but I got a knife. Dum, dum, da dum. I lost my knife but I got mangoes. Dum, dum, da dum. I lost my mangoes but I got a pipe. Dum, dum, da dum.”After a while, the monkey met a drummer who was carrying a nice, big drum. The drummer badly wanted a pipe that he could play along with his drum. So, when the drummer saw the pipe in the monkey’s hand, he asked the monkey to let him play it. The monkey agreed. The drummer took the pipe and blew into it. But with the first blow, the pipe got spoilt. The monkey lost his temper. He said, “You spoilt my pipe! Give me your drum in return or I will bite you.” Frightened, the drummer gave his drum to the monkey and ran away. The monkey was very happy on getting the drum. He beat on the drum and sang, “I lost my tail but I got a knife. Dum, dum, da dum. I lost my knife but I got mangoes. Dum, dum, da dum. I lost my mangoes but I got a pipe. Dum, dum, da dum. I lost my pipe but I got a drum. Dum, dum, da dum.”The monkey liked the drum so much that he did not give it to anyone. He beat on it and sang his little tune. “Dum, dum, da dum.”

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

The monkey and the drum

Mogu, a panda lived on the hills with his family. He was always a happy lad. His favourite festival was Christmas. Every year he eagerly waited for Santa to get him gifts. And his favourite time of the year was back.He went to the market and got every possible thing to decorate the house. This time, he got a huge Christmas tree out of excitement. With that, he bought a new pair of socks to write his Christmas wishes and put them inside the socks. He decorated the entire house and baked cakes. It was time now, so he went to sleep and waited for Santa to deliver his gifts. He woke up in the middle of the night and found no gift around him. He became really sad and went to his dad and sulked. His dad realised that he had forgotten to keep the gifts under his bed and felt upset. He asked Mogu to wait for a while and assured him that Santa had not forgotten but a little late in delivering the gifts. He then dressed up and appeared in front of Mogu singing, ìHo! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! and handed him all the gifts that he had wished for. To Moguís surprise his dad was Santa and delivered him gifts every year. He was happy and rejoiced knowing that his dad loved him so much.

This is a story of panda, Santa Claus and Christmas.Moral(s) of the story: happiness

Christmas Wish

Long time ago, a shepherd lived in a small village. He used to take his sheep to the nearby forest for grazing. In his flock, there was a little white lamb whom everybody loved. One day, when the shepherd had taken his flock for grazing, the little white lamb felt thirsty and started looking for water to drink. He wandered far off in the forest in search of water and got separated from his flock. He soon found a freshwater spring and started to quench his thirst. Meanwhile, the sun set and the shepherd went back to the village with his flock. It did not come to his notice that the little white lamb was missing.While the lamb was drinking water in the spring, a wolf also came there to drink water. He spotted him and said to himself, “A juicy and plump lamb! It is indeed a lucky day for me!”He wanted to justify&nbsp;eating the lamb so he started thinking of a good excuse. He called the lamb and said, “Listen to me, O lamb! This spring belongs to me. You have made this water dirty by drinking it. How will I drink this polluted water now?”The lamb was standing downstream, so he said politely, “Dear sir, the spring flows from where you are standing down to where I am standing. So, I cannot possibly pollute your drinking water.” The wolf was not expecting such an intelligent answer from the lamb. He then, thought of another excuse to kill the lamb.The wolf said, “But it looks dirty to me! If it is not you, then it must be your father who has made the water dirty.” The lamb said, “Sir, my father died long ago. So, he also could not have possibly done it.” The wolf was getting impatient to kill the lamb. So, he said, “I am sure then it must be your grandfather who made this water dirty!” And after saying so, the cunning wolf pounced on the poor lamb and caught him.By this time, the little lamb had already understood that the wolf was just looking for a pretext to kill him and had already thought of a plan to save his life. The little lamb said to the wolf, “O mighty one! I have just eaten a lot of grass and it is not yet digested. If you eat me now, your stomach may get upset because of the raw grass in my belly.”The wolf anxiously asked him, “Well, what do you suggest then?”The witty little lamb said, “I think that doing some kind of physical exercise will help me digest the grass quickly. I am a very good dancer, so if you permit, I will start dancing.”The wolf was getting impatient to eat the lamb, so he permitted the lamb to start dancing. When the little lamb started to dance, the bell around the lamb’s neck started ringing. The lamb danced vigorously, so that the sound of the bell grew louder and louder. The shepherd and his hunting dog, who had started looking for the missing little lamb, also heard the sound of the bell. They rushed to the point from where the sound was coming. When the wolf saw the shepherd and his dog, he fled away from there to save his life. This is how the intelligent lamb was able to save himself from the clutches of the evil wolf. Moral:Quick and smart thinking can help us get out from difficult situations.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of lamb and wolf.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The wolf and the crane

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from ìThe Ramayana.It is said that when Ravana abducted Mother Sita, Lord Ram was roaming around looking for her. He was crying, shouting and moaning as he was so sad. Of course, the Lord was playing a role on earth as a human, so he had to display human emotions.Lord Shiva and Mother Sati came across this scene. Lord Shiva bowed down to his Lord Rama. Mother Sati asked why he was bowing down? Lord Shiva answered because he is the Supreme Lord.Mother Sati said that he is crying like humans, how can he be God? I want to test him. Lord Shiva agreed but asked Mother Sati to stay within her principles. Mother Sati changed herself into the form of Mother Sita and appeared in front of Lord Ram, trying to confuse and fool him. Lord Ram knew she was Mother Sati and greeted her and asked her where Lord Shiva was? She was ashamed and closed her eyes. But even as her eyes were closed, Lord Rama gave her darshan along with Mother Sita.

Mother Sati Tested Lord Ram

Once upon a time, there was a gang of evil goblins who lived in a forest. They spent a lot of their time making fun of a poor old man who could now hardly move, see, or hear. They showed no respect for his age.The situation became so extreme that the Great Wizard decided to teach the goblins a lesson. He cast a spell, and from that moment, every insult they directed at the old man made the old man better, but had the opposite effect on the goblin who was doing the insulting. Of course, the goblins knew nothing about what was happening. The more they called the man an "old fool", the younger and sharper of mind he became, while the goblin who had shouted at him aged rapidly, and became a little more foolish.As time went on, those evil goblins were becoming terribly old, ugly, stupid, and clumsy... without even realising it. Finally, the Great Wizard allowed the goblins to see themselves, and, terrified, they saw that they had turned into the disgusting creatures we now know as trolls.They had been so busy picking on the old man, that it had made them incapable of noticing that their own acts were turning them into monsters. And when they finally realised what they had done, it was too late. Moral:Being disrespectful does no good. If anything, it only brings problems upon us.

haldi ghati 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.

Jesus Always Healed People

The King and the Shepherd Boy

The cunning judge

The struggle of life

The monkey and the drum

Christmas Wish

The wolf and the crane

Mother Sati Tested Lord Ram

The evil goblins

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