Ravina Sewani

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

Everyone knew that Stuti was the best speller in the whole class. She could spell difficult words like "encyclopedia" and "amendment" very easily. She used to get perfect scores during each weekly spelling test.Ms. Daisy, her English teacher made a rule for the spelling tests that any child who doesn't get at least 60% correct spellings would have to copy each word fifty times for next week's spelling test. Seema, who sat next to Stuti always struggled in spellings. Last Thursday, she received 56 percent which meant copying each word fifty times.Stuti was so confident in her spelling abilities that she had felt and decided not to study for her next spelling test. The test began. Ms. Daisy pronounced each word and then repeated it. Everything was OK until she spoke "Handkerchief". Stuti scribbled h-a-n-d-k-e-r-c-h.....now what?? i??...or…e?? Her mind was blank.Ms. Daisy started to move on to the next word. It occurred to Stuti that Seema knew how to spell it!! Seema had written this word fifty times.&nbsp;There was wide open space between Stuti and Seema. Stuti's eyes rolled to the right. There it was, spelled out in Seema's handwriting. Her eyes went quickly back to her own paper and finished the word with the letters "i-e-f".Stuti remained tense and nervous as Ms. Daisy read the last spelling word. She had cheated just for the first time in her life. She thought, "Is this the way I want to keep my perfect record - by being a cheater?"Frantically, she erased what she had written earlier and replaced it with what she knew was the wrong answer. She wrote "e-i-f". As her sweaty hands released pencil and passed the test up to the front, she sighed with relief. She thought, "So, what if my perfect scores are no longer intact? At least my honesty is."Moral: Honesty is the best policy. Stuti could have cheated and scored good but that guilt would then always have stayed with her.

This is a story of girl.Moral(s) of the story: cheating and honesty

Stuti in an Exam

Yesha Desai

One day, a rich man wanted to get an innocent man named Hasan, punished for some grudge that he held against him. He accused him of stealing his wife’s valuable necklace, and reported this theft in the Emperor’s court.Emperor Akbar asked the man, “Why do you think that Hasan has stolen the necklace from your place?” The rich man replied, “Your Majesty, I have myself seen him stealing the necklace!” Hasan said, “No Huzoor, I am innocent! I do not know anything about the necklace.”The rich man said, “Huzoor, if he is innocent, ask him to prove his innocence by holding a hot iron rod in his bare hands. If he is able to do so, then I will believe that he has not stolen my necklace, and he is speaking the truth.”The rich man also convinced the Emperor that if Hasan was telling the truth then the holy deities above would not let any harm come to him and it was the most ideal way to test the innocence of the accused person. The Emperor ordered Hasan to appear in his court the next day and do as directed by the rich man.Poor Hasan was at his wit’s end. He went to Raja Birbal for help. Birbal could understand that the man was telling the truth and suggested a clever idea to him.When he returned the next day, he said, “I am ready for the test. But the same thing should be applied to the rich man as well. If he is speaking the truth, then the red hot iron should not burn his hands also. So, first let him hold the hot iron rod in his hands, and then I will hold that iron in my bare hands.”Now, the rich man was speechless! He requested the Emperor Akbar to let him go and look for the necklace again in his house; maybe his wife had misplaced it somewhere in the house itself.Emperor Akbar ordered the rich man to give the necklace to Hasan as a punishment and praised Raja Birbal for his clever idea. Moral:Framing someone for a crime and lying does not end well.

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

Red Hot Test

Once, there lived a man who was very rich but was a miser. He had a great deal of money but he did not like to spend it on anyone. One day, he was very sad because ants had entered his bowl of sugar. So, he thought of drying the sugar in the sun to drive the ants out. He placed the sugar in a heap on a large piece of paper and kept it out in the sun. But he was worried that his friend, Subba Sastry might come and eat the sugar so he sat and kept watch next to it.Subba Sastry, who was very fond of sweets in any form, had seen the rich man keep the sugar out in the sun. He called his son and said, “I am going to the rich man’s porch to talk to him. After five minutes, come running to me, shouting ‘Our cow is dead.’”After giving his son these instructions, Subba Sastry went to the rich man’s porch and started talking to him. Subba Sastry asked the rich man why he was looking so upset. The rich man replied that he had been having a great deal of losses. Then Subba Sastry asked him what he was drying and the rich man replied by saying that water had fallen into some mud in his garden so he was drying it.Just then, Subba Sastry’s son came running to the porch shouting, “Our cow is dead! Our cow is dead!” Subba Sastry pretended to be grieving, and as was the custom, picked up one handful of the mud that was actually sugar and put it into his mouth. He picked up another handful and put it in his son’s mouth. The rich man was shocked to see this. He started shouting, “This is not mud! Don’t eat it. This is sugar.” Subba Sastry replied, “No, you told me that this is mud. It tastes like mud, too.” He went on eating till all the sugar was over. The miserly rich man was left sad and grieving over the loss of his sugar. Moral:If you lie, it can backfire on you.

This is a classic story from Tenali Raman.This is a story of ant and cow.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

Subba sastry and sugar

Once, a shepherd used to live in a village. He was the owner of a large flock of sheep. Every morning, he used to take his flock out for grazing. Once, because of some work, he had to go to the city for two to three days. So, he called his son, Ramu and told him that he would have to take care of the sheep for the two-three days that he would be away. “Take good care of the sheep, Ramu,” his father warned him. “There are many wild animals like tigers and wolves in the forest nearby who might kill our sheep. Keep them safe, son. They are your responsibility.” Ramu assured his father that he would follow his advice. The next day, Ramu took the flock of sheep to the hillside for grazing. While the sheep were grazing, Ramu started feeling bored. Being a mischievous boy, he wanted to have some fun. He thought of an idea. He stood up and started shouting, “Help! Wolf! Wolf!” Ramu’s cry for help was heard by the villagers. Carrying big sticks with them, they rushed to the spot to help the boy. But, on reaching, they found that there was no wolf. Ramu laughed and said, “There is no wolf here. It was just a joke I played on you.” The villagers went back to their homes, irritated.Next day, the same thing happened. The villagers heard Ramu crying for help and went to help him but again, they found that the boy had tricked them again. This time, the villagers were very annoyed and went back to their homes, cursing the boy.On the third day, when Ramu took his sheep for grazing, a wolf actually came there. The wolf looked so ferocious that Ramu was terrified. The wolf was advancing towards the sheep. Ramu shouted, “Help! Help! Wolf!”The villagers heard Ramu’s cry and thought that it must be the boy’s silly trick once again. No one went to help him. Ramu could not keep the wolf off the sheep all by himself. The wolf killed many of Ramu’s sheep. Ramu went back to his home weeping. Moral:If you lie all the time, no one will believe you if for once you speak the truth.

This is a classic story from panchtnatra.This is a story of sheep and wolf.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

The boy who cried wolf

Once upon a time Sammy and his sister Marie visited their grandparents at their farm. Sammy picked up a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for the lunch. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck.Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly which hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the pile of woods. Marie had seen it all from the window but she said nothing. After the lunch, the next day Grandma said, “Marie, let’s wash the dishes.” Marie said,“But Grandma, Sammy told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.”Then she whispered to Sammy, “Remember the duck?” Sammy got nervous knowing his sister knew about the duck and if he doesn’t obey, she may tell his grandparents about it. So without saying anything, he did the dishes.Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing but Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Marie to help make a supper.” Marie just smiled and said, “Well that’s all right because Sammy told me he wanted to help.”She whispered again to Sammy, “Remember the duck?” So Marie went fishing and Sammy stayed to help. After several days of Marie taking advantage of Sammy, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, “Sweetheart, I know. I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Marie take advantage of you.” Moral:Always confess of your mistakes. It will take away a load of guilt from your heart and no one will take an advantage of your secret mistakes! Accept your mistake, apologize and seek forgiveness politely.

This is a story of brother, duck, grandfather, grandmother and sister.Moral(s) of the story: confession and honesty

Little Boy with a Slingshot

It was Krishnadeva Rai’s mother’s death anniversary and he wanted to do something special for his deceased mother on this day. He summoned the head priest to discuss the same. The head priest took this as an opportunity to earn money. He asked the king what his mother’s last wish was. The king said, “My mother used to love the mango fruit. On her last day also, she wished to eat a mango, but she breathed her last before the fruits could reach her.” On hearing this, the cunning priest said, “Your Majesty, your mother’s soul will rest in peace if you fulfill her last wish. As she is no more, you can do an alternate thing. You must give away 108 mangoes made of pure gold placed in 108 silver bowls to 108 Brahmins in alms. This will definitely make her soul happy and she will shower her choicest blessings on you.” The king agreed to the priest’s proposal and soon 108 golden mangoes were made and distributed amongst the Brahmins.When Tenaliram came to know about this, he understood that the priest had taken undue advantage of the king’s feelings towards his mother and decided to teach him a lesson.One day, Tenaliram called the head priest and said that he wanted to give alms in the memory of his expired mother. The priest was elated on getting another opportunity to fill his pockets. Tenaliram also invited Krishnadeva Rai for the ceremony.When everybody had come, Tenaliram took a red hot poker and went to the head priest. He said, “Dear sir, my mother was suffering from pain and wanted a red hot poker to be placed on her hand. But, she died before her wish was fulfilled, so I request you to let me perform the act on you, along with all the Brahmins whom you brought, so that her soul rests in peace. If you permit let us begin the ….”Even before Tenaliram could complete his sentence, the head priest including the other Brahmins vanished from the scene, giving various types of excuses to him. The king realized that he was duped by the head priest and thanked Tenaliram from the bottom of his heart for revealing the true character of the priest. Moral:Lies and a deceitful nature never prevail.

This is a classic story from Tenali Raman.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

Royal mother’s last wish

Shina Utavani

Once upon a time, there lived a poor boy named Aladdin. He lived with his mother in China. One day a rich-looking man came to their house. He said to Aladdin’s mother, “I am a merchant from Arabia and I want to take your son with me. I will pay him handsomely so that you will not be poor anymore.” Aladdin’s mother instantly agreed because they needed money. However, she did not know that the man, in reality, was a magician.The next day, Aladdin packed his things and left with the merchant. After travelling for many hours, the merchant stopped. Aladdin was surprised because it was a lonely spot and there was no one anywhere. He could not see anything for miles.The merchant took out some coloured powder from his pocket and threw it in the ground. The moment he threw the powder on the ground, there was smoke all around. Aladdin did not know what was happening. When the smoke was cleared, he saw a big opening in the ground, it was a cave. The merchant asked Aladdin to go inside the cave. The merchant said, “You will see gold inside the cave. The gold will be more than you will ever see in your life. Take as much as you want. There you will also see an old lamp. Please bring that to me.” After hearing this, Aladdin became suspicious but he decided to go inside the cave.Aladdin entered the cave and just as the merchant said he saw gold, jewellery, diamonds, and other valuables. He filled his pockets with gold and stuffed in as much as he could. Then, he looked for the lamp. He saw the lamp lying in the corner. It was old and dirty. He took the lamp and decided to go back to the cave’s opening. There, he shouted to the merchant, “I have your lamp. Can you please pull me out?” The merchant said, “Give me the lamp first.” Aladdin was afraid that if he gave the lamp, the merchant would not pull him out. So, he said, “Please pull me out first.”The merchant got angry and threw some powder at the cave. Due to which the opening of the cave was shut with a huge rock. Aladdin was scared. He wondered, “Why this lamp is so important to him?” He then took the lamp and started rubbing it. Suddenly, a strange fog filled the room and from the fog appeared a man. He said, “My master, I am the genie of the lamp. What is your wish?” Aladdin was frightened and said in a quivering voice, “Please take me to my home.”The next moment Aladdin was at his home hugging his mother. He told her everything. Aladdin called the genie and this time he was not scared. He said, “Genie, I want a palace.” At the next moment, there was a beautiful palace in front of them.As people got to know about the rich Aladdin, he became famous. He soon married the Sultan’s daughter and they were very happy. The magician got to know about Aladdin and came to Aladdin’s palace pretending to be an old man who exchanged old lamps for new. Aladdin’s wife was not aware of the magic lamp so, she gave it to the magician for exchange. The magician took the lamp and started rubbing it. Soon the genie appeared and the magician told, “Shift Aladdin’s palace away from here to a desert.”&nbsp;When Aladdin came home, he could not find his palace or his princess. He then thought this might be done by the evil magician. He took out the ring that the magician had given him and started rubbing it. Another genie appeared. Aladdin said, “Take me to my princess.” Soon, Aladdin was in Arabia with his princess. He saw his magic lamp lying on a table and before magician could react, he grabbed the lamp and rubbed it. Soon, the genie appeared and Aladdin said, “I want you to send this magician to a different place so that he can never harm anyone.” The next moment the evil magician disappeared forever.The genie carried Aladdin, the princess and the palace back to China. He stayed with Aladdin for the rest of his life.

This is a story of Aladdin, ginnie, lamp and magician.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

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

honesty 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.