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.

Shina Utavani

One upon a time, there were two beautiful princesses. They both were kidnapped by a vicious king when they were young. The princesses were taken to a lake where they were abandoned on a small island. The princesses had to live there forever under the guidance of a terrifying lake monster.After some time, the wicked king and his court of wizards and fortune-tellers were overthrown. And everybody knew that a brave prince was destined to release the princesses from their imprisonment.When princesses came to know about the news, their lives were finally filled with hope. Out of the two princesses, the youngest one was more beautiful and pretty than the elder one. She had a hope that one day prince will come to rescue her. So, she patiently waited for him, making small decorations from the flowers and singing songs. However, the older princess did not enjoy having to wait. She thought that she had to do something to help the prince rescue her. She thought that the prince should at least know where she was.The elder princess started working to help the prince. She started making signals, building towers, digging tunnels and a thousand other things. However, the lake monster always tried his best to ruin her plans.As time passed, the elder sister felt insecure and uncomfortable. She knew that the prince would choose her younger sister because she was more beautiful. So, she thought there was no point in waiting for the prince instead she started making plans to escape from the island not worrying about the prince.Every morning she would prepare a different escape plan, but the monster would always do something to ruin her plan. She attempted every day to plan an escape but the monster used to ruin it every time. It became like a game of cat and mouse between the princess and the monster. The princess tried to plan a new escape every day which used to be more original and creative. And the monster used a different creative way to destroy those plans. They put so much effort and imagination in their plans that at the end of each day the princess and the monster would spend hours chatting like friends. They used to discuss how they had planned their strategy. At night they both would say Goodbye and the monster would go back to the watery depths.One day the monster said to the princess that he will allow her to go the next day. He said that she was a clever and brave girl. She did not deserve to remain imprisoned like that. But the next morning the princess did not try to escape. She sat beside the lake, waiting for the monster to appear. When the monster came, he asked, “Why have not you gone?” The princess replied, “I did not want to leave you alone. You are indeed scary, but you are clever too. You deserve something better than guarding the princesses. Why don’t you come with me?” The monster sadly replied, “I cannot. I can’t leave the island; I’m attached to it by a long chain. You will have to leave on your own.”The princess went to the monster and hugged him tightly. She hugged him so tightly that the monster broke into a thousand pieces. And from those pieces appeared a slim, smiling young man, with the same expression and intelligence as he had as the lake monster.So, it was the Prince that had been with them all along. The princesses did not know that for the prince to rescue them, first, they would have to rescue him. This was only possible because of the spirit and the positive attitude of the older sister.The prince at the end decided to marry the older princess, leaving the younger princess to her songs, beauty, and her sweetness. Moral:You don’t achieve things by waiting for them to happen; instead you must work hard to achieve them. The story teaches us the importance of taking initiative with a positive attitude to achieve what we want.

This is a story of lake, monster, prince and princess.Moral(s) of the story: hard work, smartness

The Lake Princesses 

Once, in a little village near Guwahati, there was a big park. In the middle of the park, there was a huge wood and, in that wood, there was a dark and gloomy lake and, in that lake, there lived a Monster called Monstruto.Monstruto was very dangerous. He had eaten all the monsters who used to live in the lake and all the children who used to go near the lake. And due to this reason, the monster had a big round tummy. The tummy of the monster was so big that when he moved, it scraped along the bottom of the lake. He used to hold the branches of the trees around the lake so, he could move easily. Due to this, all the branches of the trees were broken and were touching the water.Monstruto was left with nothing more to eat. He had eaten all the monsters and no children used to come near the lake as they were scared.One day, a group of children was playing football near the lake. One little boy kicked the ball so hard that it landed near one corner of the lake. The hungry Monstruto saw the round thing near the corner of the lake and thought of eating it. The monster went to the corner of the lake and holding on to the branches of the trees, he swallowed the ball at once.The monsters and children who were inside the tummy of the Monstruto started playing with the ball. They began to play the game of the football and one monster kicked the ball so hard that it blew up. The air inside the ball began to escape and the monster’s tummy began to get bigger and bigger until it exploded. Due to this, all the monsters and the children came out of the Monstruto’s tummy. All the children that came out from the tummy went to their parents running and to tell them what had happened.The Monstruto’s tummy was not big and round anymore. It did not touch the ground and he was thin. He could walk around easily without grabbing the branches of the trees. The best thing was that there were many more monsters in the lake. So, Monstruto used to play with them and have fun.Monstruto decided that from now onwards he would never eat any of the monsters or children.

This is a story of child, football, lake and monster.Moral(s) of the story: cooperation and friendship

The lake monster 

One upon a time, there was a lake near the forest. In the lake, there lived a crab. The crab had a best friend Swan who also lived near the lake. They both were great friends and lived happily in the forest.One day, the snake came to live near the lake. The snake would eat the swan’s egg and would create many problems for the swan. The swan was very scared. So, he went to Crab and said, “My dear friend, I am facing trouble because of the arrival of the snake. It eats all my eggs and I cannot even fight with him. I am very scared, please help me.” Near the lake, there also lived a mongoose. The crab had a plan. He said, “I have an idea, my friend. We will get some fish from the lake and throw them one by one from the snake’s house to the mongoose’s house.”Swan and Crab collected some fish from the lake and scattered them in a row from the snake’s house to the mongoose’s house. After throwing the fish they immediately went to their home. They waited for the mongoose to step out of his house. As soon as the mongoose came out, he saw fish on his door. He took the fish in his hand and started eating them. He started eating all the fish and followed the trail. As soon as he went ahead to eat the fish, he reached closer to the snake’s house. After some time, he reached the snake’s house.He said, “My enemy is here, I must kill it.” The snake and mongoose got into an ugly fight and in the end, the snake was killed. The swan and crab were very happy.The next day, the mongoose was very hungry, so he decided to eat more snakes. As soon as he reached near the lake, instead of snakes, he saw Swan’s eggs. The mongoose immediately grabbed the swan’s egg and started eating them. He liked them and decided to come there every day. The swan and the crab became helpless. By their foolish action, they had invited a new enemy which was more dangerous than the previous one.They were left with no option but to leave their homes. They always remembered the lesson that mongoose had taught them. Moral:Thoughtless actions lead to disaster.

This is a story of crab, egg, forest, lake, mongoose, snake and swan.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The crab, swan and the snake

Five hundred years ago, there lived a girl namedNandiniwith her parents and two old brothers in Raigadh. She belonged to a poor family. Sun King was the ruler of the village. Once, they came to know that the health of the king’s son which was not well since birth, had worsened. The Sun King was worried about his son’s life. The court magician said, “The only hope for your son’s life is the water from the Magic Lake. The magic lake was situated at the end of the earth. In the end, the sky dips so low that it touches the lake’s water and it has the magical healing power.”The Sun King announced that whoever could bring him the water from the magic lake would be rewarded. For the Nandini’s two older brothers, it was the opportunity to save the king’s son. They begged their parents to let them go to find the magic lake. Their father said that the end of the earth is very far, and it would take a lot of time to reach there. Her mother said that there would be a lot of danger in the way to reach there. The only thing the brothers said was, “But our prince will die without the water from the Magic Lake. We must try.” Eventually, the parents agreed and Nandini’s brothers embarked on the journey. They travelled for months, trekking through various mountain ranges. After crossing each mountain range, they thought they would reach the magic lake after that. But that did not happen.The brothers were exhausted and tired. One of them said, “We are not going to find the Magic Lake.” "Look, the harvest is coming, and our parents need us back at the farm. Let's take some water from this mountain lake back to the prince. Who knows? We're far from Raigadh. Maybe the water will help cure him." They were confused but filled the jar full of the mountain lake water, sealed it, and presented it to the Sun King at the castle. But when the court magician poured their water into his flask, it sizzled and evaporated in a flash. The court magician frowned, "My magic flask holds only water from the Magic Lake.” He said, "This water is fake. These men are imposters!". The Sun King was angry and said, "How dare you try to trick the royal family! Throw them in prison!" LittleNandini felt very bad about the news that her brothers were put in jail but she was happy that at least they were alive.Nandini decided to go on the journey to search for the magic water. Her parents did not allow her to go. But she requested her parents by saying that it was the only way to save her brother’s life. Her parents at last agreed and her mother gave her a bag of toasted nuts and a Lamb (her pet)to keep her company. She went on the journey to find the magic water. She did not want to risk her pet’s life so she asked him to go back home after one day.She was sitting under a tree. She took out some nuts from her bag to eat. On the tree, there were various birds. She offered some of the nuts to them as well. The birds were happy for her kindness and they decided to help her find the magic lake. They gave the girl, a feather from each of their wings and told her that those feathers held magic powers. They also told her to hold all of them together like a fan and that would take her where she wished to go. Nandini was also advised that the lake was guarded by three terrible beats, but that she should not worry because the feathers would help her.Nandini then reached a beautiful lake within a few seconds with the help of the feathers. When she reached there, she realised that she left her bag behind including the flask to fill the water. She kept the feather fan on her lips and wished for the flask. Suddenly there appeared the flask. Before the girl could fill the flask with the water, she heard a menacing sound behind her. She looked around and saw a giant crab who told her to leave the water alone. Nandini took the magic fan up to her lips and the crab fell asleep. As she went ahead, she saw a giant snake coming towards her. She got very scared. She quickly took the magic fan and the snake disappeared. Again, she heard the tail of a giant alligator before she could fill the water. Nandini again used the magic fan and the alligator fell asleep.Now that she had faced the three terrible beasts, Nandini was free to fill the water. She filled the water and took the magic fan and wished to be in the palace. She arrived in the room that was occupied by the king, queen, and prince. She put a few drops of water onto the prince’s lips. He immediately began to recover.The king was very happy and asked Nandinito wish for anything she wanted. She asked for three things. First, she asked for her brother’s release. The king released them immediately. Second, she wanted her parents to be no longer poor. The king agreed to give them land, house, and enough money. Thirdly, she asked that the magic fan to be returned to the birds. As soon as she made this request, the fan lifted itself and went out of the castle.Nandini asked nothing for herself. The king requested her to stay with them. She kindly denied as she wanted to go back home to her parents. Then, she lived peacefully and comfortably with her parents. Moral:Always be courageous and never give up. Family should always be our priority.

This is a story of brother, king, lake and magic.Moral(s) of the story: courage

lake 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 Lake Princesses

The lake monster

The crab, swan and the snake

The Magic Lake

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