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

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

The Magic Lake 

The first king and leader of the Maurya dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, was a common child. At birth, he was orphaned and brought up by a peacock herdsman. Chanakya, who saw enormous potential in Chandragupta, took him to Taxila from his adopted parents and educated him in warfare and political leadership. After the death of Alexander, Chandragupta led a revolt in modern-day Punjab that was under Greek rule and captured large parts of Punjab and modern-day Pakistan. Then he set out to conquer the powerful Nanda empire that ruled North India's vast tracts. Dhana Nanda was the king of Nanda empire and quite a few times the Nanda king defeated Chandragupta’s army and Chandragupta had to flee the battlefield to save his life. Another such battle took place on the outskirts of Pataliputra, and the military of Chandragupta was defeated, and Chandra had to withdraw to the vast jungles to save his life. One day, Chandra Gupta became so exhausted from running and hiding in the forest that he fell asleep under a tree. He saw a lion sitting near him as he woke up and licking his face to wake him up. Now in those days, Lion was also a feared animal and was renowned for its strength. Chandragupta woke up and saw the lion protecting him, taking it as a warning of coming good things. He went back to Taxila and formed another army within a year and attacked Nanda’s capital Pataliputra(Patna) and this time he defeated Dhana Nanda. Chandragupta Maurya took the throne of Magadha. The lion was adopted as a symbol of Chandragupta Maurya.

This is a story of Chandragupt Maurya.

Chandragupta Maurya

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

Once, the Queen wanted to give alms to all the blinds in the kingdom. Emperor Akbar wanted to be sure that none of the blinds were deprived of alms, so he directed his men to prepare a list of blind people in his kingdom.As per order of the Emperor, a comprehensive list of the blind people was made and presented before the king. Emperor Akbar handed over the list to Birbal and asked him to make adequate arrangements for distribution of alms.Birbal glanced at the list and said, “Your Majesty, I will do the needful. But, do you know that there are more blind people than the ones listed here? In fact, the number of blinds is far greater than the number of sighted people in our kingdom.”Akbar said, “That is a ridiculous thing to say, Birbal! If it is true, prove it to me.” Birbal accepted the Emperor’s challenge.The next day, Birbal took a frame of an old cot and carried it with him to the main crossing. He then sat on the road and started weaving its rope. He had a servant with a paper and a pen, standing next to him. Soon, a courtier came and exclaimed, “Birbal, what are you doing?”Birbal did not answer him. He just whispered something in the ear of his servant and kept at his work. A little later, some more people gathered on the street. They were extremely surprised to see Raja Birbal weaving a cot and thus, started asking all sorts of questions.“What is wrong with Raja Birbal?”“Why is he doing this?”“What could be the reason behind this?”Each time someone made a comment, the servant quickly jotted down something on the piece of paper. The news that Raja Birbal was weaving a cot on the road spread like wildfire in the city. By evening, Akbar, too, came to know about this. He went to Birbal to see for himself.He asked Birbal in a surprised tone, “I don’t understand what you are trying to do!”The servant again wrote down something on the paper. Birbal stood up and greeted the king. He said, “Jahanpanah, I was making the list of blinds!” He then gave the list to the Emperor to see.Emperor Akbar was astonished to see his name at the end of the list. He asked Birbal, “Birbal, why have you included my name in your list of blinds?”Birbal politely replied, “Your Majesty, you are also one of them! You were the last person to come and ask me what I was doing, even though you could clearly see that I was weaving the cot.”Akbar burst out laughing and said, “Yes Birbal, I do agree with you that the number of blinds in our kingdom is far more than the sighted people.

This is a classic story from Akbar Birbal. ﻿Moral:Asking silly questions when you can see what is happening is truly a disability.

List of blinds

Once upon a time, there was a little kid named Shankar. He belonged to a very poor family.&nbsp;One day, he was passing by the forest carrying some woods. On his way, he saw an old man who was very hungry. Shankar wanted to give him some food, but he did not have food for himself.&nbsp;So, he continued on his way. Further, he saw a deer sitting under a tree. The deer was very thirsty. Shankar wanted to give him some water, but he did not have water for himself. So, he continued on his way.Then, he came across a man who wanted to make a camp but did not have enough woods. Shankar decided to give him some of his woods. In return, the man gave him some food and water. Instead of keeping the food and water for himself, Shankar went to the old man and gave him some food. He then rushed to the thirsty deer and gave him some water. The old man and the deer were very happy. Shankar then happily went back on his way.However, one day Shankar was walking by, and he suddenly fell down from the hill.&nbsp;He was in pain and it was difficult for him to even move. There was no one around to help him. After some time, an old man saw Shankar. He was the same man whom Shankar had helped before. The old man quickly came and pulled him up the hill. He had many wounds on his legs.&nbsp;The deer whom Shankar had given water saw his wounds. He quickly went to the forest and brought some herbs. The herbs helped Shankar to cover his wounds. All were happy that they could help each other. Moral: If you help others, they will also help you. The more you want to help others, the more they will want to help you.&nbsp;

Have you heard about a Goat who eats 10 potatoes a day

Potato and Goat Friendship

Once Emperor Akbar thought of playing a trick on Birbal. He gave one egg to each of his ministers before Birbal reached the court.When Birbal arrived in the court, the Emperor told everybody about a strange dream that he saw the previous night. He said, “A divine being appeared in my dream and said that I would be able to judge the honesty of my ministers by giving them a simple task. I must ask them to go to the royal garden pond and get an egg from there. Those who are honest, will find an egg there and those who are not, shall return empty handed.”Then the Emperor directed all of his courtiers to go to the royal garden pool and bring back an egg. One by one, all his ministers went to the pond and returned with the egg, which the Emperor had previously given them.Birbal also went to the pond and looked around for an egg. He even jumped into the pond but failed to find any egg. He soon realized that the Emperor was trying to play a trick on him. So, he thought for a while and then entered the court crowing like a rooster.The Emperor asked him to stop making that irritating noise and produce the egg.Birbal smiled and replied that only hens lay eggs, and as since he was a rooster, he could not produce an egg.Akbar burst out laughing and understood that it was not easy to outwit his clever minister. Moral:Despite the silliness of the situation, you can turn it in your favour and humour everyone.

This is a classic story from Akbar Birbal.

The Rooster and the hen

Swami Vivekananda was born in a rich noble family by the name of Narendranath Dutta. Despite his parents push towards his noble and family duties, Narendranath was very much drawn towards spirituality and religion. He went away from home and was wandering around when he met Ramakrishna Paramhans who was a very well renowned saint. He listened to Ramakrishna Paramhans's ideology and was very much inspired by him. He was a very devoted disciple of the saint and learned a lot from him. He took the name of Swami Vivekanand and set off to spread the word of Ramakrishna. As he was growing old, the saint handed the responsibility of his other disciples to Swami Vivekanand. After his death, all his disciples united and founded the Ramakrishna Mission. The Ramkrishna mission's main goal is to provide help to whoever needs it.&nbsp; The mission has multiple schools of their own to provide quality education for underprivileged and medicines for the poor.

This is a story of how Ramakrishna Mission was cofounded by Swami Vivekananda. This mission provides medical and educational relief programs.

Swami Vivekanand and Ramakrishna Mission

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 

Easter is an important festival for Christians. The festival is celebrated after three days of crucifixion of Jesus i.e. Good Friday. Crucifixion means killing someone by nailing the person across the cross. It is celebrated on Sunday and it is often known as ‘Easter Sunday’. This festival is celebrated to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. Resurrection is a concept of living beings coming back to life after death. Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus coming back to life after he was hanged on the cross. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday. He was buried in a grave. On the third day, his disciples visited his grave and found out that the grave was empty. The day stands for the victory of Christ over death. The resurrection of Jesus is what ultimately makes him the ‘Son of God’. People celebrate Easter through various events and activities. Churches are decorated with flowers, lightnings, and candles. People visit the church and offer their prayers. Children decorate Easter Eggs with colours and sparkles. Various events are organised like Egg Hunt, Egg festival, etc. People prepare a variety of cuisines and celebrate the festival with their families. The tradition of Easter Eggs represents fertility and birth. It signifies new life, fertility, and rebirth. It is believed that the hard shell of the egg symbolises the sealed ‘Tomb of Christ’ and the egg's cracking represents his resurrection from death. Painted eggs or Chocolate filled eggs are common gifts exchanged at this festival. People light candles in the churches on Easter which represents that the life of Jesus is a guiding light to the world. They are lit to spread light and give hope.

This is a story of Easter and Jesus Christ.Moral(s) of the story: sacrifice

lapwing 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 Magic Lake

Chandragupta Maurya

The penny wise monkey

List of blinds

Potato and Goat Friendship

The Rooster and the hen

Swami Vivekanand and Ramakrishna Mission

The Lake Princesses

Easter

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