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

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful parrot who lived in a jungle with his brother. The parrot was very beautiful and lived happily with his brother.A hunter was passing through a jungle one day and saw the pair of beautiful parrots on a tree. He said, “The parrots are so beautiful. I should give them as a present to the king.” He decided to catch the beautiful parrots and made a trap. The parrots were caught in the trap at once and the hunter was very happy. The hunter took the parrots and presented them to the king as a gift. The king was happy to see the parrots. He accepted the gift from the hunter and put the parrots in a golden cage. The servants were ordered to take care of the parrots.The servants used to take care of the parrots and would offer them delicious food. The parrots were treated well and the servants took extreme care of them. The young prince would come to play with the parrots. The prince treated them with the utmost love. He loved to play with them.The parrots were happy to receive so much love and affection from the king. They were given everything without actually doing anything. One of the parrots said, “We are lucky to have been brought here.” The other parrot replied, “Yes, we are living a peaceful and comfortable life in the palace and with that, we are being loved too.” They both were very happy and satisfied with their lives. They were the main attraction of the palace and everyone loved them.Everything was fine until one day the hunter who had brought them in the palace returned with another gift for the king. This time, the hunter brought a black monkey with him. The king was very happy to receive the present. He happily accepted the gift from the hunter.Gradually, the monkey became the main attraction in the palace. He was loved by everyone and the servants took care of the monkey and fed him delicious food. The servants at times forgot to feed the parrots. The young prince started playing with the monkey. He even gave more attention to the monkey and the poor parrots were neglected. The parrots felt very bad. The younger parrot said, “The monkey has ruined our lives. Nobody looks out for us anymore.” The older brother replied, “Do not worry little brother. Nothing is permanent in this world. Everything will change soon.”The monkey was mischievous and active. One day, he created a lot of problems in the palace for everyone. Servants were fed up with the monkey and the young prince was afraid of the mischievous black monkey. One day, the king ordered to throw the monkey out in the jungle. The monkey was thrown in the jungle.Now, again the parrots became the centre of attraction of the palace. Everyone started giving all the attention to the parrots. The parrots were very happy as their fun days were back. The younger brother realized what his elder brother told him. “Time never stays the same,” the younger brother said. The elder brother replied, “See, I told you nothing is permanent. You should never get depressed in bad times.” The younger brother then decided to never lose patience in bad times or unfavourable conditions. Moral:Nothing is permanent in our lives. Everything changes with time and nothing stands still.

This is a story of king, monkey and parrot.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The Wise Parrot

Ravina Sewani

Once, there was a cap-seller in a town. On one fine day, he was selling caps.“Caps, caps, caps….Five rupees caps, ten rupees caps…."After he made few sales of caps, he became very tired. He decided to sit under a big tree to take rest for a while. Soon, he slept off.There were many monkeys on the big tree. They saw the cap-seller was sleeping under the tree. The monkeys were sitting on the top of the tree. The monkeys came down, took the caps from the cap-seller-bag and wore them. Then they climbed the tree again.When the cap seller woke up, he was shocked to see his basket empty. He searched for his caps. To his surprise, he saw the monkeys were wearing them. He found that monkeys were imitating him. So, he started throwing his cap down and the monkeys also did so. The cap-seller collected all the caps, put them back in his basket and went away happily. Moral:Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

This is a story of monkey.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The Cap-seller and The Monkeys

Once upon a time, on the banks of a mighty river, there was a monkey, who lived on a magnificent tree. The tree bore fruits as sweet as nectar, and the monkey lived a happy and content life.Once, a hungry crocodile swam up to the bank of the river. “Hello! Try out these fruits!” called out the monkey, tossing the juicy fruits to the crocodile. Every day, the crocodile would come to eat the fruits, and soon, they became great friends.But the crocodile’s wife was very greedy, and wanted to have the monkey for her supper. “I want to devour the monkey’s heart, for it will be as sweet as the fruit he eats,” schemed the wife.Next day, the gullible crocodile invited his dear friend to his house for supper. The poor monkey believed the story, and without hesitation, jumped on the crocodile’s back and off they went to the crocodile’s home on the other side of the river.In the middle of the river, the crocodile began sinking deep. The frightened monkey screamed, “What are you doing?” The crocodile said, “Forgive me, my friend, but I have to kill you! My wife has heard so much about you, and now she wants to eat your juicy heart.”“Oh, silly friend,” baited the monkey. “Why didn’t you say so in the beginning itself? My heart is stored safely in the burrow of the tree.”“Really? Let’s go get it then,” said the silly crocodile, and he started swimming back to the tree. Once the crocodile reached the river bank, the terrified monkey sprang to safety, on a high branch.Once out of reach, the monkey yelled at the crocodile, “Your wife is a greedy crocodile and you a foolish one. I have only one heart and it’s beating inside me.” The crocodile was ashamed of what happened and swam back into the sea, having lost a dear friend due to his foolishness. Moral:Presence of mind can help escape any dangerous situation. The monkey used his wit at the right time and was able to escape the vicious plan of the crocodile.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of crocodile, monkey and panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness, greediness and smartness

The Monkey and the Crocodile

Yesha Desai

Maya, the monkey, had very long, strong and silky hair. Maya’s mother oiled her hair and plaited it every single day. Maya was very proud of her waist length hair. She thought that her hair was better than everyone’s hair.She hopped across from one tree to another and showed them off.&nbsp;One day at school, she sat beside another monkey named Mint. Mint was a very shy and timid girl with short hair. She complimented Maya’s beautiful, shining hair and this pleased Maya greatly.Maya talked about how much care she took for her hair, how she combed it regularly and nurtured them. Looking at Mint’s short hair, she thought that Mint did not take care of her hair enough so Maya gave Mint some tips and told her to nurture her hair properly if she wanted her hair to be as beautiful as Maya’s.Mint attentively listened to what Maya said and thanked her for her tips, “Thank you Maya. I have always wanted long hair. I will definitely try to grow my hair with the tips you gave. I used to have long hair but they were destroyed due to my cancer medicines. Now, I am growing them again.”As Maya listened to Mint’s story, she felt horrible about herself. She should not have flaunted her qualities like this. She apologised to Mint for making her feel bad but Mint said she did not mind at all.That day Maya learned not to be too proud of her qualities. She learned to have humility.Moral:Pride does not allow us to see what others are going through. Be kind.

This is a story of friend, hair, monkey and school.Moral(s) of the story: pride

The pride and its result

Once upon a time a king gave a holiday to all the royal workers in his kingdom. The king’s gardener also wanted to avail a day’s holiday but he had to water the plants at the royal garden. It was summer time, and he could not leave the plants without water. He knew that if the plants died, he would have to face the king’s wrath. So, he thought of assigning the task of watering the plants to someone else.Just then he saw some monkeys having fun and frolic in the king’s garden and got a strange idea. He approached the chief of the monkeys and said, “You must consider yourselves lucky to be living in the royal garden. You get to play on the lush green trees and eat the fresh fruits from the garden. You must do something to show your gratitude towards the king.” All the monkeys were listening carefully to the gardener. The gardener further added, “The king has given a day’s holiday to all the royal workers. But, I cannot go anywhere as I have to water the plants. If you agree to water the plants for one day, the king would be very happy with you and I would also be able to go out with my friends.”The chief of the monkeys readily agreed to do the job and said, “We shall be glad to do that for our generous king.” The gardener gave the watering pots to the monkeys and went away. When the monkeys began to water the young trees, a query popped in their mind. They asked their chief, “How shall we know when each tree has been given enough water?” The chief of the monkeys scratched his head for a while and said, “Pull up each young tree and look at the length of its roots. Give more water to the trees with long roots, and only a little to the ones that have short roots.”Then the stupid monkeys uprooted all the trees of the garden to see which trees had long roots and which had short roots. When the gardener came back the next day, he was taken aback to see the deplorable condition of the royal garden. He could do nothing but repent over his act of foolishness. Moral:Foolishness always has bad consequences.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of gardener and monkey.

The stupid monkeys

In a beautiful forest once, there lived two trees. The trees’ names were Chintu and Pintu. They were brothers. On the trees, there lived a troop of monkeys, a family of bird, the Bunky bear, and the wise wolf. They all lived like a big family. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company.One morning, when everyone was busy talking, Pintu saw a woodcutter coming towards the forest. Chintu advised all of them to run away. But no one left the place. Pintu again requested them to go away but none of them agreed. They all said, “You give us food to eat, shelter to live and fresh air to breathe. We cannot leave you in danger.” Chintu and Pintu were overwhelmed and their eyes rolled the tears of happiness. They all made a quick plan to protect everyone from the woodcutter. Both the trees advised all the animals and birds to hide behind the leaves.There were many trees in the forest so the woodcutter could not decide which tree to cut. He saw Chintu and Pintu, the big trees. He decided to cut them. The wise wolf already told the plan to all of them. So, when the woodcutter came near to cut the tress, all of them started jumping around him. The monkeys started jumping on him and the birds started flying above him. When all were busy around the woodcutter, the wise wolf ran to the king Lion and told him everything. The Lion King roared and reached there quickly. Hearing Lion’s roar, the woodcutter was scared. So, he ran away from there. All were happy that they could save Chintu and Pintu. All birds and animals were grateful to the king as well as the Wolf for his cleverness.Later, the woodcutter realized the importance of trees. He thought trees are important for us as well as animals and birds. They give food, shelter, shade, and flowers to us. He realized his mistake and promised to never cut trees again in his life. He opened a nursery and planted many new plants in his village. Moral:Save trees, plant more trees and save our nature.

This is a story of forest, lion, monkey, tree, wolf and woodcutter.

The Trees and The Woodcutter

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

Once, a large troop of monkeys lived in a hilly area. When winter came, the monkeys had no place where they could take shelter. They had to face the cold wind and snowfall. It was getting unbearable for them. One monkey suggested that they should go and take shelter in the nearby village in the houses of the people who lived there. But next morning, when the village people saw such a huge troop of monkeys in their village, they drove them away by pelting them with stones and sticks. The monkeys were forced to return to the cold, hilly area. The monkeys were shivering in the cold when suddenly one monkey had an idea. He suggested that they should make a fire and warm themselves the way they had seen the villagers do sitting around the fire. So, the monkeys collected some sticks. They came across some red berries growing on wild plants and mistook them for burning coals. They plucked the berries, put them under the pile of sticks and attempted to light the fire by blowing on the pile. But nothing happened. There was no fire. The monkeys were puzzled.A bird who was watching all this from a tree said, “Oh you silly monkeys! You are such fools to try and start a fire with those red fruits. Have you ever seen fruits starting a fire? Why don’t you go and take shelter in the cave that is at the foothills?”The monkeys were full of rage to see the little bird giving them advice that they had not asked for. An old monkey said to the bird, “How dare you call us fools? It is better that you go and see to your own business and don’t interfere in our affairs.”But the little bird did not care. She kept chirping and giving unwanted advice to the monkeys. Then, filled with rage, one big monkey caught the bird in his hand and dashed her head against the trunk of the tree. The bird died immediately. This is why it is said that giving advice to idiots is useless; instead it could create more trouble. Moral:Do not interfere in others’ matters without being asked as it can end you up in a problem.

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

The monkeys and the red berries

Once upon a time, there was a village called Dancing. A group of young girls and boys lived in that village. Every night after dinner, they would light a fire and dance around it.One evening a monkey came to the dance, wearing smart clothes and a stylish hat. He came and sat in a corner on a stone. No one recognised that he was a monkey. He also played melodious music with his drums.Every night, the monkey would come and play and the girls would dance with him happily. The girls loved him more each day. They also started showering him with gifts. One of them gave him a ring, the other gave him cookies.The boys were extremely jealous, as the attention of all the girls was always focused on the monkey.“Who is this new fellow and what is he doing in our village?” the boys asked one another, and decided to keep a close eye on him. That night they watched him quietly from a distance.The boys simply could not believe their eyes when they saw that the person whom the girls loved so much was a monkey in reality. It had a hairy body and a long tail.That night the guys laughed their hearts out and finally slept peacefully.The boys decided to play a prank on the monkey. They burnt some wood and put it around the stone where the monkey sat every day, and covered it with leaves.Like every evening the monkey came and sat on its usual place, only this time it did not feel the same. “OOOUUUUCHHHH!” screamed the monkey and jumped up from its seat. The hot stone had burnt his bottom through his pants. The monkey jumped into a bucket full of water to comfort himself.The boys laughed at the girls for dancing with the monkey and told them that they had taught a lesson to the monkey. When the girls got to know what the boys had done, they scolded the boys saying it didn’t matter if he was a monkey. He was a kind soul. They asked the boys to go and apologise to him but it was too late .The monkey ran away in the night and never come back.Ever since, monkeys have had red bottoms. Moral:We should respect the differences of everyone and accept everyone for who they are.

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

monkey 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 Wise Parrot

The Cap-seller and The Monkeys

The Monkey and the Crocodile

The pride and its result

The stupid monkeys

The Trees and The Woodcutter

The monkey and the drum

The monkeys and the red berries

How monkeys got their red bottoms

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