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, 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

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

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

There was once a jungle that had no king. All the animals of the jungle gathered and decided to elect a new ruler. They decided to select a king for the jungle. At the meeting of the animals, the monkey who was present there was asked to dance. The monkey started dancing and he did so well that all were impressed by his performance.All the animals enjoyed the monkey’s performance and decided to make monkey the king of the jungle. Everyone voted for the monkey except the Fox. The fox was disappointed by the decision and thought Monkey was not worthy of the title. Fox wanted to explain to everyone that Monkey was not the perfect choice as the king.One day, the fox found a trap with a bit of meat in it. The fox had an idea. He went running to the Monkey and said, “King, I have found a rich treasure but I did not touch it because I think it belongs to you my Majesty.” The greedy monkey was very excited and followed the fox to get the treasure. As soon as the monkey saw the meat, he immediately went to grasp it. In a couple of seconds, the monkey was stuck in a trap. The fox saw the monkey and started laughing.The fox then said, “You cannot even take care of yourself and you pretend to be our king!”. The monkey was ashamed and felt very bad. He bowed down his head in shame. All other animals realized their mistake and understood why the fox was telling that the monkey is not worthy to become a king.They understood that a true leader proves himself by his qualities and not by showing off what he has. Another election was conducted and this time they appointed the true king. They made Lion the king of the jungle. Moral:People who cannot control themselves should never control the people around them.

This is a story of forest, fox, king, lion and monkey.Moral(s) of the story: control

The Fox and the Monkey

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

A long time ago, a king named Brahmadatta ruled the city of Banaras. His chief of guards, Bodhisattva, was a very wise and knowledgeable man.One day, the queen and her friends were walking in the palace gardens. It was a hot summer day, so they decided to get some respite from the heat by swimming in the royal pool. Before going in the pool, the queen took off her pearl necklace and gave it to her maidservant for safekeeping. The maidservant put the necklace in a wooden box and sat down under a tree to watch the royal ladies have fun in the pool.Some monkeys used to live on the trees near that pool. A little girl monkey had got a glimpse of the queen’s shining pearl necklace and was besotted by it. She imagined how beautiful would she look with that necklace around her own neck. So, she waited around, hoping that the maidservant who was guarding the wooden box would soon fall asleep. The girl monkey did not have to wait for long as the maidservant who was tired of watching the queen playing with her friends, began to nod in the heat of the day and was finally fast asleep. Quick as lightning, the girl monkey jumped down, filched the necklace and hurried back to the tree. She put the pearl necklace around her neck and admired herself for a while. Then, not wanting the other monkeys to see it, she hid the string of pearls in a hollow of the tree.When the maidservant woke up, she was petrified to see that the necklace was gone. She screamed at the top of her voice, “Somebody has stolen the queen’s pearl necklace!”The palace guards came from all around and ransacked the royal garden in search of the so-called thief. There was a homeless man loitering outside the walls of the garden. He heard the commotion and sure of being accused, took to his heels. This made the royal guards suspicious. They nabbed him and started beating him up. The man denied stealing the queen’s necklace, but the guards were not ready to believe him and beat him further. The man feared that the guards would probably beat him to death if he kept denying it, so he confessed to the theft.The man was produced before the king and charged with the theft of the queen’s necklace. The king was outraged to hear the whole story and asked the man in a firm tone, “You have committed a serious offense! Now, tell us what did you do with the pearl necklace?” In an endeavour to take off the blame from his shoulders, the man replied, “Your majesty, I am a poor man. What would I do with the string of pearls? All I needed was some money to buy food to eat. It was the treasurer who lured me into stealing the necklace. I stole it from the garden and gave it to him. He knows all about it.” The king sent for the treasurer, and interrogated him on whether the poor man had passed the necklace to him or not. The treasurer also thought on the same lines as the poor man and in order to save his skin, confessed to the crime. The king asked, “What have you done with the string of pearls?” Emulating the poor man, the treasurer transferred the blame on the royal priest and said, “I was working under the directions of the royal priest and the pearl necklace is at his house.”So, the royal priest was summoned on the king’s court and questioned in the same way. Seeing no other way out of the situation, the royal priest also confessed to his involvement in the crime. He also made a statement that he had given the necklace to the chief musician, who in turn said that he had gifted it to a dancer. When the dancer was presented before the king, she denied ever having received it.Bodhisattva was also present in the king’s court and was attentively listening to the versions of all the accused people. He found it difficult to believe that anyone could enter and escape the royal garden without being noticed. He was sure that none of the accused had to do anything with the theft and they were shifting the blame onto each other, just to save themselves from the wrath of the king. He went to the garden and again inspected the whole area where the incident had taken place. He also noticed a group of monkeys swarming in the trees of the garden. He thought that perhaps it was the deed of those naughty monkeys and perhaps they were the real culprits. In order to confirm his suspicion, he got a number of glass bead necklaces made. He then went to the garden and placed them below the trees where the monkeys lived. All the monkeys were charmed by the shining glass beads of the necklaces.Each one of them came down and picked up a string except for the girl monkey who kept sitting contently on a tree. She was not at all interested in collecting a string of glass beads for herself.Bodhisattva hid behind a large rock with other guards and waited. All the monkeys were prancing around and showing off their necklaces. The girl monkey could not control the urge to show off her prized possession as well. She pulled out the pearl necklace from the hollow of the tree and put it around her neck. Then she proudly called out to other monkeys and said, “Look here! All of you have got just ordinary glass bead necklaces, but mine is made of real pearls.”At that moment the guards came out and caught the girl monkey by the arm. After confiscating the queen’s necklace from the girl monkey, Bodhisattva gave her a glass bead necklace and let her go. He had thus solved the mystery of the missing necklace. The king was well pleased with Bodhisattva’s wit and rewarded him generously. Moral:Your intelligence and wisdom are always rewarded.

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

The girl monkey and the spring of pearls

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

A big bear and a naughty monkey were best friends who lived in a jungle. They both were always together and used to have a lot of fun together. The monkey always tried to copy the bear. He wanted to become just like him.The monkey and the bear were sitting together one day and the monkey started copying him. He did exactly what the bear was doing. The bear noticed the monkey and said, “My dear friend why are you imitating me?” The monkey replied, “Bear, you are so strong and big, I want to become just like you.” The bear then said, “My friend, you are energetic and active, you are awesome too. Do not think about what I am.”At that very moment, the bear spotted a big pot of honey near the mango tree. The bear quickly went and grabbed the pot of honey. The bear was very happy and thought he would enjoy and do a lot of fun with it. He started licking his hand filled with honey. The monkey asked for some honey from the bear. The bear gave some honey to the monkey. The monkey loved the taste of the honey and asked for some more from the bear. The bear said that monkeys do not eat honey and that was enough for him. The bear picked up the pot and hid it in his den so no one could steal the honey. The monkey was very disappointed with this.The monkey thought that the secret of bear’s strength was the honey and that was the reason he did not give him the honey. The monkey decided to eat a lot of honey so that he could become as strong as the bear. He silently entered the bear’s den and stole the pot of honey.Every day the bear and monkey used to meet but that day the monkey did not come to meet the bear. So, the bear went to the monkey’s house to see if he was doing well. The monkey was suffering from the stomach ache. The bear saw an empty pot of honey and understood what the monkey had done. The monkey was crying because of the pain and said, “I just wanted to be like you bear.” The bear replied, “You cannot be like me by just copying me. Only bears can eat so much of honey and digest it. That’s why I gave you a little amount of honey.”Then the bear immediately called the doctor and the monkey was hospitalized. The monkey learned his lesson and he never tried to copy anyone again in his life. Moral:Everyone is special in their own ways. Trying to be like someone else by copying them blindly can be very harmful.

This is a story of bear, friend, honey and monkey.Moral(s) of the story: self love

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 monkeys and the red berries

The penny wise monkey

The pride and its result

The Fox and the Monkey

The stupid monkeys

The girl monkey and the spring of pearls

The Monkey and the Crocodile

The bear and the honey pot

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