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.

Ravina Sewani

Once a cat was caught in a hunter’s net. A mouse, living in a nearby hole, saw this and started playing around the cat. After a while, the mouse noticed a mongoose approaching with an intent to kill him.The mouse thought to himself, “When the hunter takes away the cat, the mongoose will not spare me.” So he went to the cat and proposed a deal.He told the cat “I can cut the net if you promise to save my life from the mongoose.” The cat agreed. The mouse started cutting the net slowly and freed the cat only when the hunter was just near the cat. The cat took to heels and so ran the mongoose too and the mouse quickly went for his hole.A few days later, the cat was hungry and went to the hole of the mouse and requested him to come out for a game. The mouse was smart enough to understand the cat’s intent and replied, “I sought friendship and saved you to save my life in turn. I never expected that you would take such an ugly turn. Moral:Don’t nurture friendship with selfish people.

This is a story of cat, mongoose and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: selfishness

The selfish cat

Once, a huge bull used to live in a village that was situated by the side of a lake. One day, the bull, feeling thirsty, made his way towards the lake to drink water.A small mouse was sitting and relaxing by the side of the river. When the bull crossed that place, walking towards the lake, he accidentally stepped on the mouse’s tail. The mouse screamed in pain but the bull did not notice anything. The mouse looked at his tail and found that it had been completely crushed. He was infuriated and wanted to take revenge. “I will bite this bull to death,” he thought to himself in anger and climbed on to the bull’s back. He started biting the bull all over his back as hard as he could with his sharp teeth. But the bull’s skin was so thick that he did not feel any pain from the mouse’s bites. In fact, he was not even aware that there was a mouse on his back!After biting the bull for some time and not seeing any results, the mouse was tired and fed up. He jumped off the bull’s back and went and stood in front of him. “Why are you blocking my way?” the bull asked. “Clear out or you will get crushed.”The mouse said, “You have already crushed me. See what you have done to my tail.” He added, “Didn’t you feel any pain when I bit you all over your back?”This surprised the bull greatly. He laughed and said, “Neither did I realise I had stamped over your tail nor did I feel you biting me all over my body. But, if it really happened, I apologise.” The bull’s answer left the mouse speechless. He was convinced that it was useless to argue with that thick-skinned animal as it is of no use arguing with a stupid person and he sadly walked back home. Moral:There is no point in arguing with a stupid person as (s)he wouldn’t budge from his/her opinion.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of bull and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The mouse and the bull

Nishita Sanghvi

A long time ago, the king of the jungle who lived in a cave was frequently irritated by a mouse who would climb up on him always at the time when he was sleeping. The lion tried very hard to kill the mouse but the mouse was too quick for him to get hold of. The moment the lion would try to grab him, the mouse would slip off. The lion was fed up and realized he had to trick the mouse somehow and so he thought of something very clever.The lion went to a nearby village and convinced a cat to come with him. The mouse was obviously scared of the cat and now was very careful in coming out of its hole. The happy lion could now sleep peacefully as the cat acted like the lions guard and the mouse would not want to leave his hole with the cat being around. Every day the lion would share his meal with the cat. Both the master and the servant were thus, passing time happily with each other.One day, the mouse came out of his hole looking for something to eat. The cat pounced on it and the mouse was dead. The lion was extremely happy to know this. Now the lion completely lost interest in the cat and stopped giving him any food as the cat was of no use to him and as a result the cat died of starvation.Therefore, we realize that people usually value things that are of use to them.Moral of the story -Unfortunately people only value things that are of use to them.

This is a story from hitopadesha tales of cat, lion and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Cat Who Served The Lion

Reggie Mouse loved cheese. He ate cheese for breakfast, cheese for lunch, and cheese for dinner. He never ate anything else.Reggie’s mom, Rita Mouse, always told him, “Reggie, it is fine to eat cheese, but you should also eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, cereal, breads, chicken, and fish, too.”Reggie Mouse would smile and say, “No way, Mom, I will only eat cheese and nothing else.”One day as Reggie Mouse got dressed, all the buttons on his shirt went, “Pop, Pop, Pop.” “Oh, no, my shirt has “SHRUNK!” cried Reggie Mouse. And as Reggie Mouse put on a pair of his pants, “Rip, Rip, Rip,” went the pants. “Oh, no, my pants have “SHRUNK!” too, cried Reggie Mouse.Reggie Mouse then ran to his closet and tried on all of his clothes. “Pop, Pop, Pop” went all the buttons on all of his shirts. “Rip, Rip, Rip,” went all of his pants. Reggie Mouse cried and cried and said, “Oh, no, all of my clothes have ‘SHRUNK! What can I do?”Rita Mouse heard her son crying and quickly walked into his bedroom and asked, “Reggie, why are you crying and why are all your clothes on the floor?”“Oh, Mom, it’s awful, my clothes have all “SHRUNK,” cried Reggie Mouse in his saddest voice.“Hmmmm, all your clothes have ‘SHRUNK’? I think I know what we can do to ‘Un-Shrink’ them,” she said.“Reggie, if you want to ‘Un-Shrink’ your clothes you must stop eating cheese and begin eating healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, cereal, breads, fish, and chicken."That night Reggie Mouse ate chicken, carrots, spinach, and grapes for dinner. And in a very short time by eating healthy foods, Reggie’s clothes “UN-SHRUNK!”Moral: A healthy diet and routine exercise is very important.

This is a story of carrot, cheese, chicken, fish, grapes,Moral(s) of the story; health hygiene

Reggie mouse’s Shrinking Clothes

Once, a little mouse who lived in the country village invited his cousin mouse from the city to visit him. When the city mouse sat down to have dinner, he was surprised to see that the village mouse had nothing to offer him except barley and some grain. He said scornfully, “Dear cousin, is this what you eat every day? I beg your pardon for saying so, but you do not live well at all here in the village. You must come to visit me once and see how I live!” The city mouse bragged further, “I have all sorts of fine things to eat every day. If you see my royal lifestyle there in the city, you would never want to come back.”The village mouse was very impressed to hear about his cousin’s way of life and thus, he decided to visit him. The city mouse warmly welcomed his cousin and the first place that he showed him was the kitchen. There were myriad delicious food items lying in the kitchen cabinets. There was bread, cheese, fruit, cereals and all sorts of grains. The village mouse could not believe his eyes as he had not seen so much of food in one place ever back in his village.Then the two mice went to the dining area to have their lunch. A lavish meal, including delicious cakes, dessert and wine was laid out on the dining table. When they were just about to start their lunch, they heard a distinct ‘Meeeeow’ coming towards them. It was a cat that was about to pounce on them. The two mice left whatever they had in their hands and scampered off to safety.The village mouse was very frightened and asked his cousin, “Who is she? Does she also live here in this house?” The city mouse replied, “She is Snowy, the cat. The owners have kept her to rid the house of the mice. I have to daily deal with her in order to savour all those delicious meals.”The cat looked for them for some time and then left. Both the mice came out again sat down to have their lunch but, just then the owners of that house also came to have their lunch. The mice had to run for their lives again and remain hungry till the night.In the night, the city mouse took his cousin to the cellar to find something to eat. The village mouse saw a big piece of cheese lying on the board and was just about to grab it when he heard his cousin yelling from behind, “Stop! That is a trap! You may get killed.”The little village mouse looked at the trap, and he looked at the cheese, and then he looked at the little city mouse. He said, “I think I will go home. I would rather have barley and grain to eat, and eat it in peace and comfort, than have cakes and desserts and cheese and be frightened to death all the time!” The city mouse had nothing to say. Moral:The luxuries and riches are not the sources of peace and happiness but being satisfied with what we already have is.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of cat and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: happiness and peace

Village mouse and the city mouse

Shina Utavani

Lord Ganesha had a younger brother named Karthikeya. One day they were playing in the forest. Lord Shiva and Parvati received a special fruit from gods. Lord Shiva decided to share the fruit with Parvati. But then, they realized that the fruit can be eaten by one person only. No one was ready to eat the fruit alone.At the same time, Karthikeya and Ganesha entered and asked them what was special about the fruit. Lord Shiva told them that the fruit was of immorality and supreme knowledge. To choose who will get the fruit, Parvati and Lord Shiva said that the first one who will revolve around the world three times and come back will get the fruit.Karthikeya took his vehicle, peacock and went off to take three rounds of the world. Ganesha was worried about winning the race as his vehicle, Mouse did not have wings. Later, he took a decision based on his wisdom. He asked his parents’ permission to revolve around them as he felt that his parents were his universe. Lord Shiva and Parvati were impressed by his decision. They allowed Lord Ganeshato revolve around them three times and won the race. Finally, Ganesh got the fruit. Moral:Use wisdom at the right time and the right place. Respect your parents; there can be no one as important as them in your life.

This is a story of Ganesh, Kartikey, mouse and peacock.Moral(s) of the story: knowledge and wisdom

Lord Ganesha And Karthikeya

One day there was a battle of wits between a mountain and a mouse. The mountain said, “What a poor little thing you are!”The mouse snapped, “I know I am not as big as you are. But, then, you are not as small as I am.” “Big size has big advantages,” said the mountain, “I can stop the clouds sailing across the sky.”“So you can,” agreed the mouse. “But you can’t stop me from making big holes in your very foundation, can you?”The tiny mouse outwitted the mighty mountain. Moral:Big or small, each one has his importance.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of mountain and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: equality

The Mountain and the Mouse

A long time ago, in a jungle there lived a deer, a mouse, and a crow. They were very good friends. They used to spend most of their time with one another and had their meals together. One day, a turtle came to them and said, “I’m all alone in the jungle. I also want to join your group and become your friend.”“You are most welcome to join our company,” the three friends said. The crow asked the turtle, “But what about your personal safety? You know that the jungle is full of dangers. Many hunters keep coming to the forest regularly. Suppose a hunter attacks, how will you save yourself?” The turtle replied, “That is the main reason why I want to join your group.” The four friends had hardly finished talking when they noticed a hunter approaching them. Quickly, to save their lives, the deer ran away into the forest, the crow flew high in the sky and the mouse darted into a nearby hole. Turtles, as we all know, are slow creatures. The turtle could not crawl away fast enough and the hunter trapped him in a net. Though the hunter was disappointed on not being able to catch the deer, he thought that it was better to at least have a turtle to eat rather than going hungry. The deer, the mouse and the crow were very worried to see the turtle getting trapped. They sat together to think of a plan for freeing their friend from the hunter. Together, they came up with a plan and started working on it. First, the crow flew high up in the sky to locate the hunter. He spotted him next to the river. Then, the deer overtook the hunter, unseen, and went and lay at a little distance, pretending to be dead. When the hunter reached this spot, he saw the deer lying on the ground. He thought that the deer must be dead. He was very happy at having found a deer finally. He thought that he would feast upon the deer’s flesh and sell its skin in the market for good money. So, he put the turtle on the ground and started moving towards the deer. As soon as the hunter left the turtle’s side, the mouse appeared out of a hole and nibbled off the net in which the turtle was trapped. The hunter, completely unaware of the animals’ plan, walked towards the deer thanking his stars. But, as soon as he came near the deer, the deer suddenly got up and bolted into the forest. The hunter was completely taken by surprise. Before he had time to react, the deer was gone. Dejected, the hunter went back to the place where he had set the turtle down. He was shocked to see that the turtle was gone! There was only a piece of nibbled net lying on the ground. By the time that the hunter was away, the turtle, freed by the mouse had crawled to the river and swam away. These strange occurrences were too much for the hunter. For a moment he thought that he must be dreaming. But the damaged, gnawed-through piece of net was evidence that all these things had truly happened. The hunter could not think of any explanation for these strange happenings other than that it was just a miracle. Scared out of his wits, the hunter ran away from the jungle as fast as he could.The turtle thanked his three friends for saving his life. Thereafter, the four friends lived happily. Moral:A friend in need, is a friend indeed.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story from crow, deer, mouse and turtle.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

The four friends and the hunter

Once, a great number of mice used to live in a grocer’s shop. They ate the fresh, tasty wheat, rice, bread, cheese and biscuits that were kept in the shop. They were having a great time and living easy, comfortable lives, growing fatter day by day.But the grocer was concerned about the losses that he was suffering because of the damage done to his stock by the mice. So, he thought of a solution and bought a big, fat cat to keep in his shop.From that day onwards, the cat began to catch the mice every day. The mice were terrified of even stepping out of their holes. They could not reach the food anymore. This was a great cause of worry for them. They decided to call a meeting of all the mice in the shop to discuss this problem.They got together and started thinking. One of them suggested that they must get rid of the fat cat but no one could think of a way of doing so. So they kept thinking of other ways. Finally, one mouse spoke up, “We should tie a bell around the cat’s neck. That way, whenever the cat is near or is coming in our direction, we would get to know by the ringing of the bell and we can quickly run back to our holes.”This idea was much appreciated by the other mice. They thought that this was the best plan. They began dancing and celebrating with joy. But their celebrations did not last very long for soon an old and experienced mouse said, “You fools! Stop celebrating and first tell me: who will bell the cat?”None of the mice had an answer to this question. They had not thought about this major problem in their seemingly perfect plan. This is why it is said that making a plan is one thing but executing it is an entirely different thing. Moral:Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. The mice were over excited and proud of themselves without thinking about the actual execution of their seemingly perfect plan.

This is a story of bell, cat, greengrocer, mouse and panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness and over confidence

mouse 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 selfish cat

The mouse and the bull

The Cat Who Served The Lion

Reggie mouse’s Shrinking Clothes

Village mouse and the city mouse

Lord Ganesha And Karthikeya

The Mountain and the Mouse

The four friends and the hunter

Who will bell the cat?

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