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

A long time ago, some mice lived happily in a colony in the forest. There was a big lake located near their colony. Once, a herd of elephants visited the lake to drink water. On their way to the lake, the elephants trampled many small mice under their heavy feet. After that they started coming to the lake every week. Whenever they came, they killed many mice by walking over them. Due to this, the population of the mice was getting affected. The king of mice decided to meet the chief of the elephants and discuss the problem. The king of the mice went to the chief of those elephants and requested him to take an alternative route to the lake. The chief of the elephants was very kind hearted. He accepted the request of the mice and asked the other elephants to find another way to reach the lake. The king of mice thanked the chief and said, “Dear Sir, we are indeed very grateful to you. We also promise to help you in the hour of your need.” The elephant chief laughed on hearing this and said,” You mice are too small to help giants like us. But still, many thanks for your offer.”One day a group of elephant-hunters came in the forest and trapped the elephants in big and strong nets. The elephants struggled hard to free themselves, but were not successful. A small mouse who was passing from there saw the elephants helplessly trapped in the nets and ran to inform his king.The mice king immediately took some of his strongest mice with him to rescue the herd. The mice quickly nibbled the thick net from various places, making it loose enough to set the elephants free. The chief of the elephants apologised to the king of mice for what he had said and thanked him for the great help he had rendered.Moral: Never underestimate anyone’s ability. Always try to help one another. You never know who you might need in the difficult times.A long time ago, some mice lived happily in a colony in the forest. There was a big lake located near their colony. Once, a herd of elephants visited the lake to drink water. On their way to the lake, the elephants trampled many small mice under their heavy feet. After that they started coming to the lake every week. Whenever they came, they killed many mice by walking over them. Due to this, the population of the mice was getting affected. The king of mice decided to meet the chief of the elephants and discuss the problem. The king of the mice went to the chief of those elephants and requested him to take an alternative route to the lake. The chief of the elephants was very kind hearted. He accepted the request of the mice and asked the other elephants to find another way to reach the lake. The king of mice thanked the chief and said, “Dear Sir, we are indeed very grateful to you. We also promise to help you in the hour of your need.” The elephant chief laughed on hearing this and said,” You mice are too small to help giants like us. But still, many thanks for your offer.”One day a group of elephant-hunters came in the forest and trapped the elephants in big and strong nets. The elephants struggled hard to free themselves, but were not successful. A small mouse who was passing from there saw the elephants helplessly trapped in the nets and ran to inform his king.The mice king immediately took some of his strongest mice with him to rescue the herd. The mice quickly nibbled the thick net from various places, making it loose enough to set the elephants free. The chief of the elephants apologised to the king of mice for what he had said and thanked him for the great help he had rendered. Moral:Never underestimate anyone’s ability. Always try to help one another. You never know who you might need in the difficult times.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of elephant and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: helpfulness and strength

The mice and the elephants

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

Long ago, there lived a cunning blue jackal. One day, driven by hunger, he strayed into a village in search of food. On seeing him, a group of dogs ran after him.Terrified, he dashed into the house of a dyer and accidentally fell into a tub of blue dye. The jackal was stained blue from head to toe.Later, when he got back to the jungle, all the animals stared at him in shock. They had never seen such a strange and beautiful animal before. Seeing everyone confused, the jackal thought of an idea.He proclaimed that he was sent to rule over the animal kingdom and guard its animals. The animals fell for it and proclaimed him king.The jackal, as king, then appointed the lion as his adviser, the tiger as his guardian, and the elephant as his doorkeeper. But, his work was not done.For fear of being recognized, he drove all the jackals out of the forest. The new king then ordered his subjects to hunt for him and do his bidding. The animals used to bring all kinds of fruit and meat for him and the blue king lived a life of luxury.One day, as the blue king was enjoying himself, a pack of jackals passed by and began howling. Unable to control his natural instinct, the blue king rose up and howled to glory.Hearing his cry, the jungle animals realized that they had been fooled. At once, they chased the traitor out of the forest and the cunning jackal never returned again. Moral:Never pretend what you are not. Pretension does not last long. If anything, pretension is always the cause of self damage.

This is a story of jackal and panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: pretention

The story of the blue jackal

Once upon a time, a magical bird used to live in a forest. This bird laid golden eggs. One day, a fowler who was hunting for birds in the forest, came near the magical bird’s nest and saw the bird laying golden eggs. He could not believe his eyes. Immediately, he caught the bird in his net. On returning home, he thought about this matter a great deal. He realised that it would be dangerous for him to keep the bird with him. He would become immensely rich in no time with the help of the eggs that the bird would lay. And this sudden, unaccountable wealth might lead the king to believe that he was earning money by dishonest means and the king might imprison him. Thus, he thought that keeping the bird will land him into trouble and it would be better to present the bird to the king.So, the fowler told the king all about the magical bird and presented it to him. The king was extremely happy to have such an extraordinary bird in his possession. He ordered his servants to take proper care of the bird.”But the king’s attendants said, “It is impossible for a bird to lay golden eggs, Your Majesty. This must have been just a practical joke.” This gave rise to a suspicion in the king’s mind and he ordered for the bird to be released. Accordingly, the king’s attendants took the bird to the woods and released it.The bird flew away and thought to itself, “This kingdom seems to be full of fools. The fowler, who knew for a fact that I laid golden eggs, did not keep me for himself but gifted me to the king. The king ordered for me to be released. Even the king’s attendants did not believe in my magical abilities. But I was the biggest fool of them all to have landed in the fowler’s net in the first place.” Moral:Don’t be a fool and believe everything that’s told to you. Verify the facts and then take a decision for yourself.

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

The golden bird and the king

Once, there was a huge banyan tree on which thousands of crows lived. Close to this banyan tree, there was a cave in which thousands of owls had made their home. The owls used to hunt the crows at night. Every day, many crows were killed by the owls. The main reason for this was that the crows could not see clearly at night while the owls, being nocturnal birds, could see very clearly and locate exactly where the crows were sitting. The poor crows could not fly away to safety in time and became easy prey for the owls. Soon, the population of crows became considerably less. The king of crows was very troubled by this. He called a meeting to come up with a solution to this problem. After a lot of discussion, finally the crows hit upon a clever idea. They chalked out the details of their plan and decided to put it into action the next day.As per the plan, the next day, a drama was staged near the cave of the owls. The king of the crows pretended to beat up an old crow. They sprinkled a goat’s blood on the old crow to make it seem as if he was injured and bleeding. Then they left him lying there in a seemingly pitiable condition.The owl king’s senior minister advised the owl king to admit the wounded crow in their kingdom. He said, “Your Majesty, this poor crow has come to be in this miserable condition because he spoke favourably about us to his king. He said that owls were a superior race and stronger and more intelligent than them and so owls should be recognized as the king of birds. This led to him being beaten.”The owl king said, “Let him in and help him to regain his health and heal his injuries.” So, the old crow was carried into the cave by the owl king’s soldiers. Soon, the old crow made a favourable place for himself among the owls. Most of the ministers of the owl king’s court were in the old crow’s favour. There were only one or two who opposed him saying that, after all, a crow is an enemy. But the opposition was quite weak and the crow continued living with the owls.One day, he found his opportunity and began to put his plan into action. It was day time, so the owls were unable to see anything because of the sunlight. The apparently injured crow got up and gradually made a pile of a thousand wooden logs at the mouth of the owls’ cave. Then, he set fire to the logs. The flames leapt high and soon the whole cave including all the owls inside it were burnt down to ashes. Moral:Never trust an enemy and allow them to get close to you.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of crow and owl.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The old wise crow

Once upon a time, there was a huge banyan tree. An owl, a mongoose, a cat and a rat used to live in or around this tree. All four were scared of each other. The owl feared the cat, the mongoose feared the owl and the cat, and the rat was scared of all three—the owl, the cat and the mongoose. Still, the four animals continued to live in the same place. One day, a hunter laid a trap under this banyan tree hoping to catch at least one of the four animals. He set the trap and went to wait at a distance. Soon, the cat walked there, looking for the rat. She stepped on the snare and before she could realise, she was trapped in the net. Seeing this, the mouse became very happy. He went out of his hole and started dancing in joy around the trapped cat.The owl and the mongoose both saw the rat prancing about and wanted to catch him for their meal. Both of them started approaching him. The rat noticed them but it was too late. They were already quite close and there was no way that the rat could run back to his hole. There was only one way that the rat could think of — to enter the trap along with the cat and persuade her not to kill him by offering to nibble through the net. The rat had to take a quick decision. As the owl and the mongoose came closer, the rat thought that this was his last hope of survival and he quickly entered the trap alongside the cat.The cat was just about to pounce on the rat when the rat said, “Please spare my life. If you don’t kill me, I can help you to get free from this trap. I will nibble the net at many places and you can easily escape.” The cat agreed and let the rat stay with her inside the trap. Seeing the rat with the cat, the owl and the mongoose went away. When they were gone, the rat chewed through the net with his sharp teeth and both of them got out of the net. The cat ran away into the forest and the rat quickly got into his hole.The next day, the cat came to meet the rat. But the wise rat refused to come out of his hole saying that friendship between enemies is only a temporary thing. They will ultimately always remain enemies. Moral:Wisdom is knowing when to side with your enemy and when to keep the distance.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story from cat, owl and rat.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

Once, there was a king who had a beautiful daughter. In the forest next to the kingdom, there lived a giant. This giant was in love with the princess. But he could never come close to the princess as she always wore an amulet that kept all evil away from her. Nevertheless, the giant would frequently appear before her and embarrass her. The princess was fed up with this.One day, the giant was hiding behind the curtains of the princess’s room when he heard the princess talking to her friends. She was saying, “A very powerful giant keeps pestering me. Please suggest some way of getting rid of him.” On hearing about a ‘powerful giant’, the giant thought that this must be some other giant, more powerful than him. He wanted to know who this other giant was so that he could kill him. To find out more about the powerful giant, he transformed himself into a horse and started living in the palace stables with the other horses.One night, a thief entered the stable with the mind to steal a horse. He looked at all the horses and thought that the ‘giant horse’ was the finest. So, he mounted him and started running away. The giant, however, thought that this man must be the other ‘powerful giant’. He got scared and started running wildly. The thief whipped him and he ran even faster in fear. When the thief pulled the reins to stop the horse, the giant did not stop. He was so scared that he kept on running. Finally, in an attempt to get off the horse’s back, the thief caught hold of a Banyan tree’s branch above and clung on to it while the ‘giant horse’ just kept running ahead.On this Banyan tree, there lived a monkey who was the giant’s friend. He figured out that the giant must have mistaken the thief for a more powerful giant and called out to him, saying, “This is just a human being. Why are you afraid of him?” Now, things became clear to the giant and he headed back towards the thief to kill him and eat him. Just then, the thief who was hanging from the branch, saw that the monkey’s tail was dangling quite close to his face. He bit it hard and the monkey screamed out in pain.This again convinced the giant that the thief was no ordinary human but a very powerful giant who would kill him. So, he ran away into the forest as fast as he could. Moral:A fool is misguided by the smallest of things and thoughts.

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

The giant and the horse thief

A long time ago, there lived a poor farmer named Haridatta. He used to work very hard in the fields, but his fields never had a profitable yield. One day, while watering his fields, he saw a frightful snake coming out of an anthill. He thought that perhaps the snake was the guardian of the field and since he had not paid homage to the snake, his fields never yielded the desired harvest.He rushed home to bring some milk and offered it to the serpent in a bowl. While offering the milk respectfully, he addressed the serpent, “O, Guardian of this field! I was not aware that you lived here, that is why I never offered you anything. I will not make this mistake again. Please forgive me.”The next day, when the farmer came to plough the field, he found a gold coin in the bowl near the anthill. Feeding the snake became a regular feature of the farmer’s life. Every day he served milk to the serpent and found a gold coin in the empty bowl the next day.&nbsp;Soon all the financial problems of the farmer disappeared.One day the farmer had to go to the town for a few days for some urgent work, so he asked his son to take care of the serpent. The son brought the milk to the anthill and offered it to the serpent. Next day, when he came back to collect the bowl, he found a gold coin in it. He thought, “This anthill must be full of gold coins. I can kill the serpent and take them all.” Next day, he offered the milk to the snake and as soon as the serpent leaned down to drink the milk, he struck the serpent’s hood with the stick. The snake escaped the blow of the stick and bit the boy to death.When the farmer returned to his village and came to know about the death of his son. He was full of grief but did not discontinue his daily practice. He went near the anthill and called out to the serpent.The serpent came out of the anthill and replied, “My dear man, I know that you have come here just driven by your greed. Your greed has brought you to feed the serpent who bit your son to death. Neither can I forget that stick’s blow nor can you forget the pain that I have caused you. So, it is best for us to part ways.” After saying this, the serpent gave him a diamond and said, “Never come to me again.” Then the serpent disappeared into the anthill and the farmer never saw it again. Moral:Greed harms us more than does any good.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of farmer and snake.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

The gold giving serpent

A long time ago, there was a huge banyan tree which was home to the nests of many birds. One day, a hunter happened to come to the tree. On seeing the many birds living on the tree, he set up his net below the tree and scattered a few grains of rice to attract them.A flock of pigeons flying past the banyan tree saw the grains of rice and went down to eat them. Suddenly, a huge net fell over them and they were trapped. They struggled to get out of it but couldn’t. They could see the hunter walking towards them looking delighted having caught so many pigeons.The pigeons were distressed and thought the end was near. But the wise king of the pigeons had a plan and said, “We should all fly up carrying the net with us. Once we manage to get away from the hunter, we can think of what to do next.”The pigeons listened to their king’s advice. Each pigeon held a part of the huge net in his beak and all of them flew up together. The hunter was amazed to see this happening. He tried to catch them, but they were too fast. The king of the pigeons knew a mouse that lived not far from them and could help them escape the net.Hearing his friend’s voice, the mouse came out of his hole. He saw the pigeons and their king trapped in the net and said, “Oh! Who did this? I will set you free right away.” He began to nibble the net nearest to the king, but the king stopped him and said, “First, set my subjects free. No king can see his subjects in pain and be free himself.” The mouse nibbled off the net easily with his sharp teeth and after freeing all the pigeons, he freed the king pigeon at last.The pigeons were very grateful to the mouse. They thanked the mouse and flew away. Moral:Strength lies in unity.

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

panchtantra 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 mice and the elephants

The mouse and the bull

The story of the blue jackal

The golden bird and the king

The old wise crow

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

The giant and the horse thief

The gold giving serpent

The hunter and the pigeons

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