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 upon a time there was a shy and quiet octopus. He nearly always went about on his own because, although he wanted to have lots of friends, he was too self-conscious.One day, the octopus was trying to catch a very slippery oyster. Before he knew it, he had tied himself into one massive knot, and he couldn't move. He tried with all his strength to wriggle free, but it was no good. In the end, despite the great embarrassment he felt at being seen in such a tangle, he had to ask for help from the passing fish. Many fish swam past, ignoring him, but one very kind little fish offered to help to untie all those tentacles from all those suckers.The octopus felt heartily relieved when he was finally set free, but he was so shy that he didn't dare talk to the fish and make friends with him. He simply thanked the fish, and quickly swam off. Later, the octopus spent the whole night thinking that he had wasted a great opportunity to make friends with that very kind little fish.A couple of days later the octopus was resting between some rocks, when he noticed that everyone around was hurriedly swimming past. He looked into the distance and saw an enormous fish coming over to feed in that area. The octopus quickly hid; then, peeping an eye out from his hiding place, he saw that the huge fish was chasing the kind little fish who had untied him. That little fish really needed urgent help, but the big fish was so dangerous-looking that no one dared to go near. The octopus, remembering how the little fish had helped him, felt that he had to do whatever he could to come to his aid.Without hesitating, the octopus shot out from the rocks, like a ray. He put himself right in the path of the giant fish, and before the fish could do anything about it, the octopus had shot out the biggest jet of ink of his life. He grabbed the little fish, and swam off back to hide in the rocks. Everything happened so fast that the big fish had no time to react. However, he soon recovered from the surprise. Off he went to the rocks, looking for the octopus and the little fish. Now he really wanted to gobble them down!Soon, though, he began feeling a terrible itch; first in his gills, and then in his fins, and then all over his body. It turned out that this giant fish had a very artistic nature, he adored colours; and the octopus's dark ink had given him a terrible allergy!!So the big fish swam away, irritated all over.As soon as he was gone, all the fish who had been hiding came and congratulated the octopus for being so brave. Then the little fish told them all how he had helped the octopus a few days earlier, but he had never known anyone be so grateful that they would end up doing something so dangerous. Hearing this, the other fish discovered how nice the shy octopus was, and everyone around was keen to be the friend of such a brave and honourable octopus.Moral: Never leave an opportunity to show gratitude no matter how much difficult the situation seems.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of fish and octopus.Moral(s) of the story: bravery and gratitude

An octopus in trouble

Yesha Desai

Here’s another great story from the Hitopadesha tales. A long time ago, there lived an old snake named Mandavisha. He had become so old that he was unable to hunt for his food. One day, he was resting on the bank of a lake. A small frog spotted him lying there. The snake did not move an inch even after seeing the frog. Out of curiosity, the frog asked the snake, “Why are you not hunting for food?”Mandavisha was a cunning snake. A diabolical plan struck him and he said, “O frog! Please leave me alone to my fate. I am reaping the fruits of my wrong doing. Few years back, I bit a pious brahmin’s son. The brahmin was full of sorrow and grief to see his dead son. He threw the blessed water on me and cursed me, “Soon the frogs will use you as a vehicle to ride on.” Thus cursed, I am waiting for the frogs to ride me.”The frog went running to his king, Jalapada and told him about the cursed snake. The king of frogs immediately left to meet the snake and made him his royal ride. Mandavisha was happy to see his plan working. He gladly allowed Jalapada to climb his back and carried him to and fro, thus pleasing him.The following day, the snake pretended that he was unable to move about. The king of the frogs asked him, “What happened to you, my royal ride? Why are you so sluggish today?”“I am feeling very weak as I had nothing to eat since morning. I won’t be able to take you for a ride today.” said the snake. The king wanted to go on a joyride with his wife, so he said, “Well! We need our royal ride to be fit and healthy. I permit you to eat one frog from my kingdom every day.”This was all that the snake wanted to hear! He started eating up the frogs one by one and in the end, he came to eat the king of frogs as well. As his end was near, the king of frogs said to himself, “What a fool I have been to get carried away by the oily talks of this treacherous snake.” Moral:We should not be influenced by pitious talks and flattery. Instead we should think clearly with our heads before making a decision.

This is a classic story from Hitopadesha tales.This is a story of foolishness, frog and snakeMoral(s) of the story: foolishness

The Serpent And The King of Frogs

Long time ago, a shepherd lived in a small village. He used to take his sheep to the nearby forest for grazing. In his flock, there was a little white lamb whom everybody loved. One day, when the shepherd had taken his flock for grazing, the little white lamb felt thirsty and started looking for water to drink. He wandered far off in the forest in search of water and got separated from his flock. He soon found a freshwater spring and started to quench his thirst. Meanwhile, the sun set and the shepherd went back to the village with his flock. It did not come to his notice that the little white lamb was missing.While the lamb was drinking water in the spring, a wolf also came there to drink water. He spotted him and said to himself, “A juicy and plump lamb! It is indeed a lucky day for me!”He wanted to justify&nbsp;eating the lamb so he started thinking of a good excuse. He called the lamb and said, “Listen to me, O lamb! This spring belongs to me. You have made this water dirty by drinking it. How will I drink this polluted water now?”The lamb was standing downstream, so he said politely, “Dear sir, the spring flows from where you are standing down to where I am standing. So, I cannot possibly pollute your drinking water.” The wolf was not expecting such an intelligent answer from the lamb. He then, thought of another excuse to kill the lamb.The wolf said, “But it looks dirty to me! If it is not you, then it must be your father who has made the water dirty.” The lamb said, “Sir, my father died long ago. So, he also could not have possibly done it.” The wolf was getting impatient to kill the lamb. So, he said, “I am sure then it must be your grandfather who made this water dirty!” And after saying so, the cunning wolf pounced on the poor lamb and caught him.By this time, the little lamb had already understood that the wolf was just looking for a pretext to kill him and had already thought of a plan to save his life. The little lamb said to the wolf, “O mighty one! I have just eaten a lot of grass and it is not yet digested. If you eat me now, your stomach may get upset because of the raw grass in my belly.”The wolf anxiously asked him, “Well, what do you suggest then?”The witty little lamb said, “I think that doing some kind of physical exercise will help me digest the grass quickly. I am a very good dancer, so if you permit, I will start dancing.”The wolf was getting impatient to eat the lamb, so he permitted the lamb to start dancing. When the little lamb started to dance, the bell around the lamb’s neck started ringing. The lamb danced vigorously, so that the sound of the bell grew louder and louder. The shepherd and his hunting dog, who had started looking for the missing little lamb, also heard the sound of the bell. They rushed to the point from where the sound was coming. When the wolf saw the shepherd and his dog, he fled away from there to save his life. This is how the intelligent lamb was able to save himself from the clutches of the evil wolf. Moral:Quick and smart thinking can help us get out from difficult situations.

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

The wolf and the crane

It was a hot summer day. A grasshopper was lying in the shade, relaxing from the heat of the sun when an ant passed by. The ant was dragging a huge seed of corn. “Ant, Ant, why do you work all day? Why don’t you come sing a song with me?” the grasshopper asked.“I am stocking up the food for winter," said the Ant, "and advice you to do the same." “Why bother about the winter?" said the Grasshopper; "We have got plenty of food at now." The Ant sighed and walked away with its seed.When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger - while it saw the ants enjoying their food that they had stocked in the summer. The Grasshopper realized that he was a fool to not consider the ant’s suggestion and mock the ant. Moral:Always be prepared for challenging times.

This is a story of ant and grasshopper.Moral(s) of the story: dedication and lying

The Ant and The Grasshopper

There was a fox called Dabbu. One day, he was very happy after having a hearty meal. He had seen the lion going for a stroll after his meal and had gone into the lion’s den and gorged on the remains of the lion’s feast. It was a scrumptious meal of deer meat. “I wish I was lucky enough to have such a feast every day,” Dabbu thought. Dabbu started walking, looking at the clear sky, singing his favourite song, much contented with his lovely meal. He thought about film heroes and how they would sing and walk like this when they were in love.Dabbu wasn’t in love, but he thought that the emotional satisfaction obtained from a good meal was no less than the feeling of being in love. Dabbu’s eyes were almost filled with tears as myriad emotional thoughts crossed his mind, when he suddenly found himself falling into something really deep.“Dhuuummm, dhumm,” the sound came, and Dabbu understood that he was in trouble. On looking around he realized that he had fallen into a shallow well. He was lucky that there wasn’t much water in the well. It was a wide mouthed well that Dabbu had noticed every day while passing by it. It was only today that he was lost in his thoughts and had simply overlooked it. Dabbu was really angry at himself for being so foolish and careless and wanted to hit himself.He tried his best to get out of the well by climbing on its walls, but all in vain as the walls were too slippery. Frustrated, he waited for someone to come to help.Suddenly, Dabbu heard a squeaky voice, “What on earth are you doing down there?” Dabbu looked up and much to his relief he found Laadla the goat standing at the mouth of the well. He was a young and gullible goat. Dabbu knew that Laadla was innocent and ignorant of the world, as he was always asking very irritating questions. Dabbu was determined to get out of the well using Laadla’s help. It has never been difficult for a fox to fool a goat. He said, “Aren’t you aware that there has been a huge drought in the northern part of Bihar (they lived in a jungle in Bihar)?” “Really? I haven’t heard of any such thing” said the innocent goat. Dabbu replied, “That’s strange. Shantaram crow gave me the news this morning and he has also seen it with his own eyes as he was travelling from the same area. That is why I jumped into this well to save some water for myself.”“Oh God, how terrible!” exclaimed Laadla and jumped into the well in no time. As soon as Laadla jumped into the well, Dabbu climbed on his long horns and jumped out of the well. Dabbu said, “You are such a silly creature. You are not even aware that there have been floods all around the northern part of the country, and you believed my story of a drought. Instead of talking about a frog in a well, now people will talk about a goat in a well.”Laadla was stupefied and said to himself, “One should never trust anyone blindly.” Moral:One should never trust anyone blindly. Always use your wisdom and analyse the situation before putting in your trust.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of fox and goat.Moral(s) of the story: trust

The fox and the goat

Shina Utavani

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer and a baker. Every day, the farmer used to buy a pound of bread loaf from the baker and the baker would buy a pound of rice from the farmer. They used to do this every day and they both shared a great bond. Soon, they became friends.One day, the baker decided to check the weight of the rice to see if he was getting a pound. When he measured the rice, he found out that he was not getting the right amount of rice. He was very angry and decided to file a complaint against the farmer. He took the farmer to the court.The farmer was very surprised. When the judge asked the farmer, “What measure are you using to weigh the products?” The farmer replied, “Your Honour, I do not have a proper measure but I do have a scale.” The judge was confused and said, “Then how did you measure the rice?”The farmer said, “Your Honour, I measured the rice with the bread loaf. Every day, when the baker brought the bread, I measured the rice on the scale with the bread and gave that rice to the baker. So, it is not my fault. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”Turns out that the baker was getting what he was giving. Moral:We get back in life what we give to others.

This is a story of baker, bread, farmer and rice.Moral(s) of the story: cheating

The Baker and The Farmer

Pallavi Hota

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from “The Mahabharata.” The Pandavas were superior to the Kauravas in every respect, both in strength and intelligence. They were greatly appreciated for their innate noble qualities. Bhishma advised Dhritarashtra to declare Yudhishthira as the crown prince of Hastinapur since he was the eldest and was endowed with all the qualities necessary in a king. Duryodhana’s jealousy of the Pandavas increased after learning that Yudhishthira would be declared the crown prince. Out of anger, Duryodhana hatched a plan to kill the Pandavas so that he could ascend the Hastinapur throne. One day Duryodhana approached his father, Dhritarashtra, and requested him to send the Pandavas to the annual Pashupati fair in Varnavat, a place far away from Hastinapur. Ignorant of any foul play, Dhritarashtra asked the Pandavas to attend the fair. Duryodhana, on the other hand, secretly ordered his trusted aide and architect Purochana, to make a special palace, with highly inflammable materials, specially for the Pandavas (Lakshagriha – house of lacquer). His wicked plan was to burn the Pandavas alive while sleeping. The Lakshagriha was to be burnt on an Amavasya night. When that night finally reached Purochana, not knowing that the Pandavas were simply sleeping assumed them to be dead. To celebrate this Purochana began drinking and within hours was drunk. Utilizing this opportunity the Pandavas set fire to the palace and escaped through the tunnel that Vidura helped them build for emergency purposes.

This is a story of Dritarashtra and Pandavas.

Escape from Lakshagriha

King Vikram was given the duty of bringing Betal to a tantric. Betal traditionally means ‘evil spirit’. Each time Vikram tried to capture Betal, it told him a story that ended with a riddle. If Vikram could not answer the question correctly, Betal agreed to remain in captivity. But, if the king knew the answer and still kept quiet, his head would burst into a thousand pieces. And if King Vikram spoke, Betal would escape and return to his tree.King Jaipal had three queens. Each of them was very beautiful, sensitive, and delicate.One day, the first queen was wounded when a flower from her hair fell on her thigh. Another night, when the king and his second queen were spending time on the terrace, the moonlight burned her skin. The third queen was also no less. Once, she heard someone weeping in the next room, she turned pale and fainted.Betaal asked Vikram, “Tell me O Wise king! Which among the three queens is most sensitive?” Vikram replied, “The third queen was the most sensitive because in my opinion, those who are sensitive to the suffering of others are sensitive in the real sense of the word.” Betaal was very happy with the answer. He said, “No doubt, you are very intelligent! But, you always make the mistake of breaking your silence. Now, I must fly back to the tree. Goodbye!” Saying this, Betaal flew back to the tree. Moral:Be empathetic towards other and develop the skill of listening and understanding others.

This is a classic story from Vikram betal.Moral(s) of the story: empathy and understanding

The Three Sensitive Queens

Once there lived a boy whose parents owned a huge, beautiful castle. The castle was full of old paintings of kings, queens, prince, and princesses. One day, the boy was roaming around in the castle and noticed something strange about one of the paintings. Normally, the painting showed an old king eating his lunch with his followers. But the boy saw that the king was missing from the painting.The boy thought that if the king does not come back, the king’s spoon in the painting would fall and create a mess on the floor. So the boy searched the whole castle for the king for hours and at last found him enjoying a bubble bath in the biggest bathtub in the building. The boy was in shock at seeing this.The King explained it to him, “I have spent years and years in this castle but no one bothers to clean the dust off of him even once. I got so dirty and fed up and so left for the bath.” After hearing this, the boy told the king that if he did not return to the painting, the floor might get dirty and there would be even more dirt than it already was.The King agreed to return on one condition that his painting should be cleaned regularly. From that onwards, the boy took it on himself to clean all the paintings of the castle. Moral:Cleanliness is next to Godliness. This story teaches us that if we don’t keep our things and surroundings clean, no one would like to spend time with us.

pixies 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.

An octopus in trouble

The Serpent And The King of Frogs

The wolf and the crane

The Ant and The Grasshopper

The fox and the goat

The Baker and The Farmer

Escape from Lakshagriha

The Three Sensitive Queens

The Missing King

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