Shina Utavani

Once upon a time, there was a palace at the bottom of the sea. In the palace, there lived the Sea King. The king had six mermaid daughters. Out of the six daughters, five of them were very happy. The sixth one, the youngest was very sad and depressed. She would not even smile.Little mermaid loved the surface world. She liked the world above the sea. She would often swim up to see the sky and green trees of the distant land. She liked the world above the sea. She was sad because she was living in the sea and she wanted to experience the world above the sea. The fish, shells, stones of the sea failed to satisfy her. She did not even like to hear stories from her father.The little mermaid wanted to explore the world above the sea. She secretly left her home and came to the surface. When she left, it was a stormy night and the waves crashed wildly against the rocks. There was lightning in the sky and it had hit a ship and the ship rolled in the sea. The man who was inside the ship fell in the sea and was drowning. He was asking for help. The little mermaid immediately rescued him and took him to the shore. She gently rested him against the rocks. Looking at the young man, little mermaid fell in love with him. Suddenly a girl came towards them. Seeing her, little mermaid left for the sea palace.The girl came near the young man and he opened his eyes. He thought that she had rescued him. The girl was beautiful and charming. The young man thanked her thinking she had saved him. The beautiful girl was also a princess.Back in the sea palace, the little mermaid always thought about the young prince. She once visited the witches of the Seashore and asked for a wish. The little mermaid wanted to walk and dance on the land. The witch agreed to grant her wish on one condition. She will be able to walk and dance but not talk and sing. She will not get the power of speech. The mermaid was excited to go on the land and agreed. She was soon transformed.The mermaid reached the royal palace hoping that the prince would remember her. The palace was having a grand party that night. The palace guards did not allow her to enter the palace but when they saw her dance, they allowed her to go inside the palace. The mermaid entered the palace and her eyes were searching for the prince. She saw the prince sitting on the throne. She was happy to see the prince and wished the prince would remember her. But the mermaid saw the beautiful girl with lovely hair sitting beside the prince. When the prince saw the mermaid, he did not recognize her. The little mermaid wanted to tell the prince but she had lost her power of speech.The King announced the princess sitting next to the prince as the future bride of the kingdom. The mermaid after hearing this was in tears. She was heartbroken and sad.It is believed that the sad mermaid still visits the place where she first saw the prince.

This is a story of land, mermaid, palace, prince, princess and sea.

The Little Mermaid

Ravina Sewani

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.Betal began another story, as he was being carried upon King Vikramaditya’s shoulders.A long time ago, there was a beautiful and intelligent princess named Chandralekha. Many suitors came to offer proposals of marriage to her. She always declined, saying, “My husband should be strong, courageous and talented.”One day, a prince named Virendra came to propose to Chandralekha. He said, “I can tell the fortune of people and have never been proven wrong.”Chandralekha offered him a chamber in the palace to stay in while she made her decision.The next day, Prince Udaivir arrived, wanting to have her hand in marriage. “I have a chariot which can run on land as well as in the sky,” said the prince, hoping to impress her.He too was offered a chamber in the palace to wait.The third day, Prince Dhananjay came to ask for Chandralekha’s hand in marriage. He boasted, “I am an unparalleled warrior. No one can destroy me!”Chandralekha asked him to wait while she chose between the three.The next morning, Chandralekha’s mother was horrified to find her daughter was missing. Scared for her well-being, she called upon the three princes to help find the princess.Prince Virendra closed his eyes for a moment and then said, “As a fortune teller, I can see that the princess has been kidnapped by a giant who wants to marry her.”Next, Prince Udaivir said, “My chariot is the fastest, we can rush to save the princess!” With that, the three princes, rode off in the chariot.Upon reaching the giant’s lair, Prince Dhananjay took out his sword, fought the giant bravely and won.Chandralekha was returned safely to her mother and the kingdom was at peace.“So tell me King Vikramaditya,” said Betal. “Who should the princess choose as her groom?”King Vikramaditya thought and then said, “Prince Dhananjay deserves to be the groom. Even though Prince Virendra foretold where the princess would be and Prince Udaivir used his chariot to take them there, Prince Dhananjay defeated the giant. Without his strength, the giant would have eaten them all!”Betal looked at the king and said, “Right you are, my king. But you have opened your mouth to speak and so I must fly away, back to my tree!” With that, Betal was chased once more by King Vikramaditya. Moral:It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

This is a story of king, prince, princess and Vikram Betal.Moral(s) of the story: bravery and strength

Princess Chandralekha

Once, there lived a King and Queen in a beautiful, huge kingdom. The king and queen had a beautiful daughter named Snow White. She was very pretty and had gorgeous black hair and fair skin. The princess became more beautiful as she grew up. She was very kind and generous. But as she grew up, her mother died. Snow White was very depressed after her mother died.The king married a new queen and she turned out to be an evil witch. She had a magic mirror. One day she asked the mirror to tell her who was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. The mirror replied, “Snow White.” The queen could not hear this and decided to kill her. She directed a soldier to take Snow White away from the Kingdom and kill her.The soldier took Snow White to the forest to kill her, as directed by the queen. Snow White was very kind and generous. She had shown her generosity to everyone. The soldier was also aware of her kind nature. So, the soldier could not kill her. He advised the princess to run away and never come back because the queen wanted to kill her.The princess was shocked by hearing this. She ran as fast as she could through the forest. After a while, she was tired. She decided to take some rest. She saw a tiny house and decided to go inside. When she entered the house, she saw that everything was very small. But as she was very tired, she decided to take some rest. She laid down on the little bed and fell asleep.The princess was sleeping on the bed and after some time seven dwarves entered the tiny house. As they entered the house, they saw Snow-white on the bed and were surprised. The dwarfs said, “Why is a girl sleeping on our bed? What is she doing here?” The voice woke up the princess. She told everything to the dwarves. She told them about the witch queen. The dwarves allowed the princess to stay in their house. The princess soon became friends with the dwarves. She cooked food for them and they lived happily.The witch queen soon found out that the princess was still alive. She turned herself into an old lady and entered the house. The witch knocked on the door. Snow White opened the door and saw an old lady. The old lady gave her a delicious apple and asked her to taste it. Snow White took the bite of the apple. The apple was poisonedand as soon as she took a bite, she fell on the ground and never woke up. The little dwarves were very sad and decided to put her on the flower bed.One day, a prince saw Snow-White lying on a flower bed. He was awe-struck by her beauty and fell in love with her. He took her hand and kissed it. The moment, the prince kissed her, she woke up. The kiss had the power to break the witch’s magic.As soon as she woke up, she saw the prince. She was pleased to see the charming prince. She fell in love with him. The prince and Snow White then lived a happy life. The witch became mad and in anger, she broke her mirror and never heard the mirror talk again. Moral:Selfish desire is dangerous. Do not trust strangers.

This is a story of dwarf, prince, snow white and witch.Moral(s) of the story: selfishness

Snow-white and the seven dwarves

A long time ago, in the dark lands of the witches, there lived the most terrible dragon that had ever existed. The dragon had magical powers and would turn into a cloud so he could move as fast as the wind. He could make himself as light as a feather, and take any form. Because he could turn into a cloud, he was capable of firing not only flames from his mouth, but also brilliant lightning flashes.The cloud dragon would go around in towns and villages and would attack humans, animals, and bird just because he loved attack towns hearing everyone’s cries. But he enjoyed the most when humans would send their soldiers to kill him. When the soldiers would come to kill him, the dragon would enjoy by making rains fall on the soldiers’ armour and striking them with lightening which would make their hair stand up. He would turn to a dense fog and make the soldier fly. When the dragon was done playing with the soldier, he would turn into his original form, keeping the soldier floating in the air. The dragon would then laugh and his flames would strike the soldier. The soldier would then try hard to find his way back home.One day, the king’s youngest son, Yela, decided to go see the dragon. Yela was also very naughty and so wanted to see the dragon’s trick. He thought that no one could be as bas that he would attack people for fun. When Yela went to see the dragon, he did so without any protection.As soon as the dragon saw the young Prince coming, he began his attacking Yela by his tricks. Yela found his tricks were unique and he enjoyed those moments spent with the dragon. When Yela was finally dropped into the snow, he got up, hurt, but smiling, and he shouted, "Come on! Again! Yee-haaa!"The cloud dragon was surprised at seeing Yela,&nbsp;but he had waiting for this since centuries. He repeated his tricks and also added a few more. The dragon started having a lot of fun and would take care of Yela when they were done playing. Both of them would sit together and laugh like two good friends. &nbsp;Yela also played jokes, put on shows, made the dragon laugh and both of them created new tricks. Yela learned about the dragon’s family and found out that he was just a child but had grown very big. All that the dragon ever wanted to do was enjoy his childhood with someone.The Prince, Yela, returned to his Kingdom on a great cloud in the shape of a dragon. With the help of other children, comedians, actors and animals, they managed to bring joy to the young dragon's life that never again did he feel the need to harm anyone for entertainment.&nbsp;As payment for all the fun that the dragon got, he provided rain, shade and fire to the Kingdom whenever it was needed. Moral:There is always a strong reason behind the way a person behaves. If we can ask with kindness and listen to their problem, people might change for the better

This is a story of cloud, dragon, fire, king and prince.

The cloud dragon

One upon a time, there were two beautiful princesses. They both were kidnapped by a vicious king when they were young. The princesses were taken to a lake where they were abandoned on a small island. The princesses had to live there forever under the guidance of a terrifying lake monster.After some time, the wicked king and his court of wizards and fortune-tellers were overthrown. And everybody knew that a brave prince was destined to release the princesses from their imprisonment.When princesses came to know about the news, their lives were finally filled with hope. Out of the two princesses, the youngest one was more beautiful and pretty than the elder one. She had a hope that one day prince will come to rescue her. So, she patiently waited for him, making small decorations from the flowers and singing songs. However, the older princess did not enjoy having to wait. She thought that she had to do something to help the prince rescue her. She thought that the prince should at least know where she was.The elder princess started working to help the prince. She started making signals, building towers, digging tunnels and a thousand other things. However, the lake monster always tried his best to ruin her plans.As time passed, the elder sister felt insecure and uncomfortable. She knew that the prince would choose her younger sister because she was more beautiful. So, she thought there was no point in waiting for the prince instead she started making plans to escape from the island not worrying about the prince.Every morning she would prepare a different escape plan, but the monster would always do something to ruin her plan. She attempted every day to plan an escape but the monster used to ruin it every time. It became like a game of cat and mouse between the princess and the monster. The princess tried to plan a new escape every day which used to be more original and creative. And the monster used a different creative way to destroy those plans. They put so much effort and imagination in their plans that at the end of each day the princess and the monster would spend hours chatting like friends. They used to discuss how they had planned their strategy. At night they both would say Goodbye and the monster would go back to the watery depths.One day the monster said to the princess that he will allow her to go the next day. He said that she was a clever and brave girl. She did not deserve to remain imprisoned like that. But the next morning the princess did not try to escape. She sat beside the lake, waiting for the monster to appear. When the monster came, he asked, “Why have not you gone?” The princess replied, “I did not want to leave you alone. You are indeed scary, but you are clever too. You deserve something better than guarding the princesses. Why don’t you come with me?” The monster sadly replied, “I cannot. I can’t leave the island; I’m attached to it by a long chain. You will have to leave on your own.”The princess went to the monster and hugged him tightly. She hugged him so tightly that the monster broke into a thousand pieces. And from those pieces appeared a slim, smiling young man, with the same expression and intelligence as he had as the lake monster.So, it was the Prince that had been with them all along. The princesses did not know that for the prince to rescue them, first, they would have to rescue him. This was only possible because of the spirit and the positive attitude of the older sister.The prince at the end decided to marry the older princess, leaving the younger princess to her songs, beauty, and her sweetness. Moral:You don’t achieve things by waiting for them to happen; instead you must work hard to achieve them. The story teaches us the importance of taking initiative with a positive attitude to achieve what we want.

This is a story of lake, monster, prince and princess.Moral(s) of the story: hard work, smartness

The Lake Princesses 

A long time ago, there was a king who reigned over a large empire. The king was very noble and kind but his son was rude, ill-mannered and bad-tempered. The king tried all kinds of ways to reform his son. The ministers, courtiers and other important and learned people of the kingdom also tried to make the prince change his ways but to no avail. They tried to make the prince realize that his bad behaviour could create a bad impression on the public, but the prince was never willing to listen to any well-meant advice. One day, while the king was taking a walk in his palace garden, he saw a sage pass by. There was a radiant glow on the sage’s face and a confidence in his gait that made the king infer that the sage must be a very learned person full of divine knowledge. The king sent a messenger to invite the sage to his palace. The sage accepted the invitation and was welcomed warmly by the king. When the king found out that the sage was looking for a place to live in, he offered to make a hermitage in the palace for the sage. The sage accepted the king’s offer and started residing in the hermitage in the palace.One day, while the king was talking to the sage, he said, “Dear Sir, it must have come to your knowledge by now that I have a son on whose account I am constantly worried. He is very ill-mannered and bad-tempered. The public of my kingdom considers him unworthy of being a prince. I’m afraid they won’t accept him as their king after me. Please help me, Sir. You are wise; you can teach my son to mend his ways.” The sage assured the king that he would do something to set things right.Next day, the sage asked the prince to come for a walk with him in the palace garden. There, he pointed towards a little plant and said, “Eat a leaf of this plant and tell me how the taste is.” The prince plucked a leaf of the plant and put it in his mouth. As soon as he tasted it, he spat it out on the ground in disgust. “It’s bitter! It must be some poisonous seedling. It could prove to be dangerous to the health of many people if it grows. So, it should not be allowed to grow into a big tree.” Saying this, the prince pulled the plant out of the ground and tore it up.The sage picked up the plant that the prince had destroyed and said, “The way that you reacted towards this plant today, one day the people of your kingdom may react towards you in the same way. They think that you are a wicked prince, so they may not allow you to become their king and may exile you. It is for your own good that you must mend your ways and try to develop a sense of sympathy, compassion and kind-heartedness towards all your fellow beings.”The prince learnt his lesson. He understood the message that the sage was trying to convey through the example of the plant. From that day forth, the prince tried to change his rude and ill-mannered behaviour and became humble and kind. The king was very pleased to see a change in his son and expressed his gratitude to the sage. Moral:All beings deserve respect, empathy, and compassion.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of king and prince.Moral(s) of the story: compassion, empathy and respect

The prince and the seedling

Once, there lived a farmer in land far away. He was very poor. He lived with his wife. One day they both were very hungry. They did not have anything to eat. Their neighbour had a beautiful garden. The farmer decided to pluck fruits from the garden. As soon as he plucked an apple, a voice came from behind. It was from his neighbour. His neighbour was an old witch. She screamed, “How dare you take fruits from my garden. I will turn you both into rats.” The couple was very scared. They requested her to forgive them and assured her they will never pluck any fruit from her garden. The witch said, “Okay, I will forgive you only if you will give me your first child.” The couple was very scared so they agreed immediately.The couple was blessed with a beautiful baby girl after a few years. When the old witch came to know about the baby, she immediately came and snatched the baby away from them. The witch named her Rapunzel. She did not want her parents to take her away, so she locked her up in a tall tower. The Rapunzel looked pretty when she grew up. She was very beautiful. The most beautiful thing about her was her hair. She had long, golden hair.Rapunzel was locked up in a tower since birth so, the only person she saw in her life was the old witch. The old witch use to come to meet her every day. The witch used to climb the tall tower with the help of Rapunzel’s hair. The witch used to tell Rapunzel to let down her hair from the window and she used to climb the tower with that.A prince was passing by the tower one day and saw the witch climbing the tower with the hair. The prince was surprised and he too wanted to try. When the old witch left the place, the prince went below the tower. He then shouted, “Rapunzel, let your hair down.” Rapunzel heard the noise and threw her hair from the window. The prince climbed the tower and reached to her room. Rapunzel was shocked to see the prince. The prince was very handsome and she had never seen someone like that before. Prince was also stunned to see Rapunzel. They both fell in love instantly. After that, every day they began to meet secretly.However, one day when the witch was climbing the tower, Rapunzel mistakenly said, “You are so much heavier than my prince.” The witch understood what was happening and she got angry on Rapunzel. She screamed and cut off her long hair. She sent Rapunzel into a forest. And that day when the prince came to the tower, the witch cursed the prince and he became blind. The prince then went to find Rapunzel in the forest with no eyesight.After many days, Rapunzel found the prince in the forest among the trees. The prince had many injuries. Rapunzel cried when she came to know that the prince had lost his eyesight. As Rapunzel was crying, her tears fell on the prince. Due to her tears, the wounds of the prince started healing. The eyesight of the prince came back. The prince opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Rapunzel. They both were really happy to see each other. They both hugged each other and decided to go to the prince’s kingdom. They went far away from the wicked witch to the prince’s kingdom and lived happily ever after. Moral:The value of patience and determination. It also teaches the consequences of stealing.

This is a story of hair, kingdom, prince, rapunzel and witch.Moral(s) of the story: bravery and strength

Rapunzel

This story dates back to the time when king Brahmadutta ruled the city of Banaras. He had four young princes. They young princes had grown up hearing many wonderful stories about a beautiful tree known as the Red Bud Tree. They had never seen the Red Bud tree and wished to be the first one to see it.One day, driven by his curiosity to see the tree at the earliest, the eldest prince asked the king’s charioteer to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew. It was still early spring and the tree was standing as a bare stump of wood in the forest, devoid of any leaves or buds. The prince failed to understand why it was known as the Red-Bud tree and returned back to the palace.Sometime later in spring, the next son requested the king’s charioteer to take him to the Red Bud Tree. At this time, the tree was covered with bright red buds and looked very beautiful.The third son went into the woods just after the spring time. Now tree did not have any red buds and was covered with lush green leaves. He also could see no reason for calling it a Red Bud tree.The youngest price also decided to go and have a look at the famous Red Bud tree. By this time, the tree was covered with little bean-pods. When he came back from the forest, he ran into the garden where his brothers were playing and told them with much excitement, "I saw the Red Bud tree!""So, what is special about it?" said the eldest prince. “It is nothing but a dead stump of wood,” He added."What makes you say that?" said the second son. "When I went in the woods, it was covered with hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is known as the Red Bud tree."The third prince said, "I have also seen the Red Bud tree. It is neither a dead stump of wood nor covered with red buds. It looks like an ordinary tree covered with green leaves."The youngest prince said with utmost confidence, "Brothers, all of you are mistaken! I have just a seen the tree and I can say for sure that it is now covered with little bean-pods."The princes wondered that maybe the Red Bud tree was indeed some mystical tree and appeared in different forms before different people. The king was overhearing their conversation. When they stopped talking, he came out and said, "My dear sons, all four of you have seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year." The princes understood what the matter was and laughed at their naivete. Moral: All is not what it seems. The four princes could not agree with each other because all of them had seen different stages of the tree. Sometimes, there’s more to a situation than what meets the eye.

This is a story of brother, forest, Jataka tales, prince, red and tree.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The Red Bud Tree

Once upon a time, the King's two Princes were playing in a forest, and - meeting one at a time -, they came across four dwarves who asked them to be more careful. The first dwarf had a headache and he asked them not to shout. The second dwarf was painting a landscape, and he asked the children to move away because they were blocking out the light. The third dwarf was doing a giant jigsaw puzzle in the middle of the road, and he asked the children not to tread on it. The fourth dwarf was watching a butterfly and he asked them not to frighten it away.The Prince who respected others did as the dwarves asked, but the disrespectful Prince ignored the dwarves´ pleas, and kept bothering them. In the evening, both boys had become separated and lost. They needed to get back to the palace quickly.Each of them separately came across the four dwarves again, and asked for their help. They refused to help the disrespectful Prince, but with the respectful Prince they did whatever they could to help, and took him along some secret tracks which led right to the palace.The other Prince arrived much later, and was punished for it. He now understood that it's much better to respect everyone if you want to have friends. Moral:Respect everyone regardless of age, authority, caste and creed.

This is a story of dwarf and prince.Moral(s) of the story: helpfulness and respect

prince 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.