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

Sam was a greedy and a selfish man. He always desired to have lots and lots of money and never hesitated to cheat others to make money. Also, he never wished to share anything with others. He paid very low wages to his servants.However, one day, he learned a lesson that changed his life forever.It so happened that one day, a small bag that belonged to Sam was missing. The bag had 50 gold coins in it. Sam searched high and low for the bag, but could not find it. Sam’s friends and neighbours also joined in the search, but all their efforts were in vain.After a couple of days, the ten year old daughter of a man working for Sam found the bag. She told her father about it. Her father identified the bag as the one that was missing, and immediately decided to take it to his master.He gave the bag back to his master Sam, and asked him to check whether the bag had 50 gold coins. Sam was exultant to get the coins back, but he decided to play a trick. He shouted at his worker, “there were 75 gold coins in this bag but you gave me only 50! Where are the other coins? You have stolen them!”The worker was shocked to hear this and pleaded his innocence. Selfish and greedy, Sam did not accept the worker’s story, and decided to take the issue to court. The judge heard both the sides. He questioned the daughter and the worker about the number of coins they had found in the bag, and they assured it was only 50. He cross-examined Sam and Sam replied, “Yes my lord, I had 75 gold coins in my bag, and they gave me only 50. Hence, it is quite obvious that they have stolen 25 coins!” The judge then asked, “Are you sure that your bag had 75 coins?”Sam nodded vigorously. The judge then made his judgment. “Since Sam lost a bag of 75 gold coins and the bag found by the girl had only 50 coins, it is obvious that the bag that was found does not belong to Sam. It was lost by someone else. If anyone finds a bag of 75 gold coins, I will declare that it belongs to Sam. As there are no complaints about the loss of 50 coins, I order the girl and his father to take those 50 coins as a token of appreciation for their honesty!” Moral:Honesty will always be rewarded and greed punished!

This is a story of coin.Moral(s) of the story: greediness, honesty and selfishness

Gold Coins and a Selfish Man

Once, there lived a washer man in the city of Patna who had a donkey that used to carry all the clothes to the riverside and back. The washer man used to feed the donkey well. The donkey also worked very hard for his master. But as time passed, the donkey grew old and was no longer able to work as hard as before. The cruel washer man stopped feeding the donkey as he was of no use for him. The donkey felt miserable and decided to go to Calcutta to become a musician. So, one fine day, the donkey left the washer man’s house to go to Calcutta.On his way, he met an old dog that was crying uncontrollably. The donkey asked him, “What is the matter, my dear friend? Why are you crying?” The poor dog replied, “My master used to love me very much till the time I was young and alert enough to guard his house. But now age has caught up with me and I am not able to catch the thieves. So, my cruel master has thrown me out of the house.” The donkey replied, “The same thing happened to me. So I have decided to go to Calcutta to become a musician. Why don’t you join me?” The dog agreed to accompany the donkey and together they set out for Calcutta.On their way, they both met a cat who was crying horribly. The dog and the donkey asked him, “Why are you crying?” The cat replied, “My master brought me to this house when I was very young. I could catch a lot of rats every day and my master gave me lot of milk to drink. But now I have become old and cannot catch rats anymore. So my master has turned me out of the house. I am crying because of that.” The donkey and dog were very sorry to hear the cat’s story. They asked her to join them. The cat thought it was a very good idea and then the donkey, dog and the cat started walking towards Calcutta.Walking ahead, they met a rooster that was weeping bitterly. The donkey, dog and the cat asked the rooster, “Why are you crying?” The rooster replied, “My master brought me to this house when I was young. I used to wake up early morning and wake him up so that he could go to work early. He also used to give me good food. But now I have become old. I keep sleeping till late in the morning. So, I am not able to wake him up and because of this, my master has kicked me out of the house.” Then the donkey, dog and the cat told the rooster, “We are very sorry to hear your story. We also became old and our masters are not giving us food. So we decided to go to Calcutta to become musicians. Why don’t you come with us?” The rooster thought it was a very good idea and joined them.By the evening, the four friends got very tired of walking. They were feeling very hungry. Then, the rooster climbed up the tree and noticed some light coming from a distance. They thought maybe they would be able to find something to eat there. So, they followed the source of light and when they reached there, they saw that the light was coming from a big house. The rooster volunteered to fly around and find out who lived inside the house. He found out that the house belonged to three robbers and they had a lot of food stacked up in the house. The four friends were starving by now, so they spoke to each other and made a plan.The donkey stood with his legs on the window. The dog stood on him. The cat stood on the dog and the rooster flew and remained on the top. All of them started singing at the same time. The robbers who were inside mistook the four animals for a strange looking ghost and ran away.The donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster went inside and ate to their heart’s content. Then, they decided to spend the night in the house. The cat decided to sleep on the stove in the kitchen. The dog decided to sleep near the gate. The donkey decided to sleep near the outside wall and the rooster decided to sleep on the roof.The robbers who had run away were also hungry. They were watching their house from far away. One of them came back to the house sent to see if everything was all right. That robber slowly entered the house through the back door and went into the kitchen. He wanted to see whether there was milk on the stove.When he reached near the stove, the cat jumped up and scratched his face. The robber was terrified by this sudden attack and ran outside. The dog, who was lying near the door, bit his leg. He ran near the wall. The donkey kicked him and threw him on the roof. The rooster who was there on the roof, pecked all over him with his sharp beak.The robber jumped from the roof and ran to his friends. He told them in a shaking voice, “That ghost has now entered our house. It scratched me, bit me, kicked me and pecked me. We must never go back there.” The other robbers agreed and went away. The donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster lived happily in that house and gave up the idea of going to Calcutta. At night, all of them used to practice music. Moral:Every creature deserves love and affection. Do not be selfish and use animals or birds for as long as they prove to be helpful for you.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of cat, dog, donkey and hen.Moral(s) of the story: selfishness

The donkey, the dog, the cat, and the rooster

Shina Utavani

Once in a dense forest, there lived a group of crows on a tree. The crows were self-obsessed and did not like outsiders. They were all busy on their own and did not like anyone else. They were very rude to other birds and animals.A little bird, while flying in the forest, lost her way. It started getting dark so she decided to stop over a tree. She saw a tree where the group of crows lived. She decided to rest there. But they all were very arrogant. One of the crows shouted, “Go away from here.” The little bird requested them to allow her to stay for a while as it might rain but the crows did not listen to her. The bird pleaded them but they did not agree. Finally, the little bird decided to fly to another tree.The bird went to another tree and there she found a nice hole to rest in comfortably. After some time, it started raining. It rained heavily with hailstones falling. The crows sitting on that tree faced difficulties. Many of them were hurt and some of them even died. On the other hand, the little bird took rest for the whole night.The next day, the little bird came out and decided to fly towards her home. One of the crows saw her and asked, “How come you are not hurt?”. The little bird said, “God helps humble creatures and lets arrogant ones like you suffer.” The crows realized that they were punished for their selfish nature. Moral:One should never be arrogant because God punishes those who are arrogant.

This is a story of crow, forest and tree.Moral(s) of the story: arrogance and selfishness`

The vain Crows

In a dense forest, there lived a fox and a wolf. They both were good friends. They both enjoyed each other’s company. The fox depended on the wolf for many things. The wolf would go for hunting and fox would always go with him. He would sneak the spoils of the hunt left behind by the wolf. He used to get the meal easily as the wolf would do all the hard work.The fox used to always follow the wolf and would eat without doing much hard work. One day the wolf became aware of fox’s deceiving nature. The wolf started ignoring him. He would go hunting without his friend. The wolf decided to stay away from the fox as he was using him for his benefit. He thought that the fox was not a good friend and he was very selfish. The wolf did not call fox for the hunt after that.As the winter season started, the wolf began hunting and saved his meat for the season. He would hunt for the meal and would store it in his house for the winter. To avoid any difficulty in the winter, he stored as much food as he could. The wolf worked hard and searched for his food. The fox rested all around and did nothing. He thought that the wolf would take him for the hunt. He waited for the wolf to go for hunting.Many days went by and the wolf did not call the fox. So, the fox decided to look for the wolf. For many days, the fox managed to eat little food which he got nearby but he wanted to eat some good meat. He went to the wolf’s cave. The fox did not want to directly ask the wolf why he was not going for the hunt. So, he shouted, “Wolf, my friend. Are you fine? I have not seen you for a long time.” After this, the fox sneaked inside the cave to look for the wolf. Inside the cave, he saw a huge pile of meat. The wolf was inside the cave and was surprised to see the fox.The wolf coughed and said, “I was sick for a while. I will come to meet you when I feel better.” The fox asked the wolf to take care and left his cave. The wolf was happy that the fox left, he did not want to be friends with him. The fox felt very bad that the wolf was ignoring him and went for the hunt without him. Instead of realizing his mistake, he thought that the wolf was very mean to him. He decided to take revenge from the wolf.The fox went to a shepherd and took the shepherd to the wolf’s den. The shepherd was shocked to see his sheep inside the den. As they were easy to hunt, the wolf had killed many of shepherd’s sheep. The shepherd got very angry and started beating the wolf. “How dare you hunt my sheep? Now, you will not be killing my sheep anymore” said the shepherd and killed the wolf. Then he took off the wolf’s skin and left.The fox was very happy that the wolf was killed. He said, “This is what you get when you are mean to others. You are dead now and I will eat all your meat.” The fox did not realize what he had done and it was obvious that the selfish fox would never realize his mistake. As the fox was dancing and jumping, a hunter saw the fox and caught him. The hunter killed him. In the end, the fox was punished by God, for betraying his friend. Moral:One should always be loyal to their family and friends.

This is a story of farmer. fox and wolf.Moral(s) of story: selfishness

The Fox and the Wolf

Yesha Desai

There was a little boy named Jerry regularly went to the beach with his family. He loved the sea and would often spend hours swimming and diving with his father.One time Jerry saw a small yellow fish in one of the shallow lagoons. It was almost washed up to the edge and had other fish attacking it.Jerry decided that he wanted to rescue the fish.He quickly rushed off to get a container and filled it with water before slowly picking up the fish and rescuing it. He brought the fish home where it was safe.He was very proud of him and the fish was grateful for his help as the boy nursed it to health. He loved his fish very much and always wanted to protect it.However, as much as the fish loved Jerry back, it wanted to go back home — to its own friends and family.Maybe it was in Jerry’s desire to always keep his fish around him that he ignored the way his fish became sadder day by day.One day when Jerry came back from school, the fish was not moving at all and dread filled his heart. He immediately rushed to get medical help.To his relief, his fish was just fine but the doctor said, “ It is lonely and that’s why it was sad.”Jerry frowned, “Lonely? How? I always spend time with it.”The doctor smiled, “Yes, you do and it is amazing how much can you take care of it but your fish misses its home.”The boy had tears in his eyes but he understood. That night he whispered an apology to his fish and decided to set it free the next day. The next morning he set the fish free and cried thinking he would never see it again.The fish was very happy to be home and the fish’s family was relieved to have it back home too.But unlike what Jerry had expected, the fish remembered him and waited for him to come swim in the sea everyday.There they would play together and both of them were happy. Moral:We need to set free what we love even if we do not want to.

This is a doctor, fish ans sea.Moral(s) of the story: love and selfishness

The lonely fish

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

Once, a prince went on a hunting spree in a dense forest. He wandered the whole day in search of prey but did not come across a single animal, big or small that he could kill. By the evening he got very tired and thus, sat under a tree to take some rest. Just then, he saw a huge tiger coming out of the bushes and moving forward towards him. The prince was petrified and in order to save his life, he climbed up the nearest tree. When he reached the top of the tree, he saw a huge bear sitting on one of the branches. He started to tremble with fear as he thought that he would now surely be killed by either of the two wild animals. The bear calmed down the prince and said, “Don’t worry, my dear prince. This tree is my house and thus, you are my guest. I never harm my guests.” The prince believed in what the bear said and stopped panicking. The tiger also sat down under the tree and kept waiting for the prince to come down. Soon the sun set and there was darkness everywhere. The prince was terribly tired and, he fell fast asleep on the branch. When the tiger saw the sleeping prince, he said to the bear, “Do not give shelter to this prince. Human beings are our enemies. Push him down on the ground and let me make him my meal.”“No, I will never do such an evil thing.” said the bear. “Moreover, he is my guest,” the bear added.In the morning, when the prince woke up, he saw the bear sleeping beside him. The cunning tiger said to the prince, “Don’t trust this wicked bear! He is being nice to you only till the time I am sitting here. The moment I leave, he will kill you. So, I would advise you to push this bear down before me. I will eat him and let you go.”The selfish prince thought that it was not a bad idea to throw the bear down and save his life. So, he pushed the unsuspecting bear off the branch. The bear woke up with a jerk and caught hold of another branch and saved his life somehow. He cursed the prince for his selfishness and said, “It was indeed a mistake on my part to place my trust in a selfish human being like you.” Moral:Selfish people are only concerned about themselves. Even if someone is being good to them, they suspect something wrong and end up losing everyone in their lives.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of bear, tiger and prince.Moral(s) of the story: selfishness

The prince and the bear

Long ago, a violent battle broke out between the animals and the birds. The birds pecked at the animals and flew away out of their reach and the infuriated animals did not allow the birds to land on the ground to have food or water. This battle went on for many days. The bats decided not to pick sides and stay neutral. They thought to themselves, “Ours is a special position, we are birds because we can fly, and we are animals because we do not lay eggs.” So, the proud bats decided to join the winners. When the bats saw that the birds were in a winning position, they started hobnobbing with them, and when they felt that the animals were winning, they joined their camp. Gradually, the birds and the animals both started to get tired of their continuous battle. So, they decided to make peace. The king of the birds and the king of the animals, both sat together and agreed upon a treaty. Both the kings decided to bury the hatchet and become good friends. They also decided not to allow the selfish bats to join either of them.Thus, the bats were ostracised by both, the birds and the animals. They were so ashamed of themselves that they hid themselves in the dark caves. That is why till today, the bats come out of their hiding only at twilight, when the birds are back in their nests and the animals are not yet out of their dens. Moral:If you are to dwell because of your selfishness, you won’t reap any benefits from anywhere.

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

selfishness 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

Gold Coins and a Selfish Man

The donkey, the dog, the cat, and the rooster

The vain Crows

The Fox and the Wolf

The lonely fish

Snow-white and the seven dwarves

The prince and the bear

Why do bats come out in the dark?

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