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

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.Once upon a time there lived a king named Chandrakant. He was very popular due to his valour and generous nature.One day, a guard, who was responsible for guarding the main entrance of the palace, came to him and told him, “His Majesty! You must alert our soldiers, as the enemy’s army might attack our country within a few days.” Chandrakant asked him how he could say that beforehand. The guard did not give a proper reply to that and said that it was just a hunch.After a few days, the neighbouring country did launch a massive attack on Chandrakant’s kingdom, but as his soldiers were alert, they were able to counter the attack. The enemies were vanquished and king Chandrakant was able to save his kingdom.Once the war was over, he decided to give a suitable reward to the guard for his accurate information. Next day, the guard was summoned in the court to receive his reward from the king. The king asked him once again that how he could predict so accurately that the enemies were going to attack the kingdom. The guard replied, “Sir I can see things which are going to happen in my dreams. One night, while I was doing my duty, I had a dream about the enemy army attacking us.” After hearing this, the king gave him one thousand gold coins. And then, suddenly he said to the guard in a firm tone, “You are dismissed from the post of the guard,” Everyone in the king’s court was surprised by the king’s decision, but no one dared to ask him why. The guard quietly accepted the king’s decision. He bowed down before the king and went away.After the story, Betaal asked Vikram, “Could you tell me, why the king dismissed the guard even when he had helped him to win against the enemy?Vikram answered, “Betaal, the duty of a guard is to take care of the palace’s gate. As the guard said, he had a dream during his duty, the king got the idea that he was sleeping on duty. So, although he helped him win against the enemy army, he forgot to do his duty. That is why the king dismissed him from the post of the guard.”As soon as Vikram finished his answer, Betaal flew back to the tamarind tree. Moral:Perform your duties and work with full dedication and then pay heed to other things around.

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

 Reward for the Gatekeeper

Yesha Desai

Once, a poor old woman came to seek Birbal’s help. The Emperor had passed orders to build a big palace on the site where her small house was situated. He had already instructed his men to take down the house of the old lady and ask her to move to some other place. The old woman did not want to move out of her ancestral house as she had fond memories linked with it. Birbal understood the woman’s plight and promised to try his level best to save her house.Soon, the construction began at the chosen site. Birbal also happened to visit the construction site with the Emperor. There were many empty gunny bags lying on the ground. Birbal started to fill up the bags with mud. Out of curiosity, Akbar asked Birbal, “What are you doing?”Birbal answered, “I am doing this to earn merit in my next life.”Amused, Akbar also joined Birbal and started filling up the bags with mud. Birbal then loaded up a big bag with mud and sought Akbar’s help in lifting it up.Akbar lent a hand to Birbal. “Aah,this is very heavy! I am finding it very difficult to lift it up,” said Akbar, staggering under the weight of the bag.To this, Birbal retorted, “Jahanpanah, you say that this bag of mud is heavy. Imagine how much mud would be there in this piece of land. Will it not weigh heavily on your conscience to snatch a poor old woman’s ancestral house?”Akbar realised his mistake and gave orders to discontinue the construction. The poor old woman was overwhelmed with gratitude and profusely thanked Birbal for saving her house. Moral:We must consider other people’s losses and problems before doing something of our gain.

This is a classic story from Akbar Birbal.Moral(s) of the story: kindness

Heavy Burden

Once, there was a very poor boy named Paul. He lived with his family. His parents worked hard to raise their son. Paul was a very good boy and always spoke the truth. His parents taught him that “Honesty is the best policy!”One day, the King visited Paul’s small village and all the villagers came out to greet the King. The King was giving away cookies and candy. Paul and the villagers crowded near the King’s carriage to try to get some of the gifts from the King.Finally, the King got to Paul and gave him a box full of cookies and candy. Paul was so excited that he immediately rushed to home to share the candy with his family. When Paul returned home, he noticed that there was a beautiful ring among all the candy.He thought to himself that this ring could make him rich. And he and his family no longer had to worry about having enough food to eat. After thinking about what to do all the day, Paul decided to return the ring to the King.Paul went to the palace and returned the King’s ring. The King was very thankful to Paul and said to him, “Son, this is my favorite ring! You are a very honest boy and I want to reward you with lots and lots of gold coins!” When Paul’s parents got to know about his honesty, they became very happy.When Paul came home, his parents hugged him. From that day, Paul was a very rich boy and his family never went hungry again. Moral:Honesty is always rewarded. No matter how tempting the situation is, always remember to be honest over greedy.

This is a story of boy, king and ring.Moral(s) of the story: family value and honesty

An Honest Boy

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

Shina Utavani

There was once a jungle that had no king. All the animals of the jungle gathered and decided to elect a new ruler. They decided to select a king for the jungle. At the meeting of the animals, the monkey who was present there was asked to dance. The monkey started dancing and he did so well that all were impressed by his performance.All the animals enjoyed the monkey’s performance and decided to make monkey the king of the jungle. Everyone voted for the monkey except the Fox. The fox was disappointed by the decision and thought Monkey was not worthy of the title. Fox wanted to explain to everyone that Monkey was not the perfect choice as the king.One day, the fox found a trap with a bit of meat in it. The fox had an idea. He went running to the Monkey and said, “King, I have found a rich treasure but I did not touch it because I think it belongs to you my Majesty.” The greedy monkey was very excited and followed the fox to get the treasure. As soon as the monkey saw the meat, he immediately went to grasp it. In a couple of seconds, the monkey was stuck in a trap. The fox saw the monkey and started laughing.The fox then said, “You cannot even take care of yourself and you pretend to be our king!”. The monkey was ashamed and felt very bad. He bowed down his head in shame. All other animals realized their mistake and understood why the fox was telling that the monkey is not worthy to become a king.They understood that a true leader proves himself by his qualities and not by showing off what he has. Another election was conducted and this time they appointed the true king. They made Lion the king of the jungle. Moral:People who cannot control themselves should never control the people around them.

This is a story of forest, fox, king, lion and monkey.Moral(s) of the story: control

The Fox and the Monkey

A long time ago, there lived a beautiful woman called Vidyullatha in Vijayanagar. She was a learned lady who was accomplished in all genres of fine arts.One day, because of her pride and arrogance about her abilities, she put a hoarding outside her house that said, “A reward of one thousand gold coins would be presented to those who would be able to defeat me in humour, wit and knowledge of ancient texts.”This became an issue of prestige for all the scholars in the region. Many of them took up the challenge and tried to defeat Vidyullatha in the war of words, but none succeeded.Days passed like this. One morning, a vendor happened to pass by her house selling firewood. The man was shouting at the top of his voice, “Firewood ..strong firewood….Who wants my strong and long lasting firewood?”The vendor had a shrill voice and was shouting continuously which irritated Vidyullatha. She stormed out of the house and called the vendor, “Oh vendor! Come here! I will buy your firewood. Just tell me how much you want for it, but please stop shouting.”The vendor replied, “Madam, I will not sell this for money. If you can give me a handful grain I will readily give you all the firewood that I have.”Vidyullatha promised him to give what he wanted and ordered him to dump the load in the backyard.The vendor said, “I need a handful of grain, Madam. Have you understood me clearly?”Vidyulltha yelled at the vendor, “You are asking me whether or not I have understood what a handful of grains mean? I am the most learned lady in the entire district! I know what you want. Now stop arguing and put this firewood in the backyard.”The persistent vendor said, “Madam, I pity you! You really do not know what I want. If you cannot pay the price, you should pay me one thousand gold coins and wipe the invitation hoarding on the compound wall.”Vidyullatha was infuriated. She asked angrily, “What nonsense are you saying?”The vendor said, “This is no nonsense. I told you the price and you agreed for it. Now if you cannot pay the price, you must give me one thousand gold coins for you have clearly failed to understand what I meant. And considering that, I have defeated you in the war of words.”A heated argument ensued between the two and then Vidyullatha decided to approach the provincial Court of Law for justice.&nbsp;She presented her argument in front of the judge, “My Lord! This firewood vendor is crazy. He asked for a handful of grains in lieu of his load of firewood. I agreed to give him that but he keeps saying that I do not know what it means and wants me to wipe off the board in front of the house. I plead for justice!”The judge looked at the vendor and asked him what the matter was. He humbly replied, “Sir, I informed her beforehand that the load of firewood would cost her a handful grain. I actually wanted one grain that could fill the hand. If she cannot understand this much, she has no right to put up that hoarding in front of her house.”Vidyullatha was outwitted by the firewood vendor and the verdict was given in favour of the vendor. Vidyullatha was ordered to pay him one thousand gold coins and ordered to take down the hoarding from her wall.That witty vendor was none other than Tenaliram.&nbsp;He had also heard about Vidyulalltha’s arrogance and haughtiness, and had thus taken the guise of a firewood vendor to teach her a lesson. Moral:Arrogance and pride leads you nowhere.

This is a classic story from Tenali Raman.Moral(s) of the story: arrogance

Thousand gold coins and a handful grain

The Moon was a very lazy person. She lived her life very lethargically and it bothered a lot of people.Because she would not show up on time, the tides on the sea would act up, her admirers on the Earth would become sad. In general it would result in a lot of chaos.Her best friend, Sun, was very tired of Moon’s ways and decided to teach her a lesson.Sun knew that despite her irresponsible behaviour, she cared very deeply about the inhabitants of Earth. So to teach her a lesson, the sun decided to not show up in the sky every morning.Now, there would be elongated days on Earth, short nights or the opposite. Plants were wilting, animals were confused. Humans had no idea what to do.When Moon showed up, she noticed this and decided to urgently talk with Sun. “Sun! Why are you not following your daily routine? Life on Earth is suffering.”The Sun retorted, “Why are you not following your routine?”The Moon was embarrassed and she learned her lesson.Since then she followed a routine. Moral:When you break your routine, it affects not just you but the ones dependent on you. Thus it is important to have an efficient routine.

This is a story of earth, moon and sun.Moral(s) of the story: routine importance

Moon’s routine

Once there lived a Mummy Duck on a farm. She had nested five little eggs and one big egg in her nest. One day, the five little eggs started to crack. ‘Tap, tap, tap!’ came the sound and with the sound came out five pretty, yellow baby ducklings.The next day the big egg started to crack. ‘Bang, bang, bang!’ came the sound, and with the sound came out one big, ugly duckling. ‘That’s strange,’ thought Mummy Duck. Because the duckling was big and ugly, nobody wanted to play with him. ‘Go away,’ said his brothers and sisters. ‘You’re ugly, and we do not want to play with you!’The ugly duckling was sad. So he set out to find some new friends.‘Go away!’ said the pig.‘Go away!’ said the sheep.‘Go away!’ said the cow.‘Go away!’ said the horse.No one wanted to be his friend because of his ugliness. Winter was around, and the duckling felt cold. It started to snow! The ugly duckling found an empty barn and lived there. He was cold, sad and alone. Then after a few months, spring arrived. The ugly duckling left the barn and went back to the pond. He was very thirsty and put his beak into the water. He saw a beautiful, white bird! ‘Wow!’ he said and thought ‘, Who’s that?’‘It’s you,’ said another beautiful, white bird. ‘Me? But I’m an ugly duckling.’ said the ugly duckling.‘Not any more. You’re a beautiful swan, like me. Do you want to be my friend?’‘Yes,’ he smiled.All the other animals watched as the two swans flew away, friends forever. Moral:Do not judge anyone by their looks. Always accept everyone for who they are.

This is a story of duck, duckling and swan.Moral(s) of the story: self-love

The Ugly Duckling Story With Moral

On one fine day, Abdul Kalam's class was assigned a project. Excited gasps filled the air because they were supposed to design an airplane.&nbsp;Kalam was very excited. This was beyond doubt his mostfavourite assignment. But it was not as easy as it looked, this required a lot of work and Kalam soon got to it. He woke up before the sun and slept after the sun too, everyday, to dedicate more hours to his work. And so his designs turned out to be finer and more detailed than anyone elseís in his class. Kalam was very proud of his work and was also sure that he would pass with flying colours. That is why he was very confused when he was called into his professors office. He walked in, scared and restless. Had he done something wrong? As soon as he sat down, his professor began, ìWhat is this Kalam?î He asked as he pointed to the work he had submitted. ìThis is what you call an airplane design? This is all you could come up with?î Kalam did not know what was wrong with what he had done, it was far better than the work of any of his classmates but he did not argue. ìI want you to work on this again and get better results, his professor said. Kalam only nodded. He was given a deadline and he had no idea what to do with it. But he took everything in his stride and worked harder. He woke up earlier, he researched more, he stayed up for longer.&nbsp; And finally, he completed his work. This time he hoped that it was good. A few days later he was called by his professor again. This time he said, ìKalam, I knew you could do better. This is wonderful. I am glad you were not disturbed by the previous criticism and took it all in your stride and worked harder. One day all this hard work will pay off.î And he turned out to be right as one day, Abdul Kalam became Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the President of India.

This is a story of Abdul Kalam and his discipline towards his work.Moral(s) of the story: discipline and hard work

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.

Reward for the Gatekeeper

Heavy Burden

An Honest Boy

The giant and the horse thief

The Fox and the Monkey

Thousand gold coins and a handful grain

Moon’s routine

The Ugly Duckling Story With Moral

Kalam's project

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