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

Penguin, Reindeer and Fox were great friends. One day, Penguin and Reindeer found a load of fruit, and decided to keep it a secret. On the way, they met Fox, who seeing them so happy, asked them why. They told him they couldn't say, because it was a secret, but Fox asked them to trust him, so they told him about the fruit.When they arrived at the village, Fox forgot about his promise, and told everyone. When Penguin and Reindeer returned to the place where they had found the fruit, the animals of the village had already been there and eaten it all.That same day, Penguin and Reindeer found another place full of food, and the same thing happened again with Fox. Angered by these betrayals, they decided to teach Fox a lesson. The next day they told Fox that they had found a lake so full of fish that no effort was needed to catch them. Fox again told everyone in the village about this. The next day, Fox came by, covered in cuts and bruises. After telling all the animals about the lake full of fish, everyone, including even the polar bears, had gone there. But, not finding anything, they felt deceived, and had given Fox a good beating.Fox learned that keeping people's trust is very important, and that to get it in the first place you have to earn it with loyalty and always keeping your word.Penguin and Reindeer devised another trick for Fox but, as he was no longer a bigmouth, he did not betray them, and Penguin and Reindeer regained their faith in Fox, thus forgiving him.Moral: Betrayal often leads to loss of friends and family.

This is a story of fox, deer, penguin and reindeer.Moral(s) of the story: loyalty and trust

Bigmouth fox

There once lived three great friends- a pair of geese and a tortoise. Once summer, the scorching sun rays dried up their lake, and they decided to leave and look for a new lake.But the tortoise could not fly, so, the geese thought of an idea, where the tortoise would have to bite on to a stick, which would be carried by the two geese. The only condition was that the tortoise should not open its mouth, or it would meet a terrible fate.Soon, the geese rose into the sky, with the tortoise holding firmly onto the stick. “Remember! No talking!” said the geese to the tortoise. On witnessing this, animals on the ground started laughing at the unusual sight.“A flying tortoise!” they shouted. Unable to control his anxiety, the tortoise spoke out. “What’re you all laughing about? Oh no! I’m falling!” screamed the helpless tortoise.And so, the poor tortoise came crashing to the ground, only to be saved from death by her thick shell. “If only I would’ve kept my mouth shut, I would be in a new lake with my friends,” thought the tortoise, as she slowly began her journey to go find her friends. Moral:We should trust the decisions of our loved ones for they always want the best for us.

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

The talkative tortoise

Yesha Desai

Here’s another great story from the Hitopadesha. Once upon a time, there lived a deer and a crow in a dense forest. They were very good friends and often spent time with each other. One day a jackal spotted the deer and said to himself, “Nothing tastes better than&nbsp;deer flesh! I must somehow make friends with this deer and try to get close to him.”So, he approached the deer and said, “O deer! I am an orphan jackal and do not have any friends in this forest. You appear very kind-hearted to me. Would you agree to be my friend?” The deer was very pleased with the jackal’s mannerisms and took his new friend to his home.When the crow saw the deer with the jackal, he warned him, “Dear friend, you must be careful!” But the deer did not pay heed to the crow’s warning and continued being friends with the jackal. One day, the jackal said to the deer, “I know of a big field that is full of fresh corn. Do you wish to go there with me? “The deer happily accompanied the jackal to the corn field. From that day onwards, both of them started visiting that corn field every day. The owner of the field was very annoyed and decided to catch the thief who ate corn from his field. He set a trap in the field and the next day when the unsuspecting deer came to eat the corn, he got trapped in the net.The jackal saw the deer getting caught in the net and thought, “Once the owner of the field kills the deer, I shall finally get to eat the tasty deer meat for which I have waited so long.” The deer called the jackal for help, but the cunning jackal said, “I am sorry, I cannot do anything! The net seems to be very strong.” Saying so, he walked away from there and hid himself near the field, waiting for the owner to come and kill the deer.When the crow did not see his friend deer by the evening, he started searching for him and found him lying trapped helplessly in the field. When the deer saw the crow, tears filled up in his eyes and he said, “My friend, I disregarded your advice at first and now I suffer. Tomorrow, I shall be killed by the owner of this field.” The crow felt very sorry for the deer. He thought for a while and then a bright idea struck him. He told the deer, “Listen to me, my friend! When the owner comes tomorrow morning, lie down quietly; make your legs stiff and pretend to be dead. When he takes off the net, I will start cawing. That would be a signal for you to stand up and run away quickly.”The owner of the field came the next morning and saw the deer seemingly dead. As soon as he removed the net, the crow began to caw loudly. In a moment, the deer stood up and sped away. The owner got very angry and threw a stick at the deer. The deer escaped, but the stick hit the jackal on the head and killed it. Moral:We must not trust unfamiliar people very easily and instead put our loyalty and belief in the advice of the people we know.

This is a classic story from Hitopadesha tales.This is a story of crow, deer, jackal and trust.Moral(s) of the story: trust

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

Once, there was a louse called Mandarisapini. She lived in the bedroom of a mighty king. She used to stay hidden in a corner of the bed sheet that was spread on the king’s beautiful bed. Every night, after the king slept, the louse used to come out of her hiding place and suck his blood and then she quietly crept back to her corner. One night, a bedbug called Agnimukha walked into the king’s bedroom. When the louse saw him, she told him to go away immediately as the whole of the bedroom was her territory. The bedbug replied, “I’m not doing any harm. I’m your guest. That is not the way you should treat your guests.”On hearing this, the louse softened a little. She said, “Alright, you can stay here tonight. But you are not allowed to bite the king and suck his blood.”“But, my dear lady, I am your guest after all! You will have to offer me some food. And what food can be better than the king’s blood?”“Fine,” said the louse. “You can have some of the king’s blood. But be very careful. Bite him very softly so that he doesn’t feel any pain.”“I agree,” said the bedbug and both of them waited for the king to come to the bedroom.After a while, the king came to his bedroom and lay down on his bed to sleep. The greedy bedbug forgot all about his promises to the louse and bit the king hard to suck his blood. He liked the taste of the royal blood so he kept on sucking until the king felt an itching sensation on his skin.The king woke up and ordered his servants to look for the bedbug and kill him immediately. But the bedbug was clever. He hid himself cunningly in the joints of the bedstead where he could not be seen. So, when the king’s servants looked through the bed sheets carefully, they saw no trace of the bedbug but found the louse instead. They caught her before she could slip away and killed her. In this way, the louse lost her life because of the bedbug. Moral:Never trust strangers easily.

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

The louse and the bedbug

Once upon a time, two friends were walking through the forest. They knew that anything dangerous can happen to them at any time in the forest. So they promised each other that they would remain united in any case of danger.Suddenly, they saw a large bear approaching them. One of the friends at once climbed a nearby tree. But the other one did not know how to climb. So being led by his common sense, he lay down on the ground breathless, pretending to be a dead man.The bear came near the man lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears, and slowly left the place because the bears do not touch the dead creatures. Now the friend on the tree came down and asked his friend on the ground, "Friend, what did the bear tell you into your ears? "The other friend replied, "The bear advised me not to believe a false friend." Moral:A friend in need is a friend indeed. And if you commit to be with your friend, you should keep the promise.

This is a story of bear and friend.Moral(s) of the story: trust

Two Friends and the Bear

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

Pallavi Hota

Bible is the collection of 66 books written by different authors describing the God's action and purpose with all creations. Bible contains life stories of Jesus. The bible gives the messages God has desired for us to understand. Following is a story from “The Bible”. There was a time when the disciples of Jesus still had a hard time understanding his miracles. So, once when they were in the city of Bethsaida, the disciples brought a blind man to Jesus. They requested Jesus to heal the man so he could see God’s wonderful creation. So, Jesus led the man out of the city, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. He then asked him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, which means ‘Sent’. The man went and washed his eyes, and returned home with healed eyes that could see. The architectural setting of the miracle is symbolic. Just as Jesus was sent by the Father to give light/enlightenment, Jesus now sends the man to a pool that bears the meaning ‘Sent’, in order to receive sight/insight, and to bring light to a dark world. Moral:Trust in God and you will see the true beauty of his creation.

This is a story of Jesus Christ.Moral(s): trust

The Story Of The Blind Man

Mr. Raj’s family decided to renovate their home. They decided to break and open their living room wall. Initially, when Raj bought his house, wooden walls were used as a part of decorations. He decided to remove the wooden walls.When the wooden walls were removed and he was shocked to see a lizard stuck in the hollow space between the walls. He saw that lizard’s feet was stuck by a nail, which was hammered from outside.Raj felt too bad for the lizard. Mrs. Raj reminded him that they hammered a nail to hang their kid’s photo. However, they all had a question that how the lizard survived for up to now without any food.While they were arranging other things, Raj’s son shouted, ‘Dad look, there is another lizard!’Another lizard appeared carrying the food in the mouth. The lizard fed food to the one stuck in the wall. This act was heart touching for everyone and they were amazed at the lizard for feeding the stuck one for a long time without getting tired.Both the lizard carried the hope of surviving all odds and carried hearts full of love and care.Moral: Love, care, trust, and perseverance are the pillars to get through all the difficult times.

This is a story of lizard and family.Moral(s) of the story: caring, love, perseverance and trust

A heart full of love

Shina Utavani

There was a carnivorous plant named Flora. As she was a carnivorous plant, she used to eat meat. She had a friend named Porky. Her friend was a butcher and she used to live in the supermarket, next to the butcher’s counter. Porky treated Flora with great attention and affection, and always had some piece of meat to give her at the end of each day.One day, Flora did not get her share of the meat. It was unusual as Porky never forgot to give meat to Flora. The next day also Flora did not get her part of the meat. She was worried and decided to follow Porky to know the reason.After spying on Porky, she found out that he was not giving her meat because he was putting big slabs of meat in a big yellow box. Flora asked Porky if she could have a little of the food kept in the yellow box. The Porky replied saying she should not do that and added, “Don’t even think about it, Flora! Don’t even touch the meat in the yellow box.”Flora felt very bad about it. She was disappointed and hungry as well. She could not stop wondering why Porky was keeping the delicious meat in the box. She was very angry, and her mind was filled with negative thoughts. On that very night, when the shop was empty, she went to the box. She opened the box and ate the meat kept in the box until her belly ached.The next morning, Porky arrived and saw the yellow box empty. He asked Flora several times whether she had taken the meat, but she denied. But after seeing Porky’s worry, Flora decided to confess.After Flora’s confession, Porky was very angry and said, “What have you done Flora?” “I told you not to touch it! All that meat was poisoned! That’s why I did not give you anything for days. They sent us a spoiled delivery.” Further, without any delay, they took Flora to the hospital. She managed to survive. She was feeling great pain in her roots and her leaves were changing colours. Flora felt terrible. She felt very bad for going against Porky. At last, she realized her mistake and promised to follow rules made by those who love her. Moral:Always listen to those who love you. All they say is for your betterment.

This is a story of butcher, meat and plant.Moral(s) of the story: trust

trust 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.

Bigmouth fox

The talkative tortoise

The Story of The Jackal, The Deer And The Crow

The louse and the bedbug

Two Friends and the Bear

The fox and the goat

The Story Of The Blind Man

A heart full of love

The Carnivorous Plant and the Butcher

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