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.

Yesha Desai

Once upon a time, there lived a king who ruled over a rich and prosperous kingdom. But, the king was never happy with what he had and was always on a mission to expand his empire by conquering other kingdoms. One day, he set out on a mission to conquer a distant country. The king and his soldiers walked the entire morning in the forest. By evening, all of them were exhausted and thus halted near a lake to take some rest. The horses were also tired, so the soldiers fed them some peas. A monkey living in the forest was eyeing the delicious peas being fed to the horses. He jumped down from the tree, grabbed a handful of peas and scampered back to the tree. As he sat down comfortably on a branch and started to eat the peas, one small pea slipped from his hand and fell on the ground. Without thinking even once, the greedy monkey dropped all the peas he had in his hands, and ran down to look for the lost pea. Unfortunately, the monkey could not find that pea. He kept looking for the pea for some more time and then climbed back the tree empty handed. His greed had made him lose all that he had.The king was watching the monkey with great interest. Wisdom dawned on him and he realised that his want for more may leave him with nothing one day. He said to himself, “I will not be like this foolish monkey, who lost much to gain a little. I will go back to my own country and enjoy what I have.” So, the next day he ordered his men to march back home. Moral:We should try to be happy with whatever we have and not be greedy and foolish.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of Monkey.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

The penny wise monkey

Shina Utavani

Krishna and Sudama were studying in the Sandipini ashram. Once the guru ordered them to go in the jungle to fetch some wood.Before leaving for the jungle, Guru’s wife gave some grams to Sudama. She said, “Sudama, these grams are for you and Krishna. It will help you both when you will feel hungry”. Sudama took the grams and left for the Jungle with Krishna.Krishna and Sudama worked really hard to fetch the wood. In the middle of the work, Sudama felt hungry. So, he grabbed some grams and ate them hiding from Krishna.The task was difficult and they both were tired and hungry at the end. Krishna asked Sudama if we had something to eat. Sudama denied. He kept the remaining grams for himself and ate it when Krishna was not looking. But Krishna knew that Sudama was hiding something.Sudama ate the share of Krishna too as he thought Krishna would never find out that he had grams. This particular incident had its own consequences.Sudama ate the share of Krishna and this is the reason that he had to spend his later life in poverty. It was later when Sudama offered rice made by his wife to Krishna that he was blessed with a palace and riches.Sudama spent most of his life in poverty for telling a lie and eating the share of Krishna’s food. Sudama was a friend of Krishna but wrongdoing would never bear anyone.

This is a story of forest, Krishna and Sudama.Moral(s) of the story: poverty

Krishna and Sudama in Jungle

Once there was a fabric merchant who was very famous in the Kingdom of Flower Recesses. His fabrics and their designs were appreciated throughout the lands.One day he was invited by the Queen’s court. He was very honoured and excited by this. The Queen herself invited&nbsp;him to her court to see his craft and buy his materials.The entire week the merchant assembled his best fabrics with the best designs and was very happy with his work. He could dream of the riches he would receive in return. Yes, so much gold and royal favour.The merchant set himself to work even harder so that he could impress the Queen even more. Finally, the day came and he went to the court. To say the least, everyone was mesmerized by the beautiful embroidery and patterns in the cloth. The Queen purchased many materials herself and so did the rest of her court.The merchant was rewarded accordingly. He received riches in the form of horses, gold, exotic birds and what not.Even more so! He was invited to the court again.He felt like the day could not get any better. It all felt like a dream. And maybe it was due to the fact that he had just acquired the wealth, he became greedy.He lived far from the palace and had to commute by horses. As his name became bigger in the kingdom, he earned more and more work was demanded out of him.As he got richer, he got greedier. He refused to get more horses and more wagons to carry all the cloth. One day at the palace, he particularly earned a lot. He sold every material that he had brought.It was a very happy day for him. He received many gold coins as a payment. So much so, that his horse was not enough to carry them home. Despite that, he refused to spend money to hire another horse.The poor horse was exhausted but he tried his best.As they were crossing the river, the horse was too exhausted to be surefooted. He slipped a little on a small stone and one coin fell from the bag.The horse regained his balance but the merchant panicked as he lost a gold coin in the water. He tried to find the gold coin but could not as the speed of the water was very fast.His greed did not allow him to forget about the coin and instead as the merchant spanked the horse for his mistake, the horse crumbled further and the whole bag of gold fell from his back.There was no time to catch it and the merchant lost all the gold in the flow.This is how he learned to not be impulsive and greedy.

This is a story of coin, gold and horse.

One coin less

Once upon a time, there lived a poor boy named Aladdin. He lived with his mother in China. One day a rich-looking man came to their house. He said to Aladdin’s mother, “I am a merchant from Arabia and I want to take your son with me. I will pay him handsomely so that you will not be poor anymore.” Aladdin’s mother instantly agreed because they needed money. However, she did not know that the man, in reality, was a magician.The next day, Aladdin packed his things and left with the merchant. After travelling for many hours, the merchant stopped. Aladdin was surprised because it was a lonely spot and there was no one anywhere. He could not see anything for miles.The merchant took out some coloured powder from his pocket and threw it on the ground. The moment he threw the powder on the ground, there was smoke all around. Aladdin did not know what was happening. When the smoke was cleared, he saw a big opening in the ground, it was a cave. The merchant asked Aladdin to go inside the cave. The merchant said, “You will see gold inside the cave. The gold will be more than you will ever see in your life. Take as much as you want. There you will also see an old lamp. Please bring that to me.” After hearing this, Aladdin became suspicious but he decided to go inside the cave.Aladdin entered the cave and just as the merchant said he saw gold, jewellery, diamonds, and other valuables. He filled his pockets with gold and stuffed them in as much as he could. Then, he looked for the lamp. He saw the lamp lying in the corner. It was old and dirty. He took the lamp and decided to go back to the cave’s opening. There, he shouted to the merchant, “I have your lamp. Can you please pull me out?” The merchant said, “Give me the lamp first.” Aladdin was afraid that if he gave the lamp, the merchant would not pull him out. So, he said, “Please pull me out first.”The merchant got angry and threw some powder at the cave. Due to which the opening of the cave was shut with a huge rock. Aladdin was scared. He wondered, “Why this lamp is so important to him?” He then took the lamp and started rubbing it. Suddenly, a strange fog filled the room and from the fog appeared a man. He said, “My master, I am the genie of the lamp. What is your wish?” Aladdin was frightened and said in a quivering voice, “Please take me to my home.”The next moment Aladdin was at his home hugging his mother. He told her everything. Aladdin called the genie and this time he was not scared. He said, “Genie, I want a palace.” At the next moment, there was a beautiful palace in front of them.As people got to know about the rich Aladdin, he became famous. He soon married the Sultan’s daughter and they were very happy. The magician got to know about Aladdin and came to Aladdin’s palace pretending to be an old man who exchanged old lamps for new ones. Aladdin’s wife was not aware of the magic lamp so, she gave it to the magician for exchange. The magician took the lamp and started rubbing it. Soon the genie appeared and the magician told, “Shift Aladdin’s palace away from here to a desert.”&nbsp;When Aladdin came home, he could not find his palace or his princess. He then thought this might be done by the evil magician. He took out the ring that the magician had given him and started rubbing it. Another genie appeared. Aladdin said, “Take me to my princess.” Soon, Aladdin was in Arabia with his princess. He saw his magic lamp lying on a table and before the magician could react, he grabbed the lamp and rubbed it. Soon, the genie appeared and Aladdin said, “I want you to send this magician to a different place so that he can never harm anyone.” The next moment the evil magician disappeared forever.The genie carried Aladdin, the princess and the palace back to China. He stayed with Aladdin for the rest of his life.

This is the story of Aladdin, Ginnie, lamp and magician.Moral(s) of the story: honesty

Aladdin And The Magic Lamp

The first king and leader of the Maurya dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, was a common child. At birth, he was orphaned and brought up by a peacock herdsman. Chanakya, who saw enormous potential in Chandragupta, took him to Taxila from his adopted parents and educated him in warfare and political leadership. After the death of Alexander, Chandragupta led a revolt in modern-day Punjab that was under Greek rule and captured large parts of Punjab and modern-day Pakistan. Then he set out to conquer the powerful Nanda empire that ruled North India's vast tracts. Dhana Nanda was the king of Nanda empire and quite a few times the Nanda king defeated Chandragupta’s army and Chandragupta had to flee the battlefield to save his life. Another such battle took place on the outskirts of Pataliputra, and the military of Chandragupta was defeated, and Chandra had to withdraw to the vast jungles to save his life. One day, Chandra Gupta became so exhausted from running and hiding in the forest that he fell asleep under a tree. He saw a lion sitting near him as he woke up and licking his face to wake him up. Now in those days, Lion was also a feared animal and was renowned for its strength. Chandragupta woke up and saw the lion protecting him, taking it as a warning of coming good things. He went back to Taxila and formed another army within a year and attacked Nanda’s capital Pataliputra(Patna) and this time he defeated Dhana Nanda. Chandragupta Maurya took the throne of Magadha. The lion was adopted as a symbol of Chandragupta Maurya.

This is a story of Chandragupt Maurya.

Chandragupta Maurya

Pallavi Hota

Butterfly, butterfly, where do you fly? sang the little girl whom she kept as her pet. The girl took care of her butterfly just as a family member, but never allowed her the freedom to fly.One day the butterfly tried her best and got out of the cage. She felt as if she was born again. She flew here and there amidst the beautiful flowers with rain drops falling on her wings. The next day the little girl waking up to this, cried. She insisted her parents get her that butterfly back. But they could not find the butterfly. She tried to find the butterfly everywhere and called out for her. She also waited for her to fly back to her.After some time, she realised that one cannot stop anyone from having their own freedom, and cannot possess anything forcefully just because of his or her own happiness.Moral:Forceful things are not real.

This is a story of butterfly.Moral(s) of the story: happiness

The Caged Butterfly

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.The King of Adhak tried to help all his subjects to the best of his abilities. One day, an old man came to his court with his two blind sons.“O mighty King, I feel my two sons will be a great help to you in your court. Though they are blind, they are gifted with their other senses. One son is an expert judge of horses, while the other can test any kind of jewel for you.”The King was intrigued and agreed to employ the two young men in his court. A week later, a horse seller came to the court to sell to the King a horse he claimed was very well-behaved. The blind son came forward and began to smell the horse, much to the confusion of the court. When he finished, he said, “This horse will throw off any rider who is not his owner. I sense it.”When a rider from the King’s stables tried to ride the horse, it threw him off and galloped away. The horse seller left the court, feeling ashamed.A few days later, a jeweller came to the court of the King, bringing him the largest diamond the court had ever seen. The second son was called to examine the jewel and took it in his hands. Soon after he had touched it, he dissuaded the King from buying it, saying, “Your Majesty, the jewel has been inauspicious for those who have worn it previously and if you buy it, it could prove dangerous to your well-being.”And with that, the King asked the jeweler to leave his court. News arrived later that a King from the neighbouring kingdom had bought the diamond and fallen gravely ill soon after.The old man returned months later to visit his sons. While he was in court, the King asked him, “I have seen the skills of both your sons, but what is your skill?”The old man replied, “I can tell the reality of a man and yours is that you are the son of a thief.”The King was enraged that the old man had exposed his truth and he and his two sons were banished from his court.Betal then asked King Vikramaditya, “Who was to blame for the banishment of the three men?”King Vikramaditya replied, “It was the King. Though he was offended by the words of the old man, he should have remembered that it is not his roots that defined him, but who he is today.”Hearing those words, Betal flew back to his peepal tree. Moral:It is never too late to change for the good. Do not let your past define you. Develop good and just moral values to live a better life.

This is a classics story from Vikram betal.

The Unfair King

Once, somebody informed Emperor Akbar that a certain astrologer in the city was bragging about his accurate predictions everywhere. Akbar summoned the astrologer to his court and thought of testing the accuracy of his predictions. When the astrologer presented himself in the durbar, he said, “I have heard that you predict very accurately.” The astrologer was filled with great fear and awe as he was standing in front of the mightiest of the kings. Not even a single word could come out of his mouth and he kept standing with folded hands. Akbar asked, “O’ Learned astrologer, you shall be handsomely rewarded if you are able to answer just a simple question of mine. Tell me, when will you die?”The astrologer was shaking with fear and did not know what to say. He thought for a moment and then said that he will have to consult his charts to predict correctly. The Emperor gave him one hour’s time to do so. Instead of consulting his charts, the astrologer went running to Birbal for help and described the whole thing. Birbal thought of a brilliant answer and told the astrologer what to say in front of the Emperor.The astrologer returned to the court and told the king, “I will die three days before you, Jahanpanah!” Akbar could make out that the astrologer was bluffing, but did not want to take a chance. Like every other human being, he did not want to know the time of his death, so he let him go. Thus the astrologer was able to save his life with the help of clever Birbal. That day onwards, he never bragged about anything. Moral:Being talented is a boon and we must not brag about it.

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

Birbal helps an astrologer

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.

vikas story 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 penny wise monkey

Krishna and Sudama in Jungle

One coin less

Aladdin And The Magic Lamp

Chandragupta Maurya

The Caged Butterfly

The Unfair King

Birbal helps an astrologer

The Story Of The Blind Man

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