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

A long time ago, three fish used to live in a pond along with their families. Their names were Anagatavidhata, Pratyutpannamati and Yadbhavishya.Anagatavidhata had a practical mind and used to plan all her actions in advance. Pratyutpannamati was also quite practical and a good advisor. Yadbhavishya was the youngest of them. She was lazy and did not like working. She had a laid back attitude. One, day, a group of fishermen came to the pond where these three fish lived. They talked among themselves, “This pond has quite a lot of fish. Let us come here tomorrow with our nets and catch them.”This conversation of the fishermen was overheard by Anagatavidhata. She quickly gathered all the fish of the pond and told them what she had overheard. She said, “We must move to another pond as soon as we can in order to save our lives.” All the other fish including Pratyutpannamati agreed with Anagatavidhata. Only Yadbhavishya did not like the idea. She said, “Why should we leave our pond and go somewhere else? We are not cowards. Maybe the fishermen do not come here at all. And even if they do, we will figure out a way of not getting caught. Anyway, one day, everyone has to die. So there is no point in fearing death.”Anagatavidhata and Pratyutpannamati did not agree with Yadbhavishya’s ideas and they proceeded to carry out their original plan. They went to another pond with their families and friends.The next day, the fishermen came to the pond with their large nets. They cast their nets and caught a large number of fish living in the pond. Among these fish were Yadbhavishya and her family too. Anagatavidhata, Pratyutpannamati and their families were safe in another pond. Moral:We should be prepared with our plans and actions for any difficult situation.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of fish.Moral(s) of the story: precaution

The three fishes and the fishermen

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

One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of them brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship. Everyone fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown. Suddenly a dolphin appeared and picked him up.They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the dolphin’s back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best friend. Do you know that I am actually a prince?”Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so you are a prince! Now you can be a king!” The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are the only creature on this island, you will naturally be the king!” Moral:Those who lie and boast may end up in trouble.

This is a story of dolphin and monkey.Moral(s) of the story: boasting and lying

The Monkey and The Dolphin

A long time ago, in a jungle there lived a deer, a mouse, and a crow. They were very good friends. They used to spend most of their time with one another and had their meals together. One day, a turtle came to them and said, “I’m all alone in the jungle. I also want to join your group and become your friend.”“You are most welcome to join our company,” the three friends said. The crow asked the turtle, “But what about your personal safety? You know that the jungle is full of dangers. Many hunters keep coming to the forest regularly. Suppose a hunter attacks, how will you save yourself?” The turtle replied, “That is the main reason why I want to join your group.” The four friends had hardly finished talking when they noticed a hunter approaching them. Quickly, to save their lives, the deer ran away into the forest, the crow flew high in the sky and the mouse darted into a nearby hole. Turtles, as we all know, are slow creatures. The turtle could not crawl away fast enough and the hunter trapped him in a net. Though the hunter was disappointed on not being able to catch the deer, he thought that it was better to at least have a turtle to eat rather than going hungry. The deer, the mouse and the crow were very worried to see the turtle getting trapped. They sat together to think of a plan for freeing their friend from the hunter. Together, they came up with a plan and started working on it. First, the crow flew high up in the sky to locate the hunter. He spotted him next to the river. Then, the deer overtook the hunter, unseen, and went and lay at a little distance, pretending to be dead. When the hunter reached this spot, he saw the deer lying on the ground. He thought that the deer must be dead. He was very happy at having found a deer finally. He thought that he would feast upon the deer’s flesh and sell its skin in the market for good money. So, he put the turtle on the ground and started moving towards the deer. As soon as the hunter left the turtle’s side, the mouse appeared out of a hole and nibbled off the net in which the turtle was trapped. The hunter, completely unaware of the animals’ plan, walked towards the deer thanking his stars. But, as soon as he came near the deer, the deer suddenly got up and bolted into the forest. The hunter was completely taken by surprise. Before he had time to react, the deer was gone. Dejected, the hunter went back to the place where he had set the turtle down. He was shocked to see that the turtle was gone! There was only a piece of nibbled net lying on the ground. By the time that the hunter was away, the turtle, freed by the mouse had crawled to the river and swam away. These strange occurrences were too much for the hunter. For a moment he thought that he must be dreaming. But the damaged, gnawed-through piece of net was evidence that all these things had truly happened. The hunter could not think of any explanation for these strange happenings other than that it was just a miracle. Scared out of his wits, the hunter ran away from the jungle as fast as he could.The turtle thanked his three friends for saving his life. Thereafter, the four friends lived happily. Moral:A friend in need, is a friend indeed.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story from crow, deer, mouse and turtle.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

The four friends and the hunter

Long ago, a youth named Brahmadatta lived in a village. One day, Brahmadatta had to go to the city for some important work. His mother was anxious about her son going alone, so she called him and said, “My dear son, I would advise you not to travel alone. You must take a companion with you so that he can help you if required.”Brahmadatta replied, “Mother, I am a grown man. I can take good care of myself. Besides, I do not have any companion to take with me.”“Not to worry! I will arrange a good companion for you,” said Brahmadatta’s mother. She then fetched a crab from the nearby pond and put it into Brahmadatta’s travelling bag. As Brahmadatta did not want to hurt his mother’s sentiments, he kept the crab in a camphor box and set out on his journey.The journey was long and Brahmadatta got very tired by evening. So, he decided to take some rest under a big banyan tree and soon he went to sleep. In the hollow of that banyan tree, there lived a snake. Seeing Brahmadatta fast asleep, the snake came down and hid himself in Brahmadatta’s travelling bag.The smell of camphor seemed very nice to the snake and thus, he slithered his way into the camphor box. As soon as he entered the camphor box, the crab sitting inside caught hold of the snake’s neck and killed it.When Brahmadatta woke up, he was astonished to find a dead snake lying beside him. In his heart, he thanked his mother for giving him the sage advice of taking a companion with him. Moral:You should listen to your parents’ advice as they mean the best for you at heart.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of crab, mother, snake and son.Moral(s) of the story: family value

Brahmadatta, crab and the snake

Noah and his animals were on the Ark (boat) and the things were getting a bit boring. Noah and his animals were very getting very bored. They had spent many days and they started organizing games and activities to enjoy. They all got very excited and started playing games enthusiastically. They became very loud and noisy. Due to the excitement, the woodpecker ended up drilling a hole in the bottom of the ark. Suddenly the water started entering the boat. Due to the force of water, the hole became bigger. More water came inside the boat, and everyone became a little scared.As the condition of the boat was becoming worse, every animal tried to fix the hole. One by one, they tried to fix the hole. They even got competitive because they wanted to be the animal that saved the ark. They all tried but nothing worked. The beaver even built a dam over the hole but that too did not stop the water coming from the hole. After looking at all this finally, the bee started talking. She explained to everyone that all of them should work together in order to save the ark from sinking. She said that everyone should do the work they are best at. Everyone agreed and started working together. They started doing what they were best at.Everyone started contributing their part to cover the hole. The birds grabbed the parts of the ark with beaks and flapped their wings furiously, lifting the boat up a little. The animals who could run fast collected all the materials quickly and supplied to others. Other animals stuffed that material into the hole quickly. The elephants sucked the water in and shot it back into the sea.Everyone worked in unity and that helped them in reducing the amount of water into the ark. But the water did not stop completely; it was still entering the ark. The animals were a little scared and they saw around to look for help. They wondered if there were any other animals that could help them. They looked everywhere. But there was no one. Suddenly, a little fish swam in through the hole. The animals were happy to see her and thought there were still animals left who could help them. They asked the fish to go and call everyone to help save the ark.Fish quickly went into the sea and called everyone. Soon, many fishes arrived at the ark. Even a big whale came to save them. The big whale pressed its belly against the hole in the ark. This stopped the water from entering into the ark. So, animals got more time to cover up the hole. Finally, they were successful in covering the hole in the ark. Moral:Unity is strength.

This is a story of fish, boat, honey bee and whale.Moral(s) of the story: unity

Problem on the Boat

Ollie is a five year old girl who lives by the sea in a small fishing village. She loves the ocean with her whole heart and she loves the animals in it, even more.Everyday she would go fishing with her father and meet new fish. The dolphins adored her, the sharks and whales loved her and the octopuses always wanted to hug her.In short, everybody loved it when Ollie came to meet them and Ollie was just as happy to do the same.However, after some time she noticed that not enough animals came to meet her. The seahorses rarely showed up with their children, the whales were very few in numbers, the sharks would not be as friendly. Gradually, the fish showed up in such little numbers that even her father was worried.Ollie thought that they did not visit her because she did something wrong. One day she sat in a small cove and frowned, wondering what went wrong.That was when a turtle washed up to the shore. By the faint whining, Ollie immediately knew that the animal was in pain. She ran to the turtle and found that he was covered in trash, he was trapped.She immediately took the plastic from his face, untangled whatever was stuck to his legs and helped him breathe. Finally, when the turtle was safe, she breathed a sigh of relief. The turtle thanked her and smiled at her but it was a sad smile.She slowly asked the turtle what happened and he sighed, “The ocean is not safe for us anymore, especially not near the shore. There is human waste everywhere.” “Is that why you all don’t come to visit me anymore?” asked Ollie worried.The turtle nodded, “We can barely swim near the shore. There is plastic and plastic. The pollution kills us. I would have died today if it were not for your help.”Ollie had tears in her eyes thinking about the ocean’s residents’ misery and so she promised the turtle, “I will fix it. Or at least I will try. I miss you all, my friends and you deserve to be safe in your own home.”The turtle smiled sadly again before Ollie released him into the sea, “Thank you Ollie. We will surely visit you when it is safe for us. We miss you too.” Ollie waved him away and hoped that he stayed safe. Moral:Marine pollution makes it very hard for the inhabitants of the ocean to live. We must keep the ocean clean.

This is a story of ocean, sea and turtle.

The sad turtle

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

One day a she-wolf had a craving to eat fresh fish-meat. The wolf did not know how to swim, but still he went down to the river, hoping to get some fish-meat for his mate.When the wolf reached the river, he saw two otters standing on the bank, also looking for fish. Soon one of the otters spotted a big fish in the water. He swiftly jumped into the river and caught the fish by its head. But the fish was very strong and was struggling continuously to get out of the otter’s hold. Fearing that he might lose the fish, he called out to his friend for help. The other otter also jumped into the river and held the fish tightly from the tail. Together, they were able to bring the fish to land.The first otter said, “This fish is good enough for both of us! Let us divide the fish into two parts.”“I want the half with the head on,” said one.“You cannot have that half. That is mine,” said the other. “You can take the tail.”The wolf heard the otters arguing over the division of fish and a brilliant idea struck him. He went up to the otters and offered his help to settle the dispute. There was no other way of ending the quarrel, so the otters also readily agreed. The wolf cut off the head and gave it to the first otter as he had caught the fish by the head. Then he severed the tail of the fish and gave it to the second otter as he had caught the fish by the tail. Both the otters were anxiously waiting to find out how the wolf would divide the rest of the fish, just then, quick as the lightning, the cunning wolf quickly ran away with the body of the fish.The otters realized that they had been fooled by the wolf. They were full of remorse and said, “If only we had not been greedy and fought with each other, we could have enjoyed a scrumptious meal.”The wolf was very pleased with himself for fooling the two otters and happily went home with the fish-meat. Moral:You must be very clever with how you deal with people so you are not fooled.

This is a classic story from Jataka tales.This is a story of wolf and otter.Morals(s) of the story: foolishness

water animal 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 three fishes and the fishermen

The lonely fish

The Monkey and The Dolphin

The four friends and the hunter

Brahmadatta, crab and the snake

Problem on the Boat

The sad turtle

The talkative tortoise

The otters and the wolf

More like this

Bee Suggestions

About Bee