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.

Shina Utavani

The Ramayan is an ancient Sanskrit epic written by the famous sage Valmiki. It describes Lord Rama's effort to rescue Sita from the demon king Ravana. It also describes the challenges faced by Lord Rama, Laxaman, and Sita when they were exiled from the kingdom for 14 years. Following is a story from “The Ramayana”.Ramayan is the Hindu Epic tale of India which describes the struggle of Lord Rama in rescuing his wife from the demon king Ravana. Lord Rama decided to build a bridge to reach Lanka in order to rescue Sita. This particular story describes the efforts put by the little squirrel in building the bridge.When the entire army of monkeys was busy making the bridge on the sea to reach Lanka to take Sita, a small squirrel living in the area watched the entire scene. Seeing them, the squirrel also wanted to contribute to building the bridge. But the squirrel was too small to even carry the sand or stone. So, the squirrel thought of an idea. It went to the sea and had a dip. Then, the squirrel rolled over in the sand. With the sand all over its body, it went between the rocks and rolled over it. She continued doing the process from sunrise till sunset. She did this for days effortlessly. No one noticed her for days.One day, a monkey noticed her and started making fun of her. He told her to stay away otherwise the rock would crush her. Everyone started making fun of her. The squirrel was in tears. Lord Ram happened to watch the actions of the squirrel. The squirrel was tireless and went on doing its job without any break until the project was completed. Lord Ram described to the army how the squirrel has worked as the connector between the two rocks. Lord Ram was pleased with the efforts of this little squirrel. He explained to all others the relevance of the squirrel and its sense of duty. He took the squirrel on his lap and showed his appreciation by moving his three fingers from head to tail. It is said that those are the three lines which we see today in a squirrel.Since then, the squirrels have carried white stripes on their bodies. Moral:No work is big or small. It is not the type of work that matters, but what you learn from working that counts. Never listen to people who tell you that the work you are doing is demeaning or would undermine your prestige.

This is a story of monkey, Ram and squirrel.Moral(s) of the story: effort

The Story of a Squirrel

Yesha Desai

There were two forests, ruled by two different Lions.One forest was thriving where as the other had constant outbreaks of fights and quarrels.The first forest was ruled by a friendly lion who listened to everyone’s problems and helped his subjects where as the second forest was ruled by a big, wild and scary lion who would punish animals if he did not get his way. The animals in the second forest always lived in fear.They would constantly make plans and small weapons to scare the lion but they would never win against the big lion. Thus, the second forest always had riots.One day all the animals were simply done with their lives in the second forest. They would surely miss their home, but they wanted to live their lives in peace. The lion king in the first forest was very welcoming and felt bad for the poor animals. He accepted them into his forest.All the animals from the second forest fled to the first forest and saw peace for the first time.The bad lion was left all alone.Upon seeing that he was abandoned, he felt bad and sobbed. He saw what peace looks like in the first forest and wanted the same for his own home. He realised this mistake and decided that he wanted to be a good king like the lion in the first forest.He invited his subjects back to their homes and promised that he would be a good king. The animals accepted and returned to their homes.After that, every animal in the second forest lived in peace and harmony for the rest of their lives. Moral:Peace is necessary for prosperity.

This is a story of forest and lion.Moral(s) of the story: peace

The two forests

There was once a river that flowed through a deep forest. There lived a handsome, clever deer on one bank of the river. A crocodile lived in the river. He was horrific. One day, the crocodile saw the deer and from that day, he wanted to catch him.The deer was passing by the river one day and he saw red delicious berries on the opposite bank of the river. He was mesmerized by the berries and said, “I wish I could go across and eat them.” The deer only thought of the berries the whole day. He wanted to go on the opposite bank but if he entered the water, the wicked crocodile and his friends would eat him.He thought of a plan. He went near the river and shouted, “Hey Mr. Crocodile!” On hearing the deer’s voice, the crocodile came and said, “What happened? Why are you calling me?”. The deer said that the king had arranged a buffet and had invited all of them to eat and enjoy. He said that there will be lots of delicious food.“The king is inviting us?” the crocodile asked excitedly. The deer replied, “Yes! The king has called me to count the crocodiles in the river. Please call all the crocodiles in the river and tell them to line up one behind the other so that I can count them.”After hearing about the buffet, all the crocodiles obeyed and stood in a line. The crocodile asked the deer to proceed the counting. The deer said, “I will count by climbing on your back. You will not eat me. If you will then I will not be able to report the king and you all will not be invited for the party.”The crocodiles were so excited about the buffet that they said, “No, we will not eat you. We promise.” The deer jumped from one crocodile to another counting them and finally reached the other side of the river. As soon as he reached there, he said, “Thank you crocodile for your help. This will now be my new home.” The deer immediately ran off and the crocodiles were angry and annoyed.And so, in this way, by using his wit, the deer was able to overcome the obstacles of the crocodiles. He lived happily in his new home, feasting on delicious berries and fruits every day. Moral:It is the intelligence that matters not always the strength.

This is a story of crocodile, deer and river.Moral(s) of the story: smartness

The Clever Deer 

Ravina Sewani

Once, a huge bull used to live in a village that was situated by the side of a lake. One day, the bull, feeling thirsty, made his way towards the lake to drink water.A small mouse was sitting and relaxing by the side of the river. When the bull crossed that place, walking towards the lake, he accidentally stepped on the mouse’s tail. The mouse screamed in pain but the bull did not notice anything. The mouse looked at his tail and found that it had been completely crushed. He was infuriated and wanted to take revenge. “I will bite this bull to death,” he thought to himself in anger and climbed on to the bull’s back. He started biting the bull all over his back as hard as he could with his sharp teeth. But the bull’s skin was so thick that he did not feel any pain from the mouse’s bites. In fact, he was not even aware that there was a mouse on his back!After biting the bull for some time and not seeing any results, the mouse was tired and fed up. He jumped off the bull’s back and went and stood in front of him. “Why are you blocking my way?” the bull asked. “Clear out or you will get crushed.”The mouse said, “You have already crushed me. See what you have done to my tail.” He added, “Didn’t you feel any pain when I bit you all over your back?”This surprised the bull greatly. He laughed and said, “Neither did I realise I had stamped over your tail nor did I feel you biting me all over my body. But, if it really happened, I apologise.” The bull’s answer left the mouse speechless. He was convinced that it was useless to argue with that thick-skinned animal as it is of no use arguing with a stupid person and he sadly walked back home. Moral:There is no point in arguing with a stupid person as (s)he wouldn’t budge from his/her opinion.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of bull and mouse.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The mouse and the bull

Pallavi Hota

There was a panda who suddenly forgot his name and decided to go out and ask everybody around him if they knew his name.He asked the old lady, Oh dear grandma, do you know my name? She said, No dear, go and ask my son. He went to her son and asked, Son of grandma, do you know my name? He replied. No, ask my axe. He asked the axe, Grandma’s sons axe, do you know my name? It said, No, go and ask the tree I just cut. He asked the tree, Tree that the axe cut, do you know my name? It replied, No, ask the birds that sit on me. He asked the birds, Dear birds on the tree, do you know my name? The birds said, No, go and ask the river we drink water from. He asked the river, Dear river the birds drink water from, do you know my name? The river replied, No, go and ask the fish that swims in me. He asked the fish, Oh fish swimming in the river, do you know my name? It replied, No, go and ask the boy who tries to catch me. He asked the boy, Oh boy trying to catch the fish, do you know my name? He replied, No, go and ask the horse that I ride. He asked the horse, Dear horse that the boy rides, do you know my name? It said, No, ask the baby horse in my womb. He asked the baby horse, Dear baby horse in the horses womb, do you know my name. It fumbled and said, Pa-pa-pa It suddenly remembered and screamed in joy, Hurray! My name is panda.

This is a story of panda, horse, and river.

The Panda Who Forgot His Name

There was once an eagle living in a jungle. He met fox and they both became friends. Their friendship grew stronger and they became best friends. They decided to build their homes next to each other. The fox lived near the bushes so eagle decided to build its nest near the bushes. They lived happily.After some time, both of the friends had their children. They adored and loved their children. One day, the fox wanted to go hunting. She left its cubs in the bushes and left in search of food. She said the cubs that she will be back soon. On the other side, the babies of the eagle were crying out of hunger. They were very hungry. The eagle did not have any food to feed her babies.The eagle tried searching for food but could not find anything. The eagle saw fox’s cubs playing near the bushes. The eaglets were crying out of hunger so she decided to feed one of the cubs to her children. The eagle went near the bushes and picked one of the cubs and fed her babies. She gave her friend’s baby to her children to eat. When the fox returned, she saw the eagle feeding her child to her babies. The fox was shocked and quickly went to the eagle. “What have you done?” said fox while crying. She was heartbroken and hurt. She was in extreme pain and said, “You have done very wrong with me eagle, you have cheated a friend, a good friend.” The fox took her cubs and left to never see the eagle again.The fox, even after being cheated by a friend, never wished for any harm to her friend. The fox was a good friend. But God had his plans.One day, the eaglets were very hungry and the mother eagle did not have anything to feed them. She decided to go to a nearby village to hunt. She thought she would surely find something there. She left for the hunt. There she found a dead goat. She took that and quickly flew back to her babies. When she came back, she was shocked to see the nest. The nest had caught fire and her babies were inside the nest. She pulled them out but it was too late. The poor eaglets were hurt badly and one of them even died. The eagle was heartbroken and in pain.At that moment, the fox was passing by. She saw the eagle’s nest. Looking at the eagle she said, “God has punished you for betraying a dear friend.” The fox left the place with a heavy heart. She did not wish for her friend to suffer but this was her justice. God had punished the one who did wrong to others. Moral:We should never betray other friends.

This is a story of eagle and fox.Moral(s) of the story: betrayal and friendship

The Eagle and the Fox

One day, a bear was sleeping in the forest. A farmer saw the bear sleeping and sneaked into him and cut off one of his paws with an axe. The farmer brought the paw home. He said to his wife, “Boil some soup from the flesh, and knit some warm gloves from the wool.” Her wife took off the skin, threw the flesh into the pot to boil, and sat down to spin the wool. When the bear woke up, he found out that one of his paws was not there. There was no one to help him so, he cut a bit of wood and tied it instead of his leg. After that, we went into the village. On his way, he sang: Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I am stumbling with the tree wood on my leg,The water’s asleep, and the earth’s asleep, the whole village is asleep,only one woman is awake, and she is boiling my flesh,sitting on my skin and spinning my wool!” The farmer’s wife got scared by hearing the bear’s voice. She saw him coming and she quickly hid in the cellar under the floor. The bear went into the house and there was no one. He then took the bit of his skin, took the flesh out of the pot and left the place. Moral:Attacking someone when they are not aware is easy. The strength is when both the parties are equally aware and armed.

This is a story of bear and farmer.Moral(s) of the story: cheating and strength

The bear’s paw

It happened in ancient times that a slave named Androcles escaped from his master and fled into the forest, and he wandered there for a long time until he was weary.Just then he heard a lion near him moaning and groaning and at times roaring terribly.&nbsp;And when&nbsp;he tried to get up, there he saw the lion coming towards him.Instead of attacking him it kept on moaning and groaning and looking at Androcles, who saw that the lion was holding out his right paw, which was covered with blood and very much swollen. Looking more closely at it, Androcles saw a great big thorn pressed into the paw, which was the cause of all the lion’s trouble.Plucking up courage, he seized hold of the thorn and drew it out of the lion’s paw, who roared with pain when the thorn came out, but soon after found such relief from it that he rubbed up against Androcles, and showed&nbsp;that he knew, that he was truly thankful for being relieved from such pain.One day, a number of soldiers came marching through the forest and found Androcles. They took him prisoner and brought him back to the town, and he was condemned to death because he had fled from his master.Now it used to be the custom to throw murderers and other criminals to the lions, and on the appointed day he was led forth into the arena.The Emperor of Rome was in the royal box that day and gave the signal for the lion to come out and attack Androcles. But when it came out of its cage and got near Androcles, what do you think it did? Instead of jumping upon him, it rubbed up against him, and stroked him with its paw.It was of course the lion which Androcles had met in the forest. The Emperor summoned Androcles to him. So Androcles told the Emperor all that had happened to him and how the lion was showing gratitude for his having relieved it of the thorn. Thereupon, the emperor pardoned Androcles and ordered his master to set him free, while the lion was taken back into the forest and let loose to enjoy freedom once more.Moral: An act of kindness is always remembered. This act is often expressed as gratitude through other kind act.

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

Androcles and the lion

Once, a village merchant named Vardhmanaka was going to Mathura on his bullock cart. His two bullocks, Sanjeevaka and Nandaka, who had always served him faithfully, were pulling the cart. As they were walking along the bank of river the Yamuna, Sanjeevaka all of a sudden stepped into a marshy area and got stuck. He tried to get out of the marsh with all his strength. The merchant also tried to get Sanjeevaka out of the marsh, but nothing worked. Ultimately, Vardhmanaka was left with no choice but to leave Sanjeevaka there and go on with his journey. So, Sanjeevaka was left there, stuck in the marsh. He thought sadly, “I served my master faithfully throughout my life and this is how he has treated me. Now, there were only two options for Sanjeevaka—either to try with all his might to escape from the marsh or to give up and die there. He thought, “It is said that God helps those who help themselves. I will not give up. I will try my best to get out of this marsh.” So, Sanjeevaka used every bit of his strength and energy to struggle against the marsh that was pulling him down, and finally he managed to get out of it.Now, Sanjeevaka had nowhere to go. He did not want to return to his master’s house after his master had deserted him so heartlessly. So, he started walking along the banks of the river. He wandered about, eating fresh grass in the nearby forest and drinking water from the river. Soon, living in the natural environment, he regained his strength and became healthier than ever. He started bellowing like a lion. His bellows sounded like thunder and could be heard from miles away.One day, the king lion of the forest, Pingalaka, went to the river to drink water. There, he heard the thunder-like bellowing which scared him so much that he ran back to his cave at once. His ministers were two jackals, Damnaka and Kartaka. When Damnaka saw that the king seemed to be afraid of something, he went and asked the king about it. “What is the matter, my lord? Has something scared you?” he asked. “Tell me, and I will bring it in front of you at once.”Though the lion, being the king, did not want to admit his fears, he ultimately told Damnaka about the frightening thunder-like sound. Damnaka at once left to investigate the source of the sound. Soon, Damnaka brought Sanjeevaka to the court and said, “This is the animal who has been making those frightful sounds, My Lord. He says that Lord Shiva has sent him to roam around in our forest.”King Pingalaka was pleased to meet Sanjeevaka. Soon, they became friends and spent most of their time chatting with each other. Gradually, the lion started becoming more and more spiritual. He started neglecting his kingdom and even stopped hunting for his prey. This made Damnaka, Kartaka and his other subjects very worried.Then, Damnaka came up with a plan. He went up to the king and said, “My lord, Sanjeevaka has evil plans about your kingdom. He plans to kill you, take over your kingdom and become the king himself.”And the next day, he went to Sanjeevaka and said, “King lion is no true friend of yours. He has planned to kill you and distribute your flesh to the whole kingdom. You should kill him with your sharp horns before he kills you.”Sanjeevaka was very furious on hearing this. He went to the king’s court and started bellowing in a thundering tone. The lion, who had already been misinformed by Damaka as to Sanjeevaka’s intentions, was himself very furious. Like a flash, the lion pounced on Sanjeevaka with a loud roar.Both, Pingalaka and Sanjeevaka, were strong. They had a gruesome fight at the end of which, Pingalaka killed Sanjeevaka with his sharp claws and ate his flesh. Though he had killed Sanjeevaka, Pingalaka felt sad about it. Sanjeevaka had been is friend. But since Damnaka had convinced him that Sanjeevaka was a traitor, he had no choice but to kill him. Damnaka was later made the chief minister of the kingdom. Moral:One should never be friends with a natural enemy.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of bull, jackal and lion.Moral(s) of the story: friendship

wild 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 Story of a Squirrel

The two forests

The Clever Deer

The mouse and the bull

The Panda Who Forgot His Name

The Eagle and the Fox

The bear’s paw

Androcles and the lion

The bullock and the lion

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