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

Once upon a time there lived a ferocious lion in the forest. It was a greedy lion and started killing animals in the forest indiscriminately. Seeing this, the animals gathered and decided to approach the lion with the offer of one animal of each species volunteering to be eaten by the lion every day. Every day one of the animals would willingly sacrifice self and in the end came the rabbit’s turn.The rabbits chose an old rabbit among them. The rabbit was wise and old. It took its own sweet time to go to the lion. The lion was getting impatient on not seeing any animal come by and swore to kill all the animals the next day.The rabbit then strode along to the lion by sunset. The Lion was angry with him. The wise rabbit was calm and slowly told the lion that it was not his fault. He told the lion that a group of rabbits were coming to him for the day, when on the way, an angry lion attacked them all and ate all the rabbits but him. Somehow he escaped to reach safely. He said that the other lion was challenging the supremacy of his lordship the lion.The lion was naturally very enraged and asked to be taken to the location of the other lion.The wise rabbit agreed and led the lion towards a deep well filled with water. Then he showed the lion his reflection in the water of the well. The lion was furious and started growling and naturally its image in the water, the other lion, was also equally angry. Then the lion jumped into the water at the other lion to attack it, and so lost its life in the well. Thus the wise rabbit saved the forest and its inhabitants from the proud lion. Moral:Chance favours the prepared mind. The wise rabbit took a chance and exploited lion’s foolishness into saving his own life as well as the life of other animals. Lion, though mighty, lost because of his foolishness.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a story of lion, rabbit and panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness, smartness and wisdom

The Lion and the Rabbit

Once upon a time, there was a huge banyan tree. An owl, a mongoose, a cat and a rat used to live in or around this tree. All four were scared of each other. The owl feared the cat, the mongoose feared the owl and the cat, and the rat was scared of all three—the owl, the cat and the mongoose. Still, the four animals continued to live in the same place. One day, a hunter laid a trap under this banyan tree hoping to catch at least one of the four animals. He set the trap and went to wait at a distance. Soon, the cat walked there, looking for the rat. She stepped on the snare and before she could realise, she was trapped in the net. Seeing this, the mouse became very happy. He went out of his hole and started dancing in joy around the trapped cat.The owl and the mongoose both saw the rat prancing about and wanted to catch him for their meal. Both of them started approaching him. The rat noticed them but it was too late. They were already quite close and there was no way that the rat could run back to his hole. There was only one way that the rat could think of — to enter the trap along with the cat and persuade her not to kill him by offering to nibble through the net. The rat had to take a quick decision. As the owl and the mongoose came closer, the rat thought that this was his last hope of survival and he quickly entered the trap alongside the cat.The cat was just about to pounce on the rat when the rat said, “Please spare my life. If you don’t kill me, I can help you to get free from this trap. I will nibble the net at many places and you can easily escape.” The cat agreed and let the rat stay with her inside the trap. Seeing the rat with the cat, the owl and the mongoose went away. When they were gone, the rat chewed through the net with his sharp teeth and both of them got out of the net. The cat ran away into the forest and the rat quickly got into his hole.The next day, the cat came to meet the rat. But the wise rat refused to come out of his hole saying that friendship between enemies is only a temporary thing. They will ultimately always remain enemies. Moral:Wisdom is knowing when to side with your enemy and when to keep the distance.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story from cat, owl and rat.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

Long ago, there lived a cunning blue jackal. One day, driven by hunger, he strayed into a village in search of food. On seeing him, a group of dogs ran after him.Terrified, he dashed into the house of a dyer and accidentally fell into a tub of blue dye. The jackal was stained blue from head to toe.Later, when he got back to the jungle, all the animals stared at him in shock. They had never seen such a strange and beautiful animal before. Seeing everyone confused, the jackal thought of an idea.He proclaimed that he was sent to rule over the animal kingdom and guard its animals. The animals fell for it and proclaimed him king.The jackal, as king, then appointed the lion as his adviser, the tiger as his guardian, and the elephant as his doorkeeper. But, his work was not done.For fear of being recognized, he drove all the jackals out of the forest. The new king then ordered his subjects to hunt for him and do his bidding. The animals used to bring all kinds of fruit and meat for him and the blue king lived a life of luxury.One day, as the blue king was enjoying himself, a pack of jackals passed by and began howling. Unable to control his natural instinct, the blue king rose up and howled to glory.Hearing his cry, the jungle animals realized that they had been fooled. At once, they chased the traitor out of the forest and the cunning jackal never returned again. Moral:Never pretend what you are not. Pretension does not last long. If anything, pretension is always the cause of self damage.

This is a story of jackal and panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: pretention

The story of the blue jackal

Long ago, a violent battle broke out between the animals and the birds. The birds pecked at the animals and flew away out of their reach and the infuriated animals did not allow the birds to land on the ground to have food or water. This battle went on for many days. The bats decided not to pick sides and stay neutral. They thought to themselves, “Ours is a special position, we are birds because we can fly, and we are animals because we do not lay eggs.” So, the proud bats decided to join the winners. When the bats saw that the birds were in a winning position, they started hobnobbing with them, and when they felt that the animals were winning, they joined their camp. Gradually, the birds and the animals both started to get tired of their continuous battle. So, they decided to make peace. The king of the birds and the king of the animals, both sat together and agreed upon a treaty. Both the kings decided to bury the hatchet and become good friends. They also decided not to allow the selfish bats to join either of them.Thus, the bats were ostracised by both, the birds and the animals. They were so ashamed of themselves that they hid themselves in the dark caves. That is why till today, the bats come out of their hiding only at twilight, when the birds are back in their nests and the animals are not yet out of their dens. Moral:If you are to dwell because of your selfishness, you won’t reap any benefits from anywhere.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of bat.Moral(s) of the story: selfishnes

Why do bats come out in the dark?

One day a fox and an ass made a deal with the lion, that they would help one another in hunting for food. This way, they would have a lot of food and none of them would have to starve. Initially, both the fox and the ass were worried and nervous about the thought of going for a hunt with the lion, but when they imagined the share of food they would accumulate this way, they began to salivate and their nervousness disappeared in a jiffy.They made a fantastic plan for the hunt. According to the plan, the ass would first keep an eye on the animal they could hunt. Once he spotted a prey, he would go up to it and start talking. The bray of the donkey would alert the other two.The fox would then come out growling at the animal and once it started running, the fox would chase it. Trying to avoid the fox, the animal would run in the other direction where the lion would be waiting and the lion would immediately catch it and kill it at once.Their plan was successful and it was time for the much awaited meal of the day. The food looked delicious and the trio looked extremely happy and hungry. The lion ordered the ass to allot each of the partners their due share.The ass was overwhelmed by the lion’s gesture of asking him to delegate the share. Very carefully the ass divided the booties into three equal shares. “Now you may start enjoying your meals friends,” said the ass and started licking his share hungrily.The lion, however, was not very happy. He looked at the share for some time, “You guys really think that each one of us deserves the same share? You think your mere attempt of talking to the animal can be compared to my effort of killing it?” said the lion and pounced on the ass and killed it instantly.The lion then asked the fox to distribute the food. Terrified, the fox made two divisions and gave the lion almost all that was accumulated leaving a minor share for him. With a feeble voice, he told the lion, “Now you can have your share, sir.”The lion looked at his share carefully. Then, pleased with the division, the lion said to the fox, “You did an excellent job of delegating the share. I am impressed.”“Thank you, sir,” he replied. “I learnt a lesson by seeing the fate of the ass.” The frightened fox quietly left with his share and decided to never enter into any agreement with the lion in the future. Moral:One cannot change anyone’s behaviour which the nature has set.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of donkey, fox and lion.

The lion’s share

Pallavi Hota

Mogu, a panda lived on the hills with his family. He was always a happy lad. His favourite festival was Christmas. Every year he eagerly waited for Santa to get him gifts. And his favourite time of the year was back.He went to the market and got every possible thing to decorate the house. This time, he got a huge Christmas tree out of excitement. With that, he bought a new pair of socks to write his Christmas wishes and put them inside the socks. He decorated the entire house and baked cakes. It was time now, so he went to sleep and waited for Santa to deliver his gifts. He woke up in the middle of the night and found no gift around him. He became really sad and went to his dad and sulked. His dad realised that he had forgotten to keep the gifts under his bed and felt upset. He asked Mogu to wait for a while and assured him that Santa had not forgotten but a little late in delivering the gifts. He then dressed up and appeared in front of Mogu singing, ìHo! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! and handed him all the gifts that he had wished for. To Moguís surprise his dad was Santa and delivered him gifts every year. He was happy and rejoiced knowing that his dad loved him so much.

This is a story of panda, Santa Claus and Christmas.Moral(s) of the story: happiness

Christmas Wish

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

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

Shina Utavani

Once upon a time, there lived jackal whose name was Jijo. One day, Jijo went to the fair with his friend Fredo, the fox. They loved the place and enjoyed various rides. They ate a lot of ice cream and fried snacks. They spent their entire day having fun at the fair.Jijo loved motorbikes and wanted to have one. He told his father to get him a motorbike. His father thought that he was very small to ride a motorbike. So, he told him to use a bicycle for now. Jijo thought he was old enough to use a bike. But all he had was an old bicycle. He really wanted to ride the motorbike so he decided to ask for a bike to his father again.He went to his father one day and said, “Dad, I know how to ride a bike and I want the bike. Please buy one for me.” His father replied, “Son, riding a bike takes a lot of responsibility. Will you be able to take care of your bike? You have to assure me that you will follow all the rules and will drive safely.” Jijo said, “Yes, Dad, I promise!” His father had some more conditions. He said, “I will give you money for just four litres of fuel every month. You will use the bike only to do important things. You should always inform us before using the bike and you must learn all the important traffic rules.”After hearing all the conditions, Jijo was a little shocked but as his father agreed to buy him a bike so he said ‘Yes’.The next month, Jijo’s father got him a new bike. Jijo was busted with joy. He was overwhelmed to receive a bike. He would make different excuses to ride the bike. He wanted to ride the bike every day but as he was allowed only four litres of fuel in a month, he could not ride very far. His friends also wanted to ride his bike. But Jijo could not do a lot of things due to the conditions put by his father. He felt restricted due to the conditions.One day, Jijo’s friend, Fredo, the fox came to visit him. Fredo was impressed by his bike. He said, “Jijo, you know there is a fair being held on the outskirt of the forest. Why don’t we go there on your bike?” Jijo wanted to go but there was hardly any fuel left in the bike and he did not have money to buy more fuel. Fredo said, “Ask your mother. She might have some task for you to complete and using that as an excuse, we can go to the fair and have some fun.” Jijo went to his mother and informed his mother that they were going to market to buy some fruits. His mom agreed and the two set off for the fair.Jijo and Fredo enjoyed the bike ride and reached the fair. They spent their entire day at the fair and enjoyed different rides, ate ice-creams, and a lot of fried snacks. They had a great time together at the fair.As it started getting dark, they decided to go home. They took the bike and went back to their home. In the middle, their bike suddenly stopped. They had only travelled a small distance and they had a long-distance to cover in order to reach home. When Jijo checked the fuel tank of the bike, it was empty. Jijo got worried and asked, “How will we go home, now?” Fredo had an idea, he said, “We can do one thing. You sit on the bike and I will push it from behind. After some time, I will sit on the bike and you push. This way, we will reach home.” Jijo agreed and they both took turns and tried to push the bike. Somehow, they reached home late at night. They both were very tired. Jijo was very upset as it was very difficult for them to reach back home. He said to himself, “My old bicycle was so much better. It looks worn out but it never stopped working. It was good for my health too.”Jijo understood the value of his old bicycle. After that day, he decided to ride his bicycle every day and used his motorbike only when he needed to.

This is a story of bicycle, fox and motorcycle.Moral(s) of the story: greediness

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 Lion and the Rabbit

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

The story of the blue jackal

Why do bats come out in the dark?

The lion’s share

Christmas Wish

The two forests

Androcles and the lion

Jijo's new Motorbike

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