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

Long ago, people lived happily under the rule of a king. The people of the kingdom were very happy as they led a very prosperous life with an abundance of wealth and no misfortunes.Once, the king decided to go visiting places of historical importance and pilgrim centers at distant places. He decided to travel by foot to interact with his people. People of distant places were very happy to have a conversation with their king. They were proud that their king had a kind heart.After several weeks of travel, the king returned to the palace. He was quite happy that he had visited many pilgrim centres and witnessed his people leading a prosperous life. However, he had one regret.He had intolerable pain in his feet as it was his first trip by foot covering a long distance. He complained to his ministers that the roads weren’t comfortable and that they were very stony. He could not tolerate the pain. He said that he was very much worried about the people who had to walk along these roads as it would bepainful for them too!Considering all this, he ordered his servants to cover the roads of the entire country with leather so that the people of his kingdom can walk comfortably.The king’s ministers were stunned to hear his order as it would mean that thousands of cows would have to be slaughtered in order to get sufficient quantity of leather. And it would cost a huge amount of money also.Finally, a wise man from the ministry came to the king and said that he had another idea. The king asked what the alternative was. The minister said, “Instead of covering the roads with leather, why don’t you just have a piece of leather cut in appropriate shape to cover your feet?”The king was very much surprised by his suggestion and applauded the wisdom of the minister. He ordered a pair of leather shoes for himself and requested all his countrymen to also wear shoes. Moral:Instead of trying to change the world, we should try to change ourselves.

This is a story of king.Moral(s) of the story: helpfulness and wisdom

A King and a Smart Servant 

One day, Nasiruddin was at the king’s court when the king turned to him and said, “Mulla Nasiruddin, you are always boasting about your wisdom and cleverness. So tell me, can you teach your donkey how to read?”Nasiruddin replied, “Of course! That’s quite an easy task.”“I don’t believe you,” said the king.“I mean it and I can prove it to you,” said Nasiruddin.The king said, “Would you take it on as a challenge, then?”“Absolutely,” replied Nasiruddin. “If you give me fifty thousand dollars right now, I guarantee that by the end of eight years, I will have taught my donkey how to read.”The king said, “Fine, I agree. But my condition is that if the donkey is unable to read by then, I will have you put in prison where you will be tortured every day.”Both of them agreed to this deal and Nasiruddin left for home.The next day, Nasiruddin told his friend about what had happened at the king’s court. His friend said, “Nasiruddin, how could you ever agree to such an impossible task? You cannot even control your donkey enough to make it stand still, and now you have guaranteed that in eight years you would have taught him how to read? There is no way you can escape that prison sentence.”“Relax,” replied Nasiruddin calmly. “Eight years is a long time, my friend! By then, our king will probably be dead or he will not be in power anymore. And even if he is still the king at the end of eight years, chances are that my donkey would be dead by then. Worse come to worse, if by the end of seven years, both the king and my donkey are alive, I will still have one whole year to devise a plan to escape punishment. Moral:Taking measured chances result in our favour quite a few times. Nasiruddin was smart enough to take a chance and trick the king to get things worked in his favour. Such chances don’t always end up the way we have assumed.

This is a story of donkey, king and Mulla Nasruddin.Moral(s) of the story: smartness and wisdom

The guarantee

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

Shina Utavani

Lord Ganesha had a younger brother named Karthikeya. One day they were playing in the forest. Lord Shiva and Parvati received a special fruit from gods. Lord Shiva decided to share the fruit with Parvati. But then, they realized that the fruit can be eaten by one person only. No one was ready to eat the fruit alone.At the same time, Karthikeya and Ganesha entered and asked them what was special about the fruit. Lord Shiva told them that the fruit was of immorality and supreme knowledge. To choose who will get the fruit, Parvati and Lord Shiva said that the first one who will revolve around the world three times and come back will get the fruit.Karthikeya took his vehicle, peacock and went off to take three rounds of the world. Ganesha was worried about winning the race as his vehicle, Mouse did not have wings. Later, he took a decision based on his wisdom. He asked his parents’ permission to revolve around them as he felt that his parents were his universe. Lord Shiva and Parvati were impressed by his decision. They allowed Lord Ganeshato revolve around them three times and won the race. Finally, Ganesh got the fruit. Moral:Use wisdom at the right time and the right place. Respect your parents; there can be no one as important as them in your life.

This is a story of Ganesh, Kartikey, mouse and peacock.Moral(s) of the story: knowledge and wisdom

Lord Ganesha And Karthikeya

Yesha Desai

Raja Birbal was famous for his wit and sense of humour across the seven seas. Once, a highly distinguished scholar came to Akbar’s court and challenged Birbal to answer his question. He wanted to test Birbal’s wits, and find out whether he was as clever as people said he was. Birbal accepted the challenge.Then the scholar asked Birbal, “Tell me Birbal, would you like to answer one hundred easy questions or a single difficult question?” Akbar and Birbal had a very long day; they were in a hurry to wind up the court, so Birbal said, “O learned one! Ask me one difficult question.”The scholar instantly shot his question at Birbal, “Who came first? Chicken or egg?”Birbal answered the question without giving any second thought, “The chicken!”The scholar was puzzled to hear such a swift reply. He further asked Birbal, “How do you know?”“We agreed that you would ask only one question, and you have already asked it. So, no more questions please!” Birbal retorted.Birbal’s witty reply left the scholar speechless. Moral:Even if the question is silly, you can manage the situation by thinking on your feet and giving a witty answer.

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

Just one question

Once a rich old lady asked a well-known artist to paint her portrait. The artist worked hard on the portrait for many days. When the portrait was ready, he invited the lady to his studio.The old lady came to the studio. She had her pet dog with her. She was very fond of the dog. She believed that it was the cleverest little animal in the world.The lady showed her portrait to the dog. “Look, Tomy darling,” she said, “Here is your mistress.” But the dog showed no interest.The wealthy lady turned to the artist and said, “I don’t want this portrait. It does not look like me at all. Even my clever animal cannot recognize me in the portrait.”The artist was a man of worldly wisdom. He knew about the strange ways of wealthy people. So he did not argue. He simply said, “Madam, please come again tomorrow. I will make the portrait look so real that your dog will wag its tail and lick it.”The next day the lady visited the studio again. The dog wagged its tail and ran to the portrait. It licked it with great interest.The lady said, “How wonderful! How beautiful! My Tomy likes the portrait and so I, too, like it. Please wrap it up.” The artist asked for a big price and she paid it willingly.The artist had a hearty laugh at her back. He had rubbed the portrait with a juicy piece of meat. Its smell had made the pet dog lick it. Moral:Use your wisdom to judge the situation properly and act accordingly.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

The Rich Lady and the Artist

One day, somebody gifted a beautiful talking parrot to Emperor Akbar. Akbar was very fond of the parrot as it could not only talk, but also reply to his questions. He had made special arrangements for the parrot’s care and safety and made an announcement that if someone ever dared to inform him about the parrot’s death, he will be hung. All the caretakers of the parrot thus, took extreme care of the parrot and guarded him against all harm, day and night.Still, one day, the parrot died. None of the caretakers had the courage to go and tell this to the Emperor. They went to Birbal and told him their plight. They said, “If we inform the Emperor about the parrot’s death, then he will get us hanged, and if we do not tell him, then also he will kill us, so please help us.”Birbal thought for a while and sent all of them back to work. Next day, he himself went to the Emperor and said, “Alampanah, your parrot…” Akbar said, “Yes Birbal. What about my parrot?” Birbal again stammered, “Your parrot is …” Akbar was anxious to know about his parrot. He again asked, “Tell me Birbal, What happened to my parrot?” Birbal again said, “Your parrot…” Akbar said in a firm tone, “Birbal, I am asking you, what happened to my parrot? Say something in the name of Allah!”Then Birbal said – “Jahanpanah, your parrot is neither eating anything, nor drinking anything. He is neither saying anything, nor moving his wings. He is neither opening up his eyes, nor…”The Emperor cut him short and said worriedly, “What? Has the parrot died?”Birbal said, “I did not say it. You said it.”The Emperor understood why Birbal had to break the news of his parrot’s death like that. He did not punish any of the servants and appreciated Birbal for his intelligent move. Moral:A twist of words can get you out of messy situations.

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

The parrot neither eats not drinks

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

This story dates back to the time when king Brahmadutta ruled the city of Banaras. He had four young princes. They young princes had grown up hearing many wonderful stories about a beautiful tree known as the Red Bud Tree. They had never seen the Red Bud tree and wished to be the first one to see it.One day, driven by his curiosity to see the tree at the earliest, the eldest prince asked the king’s charioteer to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew. It was still early spring and the tree was standing as a bare stump of wood in the forest, devoid of any leaves or buds. The prince failed to understand why it was known as the Red-Bud tree and returned back to the palace.Sometime later in spring, the next son requested the king’s charioteer to take him to the Red Bud Tree. At this time, the tree was covered with bright red buds and looked very beautiful.The third son went into the woods just after the spring time. Now tree did not have any red buds and was covered with lush green leaves. He also could see no reason for calling it a Red Bud tree.The youngest price also decided to go and have a look at the famous Red Bud tree. By this time, the tree was covered with little bean-pods. When he came back from the forest, he ran into the garden where his brothers were playing and told them with much excitement, "I saw the Red Bud tree!""So, what is special about it?" said the eldest prince. “It is nothing but a dead stump of wood,” He added."What makes you say that?" said the second son. "When I went in the woods, it was covered with hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is known as the Red Bud tree."The third prince said, "I have also seen the Red Bud tree. It is neither a dead stump of wood nor covered with red buds. It looks like an ordinary tree covered with green leaves."The youngest prince said with utmost confidence, "Brothers, all of you are mistaken! I have just a seen the tree and I can say for sure that it is now covered with little bean-pods."The princes wondered that maybe the Red Bud tree was indeed some mystical tree and appeared in different forms before different people. The king was overhearing their conversation. When they stopped talking, he came out and said, "My dear sons, all four of you have seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year." The princes understood what the matter was and laughed at their naivete. Moral: All is not what it seems. The four princes could not agree with each other because all of them had seen different stages of the tree. Sometimes, there’s more to a situation than what meets the eye.

This is a story of brother, forest, Jataka tales, prince, red and tree.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

wisdom 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.

A King and a Smart Servant

The guarantee

The Lion and the Rabbit

Lord Ganesha And Karthikeya

Just one question

The Rich Lady and the Artist

The parrot neither eats not drinks

The cat, the rat, and the hunter

The Red Bud Tree

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