Category: 12. Education Stories

Moral: Where there is a will, there is a way.

When you think of moral stories for kids, this one is sure to come to mind – it’s a classic and one that all of us grew up with.

A thirsty crow flew around a village in search of water. He looked for it near and far, but he failed to find water anywhere. After hours and hours of tirelessly searching, he finally found some water in a pitcher. However, the water level was too low and his beak couldn’t reach the water.

He tried to push the pitcher down, but the vessel was far too heavy for that. The crow was very disappointed. He was contemplating giving up and flying elsewhere in search of water. Just then, he spotted a few pebbles lying around and an idea struck him! He collected a pebble and dropped it into the vessel. Then, another and another. He kept repeating this process until the water had risen to a level from which he could drink the water. The crow drank the water from the brim and flew home happy and satisfied!

Moral: Always tell the truth because a liar won’t be trusted.

This is the popular story of a young shepherd who cried wolf one too many times. For those who don’t know the story – it goes a little something like this.

There was once a shepherd who had no work to do, so, to amuse himself, he cried “Wolf! Wolf!” from atop the hill. Hearing his cries, the villagers came running up only to discover that he was lying – fooling them for his own entertainment. A few days later, he repeated the same trick out of boredom. Again, the villagers came rushing towards him to scare away the wolf. Alas, they were fooled once again! The villagers were brimming with anger – they were furious with the shepherd for causing unnecessary chaos in the village.

Shortly after, an actual wolf appeared. The shepherd cried mercilessly for help as the wolf attacked his sheep but no one bothered helping him out – they assumed that it was another one of his silly pranks. They laughed it off and the shepherd was left alone to deal with the horrific situation at hand. The shepherd kept telling them that he was sorry, and this time it was true – he wasn’t lying. Finally, the villagers decided to take a look and realised that it was true indeed.  This time, the shepherd wasn’t lying indeed. The wolf had killed all the sheep and run away.

Moral: Remain calm and use the presence of mind to get out of adverse situations.

Once upon a time, a clever monkey resided on a tree that bore fresh, luscious berries. A day arrived when a crocodile swam up to the tree and told the monkey that he had travelled a very long distance and was extremely exhausted from his journey. The crocodile had been in search of food and was very hungry. On hearing this, the kind monkey offered him a few berries for which the crocodile was very thankful. He asked the monkey if he could visit him again soon for some fruit. The monkey happily agreed.

The crocodile came back the next day, and the day after that. Soon, this became a daily ritual and they grew to become good friends. As all friends do, they discussed the goings-ons of their lives and confided in each other.  The crocodile told the monkey about his wife who lived on the other side of the river. So, the generous monkey offered the crocodile some extra berries to take home for his wife.

The crocodile and the monkey continued to grow closer as friends and they ate berries together. The monkey would often give the crocodiles extra berries to take home for his wife. Because of how close the two friends had become, the crocodile’s wife started growing jealous. She wanted to put an end to their friendship. She thought to herself that if the monkey survived on a diet of the tasty berries, his flesh must be really sweet. So, she asked the crocodile to invite his friend over to dinner. The crocodile refused because he knew that his wife was up to some nasty trick. However, she was determined to eat the monkey’s flesh.

She pretended to fall ill and told the crocodile that her doctor claims that the only thing that would keep her from dying is a monkey’s heart. On hearing this, the crocodile rushed to the monkey’s tree and lied to him saying that his wife had prepared them a delicious dinner. The monkey happily agreed and climbed onto the crocodile’s back. Halfway through, the monkey noticed that the crocodile began to sink. Frightened, the monkey asked his friend why he was doing that. The crocodile explained the situation truthfully.

The clever monkey told him that this was an unfortunate situation because he had left his heart at home. If the crocodile took him back, he would gladly give his heart away to nurse the crocodile’s wife back to health. The silly crocodile fell for the monkey’s clever lie and rushed back to the tree so that he could take the monkey’s heart. As soon as they reached, the monkey hastily scampered up to safety and told the crocodile to tell his wife that she had married a fool!

Moral: Think before you act.

Udhata, a thin donkey who was starved by his owner, a local fisherman, went in search of food with his friend, a jackal. The pair wandered around the village in the middle of the night until they stumbled upon a cucumber field. That night, they truly relished their meal and decided to pay a visit to the cucumber field every night. Udhata eventually began to look much healthier and was able to pick up more load.

Once, after an appetizing and wholesome meal of cucumbers, the donkey insisted on singing. Knowing that this was foolish, the jackal advised him against the same but the stubborn donkey refused to listen to his friend. Even when the jackal told the donkey that his voice wasn’t exactly sweet, Udhata dismissed his comment – thinking that the jackal was jealous. He told the jackal that he was happy, and there’s nothing wrong in expressing one’s happiness. Once again, the jackal warned him of his foolish behaviour and of bringing trouble upon himself by disturbing the guards. However, the foolish donkey would not budge.

When the donkey started to sing, the jackal interrupted and asked the donkey to wait until the jackal jumps over the other side of the fence for his own safety. The jackal decided to wait outside. On hearing the loud braying noise made by the donkey, the guard naturally awoke from his slumber. When he spotted Udhata, the guard beat him black and blue mercilessly. He didn’t hold back whatsoever and channelled all of his anger onto the donkey who was truly regretting not taking his friend’s advice. Once he was done, the donkey could barely move. Yet, he somehow dragged his limp body out of the field, where the jackal had been waiting for him. His friend had a sympathetic look on his face as he said, “I told you so.”

Moral: Don’t be greedy, be content with what you have.

This English story for kids is about King Midas. In Ancient Greece, there resided a very wealthy king, Midas. He had everything he could have ever asked for and more, along with a beautiful daughter whom he held dear to his heart, even more than his riches.

A day came where Silenus, a satyr loyal to the God of Wine and Celebration, Dionysus, passed out in Midas’ garden. Since Midas believed that satyrs brought him good luck, he went against the wishes of his family and let Silenus rest in his palace until he awoke again.

When Dionysus heard about Midas’ act of kindness towards his friend, he decided to grant the wealthy king a wish. Midas wished that anything he touches must turn to gold. Even though Dionysus was aware that this was a recipe for disaster, he granted the wish anyway. Midas was ecstatic – he went around touching the most random things in the garden and palace to turn them into gold. When he picked up an apple, it turned into a shiny gold apple. All the courtiers were very fascinated.

Midas had never been happier…in all his excitement, he hugged his daughter, forgetting that anything he touched would turn to gold! Hence, his daughter took the form of a lifeless, gold statue. Realizing what he had done, Midas ran to Dionysus and begged God to save his daughter. Complying with his wish, Dionysus saved his daughter and took away all of Midas’ powers too, claiming that it was for the best. Midas had learned his lesson and lived the rest of his days satisfied with what he had.

Banwarilal is a simple soul who believes whatever he is told. The village boys are aware of this and exploit his simplicity for a few laughs. One day, Banwarilal is on his way to the market with his son to sell their donkey. He comes across some village boys out to have fun.

Seeing the father and son duo walking with the donkey, they first suggest that let the son ride on the donkey and save the effort. The son is put on the donkey’s back. The boys then ridicule the boy for riding while the father walks. The father and son switch places. The father rides while the son walks. The boys then taunt the father for making the poor son walk and advise the duo to ride the donkey together.

Thinking it a good idea they comply. The poor donkey collapses from exhaustion. The boys then express their disgust at the duo for ill-treating the donkey and advice that they take the donkey to an animal doctor. The duo again follows the advice.

On the way, they come across barking stray dogs. In the confusion that ensues, the donkey falls into the flowing river. The donkey is lost forever. Banwarilal loses the donkey because he follows what he is suggested without thinking for himself.

Moral: He who listens to everybody will only become a laughing stock.

Bhola owns a donkey called Khandya. Bhola is a very tolerant and kind master. The donkey is lazy and is always finding ways to avoid work.

Once upon a time, while returning with sacks of salt on his back, Khandya started crossing a small river stream, but his foot slipped, and he fell in the water. The sacks of salt also got wet and Khandya realized that the fall has lessened the weights of the sacks as the salt has dissolved in the water.

The next few days, while passing through the same path, Khandya intentionally fell into the water. Bhola was unhappy with the way Khandya was behaving because he was losing money in the process. Bhola understood that Khandya was doing this on a purpose. He decided to teach Khandya a lesson.

The next day, instead of salt bags, Bhola loads Khandya with bags of cotton. Khandya is unaware of the change. As per his planned mischief, he falls into the water and gets the bags wet. This made cotton heavy! Khandya is surprised to find the load unbearable and is unable to get up! Bhola let him struggle there for some time as a punishment before helping him get up.

Khandya learns his lesson and starts behaving.

Moral: Work with honesty and sincerity because laziness will ruin you.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and begin to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is to not to get bogged down by it. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping. And by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

It was the aftermath of a big festival. Two cats were prowling together. One of the cats saw a big cake and missed. The other jumped up and picked it.

The first cat said, “Give me the cake. It is I who saw it first.”

The other cat said “Keep away from it. It is I who picked it up.”

They were fighting and fighting. But there was no solution. Just then, a monkey passed by. He thought “What foolish cats they must be! Let me make use of this chance.”

He came to the cats and said in a loud voice. “Don’t fight. Let me share the cake with you both”. The cake was handed over to the monkey.

The monkey split the cake into two parts. He shook his head and said, “Oho! One is bigger. One is smaller”. He had a bit of the bigger and now said “Oho! This has become smaller now”. He ate from the other. And thus, he went on eating from part to part and finally finished the whole cake.

The poor cats were disappointed.

Moral: When you quarrel someone else gains.

Once a rich merchant’s house was robbed. The merchant suspected that the thief was one of his servants. So he went to Birbal and mentioned the incident. Birbal went to his house and assembled all of his servants and asked that who stole the merchant’s things. Everybody denied.

Birbal thought for a moment, then gave a stick of equal length to all the servants of the merchant and said to them that the stick of the real thief will be longer by two inches tomorrow. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with their sticks.

All the servants went to their homes and gathered again at the same place the next day. Birbal asked them to show him their sticks. One of the servants had his stick shorter by two inches. Birbal said, “This is your thief, merchant.”

Later the merchant asked Birbal, “How did you catch him?” Birbal said, “The thief had already cut his stick short by two inches in the night fearing that his stick will be longer by two inches by morning.”

Moral: Truth will always Prevail.