Every story having moral value and a hidden message behind it. Moral stories guide you on how to live the best life. In this article, we have shared the best moral short stories which create a powerful impact on children and adult life.
Share the best stories with your friends and apply the moral in life.
Table of Contents
An Intelligent Farmer
Once in a small village, a farmer lived in a small house with his ass. He loved hisass very much. He had only an ass, who helped him in his farming. One day someone had stolen his ass. The farmer was very confused what to do? He immediatelymade a plan and started threatening the town people and said, “You cowards andthieves! Do you think I am a fool? I know who has stolen my ass. Return my assback otherwise I will do what my father had done.”On hearing the farmer’s words, the thieves who stole the farmer’s ass wasfrightened and immediately came in front of the farmer and returned back his ass.After returning his ass the thief asked the farmer, “Please tell me what your fatherdo when his ass was stolen?” the farmer answered. “You stupid, he brought another ass.”
Moral: Handle a situation using your intelligence.
The Jackal and the Drum
There was once a jackal named Gomaya who was staying in a jungle. Once he set out in search of food and ended up at an abandoned battlefield whence he heard loud and strange sounds. Though scared, jackal decided to know the secret of these sounds.
Warily, the jackal marched in the direction of the sounds and found a drum there. It was this drum, which was sending the sounds whenever the branches of the tree above brushed against it.
Relieved, the jackal began playing the drum and thought that there could be food inside it. The jackal entered the drum by piercing its side. He was disappointed to find no food in it. Yet he consoled himself saying that he rid himself of the fear of sound.
Moral:- Don’t be afraid of false things.
Why the Owls Become Enemies of the Crows
Long, long ago, all the birds of a jungle gathered to choose a new bird as theirking. They were not happy with their king the Garuda, who they thought always enjoyed his time in heaven and never cared for the birds. So, they thought it wasbetter to choose a new bird as their king. A heated discussion followed in the meeting and ultimately it was decided to make the owl the king of birds. The birds start-ed making preparation for the coronation of the newly elected king.
Just then a crow flew in and raised an objection in the meeting. He said laughing, “What a bird you’ve chosen as your king. An ugly fellow. He also goes blindduring the day. Moreover, owls are birds of prey. He might kill other birds for hismeals rather than save them. Didn’t peacocks and swans suit as your king?”.
The crow’s arguments made the birds think over their decision again. It was decided to choose the king on some other occasion and hence the coronation ceremony was postponed.
Meanwhile, the owl chosen as the king of birds, still waited for his coronation as king. He realized all of a sudden that there was absolute quiet around him. Noone was talking, nothing was happening. Since it was day time, he couldn’t seeanything around him. He grew very impatient and a little suspicious also. At last,overcome by his curiosity and eagerness for his coronation as king, he enquiredfrom one of his attendants, the reason behind the delay.
“Sir:’ his attendant said, “The coronation ceremony has been postponed. Allthe birds have decided to choose a new king. Now not even a single bird is here.They have all gone back to their respective places.
The ‘would be’ king owl further lost his temper and said to the smiling crowwho was still present there, “You’ve deprived me of the honor of becoming a king.So, from now on, we are sworn enemies of each other. Beware of us.”
The crow realized his folly, but it was too late now.
Moral:- Think twice before you do or say anything.
The Absent-Minded Astrologer
Along time ago, there lived a man, who read the future through the stars. He was alearned man. He knew the planet and stars well and marked their position. Hecalled himself an astrologer. At night, he would gaze at the sky and claimed toknow the future and predict the coming events correctly. By studying the movements of the stars, he claimed to know what was to happen next. He was not apractical man. But the astrologer would forget many things.
Once evening, the astrologer was walking along the road outside the village. Hewas returning home. It appeared to him that the end of the world was about tocome.
All of a sudden, the astrologer fell into the muddy water. He struggled to climbout. His cries were heard. The villagers ran up to help him. While they helped himout, one of them said. “You claim that you can read others future and yet your fieldto read your own future!” The astrologer felt ashamed. He knew that the villagerwas correct.
Moral: One can’t be sure about future.
A Poor Brahmin’s Dream
Once upon a time, there lived a poor Brahmin in a village. His name was Swabhavakripna. He was all alone in this world. He had no relatives or friends. He used to beg for his living. Whatever food he got as alms, he kept in an earthen pot and hung it beside his bed. Whenever he felt hungry he took out some food from the pot and ate it.
One night, the Brahmin lay on his bed and soon he was fast asleep. He began to dream-He was no longer a poor Brahmin. He wore good clothes. He was theowner of a shop. Hundreds of customers came to his shop. Soon he became rich-er than before. He purchased many buffaloes and cows. Very soon the buffaloesand cows had their young ones. Those young ones grew and became buffaloes andcows. The buffaloes and cows gave milk. He made a lot of butter and curd fromthe milk. He sold butter and curd in the market. Soon he became richer then everbefore. He built a big house for himself. Then he married a beautiful girl. Soon theyhad their children. The children played around all day making noise. He then scold-ed them and asked them to keep quiet. But they won’t listen. So he picked up astick and ran after them.
The Brahmin began to move his legs rapidly while he was still asleep. In doingso, he hit the earthen pot with one of his legs which was full of food. The pot brokeand the food contents were spilled all over the floor. The Brahmin woke up. He sawthat he was still in the bed. All the edible items kept in the pot were scattered onthe ground and became unfit for eating. All this happened because of his day dreaming.
Moral:- One should not build castlesin the air.
Hercules and the Wagoner
Once, a farmer was driving his wagon along a village road after heavy rainfall. Thehorse could hardly pull the wagon with the load through the mud. The horse wastoo tired to pull it.
Finally, the wagon stopped when one of its wheels sank in the mud. The farmergot down from his seat but made no effort to get the wheel out of the mud. In-stead, the just cursed his bad luck and called God Hercules to come to his aid.Hercules did appear, but he said to the farmer, I have come because you called me.But I shall not help you unless you make some effort yourself. Do you think youcan move the wagon by simply looking at it? Put your shoulder to the wheel, anddrive your horse to move forward!
The farmer realized his mistake. He thanked Hercules and decided to try him-self. He went to the wagon and inspected it thoroughly. He tried to get the wagonout of the mud. Very soon, the All moved forward and was out of the mud. Thefarmer rode it joyfully.
Moral: Self-help is the best help.
The Louse and The Beg-Bug
There lived a louse by the name of Mandarisarpini in the spacious bedroom ofa mighty king. She used to live in the corner of the bed-sheet spread over the king’sbeautiful bedstead. Everyday, when the king was fast asleep, the louse sipped hisblood and crept back again into a corner of the bed-cover to hide herself.
Onenight,abed-bugbythenameofAgnimukhastrolledintothebedroomofthe king. The louse saw him and told him to get out since the whole of the bed-room was her territory only. But the bed-bug said to her cleverly, “Look, you oughtto be a little courteous to your guests. I’m your guest tonight.” The louse got car-ried away by the bed-bug’s sweet talks. She gave him shelter saying, “It’s all right.You can stay here tonight. But, you will not bite the king to suck his blood.”
“But I’m your guest. What will you give me to eat?” the clever bedbug asked.“What better food you can serve me than the king’s blood.”
“Well!”, replied the louse. “You can suck the king’s blood silently. He must notget hurt in anyway.”
“Agreed”, said the clever bed-bug and waited for the king to arrive in the bed-room and sleep on the bed.When the night fell, the king entered into his bedroom and slept on the bed.
The greedy bed-bug forgot all about his promises and bit the sleeping king hardto suck his blood.
“It’s a royal blood”, thought the bed-bug and continued sucking till the king felta terrible itching in his skin. The king woke up and then ordered his servants tofind the bed-bug and kill it.
But the bed-bug hid himself very cunningly into the joints of the bedstead andthus escaped his detection. The servants of the king, instead, found the louse onthe bed-sheet. They caught her and killed her.
Moral:- Never trust a stranger
The Oxen and the Wheels
Once, a pair of oxen were feeling very tired. They were pulling a loaded wagonalong a country road. They used all their strength to pull the wagon.
The wheels of the hopping were sad. Though their task was very easy yet theywept at every turn. The wheels made a lot of noise. It was making the work of theoxen all the more difficult.
The oxen were suffering from the weariness of their work. It was being doubledby the complaining wheels. They were not able to collect courage and strength. Atlast, the oxen ran out of patience.
“Silence!” cried the oxen, “What have you miserable wheels to complain about?Here are we, doing our best to keep the wagon moving forward. We are pulling theweight, while you are just rolling along. Yet, you are making it difficult to pull.”
The wheels had no answer. But, they kept on creating trouble. They had nosympathy for the hard working oxen.
Moral: Empty vessels sound much.
Doctor Cat
Once, there was a cat . He was very cunning. One day, all the chickens fell ill.When the clever cat heard about the illness of chickens, he became very happy. Heinstantly made a plan to eat them.
He dressed up himself in a doctor’s dress and carries a bag full of medicinesfor them and reached there. He said, “Hello friends! Open the door. I have comehere for your treatment.
The chickens know the cleverness of the cat, they replied, thank you very much,sir! We feel a lot better if you would just leave us alone.” Then the cat was ashamedvery much and shocked that he came back to his home without having chickens.
Once, a rat was moving along the king’s highway. He was a very proud rat. He wasnot mild. He had no fear. As he was cutting some grass with his sharp teeth, heheard a noise. It was the king coming in a procession. The rat was safe on the sideof the road.
The king rode on a huge elephant. The elephant wore clothes and ornaments.The royal dog and cat were sitting with the king. Many people followed them. Theylooked at the elephant. They did not even notice the rat. They praised only the bigand powerful elephant.
What Fools! The rat cried. Look at me and you will soon forget all about the ele-phant. Is it just his size that makes you blind? I also have eyes and ears and thesame number of legs as he! I am also important.
The rat found the royal cat looking at him. The next moment, he fled. He knewthe danger. It was better to be away from the cat.
Moral: Similarity is not the proof of greatness.
The Bird with Two Heads
Long, long ago, there lived a strange bird in a huge banyan tree. The tree stoodbeside a river. The strange bird had two heads, but only one stomach.
Once, while the bird was flying high in the sky, he saw an apple shaped fruitlying on the bank of the river. The bird swooped down, picked up the fruit and began to eat it. This was the most delicious fruit the bird had ever eaten. As the bird had two heads, the other head protested, “I’m your brother head. Why don’t you let me also eat this tasty fruit?”
The first head of the bird replied, “Shut up.You know that we’ve only one stom- ach. Whichever head eats, the fruit will go to the same stomach. So it doesn’t mat- ter as to which head eats it. Moreover, I’m the one who found this fruit. So I’ve the first right to eat it.”
Hearing this, the other head became silent. But this kind of selfishness on the part of the first head pinched him very much. One day, while flying, the other head spotted a tree bearing poisonous fruits. The other head immediately descended upon the tree and plucked a fruit from it.
“Please don’t eat this poisonous fruit,” cried the first head. “If you eat it, both of us will die, because we’ve a common stomach to digest it.”
“Shut up!” shouted the other head. “Since I’ve plucked this fruit, I’ve every right to eat it.”
The first head began to weep, but the other head didn’t care. He wanted to takerevenge. He ate the poisonous fruit. As a result both of them died.
Moral:- People living in a family should never quarrel amongst themselves
Story of True Friends
Once there was a farmer . He had two pets a cock and a dog. They were very goodfriends. One day, dog and the cock made a plan to go on a tour in a jungle. Bothwere wandering here and there and played the whole day. At night, the cock tookrest on the tree. As usual, early in the morning, the cock crowed. A fox heard thecock and immediately came down near the cock. She said,” O cock! “Your voice isvery sweet. So kindly come down and we will play together.”
Cock replied, “Thank you! But I am helpless because there is the doorman lyingdown under the tree. I cannot come down until he wakes up. The Fox thought thatthere was another cock sitting under the tree. The fox became very happy and excit-edly replied, “I will wake him” so he hawked in dog’s ear. The dog wakes up andstarted barking at the fox. At this, the fox was frightened and she went away fromthere.
Moral: Greed leads to grief.
The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
Once, a shepherd boy looked after his master’s sheep near a dense forest on theoutskirts of a village. It was a dull job. He played on his pipe or talked to his dog.One day, he remembered his master told him to shout for help if a wolf came. SO,for pleasure, the shepherd boy called, “Wolf! Wolf!” at the top of his voice al-though there was no wolf.
The villagers left their work and ran towards him to help. But the shepherd boylaughed at them. He enjoyed it a lot. A few days later, the shepherd boy repeatedhis act and called again, “Wolf! Wolf!” The villagers again rushed to help him butonly to laugh at the second time. The villagers were angry.
One evening, a wolf fear came out of the pasture and pounced upon the sheep.The shepherd boy cried again and again at the top of his voice “Wolf! Wolf!” Butnaught the villagers heard him; they did not come to help him. They thought it tobe a false alarm. The wolf killed several sheep. The shepherd boy was injured. Hismaster boxed his ears when he returned back and told him about the incident.
Moral: Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.
Revenge of a Nightingale
Once there was a nightingale who lived on a tree. For many days she was busymaking a nest. She was getting ready to lay her eggs in it.
A pair of snakes who lived in the burrow of the tree was watching the nightingale.
One day, the nightingale laid two eggs. She was very happy and flew here andthere. The nightingale did not want to leave them alone. But she had to go outsidein search of food. So she left her eggs alone and went outside in search of food.
As soon as the Nightingale left her nest, the snakes came out, climbed up thetree and ate both the eggs. When the nightingale come back she was very sad tosee her nest. The eggs were not there and only its shell was there. She understoodwho had eaten her eggs. The nightingale decided to take revenge on them.
She went to the garden. A king came daily to hear her sweet song. On that daynightingale does not sing a song and flew away. The king realized something waswrong with her. He ordered his guards to follow her.
The nightingale flew from there and reached the tree. The guards also reached their following her. They saw that the nightingale was sitting by the side of her nest. There were three eggs in it. She had laid eggs again. The nightingale already had a small pebble in her she deliberately dropped it at the root of the tree. Thinking that an egg had fallen from the nest, the pair of snakes came out of their holes.
The guards saw the snakes. Now they could understand the nightingale’s problem. They killed them.
On the next morning, when the king came to the garden, he heard the melo- dious voice of the nightingale. She was singing in a very happy mood. The king also became very happy.
The nightingale was extremely grateful to the king, as the king had permanently posted guards to take care of her nest. In order to show her gratitude, she would come to the garden every day and make the king happy with her warbling.
Moral: Tit for tat.
Hello! Cave
Long ago, there lived a lion by the name of Kharanakhara. He had been trying tohunt for his prey for the last two days, but could not succeed due to his old ageand physical infirmity. He was no longer strong to hunt for his food. He was quitedejected and disappointed. He thought that he would die of starving. One day,while he was wandering in the jungle hopelessly, he came across a cave. ‘Theremust be some animal who lives in this cave’; so thought the lion. ‘I will hide myselfinside it and wait for its occupant to enter. And as soon as the occupant enters thecave, I shall kill him and eat his flesh.’ Thinking thus, the lion entered the cave andhid himself carefully. After sometime, a fox came near the cave. The cave belongedto her. The fox was surprised to find the foot-marks of a lion pointing towards thecave. ‘Some lion has stealthily entered mycave’, she thought to herself. But to makesure of the presence of the lion inside the cave, the fox played upon a trick.
The fox stood at some distance from the cave to save herself in case of a sud-den attack and shouted, “Hello cave! I’ve come back. Speak to me as you havebeen doing earlier. Why’re you keeping silent, my dear cave? May I come in and oc-cupy my residence?”
Hearing the fox calling the cave, the lion thought to himself, that the cave hewas hiding in, must in reality be a talking cave. The cave might be keeping quiet be-cause of his kingly presence inside. Therefore, if the cave didn’t answer to the fox’squestion, the fox might go away to occupy some other cave and thus, he wouldhave to go without a meal once again.
Trying to be wise, the lion answered in a roaring voice on behalf of the cave,“I’ve not forgotten my practice of speaking to you when you come, my dear fox.Come in and be at home, please.”
Thus, the clever fox confirmed the presence of the lion hiding in her cave andranawaywithoutlosingasinglemoment,saying,“Onlyafoolwouldbelievethatacave speaks.”
Moral:- Presence of mind is the best weapon to guard oneself
The Fox and the Old Lion
Once, there was an old lion. His teeth and claws had worn out. He had grownweak with age. He was unable to catch prey for food. Hunting made him feel tired.So the lion thought of a plan. He pretended to have fallen sick. He took great careto let all his neighbors know about it. He then laid waiting for the visitors.
Whenever an animal came to show sympathy, the lion would eat his plan. Oneday, a fox called on the lion. A fox is an alert animal. He stood at a safe distancefrom the lion and enquired about his health. The lion replied that he was very sick.He invited the fox to step into the cave.
The clever fox stayed out. He thanked the lion for the invitation. The fox askedhim, “please tell me, how do your visitors find their way out of your den? I see thatthere are several footprints leading into your cave, but not a single pair comingout.” Without waiting for the reply from the lion, the fox walked away.
Moral: One must look and think before acting a jumping.
WOLF ! WOLF !!
Therelivedashepherdinavillage.Hehadmanysheep.Hetookthemoutevery morning for grazing. One day, his wife fell ill and he had to go to the city topurchase some medicines for his ailing wife. ‘There will be no one to take care ofthe sheep’, he thought to himself. Then he called his son and told him, ” I’m goingto the city to purchase some medicines for your mother. It will take me two or threedays to come back. So take care of the sheep. Save them from being attacked bythe tigers and wolves. There are many wild animals in the nearby forest. They mightkill our sheep.”
The boy listened to his father’s advice carefully and the next day, he left for thenearbyhillsidewithhisflockofsheep.Buthewasamischievousboy.Hewasfeel-ing lonely. So he wanted to have some fun. He stood on a high rock and beganshouting “Wolf! wolf!, help.”
The villagers heard the boy crying for help. They ran towards the hillside to helpthe boy, carrying big sticks in their hands. When they reached there they found that there was no wolf.
The sheep were grazing happily and the shepherd boy was playing a flute. “Where is the wolf?” the villagers asked the boy.
“There is no wolf here. I was joking,” the boy said and laughed. The villagers became very angry and returned to their work in the village.
Next day, the boy played the same trick. The villagers again reached there tohelp the boy. But when they came to know that the boy was lying, they felt highlyannoyed and went back to the village cursing the boy.
But on the third day, a wolf really came there. The boy got frightened to see hisred eyes. The wolf was huffing and growling. He began advancing towards the flockof sheep, gnashing his teeth and rolling his tongue. The boy lost his courage andbegan trembling with fear. He shouted, “Wolf, wolf, please help!” But to no avail.
This time no one came to help him. The villagers thought that the boy was upto his old tricks. The wolf killed many of his sheep. The boy returned home weeping.
Moral:- People do not trust a liar
The Ants and the Grasshopper
Once, several ants were enjoying the morning sunshine. They were drying thegrains that they had stored up during the summer.
A Grasshopper was starving. He came to the ants. He had a fiddle under hisarms. He played the strings, the ants looked towards him. He begged, “Please giveme some grain to eat. I am hungry.”
The ants wondered, “Have you not stored any grain for the winter? What wereyou doing during the last summer?”
“Oh! I just did not have time to store up any grain” said the grasshopper, “I wasbusy in composing music. I did not even realize when the summer fled past.”
The ants at once realized that the grasshopper was neither wise nor hard-working. He got plenty to eat during summer so he did not think of the hard andcold winter.
The ants did not like it. An old ant said, “If music was more important to youthan play music and live by it. The winter will also pass off soon.”
Moral: Enjoy present with an eye on the future.
The King Cobra And The Ants
Therelivedabigkingcobrainadenseforest.Asusual,hefedonbirds’eggs,lizards, frogs and other small creatures. The whole night he hunted the small crea-tures and when the day broke, he went into his hole to sleep. Gradually, he becamefat. And his fat grew to such a measure that it became difficult for him to enter andcome out of his hole without being scratched.
Ultimately,hedecidedtoabandonhisholeandselectedahugetreeforhisnewhome. But there was an ant hill at the root of the tree. It was impossible for kingcobra to put up with the ants. So, he went to the ant hill and said, “I’m King Cobra,the king of this forest. I order all of you to go from this place and live somewhereelse.”
There were other animals, too, around. They began trembling with fear to seesuchahugesnakebeforethem.Theyranfortheirlives.Buttheantspaidnoheedto his threats. Thousands of ants streamed out of the ant hill. Soon they wereswarming all over the body of the king cobra, stinging and biting him. Thousands of thorny pricks all over his body caused unbearable pain to him. The king cobratried to keep the ants away, but in vain. He wriggled in pain and died atlast.
Moral:- Sometimes even a small person can be a formidable foe
The Thief, The Giant and The Brahmin
Longago,therelivedapoorBrahmininavillage.Heusedtoperformpoojainthe nearby villages to earn his living. Once a rich farmer gave him a cow and toldhim to sell cow’s milk in the market to earn part of his livelihood. But the cow wasvery weak. The Brahmin then begged for alms and fed the cow. Soon the cow be-came fat and healthy.
OnceathiefsawthefatcowoftheBrahminanddecidedtostealit.Onenighthe headed towards the Brahmin’s house.
Agiantalsousedtolivesomewherenearthevillage.Hedevouredhumanbe-ings. The thief met this giant, while he was on his way to Brahmin’s house to stealhis cow.
The thief asked “Who are you and where are you going?”.
Thegiantreplied,“I’magiant.Ieathumans.TodayI’mgoingtodevourtheBrahmin. But who’re you by the way?”
So, both of them reached the Brahmin’s house together. The Brahmin was deepasleep at that time. The thief whipped out a big knife from his pocket and startedwalking to the place, where the cow was tethered. But the giant blocked his way.
“Wait friend!” the giant said. “First let me eat this Brahmin.”
“No!” said the thief. “It’s quite possible that while you go to eat the Brahmin, hewakesupandrunsaway.Inthatcase,theremightbequiteacommotionhereandas a result, neither you’ll get your Brahmin nor will I get my cow.”
Andthus,bothofthemstartedhavingaheatedargumentbetweenthemselves.The loud arguments woke up the Brahmin. He soon realized the whole situation.
He recited mantras and burned the giant with his spiritual powers. Then hestarted beating the thief with a long and thick stick. The thief began to cry and ranto save his life.
Thus, the Brahmin was saved from both of them.
Moral:- Quarreling on any issue always benefits the others
