Short Moral Stories are a great source of entertainment along with their learning aspect. Some of the best stories that have been portrayed in movies or books always have a learning or moral element. It becomes extremely crucial to narrate and make your kids familiar with stories with great morals. Stories can help in developing in kids while embedding essential values in them that they will require in the future to be great individuals and an important asset for society. Therefore, Podium brings you some of the best English short moral stories for kids to learn.
Clever Fish
A fisherman was heading to the river to catch some fish. He threw his net into the river and he just sat waiting there for fish to come into the net. He was fishing so that he could sell a lot of fish in the market and get some good money out of it. After some time, the fisherman heard some hustle and bustle in the net. The fisherman thought he must have got a lot of fish in the net, he actually took the net out of water. The fisherman was very disappointed because he only got a tiny little fish in the net, he was annoyed. He grabbed hold of that fish but then suddenly, the fish started talking to him.
Tiny little fish begged the fisherman to leave and let her go. But the fisherman did not pay any attention to the request of the fish. The fish kept on requesting the fisherman, “I can help you a lot if you think fisherman. If you leave me back in the water, I will tell all my friends about you and I will bring them near to the bank of the river. So that, when you come next time, you will have much more fish.” The fisherman thought to himself, “Wow, this is not a bad deal at all.” He was thinking if he let go of one tiny little fish today, tomorrow he will get a lot more fish because this tiny little fish will bring all her friends to me.
The Moral of the Story
The tiny little fish was able to convince the fisherman and he allowed the fish to go back into the river. The tiny little fish was really happy and swam away happily into the river never to come back. Poor fisherman, he came the next day expecting that there will be a lot of fish that this tiny little fish would bring. But that tiny little fish was very clever and because of her cleverness, she saved her life from the fisherman. So children, the moral of this story is you have to be really clever to save your life from such challenging moments.
Time is Valuable
Arjun was a very lazy boy. He always used to postpone things. He had a bad habit of procrastination. Arjun’s father was fed up with him, and that is why he emphasized the importance of time and time management to Arjun. He said that you should never waste time. Arjun promised his father that he would never postpone things from now on. One of Arjun’s teachers called him and told him that he had won the singing competition that was held a month ago, although, he needs to collect the winning prize the next day itself. Although as usual, Arjun didn’t care and went to take the prize the next day. To Arjun’s surprise, the prize was a ticket to the circus that was done yesterday, making the prize worthless. Thus, Arjun learnt a lesson from this incident.
The Moral of the Story
The moral of the story is that time is very valuable. You should always do things on time and never procrastinate.
The Gift of Honesty
A long time ago in a village lived a painter named Jack. Jack was known for his honesty and nice behaviour. Although, Jack was a poor guy and he was a painter. His earnings were very less. His life was full of struggles and an entire day of hard work could only provide him two meals a day. He was wished for a bigger project so that he could earn a lot more. Jack was fully committed to small tasks as well.
One day the landlord of the village called Jack and said, “Listen to me Jack, I have called you for a very important job. Do you want to do it?” Jack replied, “Sure sir, I will definitely do it. Tell me what work is it?” The landlord then expressed his requirements and wanted Jack to paint his boat near the river bank. He wanted the work to be finished by today itself. Jack replied, “Okay sir, I will finish the work by today only.” Jack was very happy about getting work. Later the landlord asked Jack about his charges for the work, to which Jack replied, “I generally charge 1500 bucks for this job, rest you have to decide.” The landlord agreed to Jack’s charges of 1500 bucks and asked that the work should be good. Jack reassured the landlord and asked him not to worry.
Part 2
The landlord then took Jack near the river to see his boat. After seeing the boat, Jack asked for some time from the landlord as he went away to bring his materials and stuff. As soon as Jack returned with his material, he started painting the boat. As Jack was painting the boat, he noticed a big hole in the boat.
Jack thought if he paints the boat without fixing the hole, the boat will sink and decided to first block the hole and then continue with his painting. Jack then blocked the hole and painted the whole boat later. He then went to the landlord and informed him that the work is finished. The landlord agreed and asked Jack to accompany him to the boat. They reached the shore and the landlord said to Jack as he saw the boat, “Wow Jack! You have done commendable work. Do me a favour, visit me tomorrow morning and collect your wages.” Both of them then headed straight to their homes.
The family of the landlord went sightseeing a day after in the same boat. Later in the evening, the servant of the landlord, Charlie, returned from vacation and enquired about everyone as he couldn’t spot anyone in the house. The landlord told him everything. On listening to the landlord, Charlie got stressed. The landlord asked Charlie after seeing him stressed, “What happened Charlie? Why do you look so tensed?” Charlie told him about the hole in the boat. The landlord freaked out after hearing this.
Part 3
Within a few minutes, the family of the landlord returned back home after a day-long journey. The landlord took a sigh of relief after seeing his wife and kids completely fine. The next day, the landlord called Jack and said to him, “Here Jack, take your pay. You have done a great job. I am very happy with your work quality.” After counting the money, Jack got massively surprised. The amount was more than what he was hired for. Jack said to the landlord, “Sir, you have given me more amount by mistake.” “No Jack, I haven’t paid you any extra amount. Take it, you deserve this money, it is all yours” the landlord added. Jack questioned again, “But sir we agreed for only 1500 bucks. These are 6000 bucks. How come it is the right time.”
The landlord later explained to Jack that the increase in money is because Jack has done great work. Jack got confused. The landlord then continued, “You blocked the hole in the boat about which I was totally unaware of. If you wanted, you could have left the hole as it was or could have asked for more money but you didn’t either of them. Because of you blocking the hole, my family was able to travel safely in the boat. Had not you blocked the hole, my family could have drowned. Because of you only they are safe. This is why this money is for you, your hard work, and your honesty.”
Jack got very happy for the money and for the landlord’s kindness. Jack then thanked the landlord and happily went back to his home.
The Moral of the Story
Honesty and hard work always pay off in the end.
Two Lazy Brothers
In a state lived two brothers named Tim and George. They were slackers since childhood. The reason behind them lingering here and there was their lazy attitude. Whenever they were told to work, they used to sleep due to their lazy attitude. Tim and George’s mother was fed up with them. She couldn’t figure out what she must do to make her kids work hard. One day Tim and George were resting under a mango tree. After some time, a mango fell in between them. Since both of them were feeling extremely lazy, none of them made efforts to pick the mango. They just kept on staring at the mango.
As they were resting, the minister of the state was passing by the same route. On seeing the minister, Tim said to the minister, “Good afternoon Minister. We need a favour from you.” The minister replied, “Are you two being serious?” Tim continued, “If possible, can you please pass me this mango?” The minister found Tim very weird. He said, “the mango is lying in front of you. You can pick it yourself.” Tim replied, “It is not possible for me sir. I will have to work very hard to grab it.” “What sort of hard work is this?” The Minister replied and added, “You can’t lean your body two inches further?” to which Geroge replied, “Yes sir, this is the only problem. Who likes to work? Please give us the mango.”
The minister got angry as he disliked their laidback attitude and went away. Tim and George remained intact in their positions. The minister then went to Tim and George’s place and met their mother. Their mother claimed she doesn’t know how to change them. The minister asked their mother to send them to his palace.
Part 2
Both Tim and George went to the palace the other day and met the king. The king said to Tim and George, “I have some special work for you two. From tomorrow onwards, you two will guard one end of the palace. Since you both don’t like to do so much work, you will be able to do this task.” The minister asked both of them to be careful as there is a lot of precious material in the area that Tim and George will be guarding and we don’t want any sort of mishappening.
Tim and George then begin to guard the palace. But after some time, they sat down and slept. Due to their carelessness, that end of the palace got robbed. The next morning when they woke up, they found the minister standing in front of them. The minister yells at them and expressed his disappointment. The minister emphasized, “Because of your laziness, the minister has suffered heavy losses last night. You two are punishable for a death penalty now.” As soon as they heard the minister, both Tim and George freaked out. As soon as they are presented in front of the lion, they bow down to the king and cry for their lives. After hearing their plea, the king forgave Tim and George.
The Moral of the Story
From this story, we learned the lesson that we must never be lazy.
Too Many Bananas
Shringeri Shrinivas was having a very bad day. He asked so many people to take the bananas that he had grown on his farm. “No, thank you,” they all said. “The quality of the bananas are too good, we like them but we have had too many. We cannot eat anymore.” Poor Shringeri Shrinivas! He then got the idea to take assistance from the Farmer’s Centre in Doddooru, a big town near his village. Off he went, carrying the best crop of bananas.
A few days later, Shringeri Shrinivas returned home looking very happy. He started growing bananas on his farm amusingly now. Although this time around, Shringeri did not offer fruits to anybody surprisingly. Not to his family, not to his neighbour, not to his friends, not to the traders, and not even to his cows! Everyone became very curious. Where were all the bananas going? Then one-day Shivanna, Shringeri’s neighbour organized a big pooja to please the Gods. The priest of the pooja requested Shivanna to gather 108 ripe bananas as they will be essential to the pooja. Shivanna ran to Shringeri Shrinivas. “I am sorry for saying no to you before but now I need 108 ripe bananas. Can you help me, please?’ Shringeri Shrinivas tapped his chin. “Well, let me see what I can do”
Part 2
The pooja started. The whole village came to watch. The priest began chanting. Then the priest asked for the bananas to offer them to the gods. Just then, in came Shringeri Shrinivas carrying a big bag. From the bag, he carefully took out 27 packets. On each packet was written- “High-Quality Banana Halwa, S.S. Farms.” Shringeri Shrinivas offered one to the priest. “Each packet contains the pulp of four bananas. There are 27 packets. So here are your 108 ripe bananas!” This later cracked up the entire village and everyone started laughing at Shringeri Shrinivas. This made it clear what Shringeri has been doing with all those bananas now.
The Moral of the Story
Never act too smart and become overconfident.
No Smiles Today
Shanti and Arun were good friends. Shanti was always cheerful. One day, Shanti walked into the classroom slowly. Her head was bent down. She looked sad. “Did someone scold you?” asked Arun. Shanti shook her head. She sat down and did not lookup. She did not answer ‘Present!’ when Miss Sona called her name. Miss Sona called again, louder this time, “Shanti Kumari!” Shanti raised her hand. “Do you have a sore throat?” her teacher asked. Shanti shook her head. “Are you feeling okay?” Miss Sona asked. Shanti stayed quiet.
Arun wanted to make her smile. He had an idea! He took something out from his bag. When he ran to show it to Shanti, he slipped and the item went flying towards Shanti. Shanti saw it and caught it. It was a big green rubber frog! Shanti’s eyes flew open. She opened her mouth to laugh. That is when Arun and her friends saw why she had not smiled or talked all day! Four of her front teeth were missing!
The Moral of the Story
Always surround yourself with good company and friends and be there for one another in whatever way possible.
The Magical Cow
A long time ago in a small village lived two farmers named Lewis and Harry. Lewis and Harry were very rich farmers. They had a huge farm and many cows but they were not happy, they wanted more. In their neighbourhood lived another farmer named George. George was a poor farmer. He had only one cow and a small farm. But he was happy with what he had. Every night before sleeping, he used to thank god for what he had. Everything was running smoothly until one day Lewis and Harry came to George’s house to purchase his cow. But George didn’t want to sell his beloved cow, so he clearly said, “I don’t want to sell my cow, please leave my house.” Hearing George’s response, Lewis and Harry got angry. They decided to take revenge and they made a plan.
They burned George’s crop at night. George saw his farm in the morning and he was heartbroken. Even after a week, he could not think of any solution. Also, the poor cow starved as he could not feed her. So he thought it is better to sell the cow as he couldn’t feed her. The next morning, along with the cow, he took whatever little silver coins he had and left for the market. On the way to market, George thought of what if some robbers attack me on the way. Because of that, he hid his silver coins in the pocket of the cow’s jacket. After travelling for a while, he got tired and decided to rest in an inn. He tied the cow outside the inn and went inside.
Part 2
Just then suddenly, a silver coin rolled out of the cow’s jacket. The owner of the inn saw this and he got amazed thinking this must be a magical cow. The owner got greedy. He approached George and asked him to sell the cow to him for a pouch of silver coins. George knew this is not the actual price but thinking this was God’s wish, George agreed to sell the cow to the inn’s owner. George took the pouch of silver coins and left happily back to his village. On reaching his house, he sat on his bed and begin to count the coins.
Just then Lewis and Harry came to his house to mock him but they found that George is surrounded by many silver coins. They were surprised. They could not believe their eyes. George told them everything and after hearing his story, Lewis and Harry couldn’t believe their plan had failed. They planned so much to take revenge but they ended up with nothing.
The Moral of the Story
From this story, we learned that nothing can be gained by doing harm to another person.
Conclusion
In this article, we learned multiple stories and the morals that they had in them. It is important for kids to read such stories and incorporate the good values shown and portrayed in the stories as it is a major part of their development. However, we should also focus on the evil characters in the stories and learn what to not do in the future and become good human beings.
You can also check out how to write a short story yourself here!
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 01: Are moral stories a necessity for a kid’s development?
Answer: Yes. they are, as moral stories teach kids the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
Question 02: Name some short story authors that one should know.
Answer:
