Fools

It was a cold and silent night. The weather was freezing. A group of monkeys were on a tree. They were clinging to its branches. One of the monkeys said, “I wish we could find some fire. It will help us to keep warm”.

Suddenly they noticed a flock of fireflies. One of the young monkeys thought it was fire.

He caught a firefly. He put it under a dry leaf and started blowing at it.

Some other monkeys also joined in his effort.

A sparrow came flying to its nest. The monkeys were sitting on the same tree. She noticed what they were doing. The sparrow laughed. She said, “Hey silly monkeys that is a firefly, not real fire”.

The sparrow continued: “I think all of you should take shelter in a cave”. The monkeys did not listen to the sparrow. They continued to blow at our poor firefly.

After some time the monkeys became very tired. Now they realized what the sparrow had said was correct.

They set free the firefly and moved to a nearby cave.

Friends

Bunny rabbit lived in the forest. He had many friends. He was proud of his friends.

One day Bunny rabbit heard the loud barking of the wild dogs. He was very scared. He decided to ask for help. He quickly went to his friend deer. He said: “Dear friend, some wild dogs are chasing me. Can you chase them away with your sharp antlers?” Dear said: “That is right, I can. But now I am busy. Why don’t you ask bear for help?”

Bunny rabbit ran to the bear. “My dear friend you are very strong, please help me. Some wild dogs are after me. Please chase them away,” he requested the bear.

Bear replied: “I am sorry. I am hungry and tired. I need to find some food. Please ask the monkey for help”.

Poor Bunny went to the monkey, elephant, goat and all his friends. Bunny felt sad that nobody was ready to help him.

He understood that he has to think of a way out. He hid under a bush. He lay still the wild dogs went their way.

The Stranger in the Garden

Once upon a time there was a man who had a big garden. He had planted many fruit trees and cared for them till they bear fruits. Now he wanted to pick up the fruits and sell them to make money for his family.

One fine day while picking fruits with his son, the man saw a stranger sitting on the branch of a tree and picking the fruits. This man become angry and shouted, “Hey you! What are you doing on my tree? Aren’t you ashamed of stealing fruits in the day time?” The stranger on the branch just looked at the gardener but didn’t reply, and continued picking the fruits. The gardener was very angry and shouted again, “For a whole year I have taken care of these trees, you have no right to take the fruits without my permission so come down at once!”

The stranger on the tree answered, “Why should I come down? This is the garden of God and I am the servant of God, so I have the right to pick these fruits and you should not interfere between the work of God and his servant.” The gardener was very surprised at this answer and thought of a plan. He called his son and said, “go bring a rope and get this man down from the tree.” His son brought the rope and the gardener ordered him to tie the stranger to the tree. The gardener then took a stick and started to beat the stranger. The stranger began to scream. “Why are you beating me? You have no right to do this.”

The gardener paid no attention and continued beating him. The stranger screamed, “Don’t you fear God, you are beating an innocent man? The gardener answered, “Why should I fear? This wood in my hand belongs to God and I am too the servant of God, so I have nothing to fear, and you shouldn’t interfere with the work of God and his servant.” The stranger hesitated and then spoke, “Wait don’t beat me, I am sorry for taking the fruits. This is your garden and I should seek your permission before taking the fruits. So, please forgive and set me free.”

The gardener smiled and said, “Since you have now realized your mistake, I will forgive you but remember that God has given all his servants brains so every person’s deeds are in his own hands.” Then the gardener untied him and let him go free.

A Merchant and his Donkey

One beautiful spring morning, a merchant loaded his donkey with bags of salt to go to the market in order to sell them. The merchant and his donkey were walking along together. They had not walked far when they reached a river on the road.

Unfortunately, the donkey slipped and fell into the river and noticed that the bags of salt loaded on his back became lighter.

There was nothing the merchant could do, except return home where he loaded his donkey with more bags of salt. As they reached the slippery riverbank, now deliberately, the donkey fell into the river and wasted all the bags of salt on its back again.

The merchant quickly discovered the donkey’s trick. He then returned home again but re-loaded his donkey with bags of sponges.

The foolish, tricky donkey again set on its way. On reaching the river he again fell into the water. But instead of the load becoming lighter, it became heavier.

The merchant laughed at him and said: “You foolish donkey, your trick had been discovered, you should know that, those who are too clever sometimes over reach themselves.”

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep. The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf was wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep’s clothing; so, leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, and for some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals.

Appearances are deceptive

Butterfly and Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What this man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly...

A Hole in the Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence....

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The day passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.”

The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends and loved ones are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Water your relationships with kindness… and they will grow. So be careful little lips what you say…! And you won't chase friendships away.

The Hare and the Tortoise

There once was a speedy Hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, the Tortoise challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

The Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at the tortoise and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

The Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax."

The Tortoise walked and walked; never ever stopping until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, that they woke up Hare. The Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was already over the line.

MORAL: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

The Goose with the Golden Eggs

Once when a Lion was asleep, a little

Once upon a time, a man and his wife had the good fortune to have a goose which laid a golden egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough.

They imagined that if the bird must be able to lay golden eggs, its insides must be made of gold. And they thought that if they could get all that precious metal at once, they would get mighty rich very soon. So the man and his wife decided to kill the bird.

However, upon cutting the goose open, they were shocked to find that its innards were like that of any other goose!

MORAL: THINK BEFORE YOU ACT

The Lion and the Mouse

Once when a Lion was asleep, a little Mouse began running up and down upon him. This soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him and opened his big jaws to swallow him.

"Pardon, O King!" cried the little Mouse, "Forgive me this time. I shall never repeat it and I shall never forget your kindness. And who knows, but I may be able to do you a good turn one of these days?"

The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go.

Sometime later a few hunters captured the King and tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on.

Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, ran up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. "Was I not right?" said the little Mouse, very happy to help the Lion.

MORAL: Little friends may prove great friends.

Moral Short Stories for Kids | Small English Stories Online

Moral Short Stories for Kids | Small English Stories Online

The Fox and the Stork

A selfish fox once invited a stork to dinner at his home and for a joke put nothing before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. The fox could easily lap this up, but the Stork could only wet the end of her long bill in it, and stayed hungry.

“I am sorry that the soup is not to your liking," said the fox with a sly smile.

"Oh, please do not apologise," said the Stork. "I hope you will return this visit, and come and dine with me too sometime." So a day was appointed when the Fox should visit the Stork.

Finally, when they were seated at the table, the Stork served them both some soup in a very long‑necked jar with a narrow mouth. The stork drank the soup easily but the fox could not insert his snout into the tall jar. This time it was the Fox’s turn to go hungry.

MORAL: ONE BAD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER.