Moral Stories

[SS91]

The Pig and the Sheep

A farmer's boy went into his field. There were some sheep and a pig there. He picked up the pig that squealed aloud.

"Why are you making a fuss? When he catches us, we never cry." said a sheep.

"Shut up, cried the pig, "the shepherd wants only wool from you. But this boy is taking me away for my meat."

MORAL: Life is dear to everyone.

[SS91]

A Fisherman And A Sprat



A fisherman had been fishing for along time but without luck. At last he tugged at his net and saw a small fish caught in it.

"Please let me go," begged the fish, "I will grow bigger in a few days and then you can catch me again."

The fisherman said, "Now that I have caught you I won't let you go. If I leave you, I may never see you again."

MORAL: A bird in band is worth two in bush.

[SS91]

The Town-Mouse And The Country-Mouse

A town-mouse paid a visit to his friend who lived in the countryside. The country-mouse was happy to see his friend. So he prepared a fine feast for him. The town-mouse looked at the fruit and the car of corn with hatred

"Is this how you live ?" he asked, "life in the country does not offer much."

He persuaded the country-mouse to accompany him to the town and see all the good things there.

So, the country-mouse packed all his belongings and off they went to the city. The country-mouse was really surprised to see the things there. But as soon as they settled down to enjoy a fine meal of cheese and fruit, a big cat leapt in through the window. Seeing the cat, both the mice ran into their hole to save themselves, so the cat ate up all the cheese and fruit.

When the cat had gone away, the mice came out of their hole.

"I am going," cried the country-mouse, "I like my simple fare in safety than this grand feast in such a danger."

MORAL: Safety is the first importance.

[SS91]

The Boar And The Foxes

Two foxes watched a wild boar sharpening his tusks on a tree-trunk.

"Why do you do that?" asked one of them, "the huntsmen are not out today."

"Let that be so," answered the boar, "but whenever my life is in danger, I shall need my tusks and there will be no time to sharpen them."

MORAL: Lost time cannot be recalled

[SS91]

The Lark In The Corn-Field

Once a Lark made her nest in a corn-field. Soon she laid eggs in it. After a few days small babies hatched out of them.

One day the baby-larks overheard the farmer say, "I will call my neighbors to reap this field."

The Baby-larks got alarmed to hear this and told their mother about it.

"Don't worry," said the mother.

Some days later, the farmer came again and said, I will call my relatives to reap this field." The baby-larks afraid again.

"Fear not," said their mother.

But the next day the farmer came there with his little son and said, "I will reap this field tomorrow."

"Now is the time to go. When a man says he will do the work himself, he will certainly do it," said the mother-lark.

MORAL : Don't fear hollow threats.

[SS91]

The Cock And The Jewel

A cock was scratching the ground with his claws looking for a tasty morsel to eat. While doing so, he chanced to turn over a stone and find a shining gem under it.

"Cock-a doodle-do !" cried the cock and said, "It looks very fine and it may be valuable to some people. But I would rather have found a nice grain of corn."

MORAL: Gems can't pacify hunger.

[SS91]

You Can't Please everyone

 

One day a man was going to market with his son and his ass. They met a couple on the way.

"Why walk when you have an ass to ride?" called out the husband, "seat the boy on the ass."

"I would like that," said the boy, "help me up father."

And the father did that willingly.

Soon they met another couple. "How shameful of you!" cried the woman, "let your father ride, won't he be tired?"

So, the boy got down and the father rode the ass. Again they marched on.

"Poor boy", said the next person they met, "why should the lazy father ride while his son is walking?"

So, the boy got onto the ass too. As they went on, they met some travellers.

"How cruel of them!" They are up to kill the poor ass." cried one of the travellers.

Hearing this, the father and the son got down. Now they decided to carry the ass on their shoulders. As they did so, the travellers broke into laughter.

The laughter frightened the ass. It broke free and galloped away.

MORAL: You can not please everyone

[SS91]

Learn from Mistakes

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.”

Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”

[SS91]

ONLY OTHERS CAN TELL YOUR WORTH

Once upon a time, Mercury, the god of skill, was tickled by a strange idea. He became anxious to know how human beings estimated his worth in comparison to other gods.

So, he disguised himself as a man and came to the earth. Roaming about, he came to the house of a sculptor where he saw idols of various gods, including his own.

Then he approached the sculptor and asked, �What price would you charge for the idol of Juno, the goddess of marriage?�
The sculptor replied, �two dollars�.

Again, Mercury asked, �What for the idol of Jupiter, the chief of gods?�

�Five dollars�, replied the sculptor.

�And how much for Mercury?� asked the god.

�Oh that. I shall give that free if you buy the other two�, pat came the reply.

Mercury was cut to the quick and disappeared

[SS91]

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

Once a fox was roaming around in the dark. Unfortunately, he fell into a well. He tried his level best to come out but all in vain. So, he had no other alternative but to remain there till the next morning.

The next day, a goat came that way. She peeped into the well and saw the fox there. The goat asked �what are you doing there, Mr. Fox?�

The sly fox replied, �I came here to drink water. It is the best I have ever tasted. Come and see for yourself.�

Without thinking even for a while, the goat jumped into the well, quenched her thirst and looked for a way to get out. But just like the fox, she also found herself helpless to come out.

Then the fox said, �I have an idea. You stand on your hind legs. I�ll climb on your head and get out. Then I shall help you come out too.�

The goat was innocent enough to understand the shrewdness of the fox and did as the fox said and help him get out of the well.

While walking away, the fox said, �Had you been intelligent enough, you would never have got in without seeing how to get out.�

That�s why we say, �Look before you leap�.

[SS91]

GREED A CURSE

Once upon a time there lived a cloth merchant in a village with his wife and two children. They were indeed quite well-off. They had a beautiful hen which laid an egg everyday. It was not an ordinary egg, rather, a golden egg. But the man was not satisfied with what he used to get daily. He was a get rich-trice kind of a person.

The man wanted to get all the golden eggs from his hen at one single go. So, one day he thought hard and at last clicked upon a plan. He decided to kill the hen and get all the eggs together.

So, the next day when the hen laid a golden egg, the man caught hold of it, took a sharp knife, chopped off its neck and cut its body open.

There was nothing but blood all around & no trace of any egg at all. He was highly grieved because now he would not get even one single egg.

His life was going on smoothly with one egg a day but now, he himself made his life miserable. The outcome of his greed was that he started becoming poorer & poorer day by day and ultimately became a pauper. How jinxed and how much foolish he was.

So, the moral of the story is- one who desires more, looses all. One should remain satisfied with what one gets.

[SS91]

UNITED WE STAND ;DIVIDED WE FALL

Once upon a time three sons were engaged in merchantile business under the supervision of their father. They were very rich. Each son was proficient in his own department.

If one was good in sales, the other one was competent in purchases and similarly the third one in finance.

Unluckily, one day the father got bed ridden and the sons decided to divide the business under the fallacy that each of them were experts in their own way and can handle their individual business solely.

The father was glum and grumpy with their decision but was helpless and unfortunately the separation took place.

As a result three of them became each others competitors. With the passage of time, they started having huge losses in their respective businesses. They tried all possible ways to succeed but the situation became worse.

Then they came to their father for a piece of advice. The father said �when you all were doing the business jointly, the business ran successfully. But it was not any one of you responsible for the success of the business rather traits of all three of you put together made the business successful.

The sons realized their mistake & got reunited. So we conclude that disunity always ruins.

[SS91]

LEARN TO LIVE WITH YOUR WEAKNESSES

It was a fine day during the rainy season. A peacock was dancing happily in a forest. Suddenly he reminded of his ugly rough voice. His face turned pale and his eyes started watering.

Suddenly he saw a nightingale sitting on a nearby tree and singing. Listening her, the peacock lamented �what a sweet voice she has, which everybody loves and praises but when I utter a sound everybody makes fun of me. How jinxed am I".

Just then appeared Juna- wife of Jupiter, the chief of gods. She asked the peacock "why are u sad?" The peacock sobbed out ! I have got such a beautiful body that is praised by all but my voice is so bad that everyone laughs at it. So this beauty is useless".

The goddess replied " you are the only one who is unhappy. Several creatures have been gifted by god with various gifts like- you the beauty, eagle the strength, nightingale the sweet voice, so on and so forth. So don�t grumble over your weakness, accept the way it is and be happy".

Hence, one should not regret on what he/she doesn't have rather be satisfied with what one has.

[SS91]

NOBODY BELIEVES A LIAR

Once a mischievous boy lived in a village that stood in the feet of a hill. One day he thought of having fun at the cost of his fellow-villagers.

Standing on a high rock, he shouted at the top of his voice, Lion! Lion! Come, save me.

The villagers heard the shout and ran to help him. But when they reached there, they could see no lion and the boy was perfectly all right. The boy laughed at the villagers saying, No Lion ; I did it only for fun.

The villagers got highly annoyed and came back with an air of anger.

Few days later the boy repeated the whole act. Again the villagers went to his rescue but were duped again. Now they decided not to be fooled by him anymore.

Unfortunately, one day, the lion really came there. Now the boy shouted  Lion! Lion! as loud as he could. But nobody came to help him out.

The lion attacked the boy. The boy struggled hard to save himself but within few minutes, the beast killed him.

So, once a liar, always a liar.

[SS91]

How granny saved the village

Once upon a time, during a war, a battle was fought near a small village. The losing side, when they saw that the battle was lost, ran away and left the nearby village undefended. The village was right in the path of the army that had won. Everyone in the village was very frightened, they expected that the soldiers would attack and rob them. However, one old lady didn't seem very worried. She just sat quietly and read some prayers from her prayer book.

Her grandson asked, "Aren't you frightened, granny? Tomorrow the soldiers will be here and they'll beat us and may even kill us." The old lady calmed him with a smile and read aloud from her prayer book. Then, she prayed, "May the Lord raise a solid wall to keep the enemies from this house."

The young boy was worried and asked, "But is that not asking for too much from God? Surely, it's not right to pray for impossible things"

The old lady smiled and said, "Grandson, my prayer doesn't mean that I am asking God to build a stone wall around our house. We must put our trust in God. He will protect us if we trust Him. He certainly is able to do so."

When the soldiers arrived they all came with the motive to destroy. They kept destroying each house that lay across their path. As they approached the devoted granny's house, suddenly they felt as though their hands became heavy and could not be lifted to destroy her house. Seeing this, more soldiers joined in to attack the house but to their surprise, they too could not raise their hands to attack. Finally, understanding that there was a supreme force much more powerful than them guarding this house, the attacking soldiers gave up. They fell on their knees, asked for forgiveness, and later even helped the villagers rebuild what they had destroyed.

Moral: Even though a situation may seem impossible to us, God is always with us and hears our prayers. He only asks that we put our faith and trust in Him and He will protect us.