The Monkey and The Crocodile
Once upon a time, there lived a monkey on a mango tree on the banks of a river. The mangoes of that tree were the sweetest of all. The tree bore fruits year-round. The monkey used to live very happily on the tree eating the tasty fruits and playing on the tree. On a particular day, a crocodile came near that mango tree. He seemed very exhausted. The monkey offered him some delicious mangoes from the tree. The crocodile loved those mangoes and thanked the monkey for the same. From then on, the crocodile used to visit the monkey every day and they became good friends. One day the crocodile thought to take some mangoes for his wife. When his wife ate the mangoes, she demanded something very absurd from the crocodile. She said that these fruits are so tasty, then how delicious will be the heart of that monkey who regularly eats these mangoes! She ordered the crocodile to bring the monkey’s heart for her. The crocodile was shocked at her demand. The monkey was his friend. How could he betray him? He declined to kill the monkey and bring his heart to her. The crocodile’s wife was adamant about getting the monkey’s heart. She told the crocodile that she is not keeping well and the doctor has recommended her to eat a monkey’s heart to recover. She even threatened him that if the crocodile didn’t get the monkey’s heart for her, she would surely die. The crocodile had to give in to her order. With a heavy heart, the crocodile left to get the monkey. He went to the monkey and said, “Friend, my wife loved the mangoes sent by you. She has invited you to our house to thank you.” The monkey agreed and sat on the crocodile’s back so that the crocodile could take him to his house. In the middle of the river, the crocodile began sinking in. The monkey got frightened and he asked the crocodile as to why he was sinking. The crocodile, knowing that now there was no escape for the monkey, replied, “Forgive me, my friend. My wife needs to eat your heart to save her life. That’s why I am taking you with me.” The monkey was outraged. The monkey was smart. He kept calm and told the crocodile that he would be more than happy to save his wife’s life but he left his heart at the mango tree. The monkey told him that they can quickly go and get his heart from the tree. The crocodile accepted it at once and turned back. As soon as they reached the tree, the monkey jumped onto the tree and said, “O foolish crocodile, how can someone take out his heart and keep it somewhere else? You have deceived me as a friend. Now go and never come back. The ashamed crocodile went back to his home. Moral of the Story : Quick Intelligence can save you from problems.
King Midas and the Golden Touch Story
Once upon a time in ancient Greece, there lived a king named Midas. He had a lovely daughter whom he lovingly named Marigold. Although King Midas had immense wealth in his kingdom’s treasury, he was always dissatisfied and unhappy. He was always greedy for more wealth and wished he had more gold in his treasure. One day as he was counting gold coins and admiring his treasure rooms, a wise Greek God appeared before him who offered the king a wish for some of his good deeds. Without wasting any time, King Midas quickly wished that everything that he touched should turn into gold. The Greek God granted his wish promptly and disappeared. King Midas was delighted about his wish being granted, he went and touched an apple tree in his garden. To his excitement, the tree turned into gold instantly. He was so thrilled that he went on touching random things all around him, which turned into gold immediately. His joy knew no bounds and he was overwhelmed with excitement. Soon he was hungry and he returned to his palace to eat some food. However, though he was starving, he was disappointed that he could not eat anything as whatever he touched turned into gold instantly. Seeing him frustrated and troubled, Marigold came running and threw her arms around her father to comfort him. But to his dismay, even his daughter turned into gold as he touched her. King Midas’ face turned pale and his heart sank with unbearable pain and grief. He was horrified upon seeing his daughter turn into a golden statue. He cried in anguish and regretted his wish for the golden touch. In no time, he realised his greed was his biggest ever flaw and begged the Greek God to take back his wish. Soon the Greek God appeared before him and felt pity for his condition and took back the golden touch wish from him. Further, the wise God instructed King Midas to take a dip in the pond of his palace and sprinkle that water to all those things which he wanted to change back to the previous condition. He blindly followed the instructions and soon his daughter, Marigold was back to normal when he sprinkled the water on her. Thereafter, he was elated to get back his beloved daughter and promised to stop being greedy henceforth.
The Ugly Duckling
One hot summer day on a farm, a mother duck sat on her nest and wondered when her eggs would hatch. One fine day, the eggs started cracking and hatching and tiny little ducklings started coming out of the shells one after another. The tiny ducklings flapped their wings and cried “Quack, quack!” The mother duck was happy to see all her ducklings, except for the last one which emerged as a strange-looking duckling with grey feathers. Mother duck called out to all her ducklings for their first swim in the pond. She led all her children to the nearby pond and began teaching each duckling how to become a proper duck. All the ducklings quacked in joy, except for the one with grey feathers which made a crackling sound. The other ducklings stared at him and began to laugh. The ugly one hung his head in shame. In due course of time, the mother duck and her ducklings started ignoring him while the others practised quacking, swimming, diving and splashing water in the pond. Feeling dejected and unwanted, finally one evening the ugly duckling decided to leave his home in winter and ran away to live in a swamp all by himself. On his way, the ugly duckling stumbled across a farmer who took pity on him and offered him food and shelter. However, the duckling was terrified of the farmer’s mischievous children, so he escaped the place. At last, as spring arrived the duckling was happy that he could start swimming again in the lake. He went to the nearby lake where he found a flock of beautiful swans swimming and gazed at their beauty. As the duckling had fully grown now and he approached the swans if he could join them, completely assured of rejection. To his surprise, the swans welcomed him warmly. While getting into the lake, he saw his reflection in the water and was surprised to see that he is not an ugly duckling anymore. He had transformed into a beautiful swan. Soon he joined the flock of beautiful swans and was happy to fly off with his newly found swan family.
The Ant and The Grasshopper
Once upon a time, there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow by the river. It was during the hot summer season when the ant was toiling hard by collecting wheat grains from the farmer’s field. The ant would work hard all day long from dawn to dusk collecting the heavy grain well balanced on her back. She would then put the wheat grain in her larder carefully and rush back to the field to collect another grain. She would scurry back and forth between the field and her larder, often repeating this task the whole day. On the other hand, there was a grasshopper in the grassy meadow who would spend all his time in singing and dancing. He would often scorn at the ant for toiling so hard the entire day in collecting the grains. He would frequently call the ant to join him in singing, dancing and making merry at the present time. However, the ant would ignore him and continue with her work. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder and he would often ridicule the ant stating that they have enough food to sustain themselves in summer. Hearing this, the ant said that she was saving some food for the cold season and recommended the grasshopper to follow the same. The grasshopper didn’t pay heed to her words and continued singing and dancing merrily. Soon summer faded to autumn and autumn to winter. It became freezing cold outside due to snowfall and the sun was barely visible and the nights were long and dark. Out of cold, the grasshopper lost his interest in singing and making merry. He was cold and hungry and had no place to take shelter from the snow outside. He wondered how to save himself from this tough situation. Suddenly he remembered about the ant and visited her for some food and shelter. Off he went to her place and knocked at her door for help. When she opened the door, the grasshopper offered to sing for her in return for some food and shelter. To this, the ant replied that she had toiled hard in summer to save enough food for winter and the grasshopper had mocked her then. She gently asked him to sing somewhere else and earn his food and shelter. It is then, the grasshopper realised that he should have saved up enough for the winter instead of wasting his time being lazy during summer in singing and dancing around. Moral of the Story: “Make hay while the sun shines.”
The Frog Prince Story
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a beautiful palace. There was a lake surrounding the palace garden. The princess had a golden ball and she loved to play with it. One day while playing in the garden, the ball fell into the lake. Feeling very upset and helpless, the young lady started weeping loudly for dropping her favourite ball into the lake. Upon hearing her wail, a frog hopped out of the lake and asked, “Why are you crying, sweet princess?” She told him about her golden ball which fell into the water and she did not know how to get it back. The frog quickly said, “I can help you to get your golden ball, but what will you give me in return?” The princess promised to give the frog anything that he desired. The frog immediately dived into the lake and fetched the ball for the young princess. Seeing her ball, the princess was very happy. The frog then reminded her about her promise. The princess asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The frog replied, “Well! I want to be your friend, eat from your golden plate, and sleep in your palace!” However, the princess did not quite like his idea, but she agreed and rushed back to her palace. The next morning, the frog came to the palace and knocked on the door. The princess saw the frog but she didn’t open the door for him. He shouted from outside, “I have come to live with you in your palace, dear princess.” Hearing this, the princess started crying and ran to her father. When the kind-hearted king heard about the promise, he told her gently, “A promise is a promise and you must keep your word, my dear. You must allow the frog to stay with you in the palace.” The princess was annoyed but she had no other choice but to let the nasty frog stay with her. That evening the frog sat next to the princess and had dinner from her golden plate. Thereafter, he followed her to the bedroom and jumped into her bed to sleep on her pillow. Seeing this, the princess got furious and picked him up from her bed and threw him against the wall in disgust. Suddenly, the nasty frog turned into a handsome prince. He told the princess that he was actually under the spell of a vicious witch, who had turned him into a frog. He was troubling her because he wanted someone to help him break the spell. Hearing this, the princess felt sorry for her misbehaviour and fell in love with the prince instantly. Soon after, they got married and lived happily ever after.
The Loyal Mongoose Story for Kids
Once upon a time in a village, there lived a Brahmin with his wife. One day, they were blessed with a son. The Brahmin thought to have a pet for the child so as to protect him as well as to get a companion for him. He went in search of the pet and found a mongoose. He brought him to his house. At first, the Brahmin’s wife was reluctant to have a mongoose as a pet. But later she agreed to it. The mongoose and the child became close friends. Both, the Brahmin and his wife, started loving the mongoose like their own child. But the Brahmin’s wife was always a little sceptical about the mongoose being near the child. On a particular day, the Brahmin’s wife had to go to the market to buy vegetables. She told the Brahmin to take care of the child. The child was sleeping peacefully in the cradle. The Brahmin then left for begging alms. He thought that the mongoose would look after the child. A few hours later, the Brahmin’s wife returned and saw the mongoose at the door. His mouth was completely blood-stained. She inferred that the mongoose had killed the child. At once, she threw the basket of vegetables on the mongoose. She ran towards the room in search of her child and to her surprise, saw the child still sleeping quietly in the cradle. But on the floor was a dead snake which was bitten into pieces. Then she understood that to save the child, the mongoose attacked and killed the snake. Realizing her terrible mistake, she rushed back to the mongoose only to find him dead. The Brahmin’s wife cried aloud as she had killed the loyal mongoose. Moral of the Story: Don’t perform hasty actions. Think before you act.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Once upon a time, there lived a shepherd boy who would take his flock of sheep for grazing grass by the hillside near his village every day. The hill area was known to have a wolf in its woods who was infamous for attacking the sheep grazing there. The villagers of that area were aware of the wolf’s menace and were always ready to come to anyone’s aid who called out for help. The shepherd boy was well aware of the helping nature of the villagers residing nearby. One fine day, the shepherd boy was getting bored as he sat on the hillside watching his sheep grazing grass. To amuse himself he cried out loudly, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is raiding my sheep!” Hearing this, the ever-vigilant villagers rushed to the hillside to help the boy in driving the wolf away. But when they arrived, they found that there was no wolf nearby. Seeing the crowd, the boy had a hearty laugh at the sight of their angry faces. Annoyed at his act, the villagers told him not to unnecessarily call out for help when there is no wolf around. Having said that, they went back down the hill. After some time the boy mischievously shouted again, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is raiding my sheep!” To his amusement, the villagers rushed up the hill again to help him drive the lecherous wolf away. They were naturally upset when he laughed at them for fooling them the second time in a row. One of the villagers in anger told the shepherd not to raise a false alarm if there is no wolf around. They went grumbling back down the hillside. Later during the day the shepherd let out a hue and cry and shouted at the top of his voice, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is raiding my sheep!” However, this time the villagers assumed that the boy is unnecessarily raising a false alarm about the wolf for his own amusement. They did not react to his cry for help and thought that he was playing a prank on them this time too. Towards the evening, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn’t returned with his flock of sheep. They went up the hill to find him. To their dismay, they found him weeping and they asked him the reason why he was upset. The shepherd boy replied while sobbing that the wolf had come and scattered his flock of sheep. He cried out for help loudly, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is raiding my sheep!”, but nobody turned up to help him drive the lewd wolf away. The villagers told him that they had come to his aid when he had raised false alarms in the first two instances. However, when they saw him ridiculing them for their helping nature, they assumed that the third one was a prank call too. Hence, they didn’t pay attention to it. Moral of the Story: Once a liar, always a liar. No one believes a liar, even when the latter is speaking the truth.
The Lion and The Mouse
Once upon a time, there lived a lion in the dense Amazon rainforest. While he was sleeping by resting his big head on his paws, a tiny little mouse unexpectedly crossed by and ran across the lion’s nose in haste. This woke up the lion and he laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny mouse to kill her. The poor mouse begged the lion to spare her this time and she would pay him back on some other day. Hearing this, the lion was amused and wondered how such a tiny creature could ever help him. But he was in a good mood and in his generosity he finally let the mouse go. A few days later, a hunter set a trap for the lion while the big animal was stalking for prey in the forest. Caught in the toils of a hunter’s net, the lion found it difficult to free himself and roared loudly in anger. As the mouse was passing by, she heard the roar and found the lion struggling hard to free himself from the hunter’s net. The little creature quickly ran towards the lion’s trap that bound him and gnawed the net with her sharp teeth until the net tore apart. Slowly she made a big hole in the net and soon the lion was able to free himself from the hunter’s trap. The lion thanked the little mouse for her help and the mouse reminded him that she had finally repaid the lion for sparing her life before. Thereafter, the lion and the mouse became good friends and lived happily in the forest. Moral of the Story: Love and kindness are never wasted. You can accomplish by kindness, which you cannot by force.
The Tortoise and The Hare
A long, long time ago, there lived a hare in the forest who always boasted of his running speed. He would often tease the tortoise for being the slowest animal around. One fine day, he dared the tortoise to a race in order to exhibit his skills in front of other animals in the forest. Fed up with the hare’s bragging, the tortoise finally accepted the challenge and decided to compete him in a race. On the day of the race, all the animals of the forest gathered to watch the competition between the hare and the tortoise. Just as they were about to begin the race, the hare mocked the tortoise for accepting the challenge. Further, he also mentioned that soon after he wins the race, the tortoise would be ridiculed by other animals for accepting the dare. The tortoise kept silent and didn’t pay heed to the hare’s words. The race began at the count of one, two and three! The hare immediately started running and the tortoise started at its usual slow pace. Soon the hare reached a long way ahead almost a few yards from the finish line. He looked back to check if the tortoise was anywhere nearby. However, the tortoise was left far behind and almost could not be seen. The hare decided to pause and take some rest on the way before he completed the race. He looked around and to his left, he noticed a field of cabbages and carrots. He decided to snack on cabbage and take a short nap so that he would quickly run past the finish line in a fresh mood. Soon the hare fell into a deep sleep and dreamt of winning the competition. Time passed and the sun was already setting when he suddenly woke up. He quickly jumped to check if the tortoise was around. To his dismay, the tortoise was just a few steps away from the finish line. Seeing the tortoise close to the finish line, the hare rushed towards it as fast as he could. However, it was too late and the tortoise finally crossed the finish line, thereby winning the competition. When the hare reached the point where the race ended, all the animals were laughing at him for losing the race to the tortoise. That day, he learnt a lesson that bragging about something doesn’t win you accolades, hence you should never mock others for their own pace. Moral of the Story: Slow and steady wins the race!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Story for Kids
Long, long ago in a huge palace, a beautiful princess was born. Her hair was as black as ebony, her lips as red as a rose and her skin as white as snow. She was named Snow White. She was very generous and gentle to everyone. Snow White had a step-mother, who was beautiful but utterly cruel. She had a mystical mirror to which she used to ask -who the fairest lady of all is. The mirror always used to say that the queen was the fairest of all. Listening to this she used to be content until the next day. Days passed by and Snow White grew to be an extremely beautiful girl. Then something very peculiar happened. One day when the cruel Queen asked the mirror who the fairest lady of all is, the mirror answered, “Snow White”. Hearing this, Queen got infuriated with envy. She decided to get Snow White killed. She appointed a huntsman to take Snow White far into the woods and kill her. Although the huntsman took Snow White into the woods, he decided that he would not kill her. He told Snow White the whole scenario and left. Snow White was all alone in the forest. She was scared and completely unaware of the way to find her way out of the woods. She started sobbing and running through the stones and thorns. It was getting dark when she finally saw a small house. She took a sigh of relief and approached the house. She entered the house but found no one there. Everything in the house was little. The house looked messy. She cleaned the house and when she was exhausted, she lay across seven small beds in a row. After some time, the residents of the house- seven dwarfs, returned from an exhaustive day at the mines. They were startled to see their house so clean. Then they saw Snow White sleeping in their beds. They screamed with shock, Snow White woke up hearing them shout. She too cried out in astonishment. Then, all the dwarfs introduced themselves to Snow White and asked who she was and what she was doing in their house. Snow White acquainted them with the whole incident with the huntsman and how she found her way to the house of the seven dwarfs. The dwarfs felt pity for her. They told her that she can stay in the house if she can help them with the household chores and make them suppers. Snow White happily accepted the condition and they all started living merrily together. During the day when she used to be alone at home, she used to play with the small birds and animals around the home. She was very content with her peaceful life. The cruel Queen in the misconception of death of Snow White proudly asked the mirror the same question yet again- Who is the fairest lady of all? And to her biggest shock, got the reply from the mirror, “Snow White”. She was fiercely puzzled on hearing this. She understood that she has been deceived by the huntsman. This time, she decided to take the charge herself and kill Snow White. She went to her secret room and poisoned an apple. It was so heavily poisoned that even a small bite could kill the person who eats it. She impersonated herself as a hag and left for the dwarfs’ house. Reaching the dwarfs’ house, the wicked Queen knocked on the door. In order to keep her safe, Snow White was forbidden by the dwarfs to open the door to strangers. Snow White opened the window and asked the purpose of the old lady at the door. The Queen in disguise told Snow White that she is selling the tastiest apples. Reluctant to take it at first, poor Snow White fell into the trap and got enticed by the beautiful apple. She merely took a bite of the poisoned apple and fell to the ground dead. The wicked Queen cackled and went back to the palace. Once again, she asked the mirror who was the fairest lady of all? This time, the mirror replied, “You, my Queen”. She gave a loud evil laugh. When the dwarfs returned from their work, they were shocked to see Snow White lying dead on the floor. They shook her, tried talking to her and began crying. They kept her safe inside a transparent glass coffin and made sure that one of them was always there to protect the coffin. Once it so happened that a Prince was passing by the forest and he saw the coffin. He had known and loved Snow White and when he saw her in the coffin, he asked the dwarfs what exactly had happened to her. After listening about the brutal incident, he requested the dwarfs to hand him over the coffin. The dwarfs initially denied giving the coffin, but the Prince convinced them to give it to him. The Prince’s opened the coffin and kissed Snow White’s hand. With the kiss of Love, she woke up at once. The Prince’s love for Snow White won over the wicked Queen’s hatred for her. People in and around the kingdom got to know about the Queen’s cruel act and she was thus banished forever from the land. The Prince married Snow White and they happily lived ever after. The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs story provided above teaches us the essence of having faith and being kind. No matter how evil the force is against kindness, the latter always emerges to be victorious.
Cinderella Story for Kids
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful and kind girl named Cinderella. She used to live with her cruel step-mother and step-sisters. She was treated like a servant at home. She used to perform all the household chores including cleaning the house, ironing clothes, etc. One day, a letter came to their house. It was an invitation to the royal ball. The King and the Queen wanted their son to choose his bride and that’s why everyone in the kingdom was invited. Girls of the entire kingdom were excited about the ball. Cinderella’s step-mother instantly commanded new ball gowns for herself and her daughters. Cinderella worked hard to finish the stitching of the gowns. With the remains of the threads and beads from the gowns of her sisters, Cinderella prepared a gown for herself as well. On the day of the royal ball, when the step-mother and step-sisters were about to leave, they saw Cinderella in the gown. The two sisters got jealous. They tore her gown, pulled off the beads and left for the ball. Cinderella began to cry but she was amazed to see a fairy in front of her eyes. The fairy said, “I am your Fairy Godmother. I know you wish to join the ball. Don’t worry, I will help you.” She then waved her magic wand and transformed Cinderella’s torn dress into a mesmerizing ball gown. Then she turned a Pumpkin into a huge coach. Also, she turned six mice into four horses and two coachmen. Everything was set. But with all of this, came a warning: As soon as the clock ticks midnight, the magic spell would wear off. The moment she entered the ballroom, everyone was struck by her charm. Even the Prince fell for her at once. He came and asked her for a dance. Cinderella’s happiness knew no bounds. They danced and talked for the entire evening until Cinderella realized the time approaching midnight. She ran away from the ballroom. As she was running, one of her glass slippers dropped on the stairs of the palace. At midnight, everything from the coach to the coachmen transformed back to its original state – pumpkin and mice. She was again in that torn dress. Sometime later, her step-mother and step-sisters arrived home. They were still shocked by the beautiful girl in the ballroom. The Prince had fallen in love with Cinderella the moment, he set his eyes on her but was completely unaware of who she was! He wished to marry her. As soon as he found the glass slipper, he went in search of the foot that fits that slipper. The Prince and his servants looked for the girl in every house. Finally, they reached Cinderella’s house. The step-sisters tried hard to fit their foot in the slipper but were unable to do so. The Prince then asked Cinderella to try the slipper. The step-mother made fun of Cinderella by saying that she’s a servant so she can’t be that beautiful girl at the ball. But the Prince insisted that she should also give it a try. When she slid her feet inside the slipper, it fit her perfectly. The Prince finally found the girl he was looking for. They got married and lived happily ever after.Belling the Cat Story
Once upon a time, there was a big grocery store in a small town. The only problem that the shopkeeper faced was there were plenty of mice that bit into every item in the shop and spoiled the stock of bags kept there. They also wasted the bread, biscuits and fruits kept in the shop. Worried about the huge losses caused by the mice, the shopkeeper decided to bring a cat and leave it in the shop to check on the troublemaker mice. The following day the storekeeper brought a big fat cat to his shop and let her stay there to chase away the mice. The cat had a pleasant time hunting down the mice and feasted on them regularly. The shopkeeper noticed that bringing the cat to the shop saved him from all the damages caused by the mice and was happy with his decision. Seeing a rapid decline in their total population, the mice council called for an urgent meeting to discuss the issue. Every mouse was worried that their numbers were dwindling and every day the cat preyed on their fellow mice. They complained to the head mouse that the cat stealthily attacked them and it had become difficult for them to track if their predator was around. As the mice were describing their woes, the head mouse recommended that they should bell the cat to fix the problem. By doing so, they would know whenever the cat moved around as the bell would make the noise. Everyone loved the idea but the important question was who will bell the cat. There was pin-drop silence and the mice wondered who would risk his life to execute the plan. Nobody spoke. Suddenly a tiny mouse stepped forward stating that he would execute the act and asked for a necklace of three bells tied in a pink ribbon. That afternoon, the little mouse went to the cat with the necklace. On seeing the tiny mouse, the cat was about to pounce on the little creature when the mouse asked her to listen to him before she killed him. The cat decided to listen to the tiny mouse before killing him for lunch. Soon the tiny mouse started appreciating the cat for her beauty. He quickly took out the bells necklace and gifted it to the cat. He complimented her stating that by wearing this necklace she would look the most beautiful cat in the world. The mouse tied the bells necklace around the cat’s neck. The cat jumped on a low stool kept before the mirror to check how she looked. The mouse further complimented the cat for her beauty and admired her looks. Really impressed with the mouse’s words, the cat spared the tiny mouse’s life this time. In no time, the cat’s stomach was rumbling in hunger and she started to look around for mice in every corner of the shop. All the mice seemed to have disappeared from her sight. At last, the mice no longer feared the cat. Whenever the cat was around, they could hear the bells ringing and would disappear from that place immediately. Moral of the Story: “Have the courage to confront a tough situation rather than running away from it. Also, do not trust anyone blindly, without analysing the consequences of a situation.”