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Short English Stories with Moral Lessons
1. Honesty is the Best Policy
(this story may given a title "The Woodcutter and His Axe" or "An Honest Woodcutter"
Once there lived a wood-cutter in a village. He was very poor. He used to cut the trees in the nearby forest to sell the wood in the market to earn money for his family. One day, he was cutting a bough of a tree just on the bank of a river. By chance, his axe slipped and fell into the river. He was helpless. His axe was the only source of earning for him. He was too poor to buy a new axe. He started crying bitterly.
The angle of mercy appeared before him. He asked the woodcutter why he was crying. The woodcutter told him the whole matter. The angle took pity on him. He dived into the river and came up with a golden axe. He asked the woodcutter if that was his axe. The woodcutter told that that was not his axe.
The angle dived into the water again and appeared with a silver axe. The woodcutter again refused to take that axe as that was not his. The angle dived again and brought a bronze axe. The woodcutter did not accept this axe because that was not his.
The angle dived fourth time and brought the iron axe. That was the real axe of the woodcutter. The angle offered this axe to him. The woodcutter was overjoyed to see his own axe. He accepted that at once.
The angle was greatly impressed by his honesty. He gave him other three axes as the reward of his honesty.
Moral Lesson: Honesty is the best policy
2. A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
Once there lived two friends in a village. They were fast friends. They were unemployed. They planned to go to city in search of employment. They promised to help each other through thick and thin. They set out on a nice afternoon.
On their way, they had to pass a deep forest. While they were passing the forest, they saw a bear coming towards them. They were in a fix. One of them knew how to climb a tree. He instantly ran up a tree. The other did not know what to do. There was nobody to help him. He was in trouble.
The bear was reaching close. He was to decide quickly. Suddenly he remembered that the bears do not harm the dead. He held his breath and lay down on the ground motionless. The bear came to him and sniffed at him. The bear was convinced that he was dead. The beast left him unharmed and passed away.
When the bear was away, the friend on the tree came down. He asked his friend what the bear had said in his ear. He told that the bear had advised him not to trust a selfish friend. He then diverged his way from his friend.
Moral Lesson: A friend in need is a friend indeed
3. Union is Strength
(this story may have a title as "The Farmer and His Sons"
Once upon a time a farmer lived in a village. He had four sons. They were quarrelsome and did not live with peace. Their hatred against each other irritated the farmer. He advised them to live in peace but in vain. He thought of a plan.
He sent for his sons. When they came, he asked them to bring a bundle of sticks. They brought the bundle and tied them tight with a sturdy rope. The farmer asked his eldest son to break the bundle. He tried his best but could not break the bundle. Then the farmer one by one asked his sons to break the bundle. No one could break the bundle.
The farmer asked them to untie the sticks. Now he gave one stick to his every son and asked them to break the sticks. They easily broke the sticks. The farmer said, “Now see the power of unity. This is how unity makes you strong. The tied sticks were powerful because they were united in one single bundle. None of you could break them. Now when they are separated, you have easily broken them. Similarly if you live with union, nobody can harm you. If you will live an individual life, every one of you is easy to be destroyed. So the strength lies in unity.”
This advice has a great influence on his sons and they started living in peace.
Moral Lesson:
Union is strength
United we stand, divided we fall
4. The Dove and The Bee
(this story may have the title "Kindness is always rewarded" Or "Kindness is a great virtue" Or "Kindness never goes unrewarded")
Once a bee was drinking at a stream. Suddenly she slipped and fell into the water. Despite of hard struggle, she could not manage to come out of water. A dove was sitting on a nearby tree watching the whole scene. She thought of helping the bee. She broke a leaf from the tree and dropped it near the bee. The bee got on the leaf. Now his life was safe. The leaf reached the bank and the bee came out of water. The bee was thankful to the dove.
After some days a hunter came in forest and he saw the dove sitting on a tree. He aimed at her. Just as he was ready to fire, an insect stung on his hand and his aim was missed. Hearing the sound of fire, the dove flew away. The insect was the same bee which was saved by the dove. The bee had played her part in saving the life of dove.
Moral Lesson: Tit for tatKindness never goes unrewarded.
5. The Foolish Stag
(this story may have the title "Pride Hath fall" Or "All that glitters is not gold" Or "Appearances are often deceptive")
Once a stag lived in a jungle. He used to drink clear water from a nearby stream. Whenever he saw his reflection in the water, he praised his beautiful horns. He felt proud of his horns. He disliked his ugly and thin legs. He thought that his legs were a shame for him.
One day as he was drinking water and feeling sorrow for having ugly legs, he saw a pack of hounds running towards him at a short distance. He ran way. The hounds kept on chasing him. He ran as fast as his legs could. Soon he left the hounds far behind.
Suddenly his horns were trapped in a bush. He tried his best to release himself but he could not. His beautiful horns would not let him move. Meanwhile the hounds reached there and they attacked him. They tore him into pieces.
His thin ugly legs which he did not like helped him rescue his life but his favorite horns became the cause of his death.
Moral Lesson:
All that glitters is not gold.Appearances are often deceptive
6. The King and The Spider
(this story can have the title "Try Try Again")
King Robert Bruce was defeated many times by the English army. He ran for his life and hid himself in hills. He was frustrated and helpless. He had lost all the hopes of victory. Now he wanted to have a peaceful death.
As he was lying in a cave, he saw a spider climbing the wall of the cave. It was trying to reach the ceiling of the cave. Whenever it reached just close to its destination, the insects fell down to the floor. It started again. This happened eight times. The King was watching this process curiously. The spider made ninth attempt and this time it reached its destination.
The king was moved by the consistency of the insect. It gave a new thought to King Robert Bruce. He had learnt that persistence is the secret of success. It gave courage to the King and he decided to face the enemy with more determination. He got back and organized his army. He fought a final battle with a belief in his fate. This time he won the battle.
Moral Lesson: Try, try again, No pain no gains.
7. Greed is Curse
(this story may be titled as "Three friends and a bag of Gold" Or "Three Greedy friends")
Greed is rightly a curse as it results in destruction and disgrace. Greedy person is not liked by his fellows. This story shows how greed can bring about devastation.
Once there lived three friends in a city. They were fast friends. One day they decided to go on a picnic to the countryside. They planned their journey and set out early in the morning. They reached the river side and fixed their encampment. They spent the whole day in enjoying the beautiful scenes nature.
In the noon, as they were returning to their camp, they found a bag of full of gold. They were very happy to have such a huge treasure. They were much excited. They decided to share this gold equally among them. Now they felt hungry. One of them was sent to nearby village to bring food. As he was gone, the other two friends decided to kill him and have more share in gold. Their greedy nature would not think of any other option.
The friend who went to village to bring food was greedy too. He poisoned the food to kill other two friends and to have all the gold himself. As soon as he came back, the other two friends killed him. Then they ate the food with peace and delight. After eating the poisoned food, they met their maker. The gold was still there. It was of no use for them.
Moral: Greed is Curse.
8. A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
(This story also has a title "A quack")
Knowledge is power. But the power lies in complete knowledge and practice. A little knowledge is rather a dangerous thing. This story will prove that.
On a hot summer noon, some camel men stayed beneath a bunch of tree for some rest. They set their camel to graze. One of the camels entered the melon field and stated eating melons. By chance, a melon got jammed in the camel’s throat. The animal began to make noise. When the owner of the camel saw it, he understood the matter at once. He got a blanket and wrapped it on the neck of the camel and hit it hard with a wooden mallet. The melon broke and the camel swallowed it easily.
A man who happened to pass by them was watching all this process. He thought that the man had cured the goiter of the camel. He was happy to learn the treatment of the goiter. In next village, he introduced himself as a physician who could treat the goiter. The villagers presented an old woman for the treatment of goiter. Her throat was dangerously swollen.
The man asked for a blanket and a mallet. The villagers provided the two things. He wrapped the blanket around the neck of the old woman and hit her hard with mallet on her neck. As the result of hard blow, the poor woman instantly expired. The villagers caught the quack and handed him over the police. He was sent to prison for his little knowledge.
Moral: A little knowledge is dangerous thing.
9. As You Sow, So Shall You Reap
(this story can be found with title "The Jackal and the Camel")
Once there was a time a camel and a jackal became fast friends. They used to wander together on the bank of the river. They helped each other in finding food. One day, there was shortage of food in their area. The camel suggested going to the other side of the river in search of food. The jackal agreed. The river was deep and wide. The jackal did not know how to swim. The camel asked him to get onto his back and they would cross the river.
Wading through the deep water, the camel reached the other bank. There was a melon field on that bank of the river. Both friends entered the field and began to eat melons with delight. The jackal was soon filled. He began to howl. The camel asked to stop this but the jackal told that howling after the hearty meal was his habit. Despite the request of the camel the jackal did not stop howling.
The owner of the melons reached and thrashed the camel with heavy bushy stick. The camel was hurt. They started their journey back to the other bank of the river. The jackal was enjoying his ride on the camel. When the camel reached in the middle of the river, he dived into the water. The jackal began to shout. He requested the camel no to do so. But the camel told that bathing after the hearty meal was his habit.
The camel dived deep and the jackal drowned into the river.
Moral Lesson: As you sow, so shall you Reap
Tit for tat
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