There was a boy named Akash who lived in a village. He was upset because his village faced a drought. Everything was drying up, the cattle were starving, and the crops were dying.

He went to the villagers and told them, “Remember, our grandparents told us stories that there is an underground river flowing through our village. We should all start digging to see.” 

The next morning, everyone started digging with hopes to find water. But after several hours of struggle, everyone was exhausted and gave up hope.

But Akash didn’t stop and kept digging until he saw some water. He screamed in happiness, called everyone, and said, “Don’t give up just yet.” 

Other villagers continued digging with him and dug a well to store water. Everyone was happy as they never had to face another drought. 

Moral – Hard work pays off in time.

An old man once spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. The neighbor was arrested and released a few days after he was proved innocent.

He sued the old man for defaming him. The old man defended himself in the court saying that those were just words, and they didn’t harm his neighbor in any way. 

The judge asked the old man to write down all the things he said in a paper, tear it into small pieces and throw them away on his way back home. The hearing was to be continued the next day. 

The next day, when the old man came to the court, before announcing the sentence, the judge asked him to go back and collect all the pieces of paper that he threw away on his way back home. The old man said, “It is impossible. I won’t be able to find them as the wind carried and scattered them at many different places.” 

To this, the judge replied, “In the same way, your words have spread and now you can’t take them back because your neighbor’s reputation is already harmed.” 

Moral – Don’t say things you cannot take back.

A hungry mouse came across a basket full of corn. He cut a small hole through it and crawled inside. He ate a lot of corn. 

Having satisfied his hunger, he tried to exit through the same hole, but due to increased belly, it couldn’t get out. He thought he should wait for the belly to shrink and slept in the basket. 

The next morning, his belly had shrunk. Before leaving, he wanted to eat some more corn. Like earlier, he couldn’t control and ate a lot again. He tried to exit, but couldn’t leave this time too.

He waited there for the belly to shrink, but by that time a hungry cat was passing by. She smelled the rat, opened the basket lid, and ate the mouse. 

Moral – Greed is an evil

A horse was very proud of his speed. Once he saw a snail and mocked him. The horse said, “Hey there, snail. Let’s have a race.” The snail didn’t reply and the horse laughed at him.

The snail got angry and accepted the challenge, saying the race will happen tomorrow.

He went home and made a plan with all his snail friends to outrace the horse. Since they all looked alike, the next day they hid in different places from starting to the finish line.

After the race started, the horse covered a small distance. He looked down to find the snail ahead of him. 

He increased his speed, but every time he looked down, the snail was already ahead of him. The horse couldn’t match the snail’s speed and gave up. 

He said, “I lose, I can’t win the race. You are faster.” The snail laughed hard.

Moral – Smart work is much faster.

An ant in search of water was wandering through the forest and came around a water spring. It walked close to the spring and suddenly slipped. 

Just when the ant was drowning, a dove was flying by. The dove saw the ant and threw a twig into the water. The ant climbed the twig and the dove safely took it to the ground. 

At the same time, a hunter was trying to throw a net on the dove to capture it. The ant guessed what was about to happen. It quickly went and bit the hunter’s foot. In pain, he dropped the net on the ground, the dove escaped safely.  

Moral – One good action leads to another.

There were a mango and a banyan tree next to each other. The banyan tree was an abode to various species of animals and birds. Whereas, the mango tree had juicy fruits. People always came to eat the mangoes from the tree.

 No one ever paid much attention to the old banyan tree. The mango tree said to the banyan tree, “No one ever looks at you. They all want me and my fruits but nothing from you. I’m the best.” 

The next day king’s soldiers came and ruthlessly plucked all the mangoes. They left the broken branches and scanty leaves on the mango tree which had never looked so ugly. 

To this, the banyan tree said, “Now look at you. Without your beauty and fruits, you are less likely to attract anyone. Your beauty ruined you. While I stand here safe and provide shade. I’m still useful.”

Moral – Never be too proud of your beauty.

In the oak tree’s eyes, he was a robust tree. He thought to himself, “I am way stronger than these weak reeds. Unlike them, I stand alone in the storm, never bend to the wind’s will.” 

The same night nature took a toll, a powerful storm came. 

In the morning, reeds found the mighty oak tree uprooted. They said, “Oh lord, we are grateful that we can bend and don’t just break.”

Moral – Pride takes a fall.