There are two short stories for kids in this post. The first story is about a farmer from Karnataka and what he did with his bumper harvest. The Second story is a more common one from the Panchantantra, do look out for the parenting takeaways on this one.
Story one - A Bumper Harvest
Shankar was having a very bad day. Nobody wanted the sweet, ripe fruits he was growing on his farm.
Not his family.
Not his neighbour.
Not his friends.
Not the traders who could sell the fruits in far away markets.
And not even his cows!
“No, thank you,” they all said. “The fruits are very sweet, but we have had too many. We cannot eat anymore!”
They told him that farming was passé and he should consider another job.
They told him to leave farming and go to another job.Shankar, however loved farming. He was at his best when he was at the farm. The scent of the earth was his life.
What was he to do now with his rich harvest of fruits?
He decided it was okay to give away the fruit and not get paid. He decided he could give it to the hungry and satiate their hunger. He took a lot of fruits and went to other cities and gave the fruits for free to the poor and needy. He also handed the fruit to travellers along the road.
He came home happy that we had done a good deed. That night he slept peacefully.
“What did you do the fruits?” his wife and friends asked him.
He didn’t want to answer the question.
He continued his work on the farm .He started his work again thinking that honest work would never go to vain.
One day, a merchant came to his garden looking for him. He introduced himself and said that he had a huge food factory. He made fruit jam at his factory.
“On the way to work in the city I ate the fruit you gave me. It was really yum. How did you manage to harvest such sweet fruits?” ,he asked.
“I use only natural fertilizer”, Shankar replied.
The merchant said, he will buy all of the fruit from Shankar’s garden for his factory
Shankar was very happy and he continued to work honestly in the farm. He continued to give some of his fruit to the poor, even as he prospered.
Parenting tip:
There are a couple of takeaways for kids from this story. Honest and hard work always pays. We might sometimes come across obstacles, but perseverance usually sees us through.
The Rabbit And The Lion – A Short Story for Kids from the Panchantantra.
Once upon a time a lion lived in forest, he was getting fed up with hunting. He wanted to relax, but at the same time get some food. He called all animals and passed in order, “Everyday one of you should come by yourself as my prey.” All animals were afraid of lion and they started to obey this order.
One by one , each animal would turn up and without having to hunt the lion got its prey.
In some days it was the rabbit’s turn. The Lion had appointed a time for the animals to reach his Den. The rabbit however did not turn up at the appointed time. It took its own sweet time to go to the lion’s den,.
Meanwhile, the lion was very angry that no animal had come that day. When the rabbit did arrive, he slowly came towards the lion and said, “I saw another lion on my way. I got away with much difficulty to give my life to you, your majesty.”
The lion is a very territorial animal, he got very angry at the mention of another lion in his territory. The Lion asked the rabbit to be taken to the other lion.
The rabbit agreed and took the lion to the old well. Then he showed the lion his own reflection in the water of the well. The lion peeped into the well. He mistook his reflection for another lion. He roared. From the well the roar echoed back. The Lion thought that the other lion was roaring too and jumped into the well.
After he fell into the well, he realized his mistake, but by then it was too late
Parenting tip:
The first conversation builder pointer in this is about the general moral of the story, which is that no matter what situation you are in, you can think and come up with solutions. The parent can also give kids some scenarios and ask them for solutions.
The second conversation is on how one should never expect to get things without working for it. Even if you do manage to get things, it will not last for very long.
The third conversation pointer is for slightly older kids. It is about questioning, why some animals are projected in bad light in some stories. You can discuss about a Carnivorous Animal’s nature and its right to its prey
Editors pick for fun conversation building from ekdali
These short moral stories were written by Jasmine. Jasmine is a editor, proof reader and a children's short story writer. She writes in English and Tamil. In her free time she likes to read, travel and work on her organic farm.
