Short Stories for Kids on Greed and loss

There once was a rich man. He lived in a small village in what is present day Kerala. He had a large house and lived in luxury. He also had many utensils. He had inherited some from his family and he bought some from the traders that came in the ship. As time grew his utensils collection grew too. Whenever  people in the nearby villages had a function in their house they would rent the utensils from this man. Thus, he had a good business also.

One day a young man from the neighbouring village came to rent his utensils. He returned them in ten days. The rich man counted the utensils and found that there were 3 more utensils than he had lent. 

He said, “ Young man, there are more utensils here than I had first given you.” The young man gleefully replied, “ Sir, the utensils gave birth and that is  why there are more utensils in the pack.”The Old man smiled to himself and took all the utensils.

After a month or so, the young man had another function in his house and came to get to rent utensils from the old man. The old man remembered the young man and happily gave out the utensils. He remembered the gainful transaction he had had last time.

After a few days, the young man returned the utensils. This time, there were 10 less utensils. The Old man asked him for the rest. The young man replied without batting an eyelid,” Sir, some of the old utensils died.”

The old man got angry at this reply and started screaming, “ yada, how can utensils die. They are  inanimate objects.” The young man responded, if utensils could make babies then surely they could die as well. The old man was rendered speechless.

Moral of the story: 

One must never be greedy. Greed always leads to loss. If the old man had not taken the extra utensils the first time, he would have not lost so many utensils the next time

This is a short story for kids told in the South Indian state of Kerala. Folk tales and short stories help build conversations between kids and adults. They teach important moral lessons to kids. Kids learn empathy. It is also a great way to spend screen free time with kids

Check out our maps, posters and flashcards for screen free engaging time with kids.

 

 


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