What can be better than stories to bring things deep into the tender minds of children. Especially, the stories of Panchatantra, in which there is a motivation to move towards better learning, values and good things in life
There are stories from Panchatantra divided into five parts, which make important things like importance of friendship, practicality and leadership simple and easy. By reaching the children in words, they leave a deep impression on them. Perhaps this is the reason that often the stories heard in childhood and their learning also act as a guide in the important stages of life. Read also Hawk Falls Sick
Many Panchatantra stories for kids are being brought to you through this platform like the harm caused by doing, the loss due to taking hasty steps. Through these stories, you can instill a sense of morality and morality in children along with giving happiness and entertainment to them. So what’s the delay, get lost in your childhood while telling these instructive stories to your kids.
Here we bring small Panchatantra stories in English for you so that you can enjoy with your kids.
Panchatantra Short Stories in English with Moral
1. Cat and Mouse
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
Once, a cat and a mouse were good friends. One day, they decided to save some food for winter. Thus, they stole a pot of fat and hid it in a church.
Now, the greedy cat wanted to eat the fat. So, she lied to the mouse, “I’ve been invited to the church for a christening!”
Then, she ate the fat off the top of the pot. When she returned, she told the mouse that the baby was named Top-Off.
The second time, she ate half the fat, and told the mouse that the baby was named Half-Done.
The third time, she ate all the fat, and said that the baby’s name was All-Gone.
When winter came, the two went to get the pot of fat. The mouse saw the empty pot and said angrily, “Now I understand the meaning of those names!”
But the cat jumped on the mouse and ate him too.
2. The Mouse Turned into a Lion
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
One day, a sage saw a mouse chased by a cat. The sage with his supernatural powers, made him a cat, to save his life.
One day, a dog was chasing this cat. So, the sage turned him into a dog.
Another day, the dog was attacked by a lion. The sage immediately a made him a lion.
The villagers who knew the lion’s secret used to laugh at him. He was just a silly mouse pretending to be a lion!
The lion thought he could never stop the jokes until and unless the sage died. So he went to kill the sage.
The sage, seeing the lion coming towards him, knew what was on his mind. And he said, “Go back to your form of a mouse, you are ungrateful and don’t deserve to be a powerful lion.”
And so the poor lion shrank back into a mouse. You may like Cave That Spoke Panchatantra Tales
3. The Horse and The Donkey
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
A washerman had a horse and a donkey. One day, the washer man had loaded his donkey with heavy bundles of clothes. The horse
carried nothing.
The load on the donkey was very heavy. So, he requested the horse, “Brother! The load is killing me. Please share some of it.”
The horse neighed, “Why should 1? We horses are meant for riding.”
The donkey kept walking on. Eventually, the donkey fell down exhausted by the heavy load.
Then the washer man realized his mistake. He gave water to the donkey and transferred the entire load of clothes onto the horse’s back.
The horse repented and thought, “I should have listened to the donkey and accepted half of the load. Now I will have to carry the entire load to the market!”
4. The Dog in the Manger
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
There was a dog who lived in a barn. He would always sleep on the soft hay, lying in the manger from which the horses ate. The dog’s food used to be kept outside the barn in the farmyard, even then the selfish dog would stay right there in the manger.
Whenever the horses came in to eat their hay, the dog would start barking at them.
The poor horses could not eat their food! They told the dog that the farmer had left bones for him in the farmyard, but he simply refused to move out of the manger.
“What a selfish dog!” the horses said. “He knows that he cannot eat hay but he will not let us eat our food either. He is ready to trouble himself, just so that he can trouble us!”
5. The Merchant and the Donkey
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
A merchant used to visit nearby towns to sell bags of salt, which he used load on his donkey. While on the way to the town one day, the donkey slipped into a pond. The merchant pulled him out. The donkey was suddenly happy. Its load turned very light since almost all the salt had dissolved into the water!
Now, the donkey deliberately slipped in the pond everyday. In time, the master understood the donkey’s plan. So, he decided to teach the donkey a lesson.
The next day, the merchant loaded his donkey with cotton bales instead of salt. When the donkey fell into the pond, the cotton bales got wet and became very heavy!
The donkey could not even get up now, because of the weight! “Ah! Now you will not try to trick me,” laughed the merchant and drove the donkey with his stick.
6. The True Friend
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
A long time ago, there lived a pair of parrots on a tree. An old snake also lived in a hole in the same tree. The snake was too weak to go out looking for food. So, the parrots used to leave some food near the hole. The snake was thankful to the parrots.
One day, a vulture hovered over the tree to hunt parrots. Just then, a hunter also came there. He aimed at one of the parrots with an arrow.
When the snake noticed his friends were in danger, it bit the foot of the hunter to save his friends. The sudden snake bite spoilt his aim and the arrow struck the vulture hovering above.
The snake had shown he was a true friend by saving their lives.
7. The Musical Donkey
(Panchatantra Stories with Moral)
Once upon a time, there was a donkey that was old and weak. One night, the donkey met a jackal. They became friends and began to wander around together in search of food.
The next night, they went into a garden of cucumbers and ate as much as they could. The practice went on night after night.
One night, the donkey told the jackal, “I feel like singing.”
The jackal said, “Please don’t sing, the farmer who owns this place will certainly hear your loud and harsh voice, and he will come after us with a stick. Don’t forget that we are thieves here.”
But the donkey was in no mood to listen to his friend. The jackal, sensing danger, ran out of the garden.
The farmer heard the braying donkey and beat him up nicely for stealing his cucumbers!
8. The Tale of the Three Fish
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
Three fish, who were friends lived in a pond. One day, some fishermen passing by the pond wondered, “This pond seems to be full of fish. Let us come at dawn tomorrow and catch some of them.”
Overhearing them, the wisest one of the three fish called a meeting and said, “We must move out of this pond tonight.” The second fish also agreed.
Laughing loudly, thethird fish said, “Why should we leave this pond, the ancient home of our forefathers? We cannot escape death even if we go elsewhere.”
Unable to convince him, the other two fish left the pond. The next day, the fishermen took a big catch of fish in the pond. The third fish was one among them.
9. The Mongoose and the Brahmin’s Son
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
A brahmin’s wife gave birth to a son. The same day, a female mongoose gave birth to a baby and died.
The brahmin’s wife brought him up as her own child.
One day, the wife was going to the well to fetch some water. The husband left the house too.
Soon, a snake came and slithered towards the baby. Immediately, the mongoose killed the snake.
To show his bravery, the mongoose stood outside the house. The Brahmin’s wife arrived and saw the mongoose covered with blood; she thought that he had killed her son.
She threw the heavy pitcher of water on the mongoose and killed him.
Then she went inside and found her child safe and a snake, torn to pieces, lying nearby. She was very sad and sorry to have killed the faithful mongoose.
10. A Bird in Hand
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
There lived a lion in a forest. One day, the lion sighted a small rabbit playing under a nearby tree.
The lion started following him, waiting for a chance to pounce upon the poor little rabbit. When, the rabbit saw the lion, he ran for his life.
But the lion sprang upon him and the little rabbit was in his powerful paws. Before the lion could gobble up the rabbit, deer came into the lion’s view.
The greedy lion let the rabbit go and ran after the deer.
The deer leapt away speedily as the lion chased him, and soon disappeared into the forest.
The lion lost the rabbit and failed to hunt the deer as well.
He cursed himself for letting the rabbit go away.
It is, therefore, rightly said that a bird in hand is better than two in the bush. Read also The Blue Jackal Story
11. The Clever Farmer
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
Once, a farmer had a goat, a bundle of grass and a lion. He had to cross a river on a small boat, which could carry only two of them at a time.
The farmer was in a fix. If he takes the lion first, then the goat would eat up the grass in his absence.
If he takes the grass, the lion would eat up the goat.
At last, he found the perfect solution. He first took the goat and left it on the other side of the river. Then he took the lion on his second round. He left the lion and brought the goat back.
Leaving the goat on this side, he took the bundle of grass. He left the grass with the lion and returned to take the goat in the end.
Thus, he crossed the river without any loss.
12. The Hunter and The Rabbit
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
Once, a cruel hunter used to catch rabbits and feast upon their meat.
One day, he caught a rabbit and started for his home holding him by his ears. On the way home, the hunter met a saint. The saint asked the hunter to free the rabbit and get blessed for the good deed.
The hunter not only refused but decided mercilessly to cut the throat of the rabbit then and there, right before the saint.
He took out a sharp knife from his bag, but when he tried to cut the rabbit’s neck, the knife slipped from his hand and fell on his foot, severely injuring him. He instantly cried out in pain and released the rabbit.
The hunter paid the price for his sins. Since his foot was very badly injured, he could not walk properly and became unfit to hunt ever again.
13. The Crow and The Oyster
(Small Panchatantra stories in English)
One day, a hungry crow found an oyster on the beach. In order to eat the tasty meat inside, he tried to break open the oyster.
The oyster didn’t open. He then tried to use his beak to take out the meat, but failed to open the shell. Then he hit the oyster with a stone, but it still remained tightly shut.
Meanwhile, another cunning crow came by and said, “My friend, the oyster will not open the way you are trying,” and continued, “I advise that you take the oyster in your beak and fly high into the air, then drop it onto the rocks below. Only then it will break open.”
The hungry crow liked the idea and hence followed the suggestion. The crow flew up with the oyster and it broke open as the crow dropped it from above.
But the other crow picked it up and ate the meat inside. By the time the first crow reached there, only the pieces of broken shell were left for him.
14. The Greedy Crow
(Famous Panchatantra Stories)
Once, a pigeon made his nest in the basket that used to hang near the window of a merchant’s kitchen. The merchant instructed his cook not to shoo away the pigeon.
One day, a crow befriended the pigeon so that he could have a chance to enter the kitchen.
That day, the merchant’s cook prepared a delicious dish of fish. When the cook left the kitchen, the crow flew down into the kitchen to eat the delicious fish.
But, the plate covering the dish struck the floor with a loud bang.
The noise was heard by the cook and he rushed into the kitchen. By then, the crow had got hold of a piece of fish.
Seeing the fish in the crow’s beak, the cook became furious. He ran and caught the crow by the neck and plucked out all the crow’s feathers and wings and then threw him out of the window.
15. The Brahmin and Cobra
(Short Panchatantra Stories Moral)
Once, a brahmin while working on his land, saw a big cobra.
He brought a bowl of milk and kept it near the ant hill. The next day, he found a gold coin in the bowl. This went on as the brahmin started collecting gold coins everyday.
One day, he asked his son to leave a bowl of milk for the cobra. The son did the same. When he was collecting the coin, greed came to his mind and he thought to kill the cobra to collect all the gold at once.
So, he struck the cobra with a big stick. The, cobra slithered away to avoid the blow but bit the boy, who died soon.
The next time, when the brahmin offered milk to the cobra as usual, the serpent just went away. The brahmin realized that once a strong friendship built on trust is broken, it can never be restored.
16. Grandma’s Beloved
(Panchatantra Stories for Kids)
There lived an old woman with a black calf whom she loved very dearly. Due to their love, everybody started calling him Grandma’’s Beloved.
The calf grew up into a strong bull and decided to earn some money for his old mistress.
One day, he met a merchant who was stranded on the shore as his bullocks were unable to pull the carts across the river.
The merchant told Grandma’s Beloved, “If you help in pulling my carts, I promise to give you two gold coins.”
The bull pulled all his carts across. The merchant put the two gold coins in a small bag and tied it around the bull’s neck.
Taking his hard-earned money, the bull returned home happily to give his mistress a pleasant surprise.
17. The Farmer and the Cow
(Panchatantra Stories for Adults)
Once upon a time, Dharmapal, a farmer, had a cow which gave lots of milk.
One day, the cow fell ill and stopped giving milk. The farmer thought that she would not recover and left her out in the forest.
The cow ran away to another village and fell down unconscious outside the house of Madho, a poor farmer.
Madho treated her so well that she soon recovered. The cow started giving milk and Madho earned good money by selling the milk.
Soon, the cow’s fame spread everywhere. When Dharmapal heard about it, he came to Madho and asked him to return the cow. But Madho refused.
They took the case to the village head. He placed both the farmers on either side of the cow and then left the cow free in between them.
The cow immediately went to stand by the side of Madho. The head of the village decided that the cow belonged to Madho for he had loved and cared for her in her time of need.
There Panchatantra stories are very interesting Isn’t it? Hop you have like the stories and learn many lessons. Let us know your favorite small Panchatantra stories in below comment box.