This is one of the best short moral story to read for kids. One evening, a teacher from a village wanted to cross the river to meet his brother on the other side. He saw a boatman and yelled to him, “Can you take me across the river?” The boatman kindly replied, “Yes, sir! Hop into the boat.” The boatman started rowing and singing along. They were approaching the middle of the river. Also, read The Clever Thief.
The teacher was in a happy mood. So, he decided to chat with the boatman. The teacher asked, “Did you read the paper today? Who won the match?” The boatman replied, “No, sir! I don’t know how to read. I find it kind of hard. To this, the teacher said arrogantly, “You don’t know how to read! A quarter of your life is wasted.”
Image Source@ www.youtube.com. As they were going along the river, they saw small fish jumping in the water and butterflies flying here and there. The teacher began to feel very hot. So, he asked the boatman, “Isn’t it hot? What time is it?” The boatman replied, “Sir, I don’t have a watch and I don’t know how to read the time.” “What? Didn’t you ever go to school? This is bad. I think half your life has been wasted,” the teacher said.
The teacher continued, “You must go to school and learn these things. They are so important and you will not even know what is going around the world. Your life is getting wasted like this. Okay! So what do you do when you go home after work? Watch some T.V.? Did you see that music program, isn’t it great?” The boatman kindly replied, “Sir, I don’t have a T.V. and I don’t have money to buy one. When I get home, I am so tired from rowing I just sleep or play with my kids.” The teacher thought and came to the conclusion that three-forth of his life has been wasted as he had not enjoyed ever.
As they were chatting, the bright Mr. Sun disappeared, black clouds filled the sky and there was thunder and lightning. Soon, it started raining and the poor boatman could not get hold of his boat, the oar slipped away from his hand. The boatman and the teacher were frightened. As the boat was going to sink, the boatman informed the teacher. But the proud teacher didn’t know how to swim.
On this, the boatman said, “This is too bad, Sir because then you will drown and your whole life will be a waste.” The boatman knew swimming. So, he jumped into the river and swam away. But the teacher didn’t know how to swim. So, he sank along the boat. Also, read The Hidden Treasure Story.
MORAL: ONE SHOULD NOT DEGRADE OTHER’S WORK BECAUSE EVERY WORK REQUIRES EFFORTS AND HARD WORK.
Here is a visual depiction of one of the best short moral story to read for kids, “The Proud Teacher”. See the video story below,