Children's Short stories

a lion, a wolf, and a fox — go hunting together, and when it is time to divide the spoils, the wolf and the fox foolishly expect that the lion will share with them, not realizing just whom they are dealing with. 

An Eagle, swooping down on powerful wings, seized a lamb in her talons and made off with it to her nest. A Jackdaw saw the deed, and his silly head was filled with the idea that he was big and strong enough to do as the Eagle had done.

A cock and a dog go on a journey together. At night, the cock roosts in a tree while the dog curls up at its roots. When the cock crowed in the morning, it attracted a fox that made friendly overtures and tried to lure the bird down. The cock agrees, telling it to ask the porter to open the door so that it can come out. The fox stumbles on the sleeping dog and is killed.

A farmer's boy went into his field. There were some sheep and a pig there. He picked up the pig that squealed aloud. "Why are you making a fuss? When he catches us, we never cry." said a sheep. "Shut up, cried the pig, "the shepherd wants only wool from you. But this boy is taking me away for my meat."

A certain man who visited foreign lands could talk of little when he returned to his home except the wonderful adventures he had met with and the great deeds he had done abroad. One of the feats he told about was a leap he had made in a city Called Rhodes. 

A Fox having tumbled, by chance, into a well, had been casting about a long while, to no purpose, how he should get out again; when, at last, a Goat came to the place, and wanting, to drink, asked Reynard, Whether the water was good! Good! says he; ay, so sweet, that I am afraid I have surfeited myself, I have drunk so abundantly. The Goat, upon this, without any more ado, leapt in; and the Fox, t...

A lion and a bear simultaneously attack a fawn and fight over it until they collapse from fatigue. Then a fox that has been watching them snatches their prey and makes off with it. 

A Bear was so enrag'd once at the Stinging of a Bee, that he ran like mad into the Bee-Garden,and over-turn'd all the Hives in revenge. This Outrage brought them out in whole Troops upon him; and he came afterwards to bethink himself, how much more advisable it had been to pass over one Injury, than by an unprofitable Passion to provoke a Thousand.

Tells a story of two goats who are at a river with a narrow bridge that allowed no room to pass. They argued and fought over who should cross the bridge first, and neither would budge. The moral of the story is that when you argue and fight, you lose sight of what is right. 

A man and a Lion traveled together through the forest. They soon began to boast of their respective superiority to each other in strength and prowess. As they were disputing, they passed a statue carved in stone, which represented “a Lion strangled by a Man.” The traveler pointed to it and said: “See there! How strong we are, and how we prevail over even the king of beasts.” The Lion replied: “Thi...

A stag bends down to drink from a stream, whilst doing so stops to admire his impressive antlers in the cool reflection. At the same time, he ashamedly notices how small his hind legs are in comparison to his large antlers. At that instant he sees a lion stalking him and takes off at full speed for the safety of the forest only to have his impressive antlers snag on the branches. Just before the S...

One day a wolf cornered a sheep. "You can't escape,” said the wolf, baring his teeth. "I know," said the sheep, softly. "Please grant me a last wish. Sing a song so that I may dance one last time.' "Certainly,' said the wolf and throwing back his head began to howl. Hearing him howl the farmer's dogs rushed to the spot and drove him away.

The Owl and the grasshopper is one of the Aesop's fable. A grasshopper bothered an owl trying to sleep. The more the owl complained the loader grasshopper became. The moral of the story is flattery is not a proof of true admiration. 

A Gnat alighted on one of the horns of a Bull, and remained sitting there for a considerable time. When it had rested sufficiently and was about to fly away, it said to the Bull, “Do you mind if I go now?” The Bull merely raised his eyes and remarked, without interest, “It’s all one to me; I didn’t notice when you came, and I shan’t know when you go away.”

There was once a very conceited Peacock who  a gorgeous tail like no other bird. So, when he met a Crane one day, the Peacock scoffed at the Crane’s colorless and dull feathers, and immediately spread his own colorful tail for the Crane to see and admire. “Look at my feathers,” he boasted, how they shine in all the colors of the rainbow, while yours are so pale! I am dressed like a king!” “That’s...

A Wolf stayed with a flock of sheep until the Shepherd started to ignore him. With that opportunity the Wolf struck and had his meal.

The story concerns a small fish caught by a fisherman that begs for its life on account of its size and suggests that waiting until it is larger would make it a more filling meal. The fisherman refuses, giving as his reason that every little amount helps and that it is stupid to give up a present advantage for an uncertain future gain. 

An ant falls into a stream and a dove comes to the rescue by holding out a blade of grass to allow it to climb out. Then, noticing that a fowler was about to catch the dove, the ant bit his foot and his sudden movement caused the bird to fly away. 

A farmer and his wife had a goose that laid one golden egg every day. The couple decided to butcher the goose as they thought its insides must be made of gold as well and then they can have all the golden eggs it held within. On killing the goose, they found that the bird was just the same as every other goose on the inside. So the couple lost their means of livelihood.

The story concerns a fox that tries to eat grapes from a vine but cannot reach them. Rather than admit defeat, he states they are undesirable. The expression "sour grapes" originated from this fable.

A Wild Boar was engaged in whetting his tusks upon the trunk of a tree in the forest when a Fox came by and, seeing what he was at, said to him, "Why are you doing that, pray? The huntsmen are not out to-day, and there are no other dangers at hand that I can see." "True, my friend," replied the Boar, "but the instant my life is in danger I shall need to use my tusks. There'll be no time to sharpen...

A lion grown too old and weak to hunt pretended to be sick as a ruse and ate the animals that came to visit him in his cave. But the fox only greeted him from outside and, on being asked why it did not enter, replied "Because I can only see tracks going in, but none coming out".

An Old Crab said to her son, “Why do you walk sideways like that, my son? You ought to walk straight.” The Young Crab replied, “Show me how, dear mother, and I’ll follow your example.” The Old Crab tried, but tried in vain, and then saw how foolish she had been to find fault with her child.

A heavy wagon was being pulled along a country lane by a team of Oxen. The Axles in the wagon groaned and creaked constantly. After awhile, the Oxen, turning, said to the wheels: “Why do you make so much noise? We do all the work so it’s we, not you, who should be making noise.”

A wolf once decided to change his nature by changing his appearance, and thus get plenty to eat. He put on a sheepskin and accompanied the flock to the pasture. The shepherd was fooled by the disguise. When night fell, the shepherd shut up the wolf in the fold with the rest of the sheep and as the fence was placed across the entrance, the sheepfold was securely closed off. But when the shepherd wa...