Moral story 31 to 35

1. The Merchant and the Donkey:

A merchant owned a donkey that carried sacks of salt to the market. One day, while crossing a stream, the donkey slipped and fell into the water. The salt dissolved, and the donkey's load became much lighter. The donkey was delighted.

The next day, the donkey intentionally fell into the stream, hoping to lighten its load again. However, this time, the merchant had loaded the donkey with sacks of sponges. When the sponges absorbed the water, they became heavy, and the donkey struggled to carry them.

Moral: What works once may not work again. Don't assume that a trick will always succeed.

2. The Starfish Thrower:

An old man was walking along a beach littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore. He saw a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.

"Why are you doing that?" the old man asked. "You can't save them all. It won't make a difference."

The boy picked up another starfish, threw it into the ocean, and said, "It made a difference to that one!"

Moral: Even small acts of kindness can make a big difference, at least to the one receiving it.

3. The Two Wolves:

An old Cherokee grandfather was teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."

He continued, "The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Moral: We have the power to choose which aspects of ourselves we nurture and develop.

4. The Cracked Pot:

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer.

"In these past two years, I have only been able to deliver half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and with much compassion, he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went back up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Moral: We all have our unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so interesting and rewarding.

5. The Lion's Reflection:

A lion, proud of his strength, went to a lake to drink. As he looked into the water, he saw his reflection. He was startled and frightened by his own image. He thought it was another lion and became angry.

He roared at his reflection, and the reflection roared back. He became even angrier and jumped into the lake to attack the "other lion." But there was no other lion, only his reflection. He realized he had been foolish and learned a lesson about pride and self-awareness.

Moral: Pride can blind us to our own flaws, and self-awareness is essential for growth.