We explain what a moral is and what its objective is. In addition, to whom it is directed and some examples of morals.
What is a moral?
A moral is the teaching that emerges from a story, story, fable or story. The morals have to do with everyday life and help to identify what is morally correct, promote the teaching from values and they call for reflection on certain behaviors.
In general, their tone is didactic and they are intended for children. In some cases, as in the fables, the moral is written. In other cases, however, it is the reader who must deduce the teaching that emerges from the story.
Examples of short fables with their moral
- "The rabbit and the turtle." This fable is one of the best known and tells of a race between a rabbit and a turtle that, unexpectedly, the turtle wins despite its slow pace. The rabbit, confident in his speed, did not take the race seriously, he was lazy and confident, all qualities that did not allow him to win the race. Moral? One who works with perseverance, dedication and discipline you will get better results and will be a more trustworthy person than one who simply has good abilities or facilities to carry out a task.
- "The pig and the horse."This fable tells the story of a horse that was so sick that it could not stand up. Its owner consequently decided that if during the next three days it did not improve, he would euthanize it. The little pig, worried about this decision, decided to help the horse to recover and on the third day he succeeded. The horse owner, seeing the improvement of his pet, decided to sacrifice the pig to celebrate. Moral? We must help others, but always with the precaution that our actions do not affect ourselves.
- "The mouse and the lion." This fable tells the story of a little mouse that was captured by a Lion, with the intention of devouring it. The little mouse begged him not to eat it and he finally got it. Days later, the little mouse saw how some hunters caught the same feline that had freed him days ago and decided to help him escape from those nets. Moral? The benefits, sooner rather than later, are rewarded.
- "The ant and the cicada". This fable tells the story of an ant that decided to sacrifice its summer building a shelter and keeping food, while the cicada spent all that time resting. When winter came, the cicada suffered from hunger and cold while the ant took advantage of its shelter and ate the food that it had been saving throughout the summer. Moral? Those who work and save should not be alarmed when times are hard.
- "The goose that lays the golden eggs." This fable tells the story of a farmer couple who had a hen that laid a golden egg every day. The farmers suspected that inside the hen would have a large lump of gold and that if they killed her they would get all the gold at once. They did so but they realized that the hen inside was the same as all the ordinary chickens they had on their farm. Moral? Wanting to get rich in one go and quickly, they ran out of what guaranteed them gold, in small quantities, every day. Ambition played a trick on them.
- "The milkmaid." This fable tells the story of the daughter of a farmer farmer who went to town every morning with a container full of milk to sell. One morning while on this tour, an idea occurred to him. With the money he received in exchange for the milk, he would buy 300 eggs. He calculated that, discounting the chicks that were not hatched, in a short time he would have about 200, which he would sell when they reach their highest price. In this way, she would make a good sum of money to buy the most beautiful dress, which she would wear for the end of the year parties. The milkmaid continued to imagine, while carrying the container of milk, that, at the dance, all the young people would pretend her and she could afford to value them one by one. At that very moment, his foot collided with a stone and he stumbled, all the milk spilled on the floor and his plans disintegrated. Moral? You should not be too ambitious because nothing will be enough. Longing for the future too much can make us forget that even the present is not safe.