10 Examples of Short Stories

Short stories

The short stories are short stories that can be stories, fables, myths or legends. Some of these stories are written and others are orally transmitted.

The function of short stories is to entertain, but also to teach something or transmit values ​​or beliefs.

Despite their brevity, most short stories have the following structure:

Examples of short stories

1. The three Little Pigs

In the forest lived three little pigs who decided to build a house each, to protect themselves from a wolf that was prowling around there. One of the little pigs made his house out of straw; another, made of wood and another, with bricks.

One day the first little pig saw the wolf approaching and ran into his straw house. The wolf blew, knocked her down, and the little pig ran to the wooden house, where his friend lived.

The wolf went to the wooden house, but this time he blew harder and knocked it down as well. The two little pigs ran off to their other friend's brick house.

The wolf also went to the door of this house, but when he blew, he could not knock it down. The three little pigs were very happy.

This is a popular tale that seeks to convey a moral: when a person tries hard, he gets better results.

1. The fortune teller

In a public square there was a man who claimed to be a fortune teller and people consulted him about what would happen in the future. But one day a neighbor of the soothsayer approached him and told him that some thieves had broken into his house and that they had stolen everything. The soothsayer, desperate, ran off, but a man stopped him and asked: "If you are a soothsayer, how could you not know they were going to rob you?" The soothsayer did not know what to answer him.

This is a fable by Aesop, a Greek who lived between 600 BC. C. and 564 a. C., and therefore contains a moral: no one can really know the future.

1. Peter and the wolf

Peter was a shepherd who always took his sheep to the field. One day, he was very bored and he decided to make a joke: he started yelling that a wolf was coming but, in truth, there was none.

The people of the village ran out to help Pedro, but when they arrived they only saw Pedro laughing out loud. The villagers told him that he could not lie about such things and that it was not good to make such jokes.

The next day, Pedro repeated the joke and the villagers again challenged him. Days passed and Peter continued to lead his sheep to pasture. One day he was in the field and saw a wolf approaching, then Pedro began to scream for help.

This time, the villagers did not believe him. Then the wolf attacked some of his sheep and Peter ran off. From that day on, Pedro did not tell lies again.

This fable is attributed to Aesop, but it is not known with certainty if he is the author. Like all fables, it seeks to convey a moral: it is not okay to lie to and outwit people.

1. The goose that laid the golden eggs

A couple lived on a farm with several chickens. One day the woman entered the henhouse and saw that a hen had not laid a common egg, but that she had laid a golden egg.

The days passed and the hen laid a golden egg a day. The man decided that they had to kill and open the hen, because he believed that it had gold inside. The woman agreed.

But when they opened it, they realized that it was a chicken like any other.

This fable also contains a moral: do not be ambitious.

1. The old man, the boy and the donkey

One day a boy and his grandfather went for a walk in the mountains and took a donkey. The boy was riding the donkey and the grandfather was walking. When they arrived at a town, the inhabitants of the place began to criticize them, because they could not believe that the child was on top of the donkey and the old man had to walk. So the boy and the grandfather decided that the old man would go riding the donkey.

They came to another town and the inhabitants of this place began to criticize them, because they could not believe that the child had to walk so much. So they decided that the two of them would go riding the donkey.

But they came to another town and the inhabitants of this place began to criticize them, because they believed that the animal was carrying too much weight. So the boy and the grandfather decided that they would both go walking.

Finally, they reached another town, and the locals laughed at them because no one was riding the donkey.

This traditional tale has a moral: do not listen to the criticism and ridicule of others.

1. The necklace

Before, only the sky and the water existed, but the Earth had not yet been created. A god, Obatala, asked permission from Olorun, the king of heaven, to create the earth. Olorun granted him permission and gave him a golden necklace, the shell of a snail filled with sand, a cat, a hen and a seed.

Obatala descended the necklace from the sky into the water and began to dump the sand in the water. The hen spread the sand until the earth was formed. The god planted the seed and saw a tree grow from it. Obatala used to play with his cat, but he felt very lonely, so he began to form figures similar to him with clay. Olorun blew the figures and that's how the first people emerged.

This short story is an anthropogonic myth because it explains the creation of the human being and is from the African continent.

1. The fox and the tiger

Once a tiger wanted to hunt a fox. But the fox stopped him and told him that he was the king of animals and, therefore, the tiger should not harm him.

The tiger asked him to prove it, so the fox told him to accompany him because being the king, all the animals would flee from him. And so it was, all the animals ran away when they saw them arrive and the tiger believed him.
What the tiger did not know was that the animals were not fleeing from the supposed king, the fox, but were fleeing from the tiger, because they were afraid of him.

This Chinese fable has a moral: it is better to use intelligence than force to overcome a difficult situation.

1. The hawks and the king

One day a king received two falcon chicks as a gift. The king asked one of his men to take care of them and to train them. Some months passed and the king went to see how his hawks were and saw that one was flying, but that another did not move from the branch on which he was leaning. The subject did not know what was happening to this hawk.

The king decided to offer a reward to the person who could make the falcon fly. One day, he returned to the tree where the hawks were and saw that they were both flying. He found out who was the person who had blown him up: a peasant.

The king went to talk to the peasant and asked him how he had accomplished it. The peasant replied that he had broken the branch and that the falcon had taken flight at that moment.

This traditional tale seeks to convey the teaching that some things need to change for others to happen.

1. The kangaroo

It is believed that kangaroos formerly had four legs, which they used to walk. But one day, there were some kangaroos resting peacefully, until they saw a hunter hiding in the undergrowth.

The man approached a kangaroo, and the kangaroo, very scared because he had never seen a person, ran away. The hunter followed him and caught up with him in no time. But the kangaroo was able to hide before the man caught him.

It got dark and the man made a fire, the kangaroo realized that the man would not leave, so he would have to escape unseen. Running fast on all four legs would not help him, so he decided to go slow using only his two hind legs so as not to make noise. The kangaroo walked only on two legs, when he was in a safe place he tested if he could release and he succeeded.

Finally, the kangaroo came to the place where the other kangaroos were, explained to them how he had escaped and taught them to walk and jump on two legs. From that moment on, kangaroos walk and jump using only their hind legs.

This is an Australian legend, passed down from generation to generation, and explains the origin of the kangaroos' gait.

1. The lion and the mosquito

A lion was sleeping peacefully in the jungle, until he began to hear a buzzing in his ear. The noise had been caused by a mosquito, which told the feline: "I am stronger than the king of the jungle." The lion told him to let him rest. But the mosquito told him that he could defeat it and the lion challenged him to do so.

The mosquito was moving fast and managed to bite the lion. Instead, the lion did not scratch the insect and gave up. The mosquito was very happy with his triumph until he suddenly realized that he had been trapped by a spider web.

This traditional tale invites us to think that it is not necessary to compete for everything and that there can always be someone who is better than one in an activity.

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