The Thirsty Crow Story
Moral Story with Questions • CBSE / ICSE Class 2A clever crow finds a smart way to drink water — read it, retell it, and answer the questions.
📝 The Thirsty Crow in 10 lines
The short version, for homework or a quick retell
- It was a very hot summer day.
- A crow was flying here and there, looking for water.
- He was very thirsty and could not find any water.
- At last he saw a pot under a tree.
- There was only a little water at the bottom of the pot.
- The crow put his beak in, but he could not reach the water.
- He did not give up. He saw some small stones on the ground.
- He picked up the stones and dropped them into the pot one by one.
- Slowly the water rose higher and higher.
- The clever crow drank the water and flew away happily.
Moral: Where there is a will, there is a way.
📖 The full story
Read it aloud together — the bold words are explained below
It was a very hot summer day. The sun was burning bright in the sky. A crow was flying from place to place. He was very, very thirsty.
The crow flew over fields and trees, but he could not find any water. “I need water!” he cried. “I must find some before I fall down!”
Soon the crow saw a pot standing under a tree. He flew down quickly with joy. “Water! I can see water!” he said happily.
But when the crow looked inside, the water was at the very bottom of the pot. He put his beak inside, but he could not reach the water. The pot was too deep and the water was too low.
The crow thought and thought. He did not give up. He looked around and saw many small stones on the ground. Suddenly he had a wonderful idea!
The clever crow picked up a stone in his beak and dropped it into the pot. Plop! The water came up a tiny bit. He dropped another stone. Plop! The water came up a little more.
One by one, the crow kept dropping stones into the pot. Slowly, slowly, the water rose higher and higher. After many stones, the water finally reached the top.
The happy crow drank the cool water. “Ahh! That was so good!” he said. He was not thirsty any more. The clever crow flew away singing a happy song.
Moral of the story
“Where there is a will, there is a way.”
The old Greek version says it another way: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
📚 New words from the story
Every bold word above, explained
💬 Questions and answers
Ask your child first, then tap to see a good answer
1. Why was the crow thirsty?
It was a very hot summer day, and the crow had been flying from place to place for a long time without finding any water.
2. What problem did the crow face at the pot?
There was only a little water, right at the bottom of the pot. The pot was too deep, so the crow’s beak could not reach the water.
3. How did the crow solve the problem?
He picked up small stones and dropped them into the pot one by one. The stones took up space at the bottom, so the water rose higher and higher until he could reach it.
4. What does “where there is a will, there is a way” mean?
It means that if you really want to do something and you keep trying, you will find a way to do it. The crow wanted the water badly, so he kept thinking until he found an idea that worked.
5. Why is the crow called clever and not just lucky?
Because he did not find the water by chance. He looked at his problem, looked at the stones, and worked out that one could solve the other. That is thinking, not luck.
6. Can you think of a time when you solved a hard problem?
There is no single right answer here. Let your child talk — a puzzle they finished, a shoelace they learned to tie, a sum they got right after trying twice. The point is to connect the moral to their own life.
🔄 Can you retell the story?
Choose the right word for each blank
1. On a hot day, a crow was very ___.
2. He found a pot with water at the ___.
3. He could not reach the water with his ___.
4. He dropped small ___ into the pot.
5. Slowly the water came ___.
6. At last the clever crow ___ the water.
🎮 Comprehension quiz
Eight questions on the story
What was the crow looking for?
Where did the crow find the water?
Why couldn’t the crow drink at first?
What did the crow drop into the pot?
Why did the water come up when the stones went in?
What is the moral of the story?
Which word best describes the crow?
Who first told this story?
🎉 Quiz complete
0/8🌍 Where this story comes from
A Greek fable that became an Indian favourite
The Thirsty Crow is one of Aesop’s Fables. Aesop was a storyteller in ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago, and in his collection this story is called The Crow and the Pitcher.
The story has been told in India for so long that many people believe it is an Indian folktale. It is often printed in Indian storybooks beside tales from the Panchatantra — but it is not one of them. A good story travels a long way.
Here is the surprising part: the crow in the story is doing something real crows can actually do. Scientists have tested birds of the crow family with a tube of water and some pebbles, and the birds dropped the pebbles in to bring the water within reach — just like the fable says. Aesop noticed something true about crows long before anyone could prove it.
Crows are among the cleverest birds in the world. They use tools, remember human faces, and solve puzzles that many animals cannot.
🧠 Tips for parents
Three things to try this week
Do the experiment
Put a little water in a tall glass and drop in pebbles or marbles one at a time. Let your child watch the level climb. A Class 2 child understands the story completely once they have seen this happen.
Connect the moral
Ask: “When did you keep trying at something hard instead of giving up?” Linking the moral to a real memory is what makes it stick.
Read more Aesop
The Lion and the Mouse and The Hare and the Tortoise are by the same storyteller and are just as short. Reading three fables in a row helps a child see what a moral is.