You will agree that one of the best and clearest memories of your childhood is that of the stories you heard or read as a child. Stories work as magic when it’s time to teach kids some important moral lessons. Stories can spark ideas within children’s minds and can trigger conversations about the story and what lessons they learnt from it. The Magical Porridge Pot story in English is one such magical tale that is sure to become a favourite in every home.
To find out what happens when a magic pot won’t stop cooking porridge, read The Magical Porridge Pot full story below.
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Origin And History Of The Magical Porridge Pot
The Magic Porridge Pot is a folkloric German fairy tale that was recorded by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century, in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Grimm’s Fairy Tales contains 209 tales collected by the brothers Grimm. Most of these tails were adopted from oral sources.
Story Type Of The Magical Porridge Pot
The Magical Porridge Pot is a moral story for children that also makes for a great bedtime story.
Story Characters
Here are the characters of The Magical Porridge Pot:
- Melody – a little girl
- Melody’s mother
- An old witch
The Magic Porridge Pot Story for Children
A girl named Melody used to live with her mother. They were very poor. To make her mother smile, Melody used to sing songs to her morning and evening. Her mother said to her,
“Melody! What would happen to me if you wouldn’t sing for me? Your singing makes me happy, my child!”
“I know, mother! I’m very hungry. I wish we could fill our bellies with music,” replied Melody.
Melody’s mother started crying.
“Mother, don’t cry. I’ll go and find us something to eat,” she assured her mother.
Melody wandered into the forest in search of food while singing a beautiful song. An old witch heard her voice and rushed to see her.
“Oh! You frightened me,” said Melody.
“I’m sorry, my dear. I just wanted to find out the person who has such a magnificent voice,” replied the kind witch.
“Thank you! I hope your work was not interrupted by my singing.” Melody said, lowering her head while her cheeks turned pink.
“Not at all! Your voice is like a precious gift. What can I do to reward you for your singing?” asked the witch.
“Reward?” Melody was astonished.
“Yes, anything you’d like to have, but only if you’ll come back and sing for me again,” said the witch.
Melody explained to the witch about their poor living situation and how they had nothing to eat.
“Here,” said the witch, and a small black pot appeared in Melody’s hand.
“But what good is an empty pot if we don’t have any food to cook in it?” replied Melody.
“It’s a magical pot,” said the witch.
“Magical pot?” asked Melody.
“Yes, take it to your home, put it on the stove, and then say – Little pot, cook!” explained the witch, “The pot will surprise you with some sweet porridge.”
“How will the pot stop cooking?” asked Melody.
“All you have to do is say – Little pot, stop! And it will stop cooking,” said the witch.
Melody was happy.
“Don’t forget to come and sing for me tomorrow,” the witch reminded Melody.
“I won’t,” Melody replied and rushed back home, holding the magical pot tightly in her hand.
Melody and her mother now ate their fill of sweet porridge every day, and then, Melody would go to the forest to sing a song for the witch. But one day, Melody left to sing to the witch while the porridge was still cooking. Before leaving, she said to her mother,
“Don’t forget what to say.”
But her mother shooed Melody away and thought that her daughter was treating her like a fool.
The pot kept cooking the porridge.
“Quit,” said Melody’s mother to stop the pot from cooking more porridge.
But the pot didn’t stop.
“Knock it off,” tried Melody’s mother again.
But the pot didn’t stop cooking, and the porridge spilt over the stove and onto the floor.
“Enough,” shouted Melody’s mother.
She tried everything to make the magic pot stop cooking, but it was useless. Soon the entire cottage was filled with hot and sweet porridge. It started spilling out of the window, and it soon swelled the streets. It started filling cottage after cottage while the people tried to escape. People were screaming as the hot porridge was burning their skin.
By the time Melody returned, the whole village was covered in hot and sweet porridge.
“Little pot, stop,” yelled Melody, and the pot stopped cooking porridge.
Melody’s mother never again forgot the magical words.
Story Summary
Here is the summary of The Magical Porridge Pot story for children.
Once upon a time, there was a poor little girl who lived alone with her mother in a small cottage in a village. They were so poor that they didn’t have anything to eat. But the little girl named Melody had a beautiful voice and used to sing to her mother to make her happy.
One day, the little girl went into the forest in search of food, and there she met an old witch. The witch came searching for her after listening to her beautiful voice. Then the witch gave Melody a little magical pot as a reward and told her that she had to say, “Little pot, cook,” to cook the food, and, “Little pot, stop,” to stop cooking the food. But in return, she had to come to the witch every day and sing her a song.
Melody took the magical pot home to her mother. They were now freed from their hunger and ate porridge as often as they wanted.
One time, Melody went to sing to the witch while the pot was cooking porridge. But Melody’s mother forgot what to say to make the pot stop cooking porridge. The pot went on cooking, and the porridge rose to the edge and cooked on until the kitchen and whole cottage was full, and then the next cottage, and then the whole street. People were running here and there to save their lives.
At last, Melody came and yelled, “Little pot, stop,” and the magical pot stopped cooking, and anyone who wished to return to their cottage had to eat their way back.
Moral Of The Story
The moral of The Magical Porridge Pot is – “know how to finish something before you start it; you can have too much of a good thing.”
In the story, Melody’s mother tried reminding her mother what to say to the pot to stop cooking the porridge. But her mother didn’t listen and thought that according to Melody, she is a fool. Melody’s mother ended up covering the whole village with hot and sweet porridge.
How Can Children Apply The Moral Of The Story In Their Real Life?
The children can apply the moral of The Magical Porridge Pot story with pictures in real life by listening and concentrating on how a task should be completed. When they are given guidelines for a particular task, they should stick to them and follow them. Parents should also teach their kids that before starting a new task, they should know how to finish it.
We hope you liked reading The Magical Porridge Pot short story.
Also Read:
Pinocchio Moral Story for Kids
The Musical Donkey Story for Children with Moral
The Story of Belling Cat with Moral for Kids
