Godfather Death Short Story in English for Kids

Would you like to tell a spooky story to your child to give the small shivers? If so, this godfather death story is an ideal choice for them. Since Halloween is just around the corner, this slightly creepy story is the perfect tale to narrate to your children to give them a heads-up about this scary festive season, as well as proper life lessons, as it comes with a one of a kind moral written just for kids. It is a story about a man who chooses Death as his youngest son’s godfather and how the actions of the youngest son led him to his doom. This article strives to deliver the moral of godfather death in an easy language that can be understood by children.

Godfather Death Summary in English

The story begins with a poor man having 12 children and working day and night to provide for them. When his 13th son is born, he is hopeless and sad and decides to find a godfather who would take care of his youngest son.

He then starts his search for a proper godfather. He comes across God, who offers to be his son’s godfather and promises good wealth, health and happiness but the man declines, saying that God cares for the rich more than the poor.

He then crosses paths with the Devil, who also offers to be his youngest son’s godfather and promises that he will never go hungry or be dependent on anybody else but again, the poor man declines as he believes that the Devil is a cheat and will always continue to betray humans.

Finally, the poor man meets Death, who he decided would be the perfect godfather for his youngest son as death does not discriminate between the rich and the poor. Death soon becomes the son’s godfather the following Sunday.

After a few years, once the son is old enough, Death takes him to a garden deep within the woods filled with rare flowers and plants and gives the son his word that he can make him into a famous doctor within days, only if he is willing to follow a few rules.

The main rule is that if Death is standing beside the head of the patient, then he should be given certain herbs from the woods and will be cured in no time. However, if Death is standing at the feet of the patient, that human belongs to Death and no amount of medicinal flowers or plants or herbs will save his/her life.

The youth agrees and soon, he becomes one of the richest and successful doctors in the kingdom. After being called to see a patient, he comes to know if they can be saved or not depending on where Death stands.

Soon, he is summoned by the king himself and rushes over to the palace. There, he finds Death at the feet of the king and is filled with pity so he decides to risk his life and chances to save the king.

He places the king’s head at where his feet were, making it seem like Death is standing beside the king’s head and not at his feet and gives him the necessary herbs, curing him. He is rewarded generously for his services.

Death is enraged and betrayed and scolds the youth, explaining that he will let this act of disobedience slide since he is his godfather but warns him that the next time he disobeys death or breaks his rules, he would take his life by killing him.

After a few days, he is again summoned by the king, but this time for his only daughter, the princess, who is seriously ill with a deadly disease. The king told the youth that if he cured his daughter, he would reward him by giving his daughter’s hand in marriage, making him king.

Unfortunately, Death was standing at the princess’s feet. Tempted by the king’s offer, the youth repeated the same procedure for the princess as he had done with the king and gave her the herbs and cured her.

But before the princess could wake up,the youth was dragged by Death into a deep cave under the earth, which revealed countless candles burning in the dark and Death explained that each of these candles was the lives of the humans on earth.

Death then showed him the length of the youth’s candle and was shocked to find out that it was almost extinguished. He begged Death’s forgiveness and asked him to replace his candle with a different one.

Death agreed and pretended to change the candle but purposely let it drop and the flame of the candle was put out, killing the youth.

The Youth Sees Death at the Feet of the King’s Bed and Decides to Save his Life

Moral of Godfather Death 

The moral of this story is that one can never cheat death, no matter how rich or poor he is. Just like in the story, despite having Death as his godfather, the youth was unable to escape his fate. Likewise, children must understand that when it is time, it is time. And that no matter how hard you try to escape your fate, it is impossible.

Note to Parents 

The godfather death summary is a good place for children to start reading this moral story and get to know the importance of staying loyal, obedient and to not escape one’s fate and it will also encourage them to develop the habit of reading.  This story is also ideal for story-telling and this will in turn increase their curiosity and love for stories.