Birbal Betrays Himself.

Birbal was missing. He and the emperor had a quarrel and Birbal had stormed out of the palace vowing never to return.

Now Akbar missed him and wanted him back but no one knew where he was.

Then the emperor had a brainwave. He offered a reward of 1000 gold coins to any man who could come to the palace observing the following condition. The man had to walk in the sun without an umbrella but he had to be in the shade at the same time.

"Impossible," said the people.

Then a villager came carrying a string cot over his head and claimed the prize.

"I've walked in the sun but at the same time I was in the shade of the strings of the cot," he said.

It was a brilliant solution. On interrogation the villager confessed that the idea had been suggested to him by a man living with him.

"It could only be Birbal!" said the emperor, delighted.

Sure enough it was Birbal and he and the emperor had a joyous reunion

Wise counting

Wise Counting.

Emperor Akbar was in the habit of putting riddles and puzzles to his courtiers. He often asked questions which were strange and witty. It took much wisdom to answer these questions.

Once he asked a very strange question. The courtiers were dumb folded by his question.

Akbar glanced at his courtiers. As he looked, one by one the heads began to hang low in search of an answer. It was at this moment that Birbal entered the courtyard. Birbal who knew the nature of the emperor quickly grasped the situation and asked, "May I know the question so that I can try for an answer".

Akbar said, "How many crows are there in this city?"

Without even a moment's thought, Birbal replied "There are fifty thousand five hundred and eighty nine crows, my lord".

"How can you be so sure?” asked Akbar.

Birbal said, "Make you men count, My lord. If you find more crows it means some have come to visit their relatives here. If you find less number of crows it means some have gone to visit their relatives elsewhere".

Akbar was pleased very much by Birbal's wit.

MORAL : A witty answer will serve its purpose.

Birbal caught the Thief?

It so happened that once a rich merchant's house was robbed. The merchant suspected that the thief was one of his servants. So he went to Birbal and mentioned the incident. Birbal went to his house and assembled all of his servants and asked that who stole the merchant's things. Everybody denied.

Birbal thought for a moment, then gave a stick of equal length to all the servants of the merchant and said to them that the stick of the real thief will be longer by two inches tomorrow. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with heir sticks.

All the servants went to their homes and gathered again at the same place the next day. Birbal asked them to show him their sticks. One of the servants had his stick shorter by two inches. Birbal said, "This is your thief, merchant."

Later the merchant asked Birbal, "How did you catch him?" Birbal said, "The thief had already cut his stick short by two inches in the night fearing that his stick will be longer by two inches by morning."

The Donkey's Relatives

One day Hodjaa loaded some vegetables on his donkey and set to market. After a distance the donkey stopped going further and stayed where it was. Now Hodjaa was in a hurry, first he coxed the donkey to get moving but when it refused to walk further, then he started beating it.

Seeing this people gathered around them. One man asked Hodjaa "Why are you beating this poor creature?"  Another man said, "You are a merciless man who is beating a speechless animal."  The third man said, "Do not beat it, it will go its own."

Hodjaa was still in anger, he said to the donkey, "If I knew that you had so many relatives around, I would never have beaten you. I can see that you have a large family here."

Hearing this the people left and went away their way leaving Hodjaa with his donkey.

The loyal Gardener

One day Akbar was stumbled on a rock in his garden while taking a stroll. He was not in a good mood already, and then this fall. He got very angry and ordered for the gardener's arrest and execution.

The next day, at the time of execution, the gardener was asked what his last wish was. He requested for an audience with the Emperor. His wish was granted and he was brought in the Court. When he came near the throne, he loudly cleared the throat and spat at the feet of the Emperor. The Emperor demanded to know why did he do such a thing. The gardener did this on Birbal's advice, so Birbal stepped forward in the gardener's defense.

He said, "There could be no person more loyal than this unfortunate gardener. Fearing that you ordered him for hanging for a small reason, he went out of his way to give you a genuine reason for ordering him to be hanged."

The Emperor realized his mistake and set him free.

The noblest begger

One day the Emperor asked Birbal, "Birbal, is it possible to be the both "noblest" and the "lowest" together?" Birbal said, "Yes, Jahaanpanaah"  "Then bring me such a person."

Birbal went and returned next day with a beggar and presenting him to Akbar said, "This is the lowest among all of your subjects, Jehanpanah" Akbar asked, "Good, that may be true, but I don't see that how he can be the noblest?"

"He has been given the honor of having an audience with the Emperor, that makes him the noblest among the beggars, Jahaapanaah."

Birbal's Beautiful Explanation

One day the Emperor Akbar saw a woman hugging and kissing a very dark, ugly and unattractive child. He was very surprised to see that. He thought and thought but could not think why? He asked Birbal that why she was doing that to such an unattractive child. Birbal replied innocently, "Huzoor, he must have been her own child. For every mother her own child is the most beautiful child in the world."

The Emperor did not seem to be convinced with this explanation, and Birbal had guessed this from the Emperor's face. Next day, in the presence of the Emperor, Birbal ordered a Guard to present the most beautiful child in the world in the court. Next day, the Guard brought a more unattractive and ugly child with buck teeth and his hair stood like a porcupine and presented to the Emperor. "This is the most beautiful child in the world, Your majesty." the Guard stammered.

The Emperor asked, "How do you know that he is the most beautiful child in the world?" "Your Majesty, I went home and posed my problem to my wife. She told me to bring our child to the court." the Guard replied meekly.

Four Fools

Once Akbar asked Birbal to bring four fools of the first order to him. He said - "It is not difficult because this world is full of fools. Birbal said - "OK" and asked some time to find them, which Akbar readily gave to him.

Now Birbal started looking for fools. He was going somewhere that he saw a man carrying a large plate on which were kept some clothes, betel leaves and sweets. He looked like a fool to Birbal, so he asked him - "Where are you going to? And to whom you are carrying this?" The man replied - "My wife has remarried. Now they have a child so I am taking this gift for them." Birbal got convinced that he was a fool, so he considered him a candidate to take to the king.

At another time he saw a man riding a buffalo carrying a bundle of grass on his head. Birbal thought he was also a fool, so he asked him - "Why are you carrying this bundle on your head?" The man replied - "In fact my buffalo is pregnant, so I thought that she should not carry too much load, that is why I have put this bundle on my own head instead of putting it on it." Birbal considered him also a candidate to take to the king.

So next morning he took those people to Akbar's court and presented them to him as the biggest fools.  "But these are only two fools; where are the other two? I asked you to bring four fools." King asked. Birbal folded his hands and bending a little said - "Jehaanpanaah, The third fool are you who asked me to bring the fools; and the fourth fool is me who has brought these fools for you."

When the king heard about them, he laughed a lot on their foolishness.

Birbal visit to Heaven

Because Birbal was very wise and witty, the Emperor's courtiers and other people used to be jealous with him and used to find some way to degrade him.

One day the court barber, who was very jealous with Birbal, plotted a plan against him. So when the King called him again to trim his beard, he went and started trimming his beard. He said, "Sir, last night I dreamed about your father." The King got interested, so he asked, "What did he say to you?"

"Sir, he said to me, that everything is good in paradise, but he feels a great absence of a good humorous man who can amuse him." The King thought and thought, but nobody else he could think of except Birbal who could perform this kind of duty very well. And, naturally, the only way to go to heaven was through death. For a moment, Akbar was very sad to lose such a good man, but thinking of his father, he made up his mind.

He summoned Birbal and said, "I think Birbal you love me very much and you can sacrifice anything for me." Birbal tried to understand his point but couldn't guess. He said, "You know Majesty, I do." "Then Birbal, please go to heaven to give company to my dear father." Birbal understood that this was a wicked plan of somebody to kill him. He said to Emperor politely, "I will do so, but I need a few days to prepare myself to go to heaven." The King said, "Certainly. You are giving me such a great favor, I allow you one week to prepare yourself."

Now Birbal was worried. He thought, somebody has planned very well and he could not escape from this plan. He thought and thought. And then he found a way. He dug a ditch near his house which would serve as his grave, and dug a tunnel too which would open in a room of his house. After doing this, he returned to the Imperial Court. He said, " I am ready, His Majesty, but there two conditions." Akbar was so happy to hear this that he forgot that Birbal could put some odd conditions to him. He asked, "What are those conditions? Tell me soon. I will try to fulfill them so that you can go to heaven to be with my dear father."

Birbal said, "His majesty, I wish to be buried near my house. And I want to be buried alive so that I can reach heaven alive to amuse your dear father." The King found this logical and agreed up on them immediately.

So Birbal was buried alive near his house. Of course he made his way to his house where he lived in confinement for six months. After six months, he came out of hiding with grown beard and shabby hair and asked the permission to appear in the Royal Court.

Looking at him Akbar cried, "Where have you been Birbal?" Birbal said, "Your Majesty, I was in Heaven with your dear father. I had a very good time there with your father. He was so happy with my services that he gave me special permission to return to Earth." Akbar was very anxious to know about his father, he asked, "Did he send any message for me?" Birbal said, "Yes Your Majesty, he said that very few barber can make it to go to Heaven, you can make out this from my grown beard and shabby hair, so he has asked to send your own barber to him immediately.

Akbar understood everything. He gave Birbal a big prize, and his barber the life sentence.

Who is the Donkey?

Once Akbar went to the river with his two sons and wise Minister Birbal. On the bank of the river, Akbar and his two sons took off their clothes and asked Birbal to take care of them while they took bath in the river.

Birbal was waiting for them to come out of the river. All the clothes were on his shoulder. Looking at Birbal standing like this, Akbar felt like teasing him, so he said to him, "Birbal, you look like as if you are carrying a washerman's donkey load."

Birbal quickly retorted, "Sir, Washerman's donkey carries only one donkey's load, I am carrying three donkey's load." Akbar was speechless.

I am your servant, Huzoor?

Once Akbar and Birbal passed through some farms while riding on their horses. They happened to pass through a cabbage patch. Looking at the patch, Akbar said to Birbal, "What a delightful vegetable the cabbage is. I like it very much." Birbal said, "Huzoor, cabbage is the king of the vegetables." Akbar did not reply to this, and they went on.

Another day, they were riding past the same cabbage patches again. This time Akbar made a face, and said, "This cabbage is such a tasteless vegetable. How people tolerate it." Birbal replied, " Yes Huzoor, really it is difficult to even look at such a tasteless vegetable." Akbar again listened to this and they went on.

After a while the king remembered something. He said to Birbal, "Birbal, I don't understand you. Last time when we passed through this patch, you told that the cabbage was the king of vegetable, and today you said that "It is even difficult to look at such a tasteless vegetable. What do you mean by that?"

Birbal said bowing, "Huzoor, I am your servant, not of cabbage."

Poor Man's daughter

A POOR MAN’S DAUGHTER

Anandapura was a rich town. In that town there was a poor man, named Daridranatha. Truly he was poor according to his name. He had lost his beloved wife.

But had a beautiful daughter, by name Lakshmi. Though her name was Lakshmi, She wore ragged dress. She was not even combing her hair, She was always helping her father in his work.

Daridranatha was fond of his daughter very much. He was forgetting the agony of his lost wife, looking at her. She was resembling the face of her mother completely. Her father was feeding her, starving himself. But he was talking care to hide the fact from Lakshmi

One day when she was coming back from the bazar with vegetables in the basket,Ahmed, a fruit seller saw her. He was attracted by her beauty.

He thought to kidnap her. He talked with her very nicely and made her to yield for his words. He told her that he would guide her to become rich daughter.

Lakshmi, being an innocent girl, accepted his opinion, and went with him. He bought for her the good dress and ornaments. He told her that she now appeared more beautiful than before.

Ahmed sent her to learn dance and music. She became perfect in both. Now she was sold to Muthamma, the debachanist for three thousand rupees.

Muthamma was also a dancer and musician. But she was too old now. So she was taking to several performances, this Lakshmi, for dancing. Within a short period, she was wellfamed.

Daridranatha was filled with grief for the loss of his daughter. He searched and searched for her. But in vain. Years together passed on. But where abouts of Lakshmi was not known.

One day in a dancing performance, he saw his daughter dancing in the midst of claps by the audiences. He wondered looking at her. How to talk and introduce himself with her? He did not get any idea. He waited till the function was over. Lakshmi got down from the platform with Muthamma.

But Muthamma was addressing her name ‘Gowri’. He came under confusion. He saw her close to him, when she was passing at the out door. He recognized the black spot on her right chin. Being poor, he was wearing torn clothes, so he kept silent by fright.

He came back home. But his heart was calling the name “Lakshmi” several times. He was completely discontented now. He told his inner fact with his neighbourer, Neelamma. Neelamma thought for a little while silently and suddenly said – “Friend, why can’t you go and approach Birbal at his residence? He may help you, to solve your problem. Because he is serving in Badshah Akbar’s court.

Daridranatha did the same. Birbal listened attentively to the poor man’s words and said to him, Badsha’s consoling, “please come and meet me tomorrow in court. We send for your daughter and Muthamma also there. “Daridranatha went back home with a litted content.

Nezt day he entered the court of Akbar. He saw Birbal also beside him. Even Muthamma with Lakshmi had come.

Akbar enquired with Muthamma-

“is she your daughter? What is her name?”

Muthamma answered with fright- “Jahapanah, she is my tamed daughter. Her name is Gowri.”

Akbar also enquired the girl-“Who is your father? Where did you come from?”

She said “ I know nothing of my father. From my childhood, I am with this mother; under protection.”

Akbar was unable to settle the case. Looing at them, ordered – “You all may go”

Muthamma with Lakshmi went back smiling. Daridranatha gazed at Birbal helplessly. Birbal told Akbar – Huzur, I am doubtful of those two. If you permit me, I ‘ll settle this case easily tomorrow. Akbar gave his permission. Birbal told Daridranatha to come again tomorrow. He also whispered something in his ears.

Again Akbar send his servents for Muthamma and that young girl to attend the court the next day.

Wher all the members, including those three arrived the court, Birbal looked at the poor man, Daridranatha. Daridranatha caught Birbal’s idea. He loudly called twice, “Lakshmi, Lakshmi?”

Lakshmi, beside Muthamma turned at the side where the voice from. At once Birbal asked her-

“Why did you see that side so fearfully?”

Lakshmi, trembling, said – “I thought that was my father’s voice.”

Birbal smilingly said – “ Yesterday you told that you know nothing of your father. Muthamma said that your name is “Gowri”. Both of you are the liars. Both of you should be punished.

Muthamma now, was very much afraid of. She told the real fact- “your honour, your words are true. I purchased the young girl from a Muslim. Her name is Lakshmi. I was calling her Gowri’

Lakshmi felt frightned, she rushed at her father and embraced him with a bitter cry. Akbar and the courtmen were quite astonished and admired the intelligence of Birbal in settling the case.

Birbal said Daridranatha – “ Perform your daughter’s marriage at an early date. I ‘ll arrange for payment of expenditure amount by Muthamma.” Muthamma also accepted his settlement without a word.

The poor man and his daughter saluted both Akbar and Birbal, went back joyously to their home.