Cooking The Khichdi On a cold winter day Akbar and Birbal took a walk along the lake. A thought came to Birbal that a man would do anything for money. He expressed his feelings to Akbar. Akbar then put his finger into the lake and immediately removed it because he shivered with cold. Akbar said “I don’t think a man would spend an entire night in the cold water of this lake for money.” Birbal replied “I am sure I can find such a person.” Akbar then challenged Birbal into finding such a person and said that he would reward the person with a thousand gold coins. Birbal searched far and ... read more

Washerman's 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, Washer-man's donkey carries only one donkey's load, I am carrying three ... read more

Birbal Problem Solver Several courtiers were vying to be the Royal Advisor of Emperor Akbar. So one day, when they came to the court, they said to the Emperor, "We want to be your Royal Advisor." Akbar said, "No problem, but you will have to pass the test before you could be my Royal Advisor. And whoever would pass the test will be appointed my Advisor." They agreed. The King unfastened his waist cloth and lay down on the floor, and asked the candidates to cover him with that cloth from head to toe. Now everybody tried to cover him, but in vain. If one wanted to cover the head, then feet ... read more

Just One Question One Day a scholar came to the court of Emperor Akbar and challenged Birbal to answer his questions and thus prove that he was as clever as people said he was. He asked Birbal: "Would you prefer to answer a hundred easy questions or just a single difficult one?" Both the emperor and Birbal had had a difficult day and were impatient to leave. "Ask me one difficult question," sad Birbal. "Well, then, tell me," said the man, "which came first into the world, the chicken or the egg?" "The chicken," replied Birbal. "How do you know?" asked the scholar, a note o ... read more

Birbal Is Brief One day Akbar asked his courtiers if they could tell him the difference between truth and falsehood in three words or less. The courtiers looked at one another in bewilderment. "What about you, Birbal?" asked the emperor. "I'm surprised that you too are silent." "I'm silent because I want to give others a chance to speak," said Birbal. "Nobody else has the answer," said the emperor. "So go ahead and tell me what the difference between truth and falsehood is — in three words or less." "Four fingers" said Birbal "Four fingers?" asked the emperor, perplexed. ... read more