Emperor Akbar and all the court were familiar with the cleverness of Birbal. Still, Akbar used to test Birbal’s cleverness.
One such morning, Emperor Akbar called Birbal and went for a walk in the garden. There were many birds chirping. Suddenly Emperor Akbar’s eyes fell on a crow and mischief came to his mind. He said to Birbal, “I want to know how many crows are there in our kingdom.” This question was definitely a bit awkward, but still Birbal said, “Your Majesty, I can answer this question of yours, but I need some time.” Akbar smilingly gave time to Birbal.
After a few days, Birbal came to the court, then asked Emperor Akbar, “Tell me, Birbal, how many crows are there in our kingdom.” Birbal said, “Your Majesty, there are about 323 crows in our kingdom.” On hearing this, all the courtiers started looking at Birbal.
Then Emperor Akbar said, “What if the number of crows in our kingdom is more than this?” Birbal said, “It may be that some crows have come to visit their relatives in our kingdom, Maharaj.”
On this, Emperor Akbar said, “If there are less then?” Then Birbal said, “It is possible that the crows of our kingdom have gone to their relatives in other countries.”
As soon as Birbal said this, the whole court resounded with laughter and once again Birbal became an object of praise for his intelligence.
Lesson learned from the story:
Children, this story teaches us that if the mind is used, then the solution to every problem and the answer to the question can be found.
