Akbar Birbal Tales
Akbar Birbal Tales
The merchant suspected that the thief was one of his servants. So he went to King Akbar and put forth his grievance. After hearing all about the incident, King Akbar called Birbal and asked his help. Birbal went to the merchants 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 these sticks are magical and the stick of the real thief will be longer by two inches tomorrow. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with their 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." Like this Birbal caught the real thief.
Stolen Swan
One day, a rich merchant appeared in the court of Akbar. After some formal greetings, he told him the reason for his arrival. He said, Your Majesty, a couple of months back, I bought a swan. It was very beautiful. It had golden feathers. I used to keep it in a large cage that I got exclusively built for it. One fateful morning, when I looked at the cage, I found it empty. What do you think might have happened to your swan? asked Akbar. Sir, I think one of my servants has stolen it, replied the merchant. Akbar asked his spies to investigate the matter well. They interrogated the servants, kept an eye on them, spied on them, but all in vain. Finally, they acknowledged their defeat and said bluntly that they had failed to find the thief. Birbal offered his help. He accompanied the merchant to his home. There he called all the servants and asked them to stand in a row. Then he demanded the cage of the swan. He carefully examined the cage and pretended to whisper some words to it. The merchant got surprised. What are you doing, Sir? asked the merchant. Sh.. sh.. sh.., the cage is telling me about the thief, said Birbal. Well, what is it saying? questioned the merchant. It is saying that the thief has killed the swan and hidden its golden feathers in his turban, replied Birbal. Now, the servant who had stolen the swan got very nervous. He thought that he is carrying the feathers of the swan in his turban. Instinctively, he started examining his turban. No one but Birbal noticed him. He asked all the servants to depart except that particular servant. After all the servants has gone, he cross-examined that servant. He denied having committed the theft. Birbal scolded him and threatened him that would be whipped. At last, he acknowledged his theft. Birbal ordered to whip him.