One day
King Akbar was feeling bored, he loved to think up riddles for his courtiers to
answer. ‘The only person in my court who can answer my questions is Birbal. He’s a clever guy and I really enjoy his wisdom,’
thought Akbar.
“Birbal,
I have a riddle for you,” said Akbar.
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“If you
were given a choice between justice and a bag of gold coins, what would you
choose?”
“That’s
simple, your majesty. I would choose the gold coins, of course,” answered
Birbal.
There
was a silence in the court. The courtiers were shocked at this answer.
“He
chose money over justice. Can you believe it? Birbal is greedy! “ shouted the
courtiers. Even to Akbar this answer was disappointed.
“What? How
could you choose the gold coins, Birbal?”
“I
never expected you to be greedy like the others. I thought you would choose
justice over gold,” said the king finally when he had gotten over his shock.
“Your
highness,” said Birbal, smiling, “I asked you what I do not have. In your
kingdom, there’s justice for everyone. So, I asked you for gold! “
Delighted
with this answer, Akbar gave Birbal a bag of gold coins.
The End
