Once emperor Akbar set on a journey to a distant place with some of his courtiers.
The summers were at the peak and the sun was blazing. It was very hot and all of them were tired.
The emperor too was tired of traveling and said, 'We have been traveling since morning. Still it seems we have come only half the way. Can anyone shorten the distance for us?'
The courtiers were surprised. Only miracles could do so, one of them thought mutely.
But suddenly Birbal said, 'I can shorten the route, my Majesty!'
The courtiers looked at one another in surprise. They were perplexed to hear Birbal's unexpected reply. They all knew there was no other route through the hilly terrain to reach their destination.
Akbar exclaimed, 'Birbal, good if you can shorten the road. I won't ask how. I would just say do it!' Akbar had a mocking expression on his face when he said so.
Birbal replied, 'My Majesty, sure I can. Let me began a story. It is a very interesting story about....'. Thus Birbal began a long, engaging story. He avidly narrated visualizations through his words, which carried away Akbar's minds and thoughts away from the passage. His mind landed on dreamy plots of the stories which Birbal kept saying. It was a story woven into another. A huge nest of stories which drowned Akbar's mind completely. Akbar and people who ride besides him on the horses were spellbound.
The story continued, until Birbal paused and said, 'My Majesty, we have reached the city'.
Akbar suddenly came to his senses and saud, 'Not so soon Birbal, the end of the story is far!'
'But we have reached our destination, my Majesty! May be the road has became short as you asked for it!', Birbal smiled.
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