One day Emperor Akbar and his
courtiers were having a light time in the court. Akbar attempted to pull
Birbal’s leg. He began narrating a dream –
‘Last night, I had a dream. It
was a new moon night and there was not even a flicker of lamp or a dim shade around.
I went out in dark calling for Birbal. Birbal came looking for me. But it was
too dark to see and we both collided and fell. Fortunately, I fell into the
large vessel of sweet pudding, but poor Birbal, I pity him as he fell into a gutter’.
The entire court burst into
laughter. The great sound of laughter reverberated across the high walls of the
court. Akbar was filled with thrill and contentment that at least for once he
had scored over Birbal.
But Birbal stood unperturbed. He
smiled. When the sound of laughter had shrunk, Birbal said, ‘My Majesty, it is
strange coincidence that I had a similar dream. But I slept the complete night
and saw what happened further’.
Akbar became inquisitively, ‘What
happened after we fell?’
Birbal Said, ‘My Majesty, we
somehow managed to come out. I was stinking, while you smelled of cardamom
pudding. We needed what to clean ourselves. But there was no water and no one
around to help us. So we eventually cleaned ourselves by licking each other’.
Akbar’s trill and excitement was
killed. He left as if someone knew a glass of cold water on his face. He was
filled with embarrassment and resolved never to let Birbal down again.
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