AKBAR AND BIRBAL

It was summer. The day was hot. Akbar went hunting. No animal came his way. Akbar was tired and thirsty. And there was no water near by.

Akbar and his men went to a village. They saw a small boy with a bundle of sticks on his head. "I'm thirsty. I want some water to drink. Can you help me?" Akbar asked.

"Yes, please come with me. There is a lake near my house," the boy said.

"Get on that horse," the king said.

The boy looked smart and intelligent. Akbar liked him very much. "What is your name, my dear boy?" the king asked. "What is your name?"the boy asked the king.

The king was surprised. "Where is your father? What does he do?" he asked. "He is at home. He is the priest of the village," the boy answered.

Soon they came to the lake. The king and his men got off the horses and drank the water. "The water is very sweet and so are you," Akbar said. He gave him his ring and said,"keep this ring with you and come to palace some day."

Years passed. The boy grew up to be a young man. "Go to palace and meet the king," his friends said. The boy took the ring and went to palace. He showed the ring to the guards and entered the palace. Akbar was in the durbar hall.

"Flowers are beautiful, I know. Which of them is the most beautiful?" the king asked the courtiers. "The lotus," said one, "The jasmine" said another, "It smells sweet too." "The rose," said the third. "It is beautiful and sweet-smelling".

Just as that moment the young man went in. "The cotton flower," he said. Everyone laughed. Then there was a short silence. "Why do you say so?" the king asked the young man.

"We make beautiful clothes from cotton. And the clothes have all the colors of the rainbow."

Akbar liked the answer. "You are truly wise for your age!" he said Then he saw the ring on the young man's finger and remembered him. "I give him the name Birbal."  "From now on this young man shall live in my palace," he said to his courtiers.