The Royal Hunt Story 

A group of poor villagers went to Birbal. They told him their problem, “Sir, please do something to prevent our village from being deserted.”

“What's wrong with your village, my friends?” Birbal enquired.

“Sir, King Akbar wants more forests in his kingdom. He has ordered his men to take the land where villages are settled and turn them into forests. More forests would mean more animals for His Majesty to fulfill his hobby of hunting.”

“Friends, I’ll try my best to solve your problem.”

The next time when King Akbar went on a hunting trip, Birbal accompanied him. They passed by a tree where some owls were busy making a lot of hooting sounds. A courtier with them teased Birbal, “Sir, you are a learned man. I am sure you can tell what the two groups of owls are fighting about.”

“Oh, yes….why not? But His Majesty won’t be happy to know,” Birbal said with a smile.

At this, the King said, “Why, Birbal? I don’t mind what mere birds would be talking about.”

Birbal said, “One of the male owls from our neighboring kingdom is to wed a female owl from our kingdom. The male owl’s relatives have come here to discuss the dowry. They are demanding at least forty forests as dowry. But the female owl’s father is not agreeing to fulfill the demand right now. He has learned that King Akbar would be turning many villages into forests to get more hunting areas. Soon, when the number of forests would increase, the female owl’s father would pass the forests as dowry.”

King Akbar realized his mistake and said, “Birbal, I was being selfish in destroying villages to get hunting area for my own silly hobby. I will order my men to stop vacating the villages.”

Thus, once again Birbal did justice to people who had asked for help.