The Trick of the Stick Story
On a fine evening, King Akbar was enjoying a boat ride in a river. Birbal, some courtiers, and guards were with him. As the boat moved on, King Akbar saw a small stick floating on the water surface.
He said, “Whoever crosses this river just by using this stick floating in water will be made King for a day.”
Saying this, he put his hand in the water and picked up the stick. None of the courtiers were courageous enough to accept the challenge. King Akbar posed the same challenge to Birbal.
Birbal agreed but said, “Your Majesty, I’ll use nothing but this stick to reach the shore as you said but only after you declare that I am the King for the day starting from now itself.”
“All right, I agree. Now my kingdom, treasures, guards, and courtiers are yours for a day. You are now the Emperor of India.”
Then Birbal bowed and took the stick in his hand. He was about to jump into the river but the courtiers called him,
“Your Majesty, you cannot jump. We won’t let you. You are our king. Who will take care of us if any harm comes to you?”
“No, it doesn’t matter,” Birbal said, and holding the stick in his hand, he got ready to jump into the water again. But then the guards stopped him.
One of them said, “You are our king. We are your servants and we are faithful in your service. How can we let you be in any type of danger? It is our duty to protect you. We will not let you jump at all.”
“Let me go. I order you,” Birbal said forcibly.
“We are sorry, Your Majesty, but we cannot obey this order of yours.”
The argument continued for about ten minutes. But by then the boat has reached the shore. Then King Akbar said, “Dear Birbal, you have lost this time. You didn't use the stick to get across the river.”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I did use the stick. You had declared me to be the King for the day. But still, I attempted to jump into the waters to swim across, using the stick. My dutiful guards prevented me from doing so. I kept holding on to the stick till we reached the shore. So you can say that I cross the river using the stick.”
King Akbar realized that Birbal had indeed won again.