The Victory of The Queen Story
One day King Akbar was relaxing in the harem with his Queen.
He said, “I wonder…what Birbal’s brain is made of. He is always providing intelligent advice and witty answers. He is truly fit to be a part of the royal court’s navratnas. In fact, he is the best of all.”
At this, the Queen burst out laughing.
“Why do you laugh this way, dear?” King Akbar enquired.
“I can defeat Birbal in intelligence and wit,” she claimed.
“Is that so? I will call him here and you will have to prove it to me,” the King said and the Queen readily agreed.
Soon Birbal was summoned to the harem by King Akbar. On his arrival, the Queen asked a maid to bring sharbat, fruits, and sweets for Birbal. When she had left, the Queen waited for a minute or two and said, “Now the sharbat is being made. Now it has been poured into a silver cup. Fruits have been arranged in a bowl. The sweets have been placed on a silver plate. And now goes, one... two... three....four... five... six... seven.... eight... nine... ten and Birbal, here is some refreshment for you.”
As the Queen said this, the maid arrived with the refreshments at the chamber’s door. The Queen turned to Birbal and said, “Did you see, Birbal, how I counted the minutes to the last? And now let me inform you that the King and I will come for lunch to your mansion tomorrow.”
“You are welcome, Her Majesty,” Birbal said and left the harem.
Then King Akbar asked the Queen, “You were going to prove that you can defeat Birbal but I did not see any such thing.”
“Your Majesty, the true test is to be held tomorrow at lunch.”
The next day, the King and the Queen reached Birbal’s mansion. They were given a warm welcome and soon they had settled down.
“Birbal, I am sure that a grand lunch is being prepared for you. Now can you count and tell when the dishes will arrive as I had done yesterday?”
Birbal smiled humbly and said, “Your Majesty, I dare not speak before you. I request you to count and the minute you stop, the lunch would arrive.”
The Queen agreed. She counted “one... two….nine….ten.”
Just as she stopped at ten, five of Birbal’s servants arrived there holding the dishes.
At this, the King asked, “Dear, what do you say now?”
The Queen replied, “I think Birbal is more intelligent. He must have already guessed about my challenging plan.”
“Oh, yes! But that means dear that you’ve lost the bet of winning by challenging him.”
“Yes, I do agree that he is very clever.”
But Birbal said, “Your Majesty, in fact, it’s Her Majesty who has been victorious for the lunch arrived when she stopped counting as I had asked her to.”
“Oh, Birbal” the Queen exclaimed with a laugh, “You are a rare one indeed. You made me win even though I had lost.”
And the King laughed out loud at this.