Birbal's Khichdi

4-6 min read
13 pages

Birbal's khichdi, an Akbar and Birbal story to read aloud. A poor man earns a reward, and the court finds a reason not to pay it.

The emperor Akbar offered a thousand gold coins to anyone who could stand all night up to his neck in the river in the cold season.

A poor man came forward. He went into the water at dusk and stood there while the mist came down, and he was still standing there when the sky went pale.

In the morning he came to the court for his thousand coins, shaking so much he could hardly speak.

«How did you manage it?» somebody asked, and the man, who was honest, said: «There was a lamp burning in a window on the far bank. I looked at it all night and I thought about the warmth of it.»

At that the courtiers began. He had had help. He had had a fire. A lamp is a fire, and the terms had said nothing about lamps, and therefore he had cheated and was owed nothing.

Akbar listened to all of this and, in the end, agreed with them. The man was sent away with nothing.

Birbal did not come to court the next day, or the day after. On the third day the emperor sent for him.

Birbal was found in his own garden, sitting beside a small fire. Above the fire, hanging from a tripod, was a pot — but the pot hung so high that it was a full yard above the flames.

«What are you doing?» said the messenger. «Cooking khichdi,» said Birbal. «Tell the emperor I shall come as soon as it is done.»

By evening Akbar came himself. He looked at the fire, and at the pot hanging a yard above it, and at Birbal sitting patiently between them.

«That will never cook,» said Akbar.

«Why not?» said Birbal. «There is a fire. Your court decided three days ago that a lamp across a river was close enough to warm a man all night. My fire is a great deal nearer than that.»

Akbar stood looking at the pot for some time. Then he sent for the poor man and paid him, and nothing more was said in that court about lamps.

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Text source: Traditional Indian folk tale about the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605) and his minister Birbal. Public domain. The text was written anew for Marytale — it is not a reprint of anyone else's version.

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Birbal's Khichdi

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