Brain Teasers
Birbal the Wise - III
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
Emperor Akbar once ruled over India. He was a wise and intelligent ruler, and he had in his court the Nine Gems, his nine advisors, who were each known for a particular skill. One of these Gems was Birbal, known for his wit and wisdom. The story below is one of the examples of his wit. Do you have it in you to find out the answer?
Once, when the Emperor and Birbal were taking rounds of the kingdom, a commoner committed a minor offense in front of the Emperor.
But the Emperor was in a foul mood that day, and ordered that the man be beheaded and his head presented to him at court the next day.
How did Birbal prevent this catastrophe from occurring?
Once, when the Emperor and Birbal were taking rounds of the kingdom, a commoner committed a minor offense in front of the Emperor.
But the Emperor was in a foul mood that day, and ordered that the man be beheaded and his head presented to him at court the next day.
How did Birbal prevent this catastrophe from occurring?
Answer
Birbal, seeing that an unjust sentence was about to be passed, sneaked into the prison that night, convinced the executioner to wait out a day, and explained to the commoner what he must do the next day.The next morning, the commoner was brought into the court with his head still on his shoulder. Angered, the Emperor demanded to know the reason for his insolence.
As per Birbal's instructions, the commoner fearlessly said, "Sire, how could I trust other people to do this job for you? What if they did not do a satisfactory job? That is why I came here so that I can myself give my head to you!".
Hearing this, Akbar was pleased with the commoner's answer and realized that Birbal had somehow managed to transfer some of his wit and wisdom to this man. The commoner thanked his stars and hurried back home to his family!
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