Birbal and the Emperor’s Invisible Crown

One day, Emperor Akbar sat in his royal court, deep in thought. He was feeling a bit bored and decided to stir things up. He turned to Birbal and said, “Birbal, I have a challenge for you. If you can solve it, I’ll reward you handsomely. But if you fail, you will have to wear a ridiculous hat in front of the entire court for a week!”

Birbal, never one to back down from a challenge, smiled. “Your Majesty, I accept! What is the challenge?”

Akbar grinned mischievously. “I’ve decided to wear a crown today. But here’s the twist: I want you to tell me how heavy it is, without seeing it or touching it. The crown is invisible, and I’m going to wear it right now. Can you figure out how heavy it is?”

The courtiers in the court gasped. An invisible crown? What kind of challenge was this?

Birbal thought for a moment, then said, “Your Majesty, I understand the challenge. But I need a few minutes to figure out how to measure the weight of this invisible crown.”

Akbar chuckled to himself, convinced that Birbal would fail. “You have ten minutes, Birbal. Don’t make excuses!”

Birbal left the court and returned to the royal palace. He walked through the hallways, mumbling to himself as he pondered how to deal with such a strange situation. After a bit of thinking, he had an idea. He hurried back to the court with a big grin on his face.

“Your Majesty, I’m ready,” Birbal said as he entered, carrying a large, empty sack.

The courtiers were puzzled. “Birbal, what’s in the sack?” one of them asked.

Birbal replied, “It’s the invisible crown, of course!”

Akbar raised an eyebrow. “Invisible crown? What are you talking about?”

Birbal walked up to the throne and began placing the sack on Akbar’s head. “I’m going to measure the weight of your crown now, Your Majesty.”

Akbar looked at him, confused. “But the crown is invisible! There’s nothing there!”

Birbal calmly continued, “Ah, but Your Majesty, if your crown is invisible, it will have no weight, right? So I’m simply placing this empty sack on your head, which is clearly much lighter than a real crown. That will be the measure of your invisible crown’s weight!”

The courtiers burst out laughing, and even Akbar couldn’t help but chuckle at Birbal’s quick thinking.

Akbar shook his head, clearly impressed with Birbal’s wit. “Well, Birbal, you’ve managed to turn my ridiculous challenge into something quite amusing. I owe you a reward.”

Birbal smiled and bowed. “Your Majesty, as for the reward, I’ll leave it to your discretion. But I’m glad to have brought some laughter to the court.”

The Emperor, still laughing, nodded. “Birbal, you always manage to keep things lighthearted, even in the most serious of situations.”