The Four Fools

One evening the Emperor was in a playful mood. “Birbal,” he said, “I have seen the cleverest men in my empire. Now I want to see the most foolish. Bring me the four biggest fools you can find. You have one week.”

Birbal set off. On the first day, on a dusty road outside the city, he met a man riding a horse. The strange thing was that the man was carrying a heavy bundle of firewood on his own head.

“Why don’t you tie the wood onto the horse?” asked Birbal.

“Oh, I couldn’t do that,” said the man. “My poor horse already has me to carry. I don’t want to make him carry the wood too.”

Birbal smiled. “You must come with me to the palace.”

A few days later, in the bazaar, he saw a man crawling about in the middle of the street, searching the ground by the light of a lamp.

“What have you lost?” asked Birbal.

“My ring. I dropped it in my house this morning.”

“Then why are you looking for it out here?”

“Because it’s too dark in my house,” said the man. “Out here the light is much better.”

Birbal took him to the palace as well.

When the week was over, he presented the two men to the Emperor and told their stories. The court roared with laughter.

“Wonderful,” said Akbar. “But I asked for four fools, Birbal. You have only brought me two.”

“There are four, Your Majesty,” said Birbal. “The third fool is me. I have spent a whole week of my life, which I could have spent doing useful work, wandering the roads looking for fools.”

The Emperor laughed. “And the fourth?”

Birbal bowed very low. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. The fourth is the one who sent me on such an errand.”

For a moment the court held its breath. Then Akbar burst out laughing harder than anyone. “You’re right, Birbal. Four fools exactly. Give these two gentlemen a meal and a coin each, and let us all go back to more sensible work.”