This story is from the time of Emperor Akbar. Once, a merchant had gone away from his region for some work for a few days. When he returned home after completing his work, he found that his entire safe had been emptied. All his hard-earned money had been stolen. The merchant was alarmed, and he summoned all his household servants. There were a total of five servants in the merchant’s house. Upon the merchant’s call, all the servants came and stood before him.
The merchant asked them, “How, in your presence, did such a major theft happen in my house? At the time when the thief came and cleared my safe, where were all of you?” One servant replied, “We don’t know when the theft occurred, master. We were sleeping.” Hearing this, the merchant became extremely agitated and said, “I think one of you five must have committed the theft. Your case will now be decided by Emperor Akbar.” Saying this, he headed towards the palace.
The next day, the merchant reached the court. He pleaded, “Justice, Your Majesty, justice. Resolve my issue.” Akbar asked, “What happened? Who are you, and what is your problem?” The merchant said, “I am a trader residing in your kingdom, Your Majesty. I went out of the region for some urgent work. When I returned, my entire safe had been looted. I am ruined, Your Majesty. Please help me.”
Upon hearing this, Akbar asked the merchant some questions, such as how much goods were stolen and whether he suspected anyone. After getting answers to his questions, Akbar handed the merchant’s case over to Birbal and said that Birbal would help in catching the real thief.
The next day, Birbal went to the merchant’s house. He called all the servants and asked them where they were each during the night of the theft. All of them claimed to have stayed in the merchant’s house and slept there.
Birbal accepted their statements and said, “You don’t need to worry. I have five magical sticks in my hands. I will give each one of you a stick. The stick of the actual thief will grow two inches longer tonight, and the thief will be caught. We will all meet here tomorrow.” Saying this, Birbal held a stick in each servant’s hand and left.
The day passed, and the next day, Birbal returned to the merchant’s house. He called all the servants and asked them to show him their respective sticks. When Birbal looked at the sticks, he saw that one servant’s stick was two inches shorter.
Now, what happened next? Birbal immediately ordered the soldiers to arrest that servant. The merchant could not understand the whole incident and looked at Birbal with confusion. Birbal explained to the merchant that there was no magical stick; it was just a trick to make the thief afraid that the stick would grow longer, and in fear, the thief would cut it shorter. The merchant was highly impressed with Birbal’s cleverness and thanked him.
The moral of the story is that wrongdoings, no matter how cunningly executed, eventually come to light and have negative consequences.
