Brain Teasers
Birbal the Wise - II
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 Emperor Akbar was sitting in his royal garden enjoying the morning breeze and looked up to the sky. On seeing crows flying above, he suddenly posed a question to Birbal, "Birbal, how many crows are there in my kingdom?"
Without missing a heartbeat, Birbal replied "64,532, Sire."
Akbar, surprised at this said, "Are you absolutely sure?"
Birbal said "Of course I am, you could get them counted if you wish!"
How could Birbal be so sure?
Once Emperor Akbar was sitting in his royal garden enjoying the morning breeze and looked up to the sky. On seeing crows flying above, he suddenly posed a question to Birbal, "Birbal, how many crows are there in my kingdom?"
Without missing a heartbeat, Birbal replied "64,532, Sire."
Akbar, surprised at this said, "Are you absolutely sure?"
Birbal said "Of course I am, you could get them counted if you wish!"
How could Birbal be so sure?
Answer
Akbar was baffled at this reply, because he knew no one could merely look at the sky and give an answer like that. He was sure that this time he had Birbal trapped!He immediately summoned his minister and ordered a kingdom wide census of the number of crows. The result of the census was 65,023.
Triumphantly, Akbar went back with this figure to Birbal and confronted him, "Birbal, the official census places the crows at 65,023. What do you have to say to that?". Birbal, not missing a single beat, came back with "Sire, the crows in your kingdom are currently entertaining 491 crows from other neighbouring kingdoms!"
Akbar, stunned for a second, burst into peals of laughter! Then he asked Birbal, "What if the census came up with 63,000? What would you have told me then?"
Birbal immediately replied, "In that case, sire, it would be immediately clear that 1,532 crows of our kingdom are being entertained by other crows of our neighbouring kingdoms!"
Thus, Birbal yet again proved his wit and wisdom.
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Comments
Birbal the liar?
Birbal the blagger?
Well I would like to think that he was a diplomatic courtier who knew how to get out of a tight spot and still win arguments!
lol funny
yeah, it is funny but he asked "Birbal, how many crows are there in my kingdom?"
that doesn't mean "how many crows are residents of my kingdom", it means "how many crows are there in my kingdom"
i take that to mean crows in this kingdom at this second, so its always changing and when the guy came back w/ a different number, Birbal could just say it changed since then
but that would be a boring-er and less funny teaser answer so
good job! :-)
that doesn't mean "how many crows are residents of my kingdom", it means "how many crows are there in my kingdom"
i take that to mean crows in this kingdom at this second, so its always changing and when the guy came back w/ a different number, Birbal could just say it changed since then
but that would be a boring-er and less funny teaser answer so
good job! :-)
See, i'm indian so i have heard this story a lot, but i love it because i have always thought birbal was awesome.
I think I missed something
More of a joke than an actual trick, but I love it. Great story line, too!
Good example of a quick-witted person! What would the King's reply been, if Birbal had asked the King for his estimate, after quoting some figure himself?
See, now I thought there was some sort of breeding program involved.
♥ I can do the hearts by copy and paste. cool huh
♥♥♥♥♥ yeah copy and paste! hahaha loves it! ♥♥♥♥♥
Wow. That's pretty funny, I think. But great teaser!!
lol that made me lol!
very wierd...i would have never guessed it tho.....nice
Heh, Birbal really is a witty one, isn't he?
Great one.
Great one.
I think the official census number needs to be in the question... that's a pretty important part of figuring it out.
Good folk tale, terrible teaser.
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I love reading these! The man was extremely clever, and worth reading about!
I'm just curious why this teaser is subject to a lot spamming. So you can post hearts... who cares?
Birbal is truly wise.
This goes into my favs.
This goes into my favs.
I like these! keep them comming and great job!
Yeah!
Birbal the Politician?
Those hearts are simple i can do them without copy paste LOL ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ i can make other shapes too ☺•○ÄÌ╗+â•Âà LOL
PM if you want to know how to make all those shapes and more
Anyway back to the subject
Great teaser
Another great Brainster masterpiece well done
Thanks for all the laughs
PM if you want to know how to make all those shapes and more
Anyway back to the subject
Great teaser
Another great Brainster masterpiece well done
Thanks for all the laughs
I just don't understand how these Birbal stories are teasers.
Good job, keep'm comming
silliness to be sure...as others have said, more of a joke than a teaser
I like the other birbal teazers so far, but this one...?
ok, what?
so....how did birbal come up with his original estimate?
Birbal was smart, since nobody could offer proof on the crows. Those shapes are easy. ☻☺∞■╓ε▼lδ-¥ƒ♥ (ALT 3 digit number combination)
Dumb Teaser, No factual elements. More like; "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody iis there to hear it..."
not the least bit realistic
I must be dumb because I don't get the answer at all? Are you saying that he just made up a number and then whatever the actual number was he would say the difference was because of entertaining?
I know, it doesn't say how he was sure. And that was the teaser question.
Katamaster - exactly! The story implies that he is a wise person and therefore came up with a 'clever' answer when he was in fact wrong. Wisdom is not knowing everything, but instead it is knowing that you don't know everything and have to figure some things out on the spot. This wasn't a teaser, but it made for a good morning read!
only one I can do!
only one I can do!
Uh... Ugh!
Amusing. That's about all I can say for this trick teaser. Sorry Brainster, not one of your better efforts.
I think the comments were priceless!!
I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥'d them!!
Thanks for a good laugh - incidentally great teaser!
I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥'d them!!
Thanks for a good laugh - incidentally great teaser!
good story
questionable teaser
how are you supposed to think of that?
questionable teaser
how are you supposed to think of that?
yeah, and how was anyone supposed to know that answer...?
stupid.
stupid.
Of course we couldn't come up with the same answer, but it WAS a good story. Thanks!
wow...that's crazy... i wouldn't call it wit but lyar
I had no idea what the answer was. No I have a headache. Thanks for posting anyway, even if it did get lost in the translation.
Monday~
Monday~
You left out the hint! A good one was, "He couldn't really be sure, but he could get away with it."
Good one, good one!
Good one, good one!
perhaps, you should also call Bribal "the Comeback Kid?"!
Good thought provoker!
wobe2 out1
Good thought provoker!
wobe2 out1
I am so lost.
i was clueless for an answer, and i'm clueless to how the answer makes sense...
I pretty much figured out where the answer was going but fail to see how this is a teaser. It is however a great story.
Lame. This not a teaser at all. It's a story. The question asked how was Birbal sure. Here's what really happened:
The Emporer saw that Birbal tried to deceive him so he had Birbal be-headed. No more Birbal the liar.
The Emporer saw that Birbal tried to deceive him so he had Birbal be-headed. No more Birbal the liar.
Who f♥ ed?
you must tell us how you come up with these riddles.
The answer does not answer the question.
That was absolutely stupid; how could anyone conduct a census on crows, when some would be in flight?
Actually, I thought that the Emperor would look foolish, if he ever attempted to count the crows in his kingdom, so Birbal could simply pluck any number out of the air.
Actually, I thought that the Emperor would look foolish, if he ever attempted to count the crows in his kingdom, so Birbal could simply pluck any number out of the air.
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