Brain Teasers
Birbal the Wise - VIII
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?
Emperor Akbar was very fond of Birbal as were many of the village people. However, this made quite a few of Akbar's other ministers jealous.
One day, they decided to come up with a plan to rid them of the "great" Birbal. To avoid suspicion from falling on them, they took the help of the emperor's barber in this plan.
A week later, while Akbar was receiving a haircut, the barber lightly mentioned that he knew of someone who could allow Akbar to reach and even converse with his ancestors who had passed away, but he also stated the man who would go to the heavens would have to be witty, intelligent and wise. Akbar instantly recommended Birbal for the task.
Birbal was told that a fire would be lit around him and the smoke would carry him to heaven; however, chanting would protect him from burning to his death. Birbal instantly knew that this was a plan to get rid of him, but not wishing to anger the emperor, he agreed to perform this task in a month. During this period of time, he asked some laborers to build a tunnel connecting his house to the cemetery, where the "rites" would be held.
When the day came, Birbal escaped his death by going to his house where he stayed for a month growing out his beard. A month later, he went back to Akbar's palace. When asked about the health of Akbar's ancestors, Birbal replied that they were doing very well but were missing just one thing.
What did Birbal say they were missing in heaven?
Emperor Akbar was very fond of Birbal as were many of the village people. However, this made quite a few of Akbar's other ministers jealous.
One day, they decided to come up with a plan to rid them of the "great" Birbal. To avoid suspicion from falling on them, they took the help of the emperor's barber in this plan.
A week later, while Akbar was receiving a haircut, the barber lightly mentioned that he knew of someone who could allow Akbar to reach and even converse with his ancestors who had passed away, but he also stated the man who would go to the heavens would have to be witty, intelligent and wise. Akbar instantly recommended Birbal for the task.
Birbal was told that a fire would be lit around him and the smoke would carry him to heaven; however, chanting would protect him from burning to his death. Birbal instantly knew that this was a plan to get rid of him, but not wishing to anger the emperor, he agreed to perform this task in a month. During this period of time, he asked some laborers to build a tunnel connecting his house to the cemetery, where the "rites" would be held.
When the day came, Birbal escaped his death by going to his house where he stayed for a month growing out his beard. A month later, he went back to Akbar's palace. When asked about the health of Akbar's ancestors, Birbal replied that they were doing very well but were missing just one thing.
What did Birbal say they were missing in heaven?
Answer
Birbal stated that there weren't any barbers in heaven and said that was the reason for his long beard. Since Akbar now knew a way to reach them, he asked for his barber to be sent. Realizing that he would die in the fire, the emperor's barber confessed what he and the ministers did and no one dared to conspire against Birbal again.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Very fun, I loved it!!!
Yay! One more for the collaboration! Good job SoF!
Hehe, that was very cute! I have to say... I'm a little confused on how the tunnel thing worked, but the overall idea was great.
it could do with some patching up but other wise great
lol good well i think
Nicely done!
CUTE! I LIKED IT.
Congrats! SOF.
I love Birbal
Good!
thats the best yet of birble
[applause]
i got it!!!!
*thumbs up* (2)
Cute! And I got it, too! I'm going to go look at the other Birbal ones.
That was pretty wise Birbal, but I caught onto your plan.
That's unfortunate for people in the barber profession. Apparently, all barbers go to hell because there aren't any in heaven. What a pity for those of you who are barbers...
That's unfortunate for people in the barber profession. Apparently, all barbers go to hell because there aren't any in heaven. What a pity for those of you who are barbers...
I hate to be a party spoiler (after the 16 good comments before me) but is it just me or is this teaser asking for the obvious?! WHERE is the twist or difficulty that is normally presented? When I finished reading the teaser and my first thought is that if I am Birbal of course I would say Heaven is short of barber to get my revenge - but I thought to myself that would be too simple and direct, literally a no-brainer, but that IS the answer. OMG, and this "teaser" gets more than 3 in popularity? Is Braingle for kids then? Geez...
I agree. And HOW did Birbal know the Barber set him up? good gosh STOP posting Birbal stories here. I like a good teaser and I like a good story but I can't seem to find either in Birbal.
With all due respect, I think that if Birbal, a wise man, saw that someone who disliked him was putting him into a pit of fire, he would realize it was a set up!
Dude, it was the EMPORER who was putting him in the fire..read the story. If you know anything about these lame Bribal stories you'll know that the emporer LIKED Bribal. Nowhere did it mention how Birbal would have known WHO was setting him up...or even that it WAS a setup....Bribal just assumes that it is.
Jun 28, 2009
I got it :-)
It was good and fun oriented.
It was good and fun oriented.
Jan 12, 2010
I was too reckless with this one. Absolute zero imagination was put into consideration. I did catch the "grow beard" part but only for half a second. Then started to consider the scenarios -
Brilbal was told by the emperor to contact his ancestors, but Bribal requested it to be done after a month had passed. Wouldn't the emperor consider this rather strange, for all reasons.
Ofcourse the emperor liked the wise man Bribal, but if he believed someone would be able to go to heaven for a period of time and come back, he must have considered himself a pretty wise person aswell, unless he disliked Bribal and didn't care what happend, in which case he wouldn't have let a month pass.
I know I'm being sceptical and pessemistic, but I guess I just can't see the fact I didn't didn't take my time to read the story twice and missed the most crucial part about growing beard. I mean, if I would be wise, ofcourse I would send the barber and not be wise enough to think of something to send the people who were actually planning the actual trip to heaven for me.
I don't know if I would've ever considered to setup the barberer, I mean, who is gonna cut my long grown beard?!
Brilbal was told by the emperor to contact his ancestors, but Bribal requested it to be done after a month had passed. Wouldn't the emperor consider this rather strange, for all reasons.
Ofcourse the emperor liked the wise man Bribal, but if he believed someone would be able to go to heaven for a period of time and come back, he must have considered himself a pretty wise person aswell, unless he disliked Bribal and didn't care what happend, in which case he wouldn't have let a month pass.
I know I'm being sceptical and pessemistic, but I guess I just can't see the fact I didn't didn't take my time to read the story twice and missed the most crucial part about growing beard. I mean, if I would be wise, ofcourse I would send the barber and not be wise enough to think of something to send the people who were actually planning the actual trip to heaven for me.
I don't know if I would've ever considered to setup the barberer, I mean, who is gonna cut my long grown beard?!
Why isnt Bribal the emperor, lol.
I know this is folktale material, but after a while I start to wonder if "Akbar was wise and intelligent and like Birbal" isn't a dark joke. Akbar seems to be an idiot. But I suppose his general "good emperor" persona covers it.
The real Akbar was a very interesting figure.
I like Mullah Nasruddin stories, which are rather different -he is usually though not always the butt of the joke.
The real Akbar was a very interesting figure.
I like Mullah Nasruddin stories, which are rather different -he is usually though not always the butt of the joke.
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