One fine morning, Akbar called every courtier and minister for a meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss complaints and suggestions with them. Since Akbar had blind faith in Birbal, so he always used to consult his favourite minister before any important decision. And this was another reason for the courtiers and the ministers to feel jealous of Birbal and his reputation.
While the discussion was going on, all of a sudden one courtier rushed in the courtroom panicking. He said, “Your Majesty, I have been looted. I have been robbed. Please help me. I have lost everything.” The courtier reacted in such a way that it took Akbar some time to understand what exactly he was saying.
“Calm down and explain me what exactly happened,” said the Emperor. The courtier repeated himself in a very calm and comprehensive manner. He said, “Your majesty, someone looted my home last night and now all my valuables have been lost. I have no idea what I will do as they were the only savings I had. Please help me.”
“This is not possible at all. You live in the premises of the palace, which is the safest place of all. No one from outside can dare to enter the palace. Maybe the thief was very cunning to enter the well-secured palace,” said Akbar.
Then Akbar looked at Birbal and said, “Birbal, this is not possible for any outsider to break into the palace. This is a mystery; what do you think? Maybe the thief is not an outsider. He is from the palace only. Perhaps, he is one of the courtiers.”
Birbal completely agreed to the Emperor᾿s doubt. He also thought that the thief was among them only. So, he let his mind run wild and planned to catch the thief as soon as possible, before he could rob anybody else. Birbal took the permission of Akbar and asked everybody not to leave the court for some time until he asked them to do so. And Birbal left the court.
After sometime, Birbal came back with a donkey. The courtiers were amused after seeing the donkey as they thought what help it would render in finding out the thief. Birbal said, “All of you will have to come near to the donkey, lift its tail and whisper, ‘I am not the thief’.” It made the courtiers laugh even more. All courtiers and ministers came one by one and said as Birbal had explained. Then he asked them to show their hands. They realized that their hands had got black paint from the donkey’s tail.
However, there was one person whose hands were clean. He turned out to be the thief as out of fear he had not touched the donkey᾿s tail. That was how the thief in Akbar’s kingdom was caught.
