In another story, Akbar was once troubled by the thought that there were too many fools in his kingdom. Birbal said he would bring all the fools in a bag the next day. The next day, Birbal came with an empty bag. Akbar asked why. Birbal said that all the fools heard he was coming to get them and they all hid themselves. So it was impossible to catch them. Akbar understood Birbal's point that it was hard to identify fools.
One well - known story is about the ring. Akbar lost his precious ring in the palace. He asked Birbal to find it. Birbal announced that the person who stole the ring would be identified by a magic mirror the next day. He also secretly placed a box with a hole in the middle of the palace yard. Everyone was made to pass by it. The thief, fearing detection by the mirror, put the ring in the box while passing by to get rid of it. Thus Birbal found the ring cleverly.
A story is that Akbar was about to punish a poor man unjustly. Birbal stepped in. He told Akbar a story of a lion and a mouse. The mouse had once helped the lion when it was trapped. Birbal compared the poor man to the mouse and said that even the smallest and poorest could be of great help someday. Akbar, realizing his mistake, set the man free.
Once Akbar and Birbal were taking a walk in the garden. Akbar saw a mango tree full of ripe mangoes. He said to Birbal, 'I want to know how many mangoes are there on this tree without counting them.' Birbal said, 'Your Majesty, there are as many mangoes as there are leaves on the tree.' Akbar was amused and realized Birbal's quick - thinking ability.
The story of the line on the floor. Akbar drew a line on the floor and asked his courtiers to make it shorter without erasing any part of it. Everyone was puzzled. Birbal simply drew a longer line beside it. By comparison, Akbar's line looked shorter. This shows Birbal's great wisdom in finding unique solutions to problems.
One popular story is when Birbal outwits Akbar with his quick thinking. It's a classic tale of wit and wisdom.
It's hard to say for sure. Different versions of the story might have different mentions of the number of crows.
Once Akbar lost his ring in the palace. He asked Birbal to find it. Birbal thought for a while and then announced that the thief was the person who had a long nose. All the courtiers started looking at each other's noses. Akbar was confused too. Birbal then said that he just wanted everyone to search themselves. And soon the ring was found in a corner of the room. This shows Birbal's cleverness in solving problems in an interesting way.
Once, Akbar got angry with his courtiers for some minor mistake. He wanted to punish them severely. Birbal came forward and said, 'Your Majesty, if you cut the branches of the tree (the courtiers), the tree (the kingdom) will not be able to grow properly. Forgive them and guide them instead.' Akbar, after thinking for a while, followed Birbal's advice and the courtiers were very grateful to Birbal for saving them.
One moral could be about the power of quick thinking. In many stories, Birbal has to think on his feet to answer Akbar's difficult questions, like in the story about the number of crows. It shows that being able to think fast can get you out of tricky situations.
One story is about Akbar asking Birbal how many crows are there in the city. Birbal quickly replied that there are 99,999 crows. When Akbar asked how he was so sure, Birbal said that if there were more, then the extra crows would be visiting from other places and if there were less, then some of our crows must be visiting other places.
The most famous one might be the story about weighing the elephant. Akbar got an elephant as a gift and wanted to know its weight. His wise men were clueless. But Birbal had a brilliant idea. He got a boat, made the elephant stand in it and marked the water level. Then he removed the elephant and filled the boat with stones until the water reached the same mark. Then they weighed the stones and that was the weight of the elephant.