A Royal Feast

THE great Mughal emperor Akbar was very fond of mangoes, like most of us.

One hot summer afternoon, the king was in his palace, enjoying a feast of mangoes with his queen.

Just then, his friend, the wise and witty Birbal walked into the room. “I see Your Majesty, that you are having a great time, enjoying mangoes,” he said. Now, the king was in a mood to tease. So, quietly pushing the plate with the huge mound of mango seeds and peels towards his wife, he said, “Yes Birbal. But just look at the queen. She's eaten such a huge amount. Ha ha.”

The queen felt embarrassed. But she was too shy and decent to say anything. Sensing her discomfort, Birbal rushed to the rescue. “Oh, our queen may be fond of mangoes,'' he said, “but I think you are more fond of them. See, at least she has left the skin and seeds, but you seem to have gobbled even those,” said Birbal.

Akbar was about to tick off Birbal for his cheeky behaviour. But then, he saw the queen and Birbal's eyes twinkling with laughter. And suddenly, he saw the funny side too. All three of them had a great laugh. And more mangoes! On another occasion Akbar told Birbal he would like him to produce a seedless mango.

Birbal told him he could produce a seedless mango but that he would require an assistant.

"Why one? I'll give you a thousand assistants!" said the emperor.

"The assistant I want should be boneless," said Birbal.

"How can a man be boneless, Birbal?" asked Akbar in exasperation.

"If a mango can be seedless why can't a man be boneless?" asked Birbal, smiling.

The emperor never spoke of seedless mangoes again!