A certain courtier in Akbar's palace could not sleep for jealousy. Why should Birbal sit closest to the throne? Why should Birbal get the gifts, the praise, the emperor's ear? One day he bowed before Akbar and said silkily, “Huzoor, Birbal is clever, no doubt — but he has only ever answered easy questions. Ask him something truly impossible, and you will see the limits of his wisdom.”
Akbar's eyes twinkled. “Very well. Compose your impossible questions, and Birbal shall answer them in open court.”
The next day the court was packed. The courtier stood up, looking very pleased with himself, and announced, “I have three questions. First: how many stars are there in the sky? Second: where is the exact centre of the earth? Third: how many men and how many women are there in the world?” A murmur ran through the hall. Surely no one alive could answer these!
Birbal rose calmly. “May I answer at once, huzoor?” He clapped his hands, and a servant led in a big woolly sheep.
“First,” said Birbal, patting the animal, “there are exactly as many stars in the sky as there are hairs on this sheep's body. My honourable friend is welcome to count them both — he will find the numbers match perfectly.”
The court roared with laughter. Birbal then took an iron rod, walked to the middle of the hall, and struck it into the ground. “Second: the centre of the earth is precisely here, beneath this rod. If anyone doubts it, let him take a measuring tape and measure the earth in every direction. If my spot is wrong by even a finger's width, I shall accept defeat.”
The courtier's face had gone quite pale. “And the third question?” asked Akbar, leaning forward with delight.
“The third is the easiest, Jahanpanah,” said Birbal, “yet the hardest to write down. Every moment, somewhere in the world, babies are being born. The number of men and women changes before the ink of the counting could dry. Let my friend first command time itself to stand still — then I shall count every man and woman on earth for him, one by one.”
The jealous courtier slipped quietly out of the hall, and Akbar declared, laughing, “An impossible question, Birbal, deserves an impossible answer — and no one serves those better than you.”