Total Number of Crows in the City

Once upon a time, King Akbar asked a strange question in his meeting, due to which the entire gathering was surprised. As they all were trying to find out the answer, Birbal came in and asked what was the matter.

He repeated the question to him. The question was, “How many crows are there in the city?”

Birbal immediately smiled and went to Akbar. He announced the answer; His answer was that there are twenty one thousand five hundred twenty three crows in the city. When asked how he knew the answer, Birbal replied, “Ask your men to count the number of crows.

If more are found, then relatives of the crows will be coming to them from nearby cities. If there are fewer, then the crows in our city must have gone to their relatives living outside the city.”

Hearing this answer, the king felt quite satisfied. Pleased with this answer, Akbar presented a ruby and pearl chain to Birbal. At the same time, he praised Birbal’s intelligence a lot.

Moral

What we learn from this story is that having the correct explanation in your answer is as important as having the correct answer.