One day, Akbar and Birbal were riding their horses near a mango orchard. The mango orchard was filled with ripe mangoes. Suddenly a stone whizzed past King Akbar and almost hit him.
The King’s guards immediately rushed to find who the culprit was. They caught the culprit who threw the stone. It was a young boy who was having a catapult in his hand. He was crying and quivering with fear.
Akbar saw the boy and asked him angrily, “Why did you try to hurt me? Tell me which enemy has sent you here to kill me?”
The young boy folded his hands and replied with tears, “My King, I was not trying to hurt you. I would not dream of that. I was just trying to knock down a mango with my catapult. It hit the bark by accident and flew towards you.”
The King was so angry to hear the young boy speak about his careless mistake. He ordered his guards, “I do not believe him. Put him to death in the same way he tried to kill me!”
The guards hesitated and King Akbar yelled at them, “If you do not do what I tell you, you will join him as well!”
The guards immediately tied the boy to the mango tree and were getting ready to throw stones at him.
Birbal quickly said to the soldiers, “Wait a second! If you want to kill this boy in the same way he tried to kill the Emperor, then you must aim at the mango and exactly hit the tree. The stone must miss the mango and then hit the tree. Then the stone must hit and hurt the boy.”
The guards paused and looked at King Akbar. King Akbar started to laugh and realised what he was doing was wrong. He understood that it was not fair to kill the young boy for something that he did not do deliberately.
He ordered his guards to let the young boy go free. King Akbar and his guards also joined the young boy and threw stones at the mango tree to knock down mangoes.
