10. Akbar and Birbal – Reunion

10. AKBAR AND BIRBAL – REUNION

One day, when Akbar and Birbal were in discussion, Birbal happend to pass a harmless comment about Akbar's sense of humour. But Emperor Akbar was in a foul1 mood and took great offense to this remark. He asked Birbal, his court jester, friend and confidant to not only leave the palace but also to leave the walls of the city of Agra. Birbal was terribly hurt at being banished2.

A couple of days later, Akbar began to miss his best friend. He regretted3 his earlier decision of banishing him from the court. He just could not do without Birbal and so sent out a search party to look for him. But Birbal had left the town without letting anybody know of his destination4. The soldiers searched high and low but were unable to find him anywhere.

Then, one day a wise saint came to visit the palace accompanied by two of his disciples5. The disciples claimed that their teacher was the wisest man to walk the earth. Since Akbar was missing Birbal terribly6, he thought it would be a good idea to have a wise man that could keep him company. But he decided that he would first test the holy man's wisdom.

The saint had bright sparkling7 eyes, a thick beard and long hair. The next day, when they came to visit the court, Akbar informed the holy man that, since he was the wisest man on the earth, he would like to test him.

All his ministers would put forward questions and if his answers were satisfactory he would be made a minister. But if he could not, then he would be beheaded8. The saint answered that he had never claimed to be the wisest man on the earth, even though other people seemed to think so, nor was he eager to display his cleverness, but as he enjoyed answering questions, he was ready for the test.

One of the ministers, Raja Todarmal, began the round of questioning.

He asked: Who is man's best friend on the earth?

The saint replied: His own good sense.

Faizi asked: Which is the topmost thing on the earth? The saint answered: Knowledge.

Abdul Fazal: Which is the deepest trench1 in the world?

The saint answered: A woman's heart.

Another courtier questioned: What is that which cannot be regained after it is lost?

The saint answered: Life

The court musician Tansen asked: What is undying in music?

The saint replied: Notes.

And then he asked: Which is the sweetest and most melodious2 voice at night time?

The saint answered: The voice that prays to God.

Maharaj Man Singh of Jaipur, a guest at the palace, asked : What travels more speedily than wind?

The saint replied: It is man's thought.

He then asked: Which is the sweetest thing on the earth?

The saint said: It is a baby's smile.

The Emperor Akbar and all his courtiers were very impressed with his answers, but wanted to test the saint himself.

Firstly, he asked: What are the necessary requirements to rule over a kingdom?

The saint answered: Cleverness.

Then he asked: What is the gravest enemy of a king?

The saint replied: It is selfishness.

The emperor was so pleased that he offered the saint a seat of honour and asked him whether he could perform any miracles1. The saint said that he could produce any person the king wished to meet. Akbar was thrilled and immediately asked to meet his minister and best friend Birbal.

The saint simply pulled off his artificial beard and hair much to the surprise of the other courtiers. Akbar was stunned2 and could not believe his eyes. He stepped down to embrace3 the saint because he was none other than Birbal.

Akbar had tears in his eyes as he told Birbal that he had suspected it to be him and had therefore asked him whether he could perform miracles. He showered Birbal with many valuable gifts to show him how happy he was at his return.

I. Glossary foul (adj) - very unpleasant, very bad banish (v) - to order somebody to leave a place, especially a country, as a punishment regret (v) - to feel sorry about something you have done or about something that you have not been able to do destination (n) - a place to which somebody /something is going or being sent disciple (n) - a person who believes in and follows the teaching of a religious person i.e.saint terribly (adv) - very much, very badly sparkling (adj) - shining and flashing with light behead (v) - to cut off somebody's head, especially as a punishment eager (r)/(adj) - very interested and excited by something that is going to happen or about something that you want to do trench (n) - a long deep hole dug in the ground melodious (adj) - pleasant to listen to gravest (adj) - very serious and important miracle (n) - an act or event that does not follow the laws of nature and is believed to becaused by God stun (v) - to surprise or shock somebody so much that they cannot think clearly or speak embrace (v) - to put your arms around somebody as a sign of love or friendship suspect (v) - to be suspicious about something

Humour (n) – the quality of being amusing.

Offense (n) – an illegal act. beheaded (adj) – cut off the head of regained (v) - obtain again after loss; reach again. undying (adj) – everlasting thrilled (v) – a sudden feeling of excitement. stunned (v) - knock unconscious; astonish suspected (adj) – feel that something may exist or may be true; doubt the genuineness of.

II. Word Power

A. Rearrange the letters to make meaningful words occurring in the text (Answers are given directly)

1. marciles – miracles 2. setscup - suspect

3. flou – foul 4. terchn - trench

5. eegar - eager

B. Write down antonyms of the following words (Answers are given directly)

1. wisdom X foolishness 2. Terrible X attractive

3. ignorance X knowledge 4. Suspect X believe

5. best X worst

C. Given below are certain words. Derive as many new words as possible from each word by rearranging their letters. The first one is done for you. (Answer given directly)

1. beheaded – bad, bead, dad, had, deed, behead, be, heed, add, bee, dead, bed

2. manifest – man, nest, ant, fit, fast, mist, net, ten, sin, tin, sit, set, fat, fan, fin, mat, mine, fine. 3. Gravest – grave, rare, are, age, rage, sage, rest, at, get, rat, set, sat, vest, test, rarest, star.

4. Regret – greet, get, tree

5. embrace – race, brace, beer, bear, came, care, beam, bare, mare, mere, cream, arm, ace bee, me

D. Find out the words from the text which mean the following (Answers are given directly)

1. to cut off someone's head - Beheaded

2. follower - disciple

3. pleasant to listen to - melodious

4. very unpleasant - foul

5. curious to know - eager

6. shining - sparkling

7. a long deep hole dug in the ground - trench

8. very serious and important. – gravest

III. Language Study

So far you have learnt how we change statements into Indirect Speech. Now we will learn how to change imperative and interrogative sentences into Indirect speech.

While reporting questions , the word order remains the same as in a normal statement, not as in a question and there is no question mark. 'If' or 'whether' is used to report yes/no questions :

He said to his wife, “Are you ready?" (Direct Speech)

He asked his wife if she was ready. (Indirect Speech) with wh-questions, the wh-word stays in the sentence. Example:

Ramu said to me, “When are you leaving?" (Direct Speech)

Ramu asked me when I was leaving. (Indirect Speech)

Exercise

Rewrite the following as reported questions

1. He said to me, “Will you take part in the debate?”

Ans. He asked me if I would take part in the debate.

2. Leela said to Dinesh, "Can I borrow your book for a day?"

Ans. Leela asked Dinesh if she could borrow his book for a day.

3. He asked me, "When do you intend to go to Mumbai?"

Ans. He asked me when I intended to go to Mumbai.

4. The guest asked me, "When did you purchase the house?"

Ans. The guest asked me when I purchased the house.

While reporting requests and commands, usually to infinitive is used

Examples:

She said to me, "Pass me the plate please." (Direct Speech)

She requested me to pass her the plate. (Indirect Speech)

The captain said to the platoon, "Halt." (Direct Speech) The captain ordered the platoon to halt. (Indirect Speech)

Mother said to her son, Don't waste your time or you'll regret." (Direct Speech)

Mother advised her son not to was not to waste his time or he would regret. (Indirect Speech)

Rewrite the following sentences in indirect speech

1. The doctor said to the patient, "Don't eat too much sweet."

Ans. The doctor told the patient not to eat too much sweet.

2. The teacher said to the students, "Work hard if you want to score good marks."

Ans. The teacher told the students to work hard if they wanted to score good marks.

3. The stranger said to me, "Please give me a lift in your car."

Ans. The stranger requested me to give him a lift in my car.

4. The officer said to his soldiers. “Capture that hill at any cost."

Ans. The officer ordered his soldiers to capture the hill at any cost.

IV. Listening Skills

Listen to your teacher carefully. He speaks four words in each series. One word doesn’t rhyme with the other three. Tick the numbers of odd words on the answer sheet. i 1. mind 2. wind (n) 3. find 4. kind ii 1. hang 2. sang 3. bag 4. bang iii 1. you 2. go 3. do 4. who iv 1. I 2. bye 3. die 4. say v 1. done 2. down 3. brown 4. crown vi 1. head 2. bed 3. beat 4. red vii 1. tree 2. hay 3. three 4. free viii 1. seen 2. sin 3. been 4. keen

Answer Sheet i 1, 2, 3, 4, ii 1, 2, 3, 4, iii 1, 2, 3, 4, iv 1, 2, 3, 4, v 1, 2, 3, 4, vi 1, 2, 3, 4, vii 1, 2, 3, 4, viii 1, 2, 3, 4,

V. Speaking Skills

Imagine that you are a coach who coaches some players. You hear about Atul's behaviour. You call him and advise him about the nasty way in which he treated Mukul. Complete this dialogue between the two.

Coach: ______

Atul: Where did you hear about this, sir?

Coach: ______

Atul: Yes, sir, it's true.

Coach: ______

Atul: I did not mean to hurt him. I just felt that a sixth standard boy did not deserve a place in the team:

Coach: ______Atul: I realize I was wrong.

Coach: ______

Atul: Yes, sir I have understood the importance of team spirit in sports.

VI. Writing Skills

A. Write a letter to your friend telling him/her how Akbar and Birbal were reunited.

B. Given below is an interview for the post of a teacher in a school.

Interviewer : What are your qualifications?

Devanshi : I'm M.A., B.Ed.

Interviewer : Which school have you taught in?

Devanshi : I've taught in Model School and Kendriya Vidyalaya.

Interviewer : Why do you want to leave a secure job of Kendriya Vidyalaya ?

Devanshi : It is a transferable job and I want to settle here with my family.

Interviewer : What's your present salary?

Devanshi : I am getting Rs. 7000/- per month.

Devanshi goes home and tells her tells her sister Mansi about the interview. Mansi later reports it to her father.

1. The interviewer asked Denvashi what her qualifications were.

2. She replied that ______

3. ______4. ______

5. ______

6. ______

7. ______

8. ______

Some people are at the tourist information centre.

What they want to know is given here.

Meeta Sahil Shabana

Have you got Where can What films What are How can I find a town map? are on the most out about the we stay? interesting area? there? sights?

John Manpreet Tejinder Convert these queries into indirect speech.

1. She wants to know what the most interesting sights are.

2. ______

3. ______

4. ______

5. ______

VII. Comprehension

A. Choose the correct option:

1. Akbar regretted - (a) banishing Birbal from the court

(b) meeting Birbal in the court

(d) seeing Tansen in the court

2. The eyes of the saint were -

(a) sparkling

(b) dull

(d) dry

3. In the opinion of the wise saint a best friend on the earth is -

(a) his own good sense

(b) his courage

(d) his smartness

4. Akbar was ____ to meet Birbal again.

(a) happy

(b) sad

(d) disappointed

B. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences

1. Who was Birbal?

Ans. Birbal was a court jester.

2. What was the question asked by Abdul Fazal?

Ans. The question asked by Abdul Fazal was that which is the deepest beach in the world.

3. Which question do you like the most?

Ans. The question I like the most is which is the sweetest thing on the earth.

4. Who was the wise saint?

Ans. Birbal was the wise saint.

C. Answer the following questions in three to four sentences.

1. Why did Akbar order Birbal to leave the city of Agra?

Ans. One day when Akbar and Birbal were in discussion, Birbal happened to pass a harmless comment about Akbar’s sense of humour. But Emperor Akbar was in a foul mood and took offense to Birbal’s remark. So he ordered Birbal to leave the city of Agra.

2. Why did Akbar want to appoint a wise man in his court?

Ans. After Akbar banished Birbal from Agra he began to miss his best friend. He regretted his earlier decision of banishing Birbal and he just could just not do without Birbal. After being banished Birbal had left the town without letting anybody know his destination. The soldiers searched for Birbal but were unable to find him. Since Akbar was missing Birbal terribly he thought of keeping a wise man for his company. Hence he appointed a wise man in his court.

3. What was the condition put forth before the saint?

Ans. All the ministers of Akbar’s court would put forward questions and if his answers were satisfactory he would be made a minister. But if he could not, then he would be beheaded. This was the condition put forth before the saint.

4. What was the question asked by Tansen?

Ans. The question asked by Tansen were that what is undying in music.

5. Which miracle was performed by the wise saint?

Ans. The wise saint was asked by Emperor Akbar whether he performed miracles. The saint said that he could produce any person the emperor wanted to meet. The Emperor wanted to meet his best friend Birbal and the saint simply pulled off his artificial beard and hair and the Emperor met Birbal. This was the miracle which was performed by the wise saint.

Extra Questions

1. What did Emperor Akbar regret?

Ans. Akbar regretted banishing Birbal.

2. Why did Emperor send his search party?

Ans. Emperor Akbar was missing his best friend Birbal so he sent his search party. 3. Who is man’s best friend?

Ans. His own good sense was man’s best friend.

4. What cannot be regained after it is lost?

Ans. Life cannot be regained after it is lost.

5. Which is the sweetest voice at night time?

Ans. Voice that Prays to God is the sweetest voice at night time.

6. What travels more speedily than wind?

Ans. Man’s thought travels more speedily than wind.

7. What are the necessary requirements to rule over a kingdom?

Ans. Cleverness is the necessary requirement to rule over a kingdom.

8. What is the gravest enemy of a king?

Ans. Selfishness is the gravest enemy of a king.

9. What did Emperor Akbar give Birbal on his return?

Ans. Emperor Akbar showered Birbal with many valuable gifts to show him how happy he was at his return and how bad he felt for treating Birbal badly.

VIII. Do It Yourself

1. Read any other play on Akbar and Birbal, then enact it in your classroom with your classmates.