Visit to Heaven

Sham S. Misri

Akbar was the great King of India. Among his ministers was a very wise man whose name was Birbal. He was a pretty smart fellow I guess! The barber of King Akbar was the bad guy. He wanted Birbal to die. The clever barber had a plan. He told King Akbar, “I Wonder if your ancestors are fine. We will have to send someone like Birbal to Heaven to find out" The King knew that Birbal would be clever enough to find a way to escape. So, the king Akbar told Birbal to go to heaven and find out the welfare of his ancestors. Birbal dug an underground passageway from his house to a pine tree. The next day he had to lie under a haystack near the pine tree. The haystack would be burnt and Birbal would be sent to Heaven. On the day Birbal crept under the haystack and went to his house by the underground tunnel. When he reached home he thought of a plan to punish the barber. He went to King Akbar the next day and said, "Dear King Akbar, I'm back from Heaven. I just noticed that the people there have long hair and need a barber. Let us send a royal barber to them to have their hair cut. This he said pointing to the barber. The barber understood this quickly, and said, “Birbal is cleverer than me.”