THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

People trusted Birbal so they often came to him with their problems. One day, a man came running up to Birbal and fell at his feet saying, "Sir, someone has stolen all my money."

Birbal saw how upset the poor man was but he asked, "You are wearing dirty clothes. You look poor, than how can you have money?"

The man said, "Sir, I work very hard in the gardens of the Emperor so that I can save money for my old age, as I have no one to look after me. I had saved a thousand gold coins but someone has stolen them. I am ruined."

"First tell me where the money was kept," asked Birbal.

" As I work in the gardens of the king, I dug a hole under a pear tree and kept all my money there. But all of it is gone," said the gardener, and started crying.

"Crying will not help you. Stop crying and let me think, "said Birbal.

Birbal thought, "The money was in the hole under a pear tree. Who would dig up over there?"

Suddenly, things were clear in Birbal's mind and he said to the gardener, "Go home. I will soon get your  money back. But be careful next time and don't keep the money in such an unsafe place. I won't help you if you act so carelessly again."

Birbal summoned all the doctors of the city and asked them about the benefits of the pear tree. He finally asked them, "Does the pear tree help in making any medicines?"

They said, "No."

But one doctor replied, "The fruits and leaves do not help us but the roots have medicinal value."

Birbal asked, "Have you used the roots of the pear tree for my medicine?"

The doctor replied, "Yes, My Lord. Just a few days back, I made a medicine from the roots of the pear tree. It cured a patient of mine who was very ill."

"Who was that man whom you cured? Go and fetch him, "ordered Birbal.

The man came and Birbal asked. "Has this doctor been treating you?"

"Yes Sir, and I am well because of the wonderful medicine he made from the roots of the pear tree," said the man.

"From where did you get the roots for the medicine?" asked Birbal.

"I sent my servent to get it, Sir," said the man. So Birbal ordered him to get the servant. The man left at once and came back with the servant.

Birbal asked, " So you helped to cure your master?"

"Yes, sir.  I brought the roots of the pear tree for the medicine," said the servant.

"Where was the tree?" asked Birbal.

"In the king's garden," said the man.

"Give me the thousand coins at once that you found while digging for the roots under the pear tree," said Birbal.

The scared servant said, " Yes, Sir. I will give it back. I have stolen the bag of gold coins and that was a wrong thing to do. Please pardon me."

"Go get the money, then you will not be punished, you had stolen the money and that was wrong. Since you have confessed, I forgive you."

The servant ran to get the money and soon gave the bag of thousand gold coins to Birbal.

Then Birbal gave five gold coins to the servant and said, "You can keep these coins for speaking the truth."

The servant fell at Birbal's feet and said, "Thank you so much, My Lord! I promise never to steal again."

Birbal then said to the gardener, "Take you money. I have taken out five gold coins because you were stupid enough to keep your money in an unsafe place. Be careful in the future."